1. Excellent Mass Transit Options. I can jump on the subway just a few blocks from my house and be at my friends house in 5 minutes. Yes, I know that driving in smaller cities is just as convenient in some ways. But there’s just nothing like taking the subway. It’s like magic.
2. Parts of the city are still buzzing at 1am. Granted, it’s not NYC, but it’s nice to know that you can find something to do at midnight on pretty much any night of the week.
3. People here are crazy and very entertaining. I watched a woman try to parallel park in a space twice the size of her car today and it seriously took her like 5 minutes. Even after she was all the way in, she kept backing up and pulling forward. There’s always someone on the sidewalk screaming or singing or whatever. And there are street performers and musicians on most of the corners in our area.
4. You know how the best stores in the world always list the cities that they’re in? Like this: “London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, Rome, San Francisco” Enough said. There probably isn’t a clothing store or fashion label that doesn’t have a store within 10 blocks of where I’m sitting. And the stores they have here are the flagship stores, so you get the best selection and the sweetest sales.
5. Companies do the best new test programs here. Things like car-sharing, free wifi, grocery delivery, and 24 mbps internet were made for San Francisco. I haven’t been in a grocery store in months. I pay $10 and the guy from Safeway.com knocks on my door and drops off my $200 of groceries. How can you beat that?