A tale of three cities

NYC- the everlasting fountain of youth

NYC is the place where you can be a serial dater/ player at 45! Whether you're single in your 20's, 30's, 40's, or 50's- there is something for everyone.

LA- used to be "the city of image", now is a city of transformation.

LA is the place where there's often a pretense. X says he just bought a $5 million pad in Beverly Hills, but in reality he lives in Thousand Oaks and visits his buddy out there. He also boasts about his new beemer, which has been leased for the short term. Y talks about her new LV purse. Oh and Y has been shopping at Lulu Lemon since the company's inception. Z boasts about frequent run ins with Leo or Brad Pitt. The good thing is there is little hypocrisy here- the image conscious folks generally don't try to hide it.

However on the flip side, LA has transformed and diversified quite a bit the past decade. Yes, LA is still known to be the celebrity and entertainment hub of the country. However, LA is extremely diverse in terms of the people, the areas (venture to Silverlake, Hollywood, Pasadena, and Santa Monica and you'll find they are completely different), and the kinds of careers and industries that people pursue. From automobile, financial services, pharm, healthcare, gaming, entertainment, to even tech (aka Silicon Beach) now, there's something for everyone. You can easily get away from the entertainment craze and "aspiring actors".

SF- the city of rejuvenation and rebirth, as well as douchification

Here there is a different form of elitism. In SF, people may be patronizing because you haven't bumped into Larry recently, you don't know the who's who in the VC world, you aren't from a top 5 school, you don't know where to find the best "truffles" or other goodies, or you don't know how to appropriately roll a joint. Most in SF will claim that they are all about organic foods, recycling, and are humble, compassionate, down to earth beings who only want to make the world a better place (as long as they can make millions doing it).

Yet this is the city where a new beginning, without going back in time, is possible. The city where you feel alive- and every moment truly counts. Heck, every moment a new app or start up is being created. It's rare to not meet one person in a crowd that isn't or hasn't already created an app- or founded a start up. Every other person is "in transition." In most other places, this would be analogous to "unemployed." However in SF, this means this person is likely developing a start up or app that will "take over the world." Or at least, in their mind anyhow, "make the world a better place."

This is the city where you will find the wannabe tech hipster, especially in the Mission. Within minutes of walking down Valencia, you will see a scruffy looking guy with his shabby looking second hand red tight pants and plaid shirt. You'll overhear him talking about his appointment with his "meditation coach" or guru. Unfortunately, due to the tech boom the city has been "douchified", and only those who can afford to pay the $4K/ month for rent remain. The true hipsters/ artists/ social workers/ teachers have been pushed out- to East Bay and beyond.