This post has been a month or so in the works, but I first wanted to spend some time to clean up nerdgirl.com and make it a functional site again. I’ve been using it for the past several years as a way to publish my Instagram, but I really would like to get into the habit of writing again.
With that said, here is an important life event that I am about to kick off and I wanted to share it with the world (or the two visitors to my site).
I am moving out of the Bay Area.
I am leaving my comfy, rent-controlled apartment in the Castro and setting sail to a far off land.
I have many reasons for moving which I will get into in future posts, but it really starts with the fact that San Francisco isn’t the city for me anymore. Or in the wise words of LCD Soundsystem on New York, “San Francisco, I love you, but you’re bringing me down”.
Departing from the Bay Area has been a tough choice. There are so many things that I love about my city. I love my friends. I love the weather. I love the natural beauty that surrounds us. I love the innovation and intelligence of this city.
But what I am not in love with is the fact that I am 43 years old and I feel stuck.
I feel stuck in a one-bedroom rent controlled apartment. Yes, it is a nice apartment in a great neighborhood, but is this all I can hope for? With the median home price in San Francisco now at $1.3 million there is no hope for a single lady to ever be able to afford to purchase something. I feel like a pauper amongst billionaires. And I earn a more than decent living – according to the rest of the United States.
Other things that I am tired of in this city:
- Entitled tech bros in leaving their garbage in Dolores Park
- Bussing my own tables at restaurants that are over-priced and under staffed
- Watching all the quirky shops and restaurants close down because they can no longer afford it here
- Luxury condos going up everywhere instead of affordable housing
- Human feces on the street every morning when I’m walking the dog
- Homeless encampments with stolen bikes
- The lack of all the weirdos that used to make San Francisco unique
- The greed and obliviousness of the tech industry
I’m sure I could go on and on, but you get my point. San Francsico is not the fun, quirky place it used to be. Perhaps I’m an old curmudgeon, but it makes me sad to see this city continue to decline while the prices continue to soar.
So instead of whinging about it or helplessly sitting by, I decided that I will give up my golden handcuffs (aka a rent-controlled apartment) and take a chance on another place where I feel that I can make a difference and I can contribute and I can have a nice quality of life with a backyard for the dog.
Stay tuned for more on where I’m going and why I selected that place.
