Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Postcards from Utopia

I just returned from San Francisco and am still revelling in the beauty of all of its sites. One thing I thought about while there is how San Francisco is one of several municipalities that is sometimes preceded with the jabbing moniker "the Peoples' Republic of..." Other places I've heard this prefix attached to are Alexandria, Virginia, the state of Massachusetts, and Evanston, Illinois. The truth is, all of these "Peoples' Republics "are pretty great places to live. While none of them are similar to the Communist states to which the phrase alludes, the policies that make these places seem more socialist or communist can't be too bad if they are such nice parts of the country to visit and live. Furthermore, a place like San Francisco is really a place of thriving entrepreneurialism, not only because it was one of the headquarters to the dot com explosion but also because it has the fewest amount of chain establishments one will find in just about any American city and a bevvy of competing small businesses in their stead. Without further ado, here are some photos from this aforementioned utopia:




(Photo credit: Steph Pituc)



(Photo credit: Steph)

5 comments:

Steph said...

Thanks for coming to visit Utopia! I'm so glad that you enjoyed your stay. I can't wait to hear more about it in your blog :) You took some goregeous photos...that one of the GGB is stunning.

Sorry I have been bad about keeping up with the blog lately...you know what's been occupying my time!

Anonymous said...

Ohh, your pictures make me so homesick! Sometimes I wonder why anyone lives anywhere else, yet here I am.

Michael Blaine said...

I grew up in a state deemed to be socialist as well, but to this day the place is near or at the top of national rankings in life expectancy, average household income, educational attainment, civic participation and infant survival rates. So I'm not quite sure what the problem is. If that's what socialism produces, bring it on!

For those who just can't stand to pay taxes, I suggest you go live in Guatemala (which boasts the hemisphere's lowest tax take as a percentage of GDP) and enjoy!

Michael Blaine
www.rudelystamped.blogspot.com

John said...

Beautiful pictures

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the People's Republic of Charlottesville, which also garnered a #1 place to live ranking in a national publication (USA Today maybe). I agree that cities that earn this title are generally very good places to live.