This reminds me of something Paul Budnitz (kidrobot founder and former SF resident) wrote after visiting SF recently:
Internet millionaires driving around on cell phones drain the city’s sparkle. In the old days people who made tools built factory towns on the Ohio. It was honest work but not glamorous. Today the toolmakers work in software and they have been elevated in the culture, especially here. But there is a distinction between making an app and making art. A city of toolmakers imagining themselves as artists is barbaric, heartless, empty. You feel it in the crowd eating dinner at the many expensive restaurants. People speak in sound bites and are both assertive and lost.
He seems like one of these folks every generation produces who are wistful for things gone by.
Plus the sentiment isn't without its plugs, albeit subtle. "The new bike lanes are half-built then they disappear. Cars choke the city and cover buildings with soot."
Nice self-serving platitudes from a bicycle seller.
Internet millionaires driving around on cell phones drain the city’s sparkle. In the old days people who made tools built factory towns on the Ohio. It was honest work but not glamorous. Today the toolmakers work in software and they have been elevated in the culture, especially here. But there is a distinction between making an app and making art. A city of toolmakers imagining themselves as artists is barbaric, heartless, empty. You feel it in the crowd eating dinner at the many expensive restaurants. People speak in sound bites and are both assertive and lost.
http://paulbudnitz.com/post/26436899116/san-francisco-is-odd...