Life in San Francisco Through British Eyes

seafaringwoman via Flickr

​Given the dollar's rapid decline against the euro and the pound, articles like this were bound to start popping up. A BBC Travel article extols the virtues of living (read: investing in real estate) in the City by the Bay, and does so with some interesting observances, British spellings ("neighbourhoods"), and creative grammar.

So what makes San Francisco such a great city to live in, from a British point of view? Lead paragraph: we have lots of hills -- "43 in fact" -- and the atmosphere in the city "always feels like something special is about to happen." We assume they meant that as a good thing -- after all, the feeling comes from "a confluence of bay and bridges," they say -- but to us it just feels like a reminder that the Big One is right around the corner.

Noe Valley gets a special shout-out in the list of desirable neighborhoods, as it is "filled with yummy mummies." We'll just let that phrase speak for itself.

The article then details some pricing specifics in different neighborhoods and advises that "people are better off buying if they plan to stay for more than three years."

But besides alienating the city's young renting population, at least the writer seems to acknowledge some S.F. experiences that only a local might know.

"This effervescent mix is why so many people want to live and visit there -- to have some of that northern California magic rub off on them," the article says. We can only hope they're not referring to a northern Californian rubbing off on them ... on Muni. Welcome to San Francisco.