(aka ‘Bay Area Blues Part I’)
I’ll never forget the days just before I left the San Francisco Bay Area for New York City. “You’ll be back” I was told by a once promising Bay Area musician. He later ended up quitting music altogether.
Others said “Give it a year. You’ll be over it.” After a year, I had no intention of ever leaving.
That’s when they said “Give it two years. You’ll see.” After two years, I still had no plans to leave.
“Wait ’till you’ve been there five years” they said. Five years went by. When they asked if I ever thought of moving back, I just laughed.
I’m now in my eleventh year in New York, and have no plans to ever move away.
I understand New York is not for everyone. I’ve seen many come and go. Before the dust even has a chance to settle they’re gone. They realize New York doesn’t work for them and I can respect that.
What I’m amazed at is how so many from the Bay Area still bristle at the mention of New York and ask how I can live here. Many of them have never even been to New York. They complain about New Yorkers being abrasive, but by trying to impose their will on me, they’re the ones who are behaving abrasively. They are just doing so with an even temper.
I’m not trying to make this a love letter to New York. Nor is it a hate letter to the Bay Area. If you like living in the Bay Area and feel fulfilled there, then I’m happy for you. Me? I can’t list enough things that I don’t like about it.
New York has three crucial things the Bay Area is missing: character, energy and connection to the rest of the world. Let’s start by looking at the latter.
If you grow up in the Bay Area, as I did, you don’t realize how isolated it is. The nearest large metropolitan region outside is the state capital, Sacramento, which is about two hours away by car. After that, there is Fresno, which is about a three hour drive. Sorry to say this, but if you go your whole life without ever visiting Sacramento and Fresno, you are not missing much. Seattle and Los Angeles, on the other hand, are important cities with a lot of character and well worth visiting. But with an approximately 8 hour drive, they’re so far away from the Bay Area, they’re not exactly neighboring cities.
In New York, our neighboring cities include Philadelphia (two hours West), Boston, (four hours East) and the nation’s capital, Washington DC (four hours South). A bit farther, but closer than the distance from the Bay Area to LA, we have cities like Montreal and Pittsburgh. A flight to Europe doesn’t take much longer than flying to The West Coast so as a result, we have a lot more visitors and residents visiting abroad at any given time. For these and many other reasons, we are very connected to the rest of the world.
Next, let’s talk about character. In New York, people have more of a connection with their heritage. An Italian can be a real Italian. An Irishman can be a real Irishman. And a Jew can be a real Jew. In the Bay Area, at least when I was growing up, everyone was somehow expected to blend in and be the same. Although as a Jewish American, I’m ultimately more comfortable being neutral and non observant, I respect those who are more in touch with their roots and feel they should be free to be so. Even if we choose not to wear our heritage on our sleeve, I’m grateful to those that do and feel it is good for all of us to be reminded where we come from. I think this has to do with the fact that the East Coast has been settled a lot longer than the West Coast and has thus retained a lot of that old world character.’ This cultural awareness is reflected in the restaurants, in the architecture, the artwork and in the overall dynamic of the city.
While the concept of America as a ‘melting pot,’ makes sense, the ingredients in the pot shouldn’t lose their flavor as they seem to do in the Bay Area. Growing up in California, I was thrown into the cesspool of the public school system. There was an obvious difference between Anglo-American, African-American, Asian-American and Hispanic-American students, but the more subtle differences within each of these subgroups was masked. I agree in the concept of equality and no ethnic group being superior to any other. However, I think this minimal cultural awareness was a contributing factor as to why I and so many others I grew up with in the Bay Area ended up confused and damaged. Moving to New York and understanding how cultural background shapes each individual was very enlightening and healing. Nowhere is there a better balance of ethnicity and Americanism than on the East Coast and especially in New York.
I concede that the city of San Francisco itself has a strong sense of character on the level of any East Coast city. I admit enjoying visiting there for brief periods of time. But the fact is, the average resident of the Bay Area cannot afford to live in San Francisco. Instead, they are forced to reside in the sprawling nothingness of interchangeable suburbs, where the most exciting thing happening is on cable TV and at the local Chili’s Bar And Grill. Yes, it’s expensive to live in New York too, but I can’t help but feel that the surrounding areas retain more of the character of the city than those on the outskirts of San Francisco.
Finally, let’s talk about energy. It is generally agreed upon that New York is faced paced by nature, while The Bay Area is slow, often described as ‘laid back.’ I agree with this and believe that it gets in the way of individual progress and goals. It is no coincidence that most successful people from the Bay Area originally came from other regions and brought the character and energy of those places with them. Just look at the most successful musicians in the Bay Area: Metallica moved there from LA. Joe Satriani came from Long Island, New York. Carlos Santana emigrated from Mexico.
I just want to say that I recognize this as my own personal experience and respect that there others who may see things very differently. And it’s not that there aren’t some things I like about the Bay Area or that I like every single thing about New York. But for years, the Bay Area has felt like a record label that continues to exploit its back catalog: the Summer Of Love, the Beat generation and the Free Speech Movement. These once important events are now aging relics from the Sixties misused by too many in my generation and others as an excuse to coast through life as deadbeat stoners with no purpose.
Bay Area: you haven’t had a hit in years. Get over it.