"The City" in Transition
“Just Thinking”
I was speaking with a new client the other day who grew up on the peninsula and now lives near me in the East Bay. I let her know that I was born and raised in San Francisco, we talked about “The City” and she told me how much she enjoyed visiting it with her family as a young girl then she told me that she hadn’t been there in a couple of years and that the last couple times that she visited she was disillusioned by its current condition. I told her how much I enjoyed growing up there and how proud I was to be from San Francisco. I also told her that I always intended to move back to “The City” once the boys were grown and on their own, but because of how much it has changed, I no longer desire to move back.
San Francisco has become a completely different city in the last 25 years. I don’t want to sound like the typical old guy, “get off my lawn” or “back in my day”, but it seems to me that the difference between previous generations discussing how much “The City” has changed and me discussing the changes, is that in the past, the changes were growth based, take out paradise and put in a parking lot, along with some gentrification and some modernization, not all for the good, but, for the most part progressive. The changes that I see now, that have me so disillusioned are quite the opposite, destructive and regressive, homelessness, lawlessness, mass exodus, commercial and retail vacancies and apathy.
San Francisco has gone through many transitions, and I’m hoping that this is just a low point that it will eventually bounce back from. Change is inevitable but I am hoping that it can get back to progressive growth, community and common sense.
I was feeling a little nostalgic and looked up some information on “The Big E”, the Emporium on Market Street and the Christmas tradition of the roof rides and Santa.
The roof rides were one of the most cherished Christmas traditions in San Francisco, offering several thrilling carnival-style rides. The top of the Emporium featured a small amusement park, complete with rides such as a Ferris wheel (that terrified me), a mini train, and a carousel.
In addition to the rides, the interior of the store was decorated for the Christmas Holiday. This is where we would traditionally go to see Santa, so many of our Santa pictures are tucked inside an Emporium folded picture holder.
Both The Emporium on Market St and Macys on Union Square featured elaborate window displays showcasing winter scenes and holiday motifs, with each window telling a story.
We will never get those experiences back, but perhaps new traditions are being born now that we will be able to wax poetic about in 25 years.
Let me know what you think.
@ChuckBarberini - #ChuckBarberiniRealEstate - @ChuckBarberiniRealEstate
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