It’s the weather, really. Well, okay, the jobs are nice, too, but the climate is the reason the Bay Area is so attractive to so many people. Sure, people come and go depending on the economy, but over time there are just so many people who want to live in a place with nice weather almost year-round, rather than deal with snow or six months or rain or tornadoes or humidity or mosquitoes or whatever.
Subrata called it the “eternal summer” the first year I moved here: Sunny days from April through October. The usual morning forecast is “cloudy in the morning, burning off around midday, high around seventy-something.” No, really: I hear this on the radio around 200 days a year. (Most of the rest of the days differ in that they’re either “high in the eighties”, or “chance of showers”.)
(In San Francisco itself, adjust for more fog and lower temperatures, except in September and October when it’s usually warmer.)
Last night I walked out of my building at work. It was still warm (we’re at the trailing end of a heat wave), but the smell in the air and the cooling breeze made me think that I need to get biking to work again.
This morning after breakfast I took Blackjack out on the back patio. I watched him carefully so he wouldn’t spot a squirrel and take off up a tree, but mostly he just wanted to sniff plants.
Several times this month I’ve remarked around 8 pm what a perfect evening it was. I’m sure we’ll have many more.
I don’t take full advantage of the weather the way some of my more outdoorsy friends do, but it’s relaxing just to experience it.
Until September, when I’m sick of it and ready for it to rain.
But even then, it beats humidity and mosquitoes.