Editors note: best enjoyed on a wide screen for the images ;)
I’ll be in San Francisco for a total of six weeks and almost half of that time has already passed in an instant. So far, it has been an absolutely beautiful experience!
Arriving in SF
The flight from Munich to SF is smooth, Lufthansa uses it’s newest Airbus jets here which are equipped with high-resolution displays, USB-C charging ports and modern, comfortable seating. Particularly, the onboard cameras were crisp. The flight is constantly chasing the sunset so looking at the video feed was a delight. We took off in Munich with a deeply orange sky and arrived in SF just after the sun had set. Dreamy.
I took an Uber into the city. Driving in, the billboards every person and TV show told you about, are real. From startups to large tech companies, they put up signs next to the highway from the airpot into the city. Faces of AI agent workers, efficiency improvements and cloud security battle for mind space.
As this is the very first time for me in the states, some impressions might not be distinct “SF things”, but rather “America” things in general.
The only kind of billboards you’re going to see in SF.
The Bernal Heights Neighbourhood
I am settled with two friends in Bernal Heights, which is towards the south of the city (just south of the Mission district). It’s a very tranquil, homey neighbourhood which stands out because of it’s local hill, the “Bernal Heights Summit”.
The summit sits as 132m, so quite a bit higher than the local Olympiaberg in Munich. It offers absolutely sublime views of the city and bay, and, during my jet-lagged morning rituals I visited it every day.
The view from the Bernal Heights Summit over the Mission District with the Financial District in the background (sunset).
In order to be allowed to live in Bernal Heights, you basically have to own a dog. The dog density is ridiculously high and they convene on the Summit park.
Cortland Avenue is the lifeline which runs through the community with lots of cafes, dog stores, groceries etc - it becomes apparent that this is an affluent, safe neighbourhood.
Queuing for fresh bagels on a Saturday - they drop at 9am sharp!
Is SF a Shithole City?
Before coming here, I was advised that SF is basically a shithole with extreme poverty next to extreme wealth, rampant crime and stabbings and unusable public transport. Additionally, I imagined it as a car-first city, kind of like Los Angeles (never been, but heard loads), where you have to drive everywhere and are stuck in traffic at all times. It turns out, the city is stunningly beautiful, clean and vibrant.
Poverty, Crime and Safety
Walking (and running, a lot) around the city, it’s clear that there is a huge issue with homelessness and poverty. However, the “hangouts” are very confined, usually around BART stations or in the Tenderloin, rarely do people stray from that. Right in front of BART stations (e.g. Southern Mission Street), 20-30 people hang out, but a single block distance away, the sidewalks are empty. While many people openly do hard drugs, it’s not that bothersome because they are (until now!) very peaceful about it. The drugs appear to be so cheap and sedative, that I have yet to experience any aggressive behaviour - I’ve never felt unsafe. Walking past Mission Street and 16th/18th street, people are selling lots of stolen goods, such as shampoo, tooth paste etc. Most of which they just took from the drug store close by. Apparently, this is stopping now: x.com link , link without x.com account, takes a few sec. The state of poverty is very bad, far worse than I have ever seen in Germany. Faeces on the street, strong stenches and most of all, absolute ignorance of being seen doing heroin (or similar).
Walking in SF is a Lot of Fun
San Francisco is a walkable city! Wide sidewalks, very caring car drivers (stopping for pedestrians more religiously than at German zebra crossings) and lots to explore. Small stores, cafes and a swath of bakeries line the streets with lots to discover, it’s fun to walk, or especially run around. Just the distances are considerable and the grid pattern means frequent stops when going for a run.
Note though, that the inclines are considerable! I underestimated how steep and plentiful the hill are around the city. Honestly, I love it though. While Munich is close to the mountains, the city itself is very flat. Sendai in Japan had a similar structure in terms of elevation and it really kept fit.
The Optimistic Vibe of San Francisco
After a couple of weeks in the city, I experienced one major revelation about the culture: people are very optimistic about the future and change in general. Back in Germany, the vibe was pessimistic (mostly due to a depressing economic outlook). That’s apparent became e.g. the news always focussed on bad effects of a policy (change X was done, that has Y bad effects for people Z). Discussion focusses around how bad the state of Europe is. Here, although people are somewhat aware of negative effects of policies, the general vibe is optimism towards the ongoing change. First and foremost, people focus on the positive impact and the opportunities they create. It is widely understood, that the Trump administration has major bad policies which impact people negatively, but the focus is on the potential upside of the sum of changes. A famous German proverb states:
Wo gehobelt wird fallen Späne
The english version is apparently:
You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs
Thus, I encourage people to see the positive in the future: when AI becomes a lot more powerful/useful, don’t think about the lost jobs, potential downsides, but the general upsides and strive to optimise for the opportunities those create. Then, figure out a remedy for the negative effects.
The Accessibility of the Startup Community
I’ve learned a lot of details about various companies in the last couple weeks, because people tend to share a lot more, freely. Revenue numbers, hiring challenges, customer complications etc. are not kept nearly as secret. People talk about money. It’s refreshing and encourages to think about it more, as well.
Rippling hosted an event with the founder of Notion.so , Ivan Zhao. Great interactive talk, but even more, he stayed on at the event for an hour afterwards. Approachable and chatted with us about challenges, what’s next for notion and how the environment is changing. He didn’t hesitate to chat about the next product iterations, what they will release soon and asks us what we think about it. Back home, large company CEOs rarely talk about unreleased features at open events - it was a delight.
Prices and Spending for Opportunities
It’s no secret that San Francisco is a very expensive city to live in. A basic burrito (bowl) easily sets you back 15USD, a coffee is at least 5USD and a croissant the same. There is a lot more money changing hands, people spend considerably more. People are spending for opportunity and try to hit it big down the road, optimising for e.g. time rather than money as they go. Therefore, the high price is seen as the “cost of doing business” or rather the “cost of being in SF” and being exposed to opportunities. You don’t come here to settle or save. This obviously might be different for people who grew up in the city or live here for a long time already.
Random List of Weekly Oddities
- any event has an end time, e.g. you don’t meet friends for dinner at 18h, but rather, from 18-20h -> then, back to work!
- no alcohol after 2am. neither at bars nor clubs, therefore, latest at 2am they usually close. Even early by Munich standards!
- mobile data (at least on google fi) is absolutely dog-shit. getting an average of 1.5mbps on 5G in the city. apparently German data is not bad after all?
- showers don’t have hot/cold adjustments. one lever is used to turn it on and then goes from cold to hot - the max head is preset.
- notaries in the US are not glamorous at all, shoddy buildings at best
Until Next Time! Comment here :)
For comments, write a brief email: write a quick email by clicking here!
I meant to get this post out a lot earlier and it’s far from perfect - but it’s public now!
