It just happened that I came back one summer, started a band with an old friend, and never left. Don't get me started, it's too depressing. But I've been here long enough that I still feel a sense of freedom and adventure in the art community. I don't think that will ever die. There is also so much cross-pollination between scenes here, like the film scene and the music scene, so that there is more opportunity to work on different projects.
People are pretty friendly and supportive here, too.
The San Francisco music scene has been in and out of the national eye over the past several decades, yet has, for the most part, remained internally strong. While most people associate it with the late '60s, with Jefferson Airplane, the Dead, and Santana, it was known in the '50s for jazz stalwarts such as the still-active Mose Allison. More recently, of course, we all know what Santana did and Tommy Castro has been making noise in blues circles nationally for a few years now. It's something in the fog, or the coffee, or maybe the sourdough bread. I guess my pantheon of biggies would be Elton John, David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, The Beatles, The Zombies, Cheap Trick, and, more recently, the Red House Painters.