I love the bay area. I spent two years there back in the late 70s and made some good hippie friends. The culture there is so rich I could feel it in the air.
favorite place to visit, loved the climate, never could afford to live there. lived other side of sacatomatoes, up in the hills tword the lake and the ski places, worked in one of that latter briefly, and for the railroad which was usually how i got there. this was before amtrak. been there since too of course, for the fur con in san j, and bart and cal-train commute, and capitol corridor when i was living in roseville. when i drove went in through the back way through brentwood and livermore. never cared for the climate further south, have a brother in law in aptos. dad loved the north coast, mendicino on up into oregon. neither of us were ever city persons by inclination. loved muni in sf itself, and bart/ac transit in east bay. another place i've always wanted to live and haven't yet is the grass valley/nevada city/north san juan, graniteville, all up in there. all east and north of sac. nevada city was always more the place then sf, with ananda and that kind hip scale feeling.