Things Austin, TX could learn from California :)
Jul. 24. 2012
A Reflection of my Recent visit to Northern California
{San Francisco, San Jose, Palo Alto, Half Moon Bay and Los Gatos}
Recently I went on a semi-last minute trip to Northern California with a good friend while she was there for a conference. Definitely not my first trip (nor my last) to Northern California.
The friend I went with to San Fran, us at the Giants game -I dare not wear Astros, but was completely torn on who to cheer for, being a Cardinals fan and all.
For those of us who have been in Austin a while, our little blue dot in this big red state can be compared to that of California. There are a few things I noticed in California that are very similar in Austin, but could use a little tweaking.
WATER. The tap water in CA is wonderful. Straight from the glaciers of Yosemite (or so they say). It taste like my favorite Ozarka bottled water (which I can never seem to find there). Why can’t our water get to that level of tastiness? I know, I know I should really just put a filter on the faucet and use my Nalgene/fancy water bottle/with no BPA/that is large and better for the environment BUT…I don’t, and I should. I buy bottled water. Crazy, yes, but I love the taste and convenience of grabbing one each day before I leave the house.
Had to include one of my favorite photos from Yosemite National Park, us doing the “Jenny face” (bride)…most beautiful place I have been and yes, the best tasting water…
RECYCLING. Yes we recycle here in Austin. Everyone has a large container and grocery stores sell their fancy reusable bags. BUT…California recycles EVERYWHERE. It is so thoughtful and efficient. Parks, restaurants, hotel rooms even! I cannot tell you how many sheets of paper in my office are probably mis-printed and just go in the trash. More office buildings here need to have a recycling program and even restaurants. I know it is difficult, but if something was modeled after the system in CA, how hard can it really be? We are talking about a whole state (a big one at that) vs. (little) Austin, TX.
HIGHWAYS. I know people in LA are known for packin’ while driving in the ridiculous traffic, but honestly, traffic wasn’t that bad for us in NorCal (like that lingo?)-and I was there during a weekday. Maybe because there are 20 ways to get somewhere and unlike Austin traveling East to West isn’t difficult there. The appealing part of the highways in CA is that you don’t see a bunch of Exxon and McDonald’s signs off the highway. You see mountains, wind farms, more mountains, blue skies and when you pull of the highway some THEN you see your basic needs (Mc Donald’s is a basic need in life right?), gas stations, food, etc.
TREES AND FLOWERS. I know it is near impossible for our vegetation to grow like California. They get rain, sunshine and perfect temperature for things to ACTUALLY grow, ha. This heat and lack of rain kills off everything, but I felt like everywhere I went in California (Bay Area in general) has so many tall trees, colorful flowers and GREEN. Green is good. We do pretty well here in Austin of preserving our green space, Zilker park, Red Bud, Bull Creek, Walnut Creek, etc. Compared to other Tx cities, I’d say we do quite well, but California has it going on in the flower/tree department! So pretty! My friend and I went on a hike in Los Gatos (think Pleasantville) and it is as if we were frolicking on some parts of the trail so happy to be surrounded by tall trees and foreign leaves and plant-life. Yes, we are silly, but it is the little things in life, right?
Here are some photos from my trip!:
picnicing in Los Gatos after our good, long hike!
Other little things I noticed about (Bay Area of) CA in comparison to Austin, TX:
-People are active there. But if I got off work at 5 and it was 70 and sunny I’d probably be more open to running on a trail vs headed to the gym for an AC work out.
above-where we stayed in Haight Ashbury 🙂 Loved this charming apt.
-There are no fat people in San Francisco. There’s actually not a ton of fast food like there is here (and I wouldn’t say Austin has a lack of chains, we have our fair share-nothing like Houston in my opinion).Plus they all walk everywhere. And Sunday morning people were jogging like crazy, zipping past us. A few guys in shorts that were too short to wear in public. (Ah, to each their own).
The bartenders (who photo-bombed this picture) were the only one that talked to us (and prob because they sensed I tip well haha)
-The social scene–maybe it was the bars we went to, but people aren’t as social/assertive/outgoing as they are here in Austin. Maybe with this surge of transplants we have here in Austin there are more people open and ready to meet other than in San Fran, but overall we were unapproached and felt like the places were kind of clique-ish. In Austin I meet people out quite a bit, I think I actually meet more lady friends at bars than dudes, ha. Although, the last day we were there after the Giants v Astros game some drunk foreigners started chatting with us at a bar. (Can never have too many friends in Barcelona, right?! They were fun).
-I realize Austin was voted worst dressed last year by GQ, but San Fran also made that list, in my opinion we have more style here. Perhaps because it is 100 degrees outside, and there it is freakin’ cold, so they have to wear skinny jeans and scarves, but it seemed as though no one cared about their appearance. I know Dallas is much worse than Austin, big hair and all, but there are various parts of Austin that suits everyone-from the skinny jeans to the popped collars, but over all I feel like anything goes-flip flops to a steak house, sure, wedding attire down on dirty 6th-why not?! I felt over dressed most the time. Sorry for caring San Fran!
How is this not the cutest thing ever?!
That is all for now, thanks for reading as always. 🙂