“One day if I do go to heaven…
I’ll look around and say, 
‘It ain’t bad,
but it ain’t San Francisco.’”
Herb Caen

It was a passing comment, but it caught my attention. At yesterday’s lunch at Jack London Square in Oakland, Pat Casserly, one of my St. Gabriel School classmates, made mention of how much I love San Francisco. I didn’t think much about it at the moment, but on the drive home to San José, and again this morning, I reflected on his observation. He’s right. I do love The City.

I should explain briefly that when I mention “The City,” with a capital T and a capital C, I’m always referring to San Francisco. Despite the opening commentary to every episode of Dragnet, in which the commentator says, “This is the city — Los Angeles, California,” San Francisco is, and will always be, The City!

Yes, I love San Francisco. I know it has changed drastically from The City I knew in the 1960s and early ‘70s when I lived there, and that many of those changes have been detrimental to The City’s reputation, but I still love it.

Think about it. San Francisco is home to the famous cable cars, Ghirardelli Square, the Golden Gate Bridge, Twin Peaks, Glen Canyon, Golden Gate Park, Sigmund Stern Grove, Alamo Square and the Painted Ladies, Coit Tower, Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz Island, Pier 39, Dolores Park, Land’s End, and so much more. The City is also home to the San Francisco Giants and the Golden State Warriors. (The 49ers now reside and play in Santa Clara.) 

The City has history, charm, and an amazing array of activities to enjoy, including theater productions, the San Francisco Zoo, indoor and outdoor concerts, museums, and Ocean Beach. How could I NOT love The City?

Getting back to Pat’s comment at lunch yesterday, I think that, perhaps, the reason I have such a love affair with San Francisco is that I left The City in 1972, at which time I moved to the South Bay for college. For the first eighteen years of my life, I don’t think I had much of an appreciation for where I lived. I took it all for granted. Now, however, more than fifty years later, I cherish my memories of growing up in The City and I appreciate the opportunity to visit San Francisco on a regular basis. 

I guess it’s true that absence makes the heart grow fonder.