Here’s what it’s really like to be in your 20s in S.F. |
A young crowd watches Nayan perform during the Third Thursdays electronic music festival in San Francisco on Dec. 18. There are fewer 20-somethings in the city due to a pandemic-fueled exodus and the high cost of living.
I’m somewhat of a rare breed in San Francisco. And by that I mean I’m a person in their 20s.
It’s a curious experience.
There are a lot fewer of us around than there used to be, thanks to a pandemic-fueled exodus, the high cost of living and — let’s admit it — an often painfully lackluster dating scene, at least for straight people. (One guy I matched with on a dating app told me he would be 30 minutes late for dinner because he “lost track of time while swimming laps.” When I tried in-person speed dating, the first man I spoke to said I “reminded him of his mother.”)
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Yet despite how few of us 20-somethings there are, the rest of the city seems fixated on decoding our apparently inscrutable behaviors.
You've no doubt heard the narratives:
Young people are not drinking as much and hitting the clubs less often, contributing to the decline of San Francisco nightlife and perhaps even the city’s overall economy. We are lonely and awkward — needing