
I lived there for about 23 years in total, so of course there are things I really appreciate about the Bay!
WHY I LOVED LIVING IN THE BAY AREA
THE FOCUS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

It feels like a happy little environmentally conscious bubble, which I love!
People are generally all about health here, too. It’s not as juice-cleansy as LA, but most people love their Whole Foods, farmers markets, yoga, etc. I think it’s an antidote to all the stress from the traffic we sit in…
BEING IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO BEAUTIFUL PLACES

It’s SO EASY to take a fun weekend trip or day trip to a ton of different destinations. You can drive to Yosemite but also the coast. The city but also the forest. Wine country or Tahoe to get your snow fix. I’ll definitely miss the variety of beautiful places close by when I was living in the Bay Area!
THE DIVERSITY
Growing up, I was (and still am) surrounded by sooo many different ethnicities and cultures. It’s been a beautiful thing to grow up with and live so close to so many different types of people.
I think that it made me a more open-minded person and I learned so much about different cultures. I am very appreciative of that. I like that people in the Bay are generally pretty non-judgmental (at least the people I’ve come across) – no one really cares what you look like or where you came from.
Of course, I say this as a white girl, but my BIPOC friends have said the same. Many of my BIPOC friends say they’ll never leave because they feel so comfortable/welcome there.
BEING CLOSE TO AIRPORTS

Usually it ends up being cheapest to fly out of San Francisco (“SFO” is the airport’s name, and what locals tend to call it), but now that Norwegian flies out of Oakland, I’ve been choosing that airport more! San Jose is usually the most expensive, so I only fly out of there when I don’t feel like dealing with BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). That’s the other nice thing! BART, one of the main public transportation systems in the Bay Area, goes directly to the airport.
THE WEATHER


ALL MY FOOD SPOTS

My Canadian friend and I had a very disturbing convo about this. He said he didn’t like Mexican food that much (don’t worry, I ended our friendship right then and there) and then when I asked if he’d ever had real Mexican food, he told me that there’s a Chipotle around the corner from his work (HUGE RED FLAG AND I HAVE SHUNNED HIM EVER SINCE).
And if you’re a foodie, the Bay Area is the place to be! As far as I’m concerned, we have pretty much every type of food that’s ever existed. And most of it is really, really GOOD.
Plus In-N-Out. There’s that. If you’re a vegetarian, get the Grilled Cheese Animal Style (although you can also get your regular burger Animal Style). And get a side of Animal Style Fries. Thank me later.
BEING SURROUNDED BY MOUNTAINS

This makes for awesome hiking, too.
THE CONVENIENCE
I suppose this is probably a thing that most big cities have in common, but you can get pretty much anything in the Bay, at almost any time of day. And, there are usually multiple stores all around so you don’t have to go very far.
It’s pretty easy to find something to accommodate your needs. And chain stores (i.e. Target, Whole Foods) have sooo many locations, so you never have to drive too far (although you’ll most likely be sitting in traffic for a good part of it anyway, haha).

But overall, I just know I’ll be happier somewhere else. Somewhere that’s not so expensive, full of traffic, and crowded. Somewhere closer to nature. But at least I know I’ll have places to stay when I come back and visit!

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