Cities Cut-official

[mgescuro]

San Francisco is NOT, repeat NOT European. If anything it is little Seoul/Tokyo/Bejing with all the Asians that live here. Now, if being a city of leftist freaks, geeks, rude people, filthy hard to navigate streets and homeless people constitutes being European then perhaps we are.

Small streets. Neighborhoods. Central meeting place that radiates to other neighborhoods. SF has a European flair to it.

As far as good food - where? I've lived here 2 years and outside of Cliff House, the Italian restaurants in North Beach and Boulevard I haven't eaten anyplace decent. Which is why when I have guests we go to Benicia, Walnut Creek or Napa/Sonoma for dinner. Heck, part of the reason I went back to Chicago a few weeks ago to visit was so I could go to some good restaurants for a change!

The Cliff House has good food??

You've got all of the North Beach restaurants. Then you've got restaurants like Lulu's, Thirsty Bear, XYZ, Carnelian Room, Tommy Toys, Palomino, One Market, Slanted Door, Le Colonial, Waterfront, Top of the Mark, Aquas, Postrio, Asia de Cuba... and I haven't even begun... Where exactly are you eating?? Or have you just not visted these places?

[LA84]

As I said, Atlanta is at number 11 on the 2005 list with a 54% volume increase, very large compared to the rest of the list.

I think I read somewhere that outside of Las Vegas, Atlanta has experienced the greatest growth in tourism in North America over the last 10 years.

[brian]

Small streets. Neighborhoods. Central meeting place that radiates to other neighborhoods. SF has a European flair to it.

The Cliff House has good food??

LOL Cliff House. Just my opinion of course, but I have lived in SF since 1998 and I have to say I think it feels very european and I am constantly amazed at all the great restaurants. LA84, here is a great list of restaurants to check out while you are still here SF Chronicle Top 100, believe it or not the Cliff House isn't even on it. Chicago is the only city in the top 10 I have never visited but I definitly want to check it out, in the right season.

[Rafa]

i like the SF logo brian..

[brian]

Speaking of the Chronicle, here is an article from today's paper about what San Francisco can learn from Vancouver's (I "heart" Vancouver) bid experience...

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c...BUGRBK7JOJ1.DTL

"He said the city should showcase the Bay Area's international character, emphasize the diversity of its population and underscore the range of non-Olympic attractions for visitors from around the world. That's just as important as having fine weather and high-quality sporting facilities in persuading international Olympics officials to bless your bid."

i like the SF logo brian..

Thanks Mo, just toying with some ideas.

[LA84]

Small streets. Neighborhoods. Central meeting place that radiates to other neighborhoods. SF has a European flair to it.

The Cliff House has good food??

You've got all of the North Beach restaurants. Then you've got restaurants like Lulu's, Thirsty Bear, XYZ, Carnelian Room, Tommy Toys, Palomino, One Market, Slanted Door, Le Colonial, Waterfront, Top of the Mark, Aquas, Postrio, Asia de Cuba... and I haven't even begun... Where exactly are you eating?? Or have you just not visted these places?

I've been to LuLu's, XYZ, Tommy Toys, Palomino, One Market, Slanted Door, Top of the Mark, Waterfront and Aqua. Of all of those Slanted Door I would call marginal. The rest I did not like.

I do appreciate the list however. Thanks!

Cliff House is totally different now that they have remodeled it and stole a chef from somewhere (I can't remember where). I was there about a month ago. My pasta and chicken dish was very tasty.

I will admit that the area around City Hall is a unique feature. Beyond that, narrow, hard to navigate streets and neighborhoods are found in many other cities in the U.S.

I beg to differ, I think Chicago isn't like New York City at all. The downtown is indeed cleaner, but Chicago's south side is not. Chicago also lacks the racial and ethnic diversity that NYC and LA have, and the culture that goes along with that. There's something about Chicago that gives me a "conservative" vibe, and sometimes even a "hokey" vibe. It really is the center of the Midwest. And a black guy I know who's from Chicago tells me that even he thinks, to this day, that Chicago is a very racially polarized city.

The South Side is no different than East L.A. and Bayview in San Francisco. Every major city has a section like these areas. And I worked with a Mexican who used to live in East L.A. and he said as well that he thinks L.A. is the most racially polarized city in the U.S. which is why he ended up ultimately moving to San Diego. So I guess each city has it's strong points and good points.

I beg to differ on the ethnic diversity observation. New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Miami are rated the top 5 most ethnically diverse populations in the U.S. - in that order. Which makes sense because 4 of them are major ports of entry. Chicago is not.

Yes Chicago is more conservative and can be hokey, much like California gives people a liberal vibe - which sometimes is not a positive thing and are sometimes branded as a bunch of mindless tree huggers. The Hollywood "stars" who go public thinking they are experts on everything and speak up on issues that they aren't qualified to address leaves a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouthes, as an example.

So yea, having spent a lot of time in NYC I would say that Chicago is a lot like a more compact and cleaner version of NYC.

[Stu]

The streets and neighboord feel of the entire city is very European. As for the progressiveness?? Well, I think that's self-explanatory already.

I'm sure if the IOC wanted a 'European' city they would look in Europe - we've all been told numerous times how 2016 is not Europe's turn, if San Francisco or Chicago are European would this count against them?

Of course many American cities have European influences, as many have Asian influences, but this doesn't make them European or Asian, it only makes them American cities with European or Asian influences. If San Francisco or Chicago want the Olympics it is of course important to stress their multicultural attributes, however, they must also stress their American characteristics - shying away from this because they may feel it's unfashionable won't fool anyone and won't challenge those who may hold prejudiced views against the US.

International recognition is not judged by tourism alone - Baghdad is a very internationally recognised city - yet has very few tourists! Barcelona wasn't the huge tourist honey pot it is today before 1992 as I'm sure Beijing's future tourist trade will increase after 2008 - yet Beijing is certainly a major world city. International prestige comes from many areas including the arts culture, economy, architecture, food, climate, history, etc.... many cities will have all of these but wouldn't be capable of holding an Olympic Games.

[SF 2016 Right Place Right Time]

It's not just international recognition. It's where people want to go:

Results of the 2005 Conde Nast Traveler

18th Annual Readers' Choice Awards

NEW YORK, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The November issue of Conde Nast

Traveler celebrates the 18th annual Readers' Choice Awards. This year's survey

boasts the highest responses and scores ever in each category. With nearly

28,000 travelers voting, the lists show an even greater global variety and

depth.

Many perennial favorites are holding onto their top spots. Singapore

Airlines is again the 2005 #1 International Route Airline, and has led this

category for 17 of the past 18 years (in 1994 Swissair took the top spot).

San Francisco, the #1 US City, has also been #1 for 17 of the past 18 years

(in 1992 Santa Fe won the honor).

[ejaycat]

And as far as people speaking Spanish & ghetto English in there.. the people in there speaking "Spanish" are speaking the language just as "ghetto" as their English counterparts. Don't think you can take Spanish classes from them.

Oh, I understand that completely. I guess I should've said "Mexican/barrio Spanish." Totally substandard.

Small streets. Neighborhoods. Central meeting place that radiates to other neighborhoods. SF has a European flair to it.

Those features are not unique to SF, nor to Europe. Other cities have those features.

The South Side is no different than East L.A. and Bayview in San Francisco. Every major city has a section like these areas. And I worked with a Mexican who used to live in East L.A. and he said as well that he thinks L.A. is the most racially polarized city in the U.S. which is why he ended up ultimately moving to San Diego. So I guess each city has it's strong points and good points.

Interesting that the person you described is a Mexican that used to live in East LA, said what he said and moved to San Diego.

It's been my observation that many Mexicans, even Mexican Americans, choose to live apart from other ethnicities, yet many of them accuse other ethnicities (particularly white people) of racism. It is possible to go to East LA. and never hear English; it's like, if they just stay in East LA, none of them ever have to speak/learn English.

And San Diego is a very conservative city, a bastion of Republicanism, just like Orange County (I HATE Orange County). And even though San Diego borders Mexico, San Diego seems a lot more "white" than LA does. I see way more race-mixing in LA than I do in San Diego. San Diego is nice to visit (I like La Jolla and Balboa Park) but I wouldn' want to live there; like I said, it's just too conservative and not very cosmopolitan.

[mgescuro]

LOL Cliff House. Just my opinion of course, but I have lived in SF since 1998 and I have to say I think it feels very european and I am constantly amazed at all the great restaurants. LA84, here is a great list of restaurants to check out while you are still here SF Chronicle Top 100, believe it or not the Cliff House isn't even on it. Chicago is the only city in the top 10 I have never visited but I definitly want to check it out, in the right season.

I've lived in San Francisco my entire life, except for 5 years, when I moved away for college. I've seen the City evolve and "rise from the ashes" so-to-speak. The changes over the past 15 years or so are just striking.

As for the food, restaurnats come and go... but San Francisco's cuisine remains some of the best in the country.

I've seen that Chronicle Top 100... and some of those choices... I just need to question... Like Koi Palace?? No way is it deserving of Top 100... Nor is Yank Sing. My family loves it, but I think it's a glorified Chinese buffet with Dim Sum.

Good to see Gary Danko, Farallon, Bix, Fleur de Lys, and Bacar on this list.

Kind of odd not to see Harris or Gaylords though.

[lrd1rocha]

And San Diego is a very conservative city, a bastion of Republicanism, just like Orange County (I HATE Orange County). And even though San Diego borders Mexico, San Diego seems a lot more "white" than LA does. I see way more race-mixing in LA than I do in San Diego. San Diego is nice to visit (I like La Jolla and Balboa Park) but I wouldn' want to live there; like I said, it's just too conservative and not very cosmopolitan.

I have to agree with you on this one. San Diego could never be considered an example of a cultural center that encourages racial integration. The county itself is pretty segregated, with North County being the more rustic version of Orange County, and South Bay being the Hispanic/Filipino area of the region. Downtown itself (as well as most of South Bay) are pretty liberal, but there are some places that North County that mirror Nebraska or Iowa. Heck, Escondido was named among the top 10 most conservative cities according to their voting record.

[baron-pierreIV]

Baghdad is a very internationally recognised city - yet has very few tourists!

Why is that?

i like the SF logo brian..

But why is the '2016' so much larger than 'San Francisco'? They have to be of the same weight.

[brian]

But why is the '2016' so much larger than 'San Francisco'? They have to be of the same weight.

Cause I like it that way. It has to be the same weight for who? I'm not submitting it to BASOC. LOL

[Stu]

Why is that?

That wasn't the point I was trying to make - I was trying to say that there are many reasons for a particular city to have a high international profile, although tourism is a reason for higher recognition it's only one of many factors.

[baron-pierreIV]

Cause I like it that way. It has to be the same weight for who? I'm not submitting it to BASOC. LOL

I know you're not. But if you're pretending to do a logo that resembles or passes as an 'Officially accepted' one, then there would be that consideration. But hey, it's your logo.

[brian]

I know you're not. But if you're pretending to do a logo that resembles or passes as an 'Officially accepted' one, then there would be that consideration. But hey, it's your logo.

Yes I am just doing it for fun. I'm not sure where on here I said I thought it would be officially accepted. The BASOC bid logo from last year had "2012" larger then "San Francisco"...

But anyway, yeah fun, good times.

[SOlympiadsW]

I'm really not feeling it for any of these cities now...but as long as it's not LA I won't be upset about the US choice