I visited San Francisco last month for a conference and did something I hadn’t done in years. I walked and took public transportation. After living there for so many years, I’d become accustomed to driving everywhere and staying away from certain areas. This time, I decided to see San Francisco the way I used to in 1998, the first year I lived there.
I took public transportation from Oakland Airport. A bus ride to BART, a train into San Francisco and more than a two mile walk to my hotel. I walked through the Financial District, North Beach, and over Russian Hill. I forgot how steep the hills were and how many steps are on those stairs climbing Russion Hill. That night I walked another three miles to and from the Fairmont Hotel for a media event.
In the morning I walked to the Moscone center, just over two miles from my hotel. I stopped for coffee on Polk Street and made my way through the stench of the Tenderloin to reach the convention center on the other side of Market. I took public transportation back to Oakland for my flight home.
It was a different way to see San Francisco. It felt like 1998.
