Moving to SF (proper) for left wing ideals right now is a bit like being a staunch communist and moving to China. It's so over, thanks to the dollar (either respects, probably). Most of the bohemian, grass roots, critical thinking types have mostly moved on (or worse, joined the system). It's impossible to sustain a family there unless you've managed to get either rent control (years and years ago) or somehow won the tech and/or prop13 blood lotto. SF is ran by liberal-in-name-only (LINOs?) who block all housing then tax and ban plastics, then proceed to fly all over the globe, producing more co2 in a day than most people on the planet do in a year [1]. God help anyone rational left there tjat visits any other part of the country, even the south bay (San Jose) and see how other/families raise their children and how much more reasonable it is - i.e not having to constantly avoid subjecting yourself/family to the worst of the worst city garbage every day (the mental health crises and drug addiction epidemic, as well as crime are so heavily concentrated there its impossible to avoid). Most reasonable people opt-out and buy a huge house elsewhere.<p>It's got a ton of awesome history and venues, for sure, but its a place that exemplifies the problems of late stage capitalism. Foggy cold weather isn't that great either. My advice to anyone moving there chasing the money is to make as much as you can in 4 years and move out (if that's even a thing anymore going forward, with remote work being the norm).<p>/lived in Bay Area for 9 years, saw a friend get stabbed in the tenderloin, had someone throw a knife 9" across the street towards me when my wife and I were walking and watched it bounce in front of us, had someone throw a chunk of concrete at my windshild driving near union square.<p>[1](<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/jul/19/carbon-calculator-how-taking-one-flight-emits-as-much-as-many-people-do-in-a-year" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/...</a>)