Quote:
Originally Posted by BTinSF
Pictures like this are among the best responses to the "good old days" crowd. Just look at the condition of the houses and other buildings pictured in these photos and compare with today (today they've just about all been renovated and are worth plenty). In the photos even the commercial buildings in Chinatown and elsewhere look like wrecks whereas today they are well-maintained.
And the pics take a little of the nostalgia out of ideas about 60's Haight-Ashbury too.
They even suggest reason for hope for cities that are currently in the condition San Francisco was then--you know the ones (they get regularly trashed here).
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First of all, excellent thread, one of the best on this website (and I use the search function quite often).
Congratulations on documenting for us an amazing collection.
Many of us appreciate it alot.
Makes me want to watch old Ironside (free on fancast) and SoSF reruns (not yet on fancast).
Now for this poster's comment above:
Honestly, this post above sounds a bit immature and a little on the arrogant side. Either the poster is twentysomething or has a problem with history or things which are not ideally beautiful in his/her view.
First of all, many of us are not old. I, myself, am rather young. But at least I can understand clearly the following points:
- The present (no matter how much you want to ignore it) is LINKED to the past. If you never had the past the way it is, the present wouldn't be as such. Change an urban planning decision in the past, and consequences would be felt today. The urban fabric is today what it is because of the past events - which resulted at the time in the neighborhoods being a "wreck" like you naively put it. Frankly, it's ignorant to criticize nostalgia. Back then SF was NOT a "boutique elitist" city and actually had affordable housing where normal middle class people could live there. Although it was still relatively expensive, LOL. Other cities that tore down historic structures did so, because of their perception at the time. If you were not there, it would be nearly impossible for you to judge.
- Secondly, it is crystal clear that "if this" and "if that" is so ignorant when studying perspectives. We are the result of our past decisions. Therefore, the Haight-Ashbury movement had an influence on culture today. Without it, today would be different. Every decision we make in life affects the future. Even the small supposedly inconsequential ones. Therefore, if you disrespect the past you disrespect the present too, because the past is what got us here. SF urban boutique city renovation "worth plenty" (your words) is the result of those pictures you see. You cannot say that the urban area would be so expensive today if people made different decisions in the past. Plus those pictures of Haight are a sample - not reality. That's like if I looked at a picture of Miami Beach, I would call it paradise, mistakenly.
If your view of SF as it was back then is more realistic than romantically idealized, the reality of today (we have a lot of problems today, just like back then) is descended from un-romantic past when looked at in objective reality. It had influence, but it wasn't necessarily better. But then again, its descendent culture is not necessarily better either. They are one of the same! We have more gadgets, but you cannot prove that IN THE AGGREGATE we humans make better decisions today then we did back in 1955. Hence, criticizing nostalgia is irrelevant.
I'm sure there are others who see my point. Read philosophy if you don't get it.
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