Asian Life in San Francisco | Asian American Poll

ASIAN LIFE IN SAN FRANCISCO
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:09:01 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

Which San Francisco Bay area offers the best environment for Asian Americans?
Downtown SF | 47%
East Bay | 31%
Marin County | 8%
South San Francisco | 14%

What's the best thing about living in the San Francisco Bay area?
Breathtaking Scenic Beauty | 40%
Clean Air | 19%
Lots of Fine Chinese Restaurants | 15%
Asians Everywhere | 18%
Great Universities, Skiing and Wine | 8%

What's the worst thing about living in the San Francisco Bay area?
No Summer Weather | 12%
Perpetual Gridlock | 40%
Too Crowded with Asians | 1%
Shortage of Decent Housing | 47%

This poll is closed to new input.
Comments posted during the past year remain available for browsing.

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WHAT YOU SAY

[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]

LSD:

"Now why do many HKers prefer to emigrate into Canada? Just plain stupid right?"

For reals. Now, Canada is a nice place. Vancouver and Toronto are beautiful towns. Shoot, even Edmonton, Calgary, and Winnipeg are decent (if you like freezing your ass off). The fact of the matter is, if some guy in HK had a choice of where he could go, what would be pick? TO or NYC? VC or SF? I think the answer is obvious.

America (hated as it may be), is still seen around the world as the place where all your dreams come true. If you are from America, and travel to another country, people will take notice. Many will be in awe, and some may not like you (most likely because they are envious), but they will definitely acknowledge your presence one way or another. Flash your American Benjamins, and you are the stone cold pimp of the nation. Whip out your Queen Elizabeth Canadian dollars, and they would be like, "Bah, who cares."

Canada has less strict immigration laws, but actually only encourage the rich to come. Those are the ones who pump money into the economy, build up real estate, etc. They don't allow your everyday shmoe to enter the country. The US isn't allowing as many over anymore. Pretty much only the ones who can come are ones who have relatives to "sponsor" them.

"Hkers don't have the buying power like the Japanese."

Well, I don't know about that. Japan is in the dumps right now. Their separation between the rich and poor is far greater than in the US and many other countries. It might even be as bad as Brazil. The Japanese media never shows you this though because they want you to perceive of Japan as a wealthy, stable nation, when in fact, nothing can be further from the truth. I'm sure you've seen clips showing the slum areas, where people literally live in wooden shacks, and ride bikes. It looks exactly like the rundown parts of Rio.

"The Japanese worshipping culture is so crazy in HK that you find HKers with names like "Akira" and "Takeshi". It's pretty sick to hear what these people are doing to themselves."

That's no worse than us having Americanized names! Besides, like you said, HK doesn't have much culture of its own. Who else are they going to emulate? China? They like American items too. Any type of American designer clothing is hot. They like American music too (then again, who doesn't?). HK people actually take influences from many foreign cultures, yet I believe they maintain a strong Chinese identity. Much of this can be attributed to the fact that HK actually manufactures many of these products. Many Japanese electronics and American clothing items are made in HK.

I was just thinking... HK has about 6 million residents, about the same as the Bay Area. Can you imagine all the people in the entire greater Bay Area cramped into San Francisco? That's how it is in HK. And all of them are Chinese too. That is just mind boggling. Think about it. We talk on here saying how some cities have "tons" of Chinese, and this and that. HK itself has three times the number of Chinese than in the entire US! That's when we start to realize how fortunate we are to be living here.
TSJ Eric@KristinKreuk.net Monday, July 15, 2002 at 11:29:45 (PDT)

LSD,

I don't think HK prefer to immigrate to Canada. It is more that Canada has lax immigration laws. USA has the harderest immigration laws around. We aren't really receptive of immigrants here.

Also in the past 10 years a lot of Chinese immigrants have been leaving the USA for China as the new place to dig for gold so the speak. Whether or not the "China Dream" is more attainable than the "American Dream" is yet another issue.
AC Dropout Monday, July 15, 2002 at 06:23:10 (PDT)

TSJ,

Yep, NY is a lot like HK. But one thing that NY differs from HK (and I mean one important thing) is the diversity and the variety. HK is basically "Cantonese" and anyone else is "inferior". The only people who are respected are the Japanese tourists or nationals. The Japanese worshipping culture is so crazy in HK that you find HKers with names like "Akira" and "Takeshi". It's pretty sick to hear what these people are doing to themselves.

HK's pastime is shopping. It's like these people don't really have other things to do but to shop. Don't get me wrong, HK has great stuff, and when I go there I buy all da sh*t I can. But it's pretty "chessy" by my standards when you see these poor HKers spend their money to look rich. HK has no real culture, everyone out there lives in a flashy superficial world. It's worse off than Japan because 1) the education system in HK stinks and 2) ordinary Hkers don't have the buying power like the Japanese.

Did u know HK is the 3rd most expensive city in the world. Only Tokyo and Osaka are ahead. But HK has a problem because there is a big gap between the working class and the elite. Most of the working class folks are f***ed. This is the reason why many decent HKers overseas don't want to live there again.

Bottom line = if you want to make money, don't go to HK unless someone out there make you an offer with a x--y amount.

I think everyone would agree that USA is the place to dig for gold.

Now why do many HKers prefer to emigrate into Canada? Just plain stupid right?
LSD Friday, July 12, 2002 at 14:01:27 (PDT)

LSD: I have always been intrigued by NYC. I will probably live there sometime during my lifetime, but not permanently. Yeah, well, you know, like the song, "If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere." NYC is a tough, competitive place. I think most people around the country can agree with that. Conversely, people perceive of California as laid back slackers, which is partly true. We are less tense than east coasters, that's for sure, but we still work hard. Otherwise, CA wouldn't be the 7th (or is it 9th... or whatever) largest economy in the world.

Bay Area residents moving to NYC? I know a few, and they only work in industries that require them be in NYC i.e. Wall Street investors, models, actresses, etc. Otherwise, I think most people from the west coast tend to stay here. There are sure a lot of vice versa though. Many of the people I meet at work are from New York and other parts of the east coast.

New York is a lot like HK. If you don't hustle, you are going to get eaten alive.
TSJ Eric@KristinKreuk.net Thursday, July 11, 2002 at 22:24:01 (PDT)

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