Some Thoughts On San Francisco: 8 Months In − 5 March, 2008

It's been a solid 8 months living in San Francisco now, and I wanted to share some thoughts:

Everyone knows this, so I'll get it out of the way quick: It's very expensive here. Housing, of course, is ridiculous, but everything's expensive--from gas to food to gym memberships. It's common knowledge, but it's such a pervasive truth that I can't leave it off this list.
The standard of living here is much lower than other cities (San Diego comes first to mind). For twice what you'd pay in most other cities, you will get an older, smaller apartment with far less amenities. I truly don't understand why an in-unit washer and dryer is such a hard-to-come-by feature. Further, it's not unheard of to see listings in the upper $3000s that offers no parking, no washer/dryer, no other basic features. I think that's kinda nuts.
There are many, many, many fantastic restaurants. You will never be at a loss for a restaurant serving exactly what you're in the mood for...
...with the exception of Mexican food. The mexican food here is sub-par; restaurants under-season, put beans in everything (including tacos?!?!) and make everything inexplicably wet and therefore inedible. I'm not sure why.
Sun can be hard to come by, but the weather really isn't all that bad. Compared to most places (Chicago? Minnesota? NYC?), it's absolute paradise. Seriously.
There's lots of good things within easy reach: Tahoe is a short trek, and Napa/Sonoma is even closer.
People here are absolutely in love with living here. Many have completely drunk the Kool-Aid and sing SF's praises at every opportunity.
There are way too many crazy whackjobs wandering around the city. Every city has their weirdos and whatnot, but man-oh-man there's TONS here. I'm not a big fan.

8 months, 8 thoughts on San Francisco. You have to live in a city for a while to really get the hang of it, so some of these observations might reflect my ignorance more than anything else. I'll check back in later and see what else I have to add or amend.

In the meantime, I'm open to input on what I might be missing in my list or my SF experience. Anyone got anything to add?