Culture?

Here is an interesting one that got me thinking. San Francisco is full of activity, and is known for many things - cable cars, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Ghiradelli Chocolate, to name a few. It is also filled with immigrants, particularly from Asian countries, businessmen, families, singles, straight couples, gay couples, gay singles, homeless people, millionaires, liberals, vegetarians, and many people from many walks of life.

BUT does San Francisco really have its own unique culture? What is truly considered San Franciscan? Boston and New York are two much older cities that have clearly defined roots, with clear lineage attached. But for a city as new as San Francisco, can a true culture really exist?

What are your thoughts?

The opinions expressed here are those of the individual and not those of StreetAdvisor.

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6 Comments

NightOwlnOrinda 2yrs+

We like to think of California and the West Coast as younger and new, but I wonder if it still is? I think one of the things that defines SF is the Gold Rush mentality. People still come here to try to strike it rich--these days in the high tech sector.

I think that CA generally and the Bay Area specifically also have made big contributions to science and the environment--Oppenheimer was a professor at Berkeley when he started putting together the Manhattan project.

Then there were the Beats like Kerouac, Ginsburg and Jophy Ryder (I can't remember his actual name)--Ken Kesey of Cuckoo's Nest fame--Hunter S Thompson got his start here.

All that Sixties stuff from the Dead to the Free Speech Movement to The Hell's Angels to the Black Panthers were all Bay Area creations.

There is definately a type of liberal, progressive philosophy that has its ground zero here in the Bay Area.

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FlowerGirl 2yrs+

Also, without us, who would have introduced the slang term "hella" to the world? And tree sitters? And the Grateful Dead, because I would love to hear "Truck'in" one more time--I missed some of the nuances the first million.

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StephSF 2yrs+

Love it. I'm sold on the liberal, progressive SF style. I think the Grateful Dead and even "hella" kind of tie into that cultural thread.

However, I'm iffy on whether the "Gold Rush" mentality is true California culture, or simply coincidence that people have come here to "make it big" more than once. I don't know that there is necessarily any correlation between gold country way back when and the modern-day affluence of Silicon Valley and Hollywood. These days, it's more profitable to hold a business address in just about any other state and just do business with clients here!

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Tracypie 2yrs+

I think @NightOwlnOrinda said it best - I think of the Beats, and the laid back sixties stuff as well. I think the Gold Rush mentality is not of the California native but more of the "transplants" who wind up staying here.

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StephSF 2yrs+

I almost want to say that transplant culture is part of the culture here. Not good, not bad, but it is a reality of living in such a desirable place that so many people want to move to.

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NightOwlnOrinda 2yrs+

I rode the the whole Gold Rush thing a bit too hard--it was a point I had heard bandied about in college. But I think the whole transplant thing (really just a pejorative term for someone who has moved here) is related to it. None of us are really from here unless you're a full-blood Miwok or Ohlone. So the cutlure here is one of people rushing in looking to change their lives radically in an environment that gives them the space to do it.

My dad was a pilot and could of choosen to live a lot of places but he loved the US generally and California specifically because it gave him the most freedom to make his own life. He said that what he loved was the fact that you could wear flip-flops into a movie theater--that's California at its best, I think. Lax rules and space to create yourself.

And all the people who come here from around the country and around the world just make it that much better and more interesting as far as I'm concerned. California is all about accepting the "transplants" seemlessly--we're like a Frankenstein monster that turned out alright.