In the movie Annie Hall neurotic comedian Alvie Singer (Woody Allen) says, \u201cI don’t want to move to a city where the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light.\u201d<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t stop progress.\u00a0 California\u2019s newest \u201ccultural advantage\u201d is charging shoppers 10 cents if they want a bag for their groceries.\u00a0 (For some reason they have not yet applied the tax to newspapers, which take up way more space in landfills.)\u00a0 California has also broken new ground in the realm of corporate synergies with a retail space in Pacific Heights that combines a Starbucks and a Wells Fargo Bank; you can get a loan and spend it all on a La Boulange Reduced-fat Pumpkin Cream Cheese Loaf Cake and a Caramel Mochiata no Whip Mocha with an Extra Shot.\u00a0 (I hope the Wells-Starbucks combo succeeds; I own both stocks.)<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s another California cultural advantage: \u00a0The way-too-numerous homeless people in San Francisco do not content themselves with a couple of bags of belongings, as on the East Coast. \u00a0No no no.\u00a0 \u00a0They have one or two laundry hampers filled with belongings, sometimes with a couple of dogs perched on top.\u00a0 They sleep in the parks and wander up and down San Francisco\u2019s splendid waterfront embankment, unmolested.\u00a0 How progressive is that!<\/p>\n
Moving from the waterfront to the regulatory front, California Proposition 65 requires restaurants to prominently post this sign:<\/p>\n
Warning<\/b>:\u00a0 Detectable Amounts of Chemicals Known To The State Of California To Cause Cancer, Birth Defects Or other Reproductive Harm May be Found In And Around This Facility<\/p>\n
In other words, \u201cCaution, Salt Is Served Here.\u201d\u00a0 I am looking forward to the Proposition requiring signs to be posted in all government offices and polling places stating:<\/p>\n
Warning:<\/b>\u00a0 Over-regulation and High Taxes in the State of California Are Known to Retard Economic Growth, Increase Poverty, and Cause Out-migration to States With Less Insane Regulatory Environments.<\/p>\n
But despite all that, California is a nice place to visit.\u00a0 Perfect weather, excellent restaurants, and plenty of beautiful people running up and down The Embarcaderro on San Francisco\u2019s waterfront.\u00a0 We spent a couple of nights in Pacifica, an agreeably tacky beach town about twenty miles south of San Francisco.\u00a0 Back in the 1950s, the Best Western chain snagged a great location right on a beautiful beach frequented by surfers.\u00a0 The location is so great, they haven\u2019t needed to make a single improvement to the hotel since 1955.\u00a0 What I liked the most was that I could leave my hotel room and, without crossing a four-lane highway (unusual in California), take a short hike up a steep hill overlooking\u00a0 the crashing waves of the Pacific.\u00a0 Maybe next time I\u2019ll wear hiking boots, rather than loafers, and get to the top of the hill.<\/p>\n
San Francisco is a bit like Boston, but with steeper hills, better weather and way more immigrants.\u00a0\u00a0 The Mission District is a large and lively low-income Hispanic neighborhood with dozens of fruit markets and taquerias.\u00a0 They serve food that is fresh, simple and tasty\u2014I am still wondering why you can\u2019t find comparable Mexican food in New York.\u00a0 China Town, hard by the financial district, has the usual complement of restaurants, travel agencies, and dry cleaners, but also quite a few establishments offering exotic new-age therapies, such as a place called Spirit Acupuncture Holistic Health, which treats back pain, stress, anxiety, migraine headaches and infertility.<\/p>\n
Copyright Thomas Doerflinger 2013.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the movie Annie Hall neurotic comedian Alvie Singer (Woody Allen) says, \u201cI don’t want to move to a city where the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light.\u201d You can\u2019t stop … Continue reading