Editor:

“I have a great idea!” says City Hall. “First, we’ll close the Great Highway, and then we’ll repave 19th! While all of that a is going on, we will have concert after concert after concert in Golden Gate Park while charging for parking seven days a week. What a great plan. Wait, who are these angry people? And why are they saying all these things are connected?”

The utter contempt with which the people of the Sunset have been treated since the rest of the City – specifically,  the techies – learned of our existence is mind boggling. We are looked upon as annoying inconveniences; those who stand in the way of parties, good times, and “progress.” We are painted with a single brush stroke by those with an amusement park mentality as mean and grumpy curmudgeons, fuddy-duddies who will gripe and moan about everything and anything. We are anti-parks, anti-kids, and anti-fun. 

Our lives, our homes, our families mean nothing to those seeking entertainment before anything else, as long as it comes at a cost to anyone but themselves. It matters not at all that this party-first mentality is extremely disrespectful to those of us who chose to live in the sleepy Sunset for the simple reason that was quiet and easy to get around in a (gasp!) car. And what makes all of this even more egregious is that we are disrespected by not only the techies and their minions, but by our own supervisor and the mayor as well. 

Call me reactionary, but I miss the pre-Google San Francisco when there were far fewer unabashed extremists dreaming of a city exclusively for rich white people while hiding behind a mask of progress, tainting the progressive political philosophy in the process and making Progressive a dirty word. 

I actually miss the days when the rest of the City either didn’t know of our existence or simply didn’t care. I miss the days when City Hall ignored us. I never thought of those as “the good old days,” but when faced with the alternative, I’m afraid they were. How sad for all of us. Recall Engardio!

Alyse Ceirante