Thank you so much for this Nancy! I love your recap here and I am working on my piece(s) about SF right now, hoping to get the first of a few parts up tomorrow.
Thank you Nancy, fun and informative piece to read! You must include 'urban anthropologist' to your list of identities! Best, Amanda (San Francisco >> Philadelphia).
I enjoyed this very much. My whole afternoon has been shot to hell with all these rabbit holes. So glad you like to do this sort of thing. And I'm also glad to see that some people are working hard to fix the City instead of bitching about it. (I hope the age of tech bros (and I sort of was one!) is running out of steam. No glamour.)
You mentioned 'South of Market (SoMa)' and 'the Financial District (which some people are trying to relabel FiDi)'. I must look up what is the term for converting names or phrases into short, two-syllable versions (sci fi, hi-fi, FloJo, BoJo, WaPo, etc). The two syllables often rhyme, but not always. And the two vowels often sound different from the original name or phrase. It seems to be an American habit, but the concept has travelled. Here in Australia, our prime minister from 2018 to 2022, Scott Morrison, was nicknamed 'ScoMo', with both vowels pronounced as in 'go'.
Your references to 'downtown' songs remind me of 'The Uptown, Uptempo Woman', a 1975 song by Randy Edelman. In it, the narrator compares himself to the subject of the song, because he is a 'downtown, downbeat guy'. It's softer, slower and sadder than my usual choices in music, yet somehow I like it and I often play it.
Re: “Europe, favored “city center.” My wife & I lived in Philadelphia for a time, and there it was “Center City.” And just FYI: Many years ago, my grandmother & my father lived in Oakland, & I know the day before the GG Bridge opened to traffic, they allowed pedestrians to walk across it — and they did! 😀
Getting totally off-topic: My brother Jeff and I were at the "walk" (a shuffle, followed by standing still for two hours). There were no guidelines or police officers on the bridge, and I suspect that the police themselves would have become trapped. We could not move, and the pressure from the crowd behind us kept growing until it was no longer funny at all. We never even made it to the point where water was beneath us; we were looking down into Fort Point. Many people in the crowd were frightened: I saw a big man, maybe in his 20s, suddenly start sobbing like a child. One woman lost consciousness and was passed backward over the heads of the crowd. The best part was when loudspeakers on the bridge carried an announcement from one of the Supervisors: "The bridge walk is now over. Please leave the bridge." Everybody laughed. The announcement started again and a guy actually climbed somehow, up to the speaker, and ripped it off its base. Wild applause. I still believe a serious crisis was averted because so many of the people out there were psychedelic veterans, and had some experience with calming themselves and others in the middle of prolonged weirdness.
Thank you so much for this Nancy! I love your recap here and I am working on my piece(s) about SF right now, hoping to get the first of a few parts up tomorrow.
Are you familiar with Downtown: Its Rise and Fall by Robert Fogelson?
I am not! Thanks for the suggestion.
Loved the encouraging news and nice photos. Enjoyed learning term “qango.”
Thank you Nancy, fun and informative piece to read! You must include 'urban anthropologist' to your list of identities! Best, Amanda (San Francisco >> Philadelphia).
Wonderful! And I’m so glad Taylor Jay found a new home through this— I love her clothing.
I enjoyed this very much. My whole afternoon has been shot to hell with all these rabbit holes. So glad you like to do this sort of thing. And I'm also glad to see that some people are working hard to fix the City instead of bitching about it. (I hope the age of tech bros (and I sort of was one!) is running out of steam. No glamour.)
You mentioned 'South of Market (SoMa)' and 'the Financial District (which some people are trying to relabel FiDi)'. I must look up what is the term for converting names or phrases into short, two-syllable versions (sci fi, hi-fi, FloJo, BoJo, WaPo, etc). The two syllables often rhyme, but not always. And the two vowels often sound different from the original name or phrase. It seems to be an American habit, but the concept has travelled. Here in Australia, our prime minister from 2018 to 2022, Scott Morrison, was nicknamed 'ScoMo', with both vowels pronounced as in 'go'.
Your references to 'downtown' songs remind me of 'The Uptown, Uptempo Woman', a 1975 song by Randy Edelman. In it, the narrator compares himself to the subject of the song, because he is a 'downtown, downbeat guy'. It's softer, slower and sadder than my usual choices in music, yet somehow I like it and I often play it.
Wow, a complete report on what's new and great in "our fair city." Well done and thank you!
And there's so much more! I'm allowing myself a glimmer of hope.
Re: “Europe, favored “city center.” My wife & I lived in Philadelphia for a time, and there it was “Center City.” And just FYI: Many years ago, my grandmother & my father lived in Oakland, & I know the day before the GG Bridge opened to traffic, they allowed pedestrians to walk across it — and they did! 😀
Pedestrians also crossed the GGB on the span's 50th anniversary. It was ... messy. https://www.sfgate.com/local-donotuse/article/golden-gate-bridge-walk-1987-anniversary-disaster-13896571.php
Getting totally off-topic: My brother Jeff and I were at the "walk" (a shuffle, followed by standing still for two hours). There were no guidelines or police officers on the bridge, and I suspect that the police themselves would have become trapped. We could not move, and the pressure from the crowd behind us kept growing until it was no longer funny at all. We never even made it to the point where water was beneath us; we were looking down into Fort Point. Many people in the crowd were frightened: I saw a big man, maybe in his 20s, suddenly start sobbing like a child. One woman lost consciousness and was passed backward over the heads of the crowd. The best part was when loudspeakers on the bridge carried an announcement from one of the Supervisors: "The bridge walk is now over. Please leave the bridge." Everybody laughed. The announcement started again and a guy actually climbed somehow, up to the speaker, and ripped it off its base. Wild applause. I still believe a serious crisis was averted because so many of the people out there were psychedelic veterans, and had some experience with calming themselves and others in the middle of prolonged weirdness.