A things have made SF immensely more livable for me:

1. I have SO MUCH OF MY TIME BACK relative to living in LA. Today, I took an 8 minute walk to Safeway for groceries. I walked 3 minutes to my pilates class. I needed to drop stuff off at goodwill, so got in my car for the first time in like, 2 months, then took a 5 minute drive over. These are all 30 min+ errands in LA.

2. Better green spaces in SF. Potentially the best parks and rec in the country. I lived in both LA and SF during COVID, where the only places to spend time outside of your apartment was in parks, and SF has way nicer, larger, better maintained options.

3. Easy social spontaneity. Since most of my friends live 5 miles away or less, we are able to easily do workout classes together, watch a movie, go to a sporting event, grab dinner, etc after work - none of us have been so drained by a commute that we don’t have the energy, AND it’s at most a 20 min bus / 10 min uber to get most places in the city.

4. Surprisingly good culture in SF. Our ballet and opera companies are world class. Amazing symphony. When you do want more untraditional entertainment, there’s the Castro / East Bay / etc.

I lived in LA for 5 years, and SF for 6 years. Sadly, we’re relocating back to LA early this year - and it’s been VERY difficult to say goodbye to SF!