I read the article late last night, and was all set to rant after a good night's sleep, but BeltedSwiss pretty much covered my points.

I did find it ironic that two entries after condemning the idea of making homelessness illegal, Cory was endorsing an article criticizing San Francisco, a city that routinely harasses the homeless, trashes their encampments and carts, etc., for its lax tolerance of "those people."

And I gotta wonder... how much culture do you need? Within convenient biking distance of my house in the middle of Berkeley, I already have so many interesting choices every weekend that it could induce option paralysis. And San Francisco has more -- more than anyone could possibly pursue, enough for potential option paralysis every day of the week. Why is not having even _more_ choices than anyone could possibly pursue so intolerable?

Yeah, SF isn't Manhattan. If your define adequately cool as Manhattan, then SF isn't adequately cool. A great triumph of argument by definition.

By some stereotypes I'm a local villain... moved to Berkeley from the East Coast late in '95, and worked for web startups in San Francisco. But I didn't come here to get rich quick; I fell in love with Berkeley when I first visited in '91, and had been planning to move here since.

Sure, the area has flaws. Sure, there are interesting things going on elsewhere, too. But I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.