FundamentallySound Blog

Make no mistake, this is a city with an unbridled drive for comfort. From the frenzied speed at which every little cozy "Victorian" cocoon is rented as fast as the previous tenant can pack up their thick sweaters and 3 sizes too thin jeans to the watered down approach to architecture: the city blocked Koolhaas from building a Prada store (too challenging!) and refused to use public money for the Herzog & De Meuron designed de Young Museum (eventually it was all raised from private funds). It's a city where most of the residents never leave their foggy little hideaways to venture out to areas like Hunter's Point (with a beautiful view of the bay) or even set foot in Oakland (too ghetto). I can't remember the last time I saw an art show here that sparked my creative drive in my own work, most of my inspiration comes from online sources or tips sent by friends from other places. I find it hard to connect to the people here, so many are strangely nice and simultaneously absent. This is a combination of traits that leaves one feeling unencumbered by their relationships with other people, but also unsatisfied from the lack of deeper connection. It's a "fun" city, a great place to take a nap in the park in the sunshine with a book or eat a good meal at a cute restaurant (Whee!). But fun, especially of this type, can get extraordinarily tiring after a while.