Revolving fortunes

It screams like a banshee, blowing a gust of warm air around you as it approaches from the bowels of the ground under the city. It howls to a standstill and within a few minutes has spewed out one lot of passengers and gobbled up another.

It is a 40 minute train ride from my son's home in North Berkeley to the CBD of San Francisco, where he works.  Most of this is underground, including 5.8km under the waters of the bay. I have travelled it twice but not during peak hour and it worked well for me.

San Francisco's central business district is like a larger version of Melbourne. It has an eclectic appealing mix of old and new buildings. (Notice the little touch of Tassie?)

 

And upmarket shops including a Westfield Shopping Mall which reminded me a bit of Chadstone in Melbourne. It is built around a beautiful dome from 1907.

 

 

But as I walked along this main street, within a few blocks the atmosphere changed. Suddenly the buildings were smaller and older, shops were boarded up, homeless people increased, and I was one of very few white people walking along.

 

I was on my way to look at the Civic Square which is a large open space with grass and children's playgrounds and in surrounded by museums and art galleries and the San Francisco Public Library.

 

As you walk in to it, the view is dominated by City Hall.

 

On the left is the Public Library with its two revolving 'L's.



And at various times I walked past homeless people sheltering from the rain in door ways, including side entrances of the Library. One woman was looking at the ground next to a statue of some famous historical figure and having a terrific time swearing away to herself or her reflection in the wet pavement maybe. Two elderly black gents approached me with paper cups, but I had no change left. Two elderly white women, one of whom could barely walk tried to get my attention. Sad....

 

It seems incongruous that there is such a different vibe for a few blocks between the main CBD financial district and the quite beautiful well planned Civic Square. The suburbs are the same in that you can drive just a few streets and feel like you have entered a totally different city in terms of socio-economic conditions and lifestyles. Yet, Americans seem to accept these obvious differences of fortune in people's lives. I guess if you can't change it, you have to accept. However, it does make me, once again, truly appreciate Australia.