San Francisco Is Considered One of the World’s Greatest Places for 2022

The seven-by-seven’s beauty, delight, and whimsy are undeniable — even on a global stage

Matt Charnock
3 min readJul 14, 2022

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Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images/FrankvandenBergh

Yesterday, we waxed on the fact that the Bay Area’s mass exodus — a hella hyped hyperlocal trend that took off in 2020 amid pandemic-spurred shelter-in-place orders and general unease — and how it’s still going strong in 2020. Though Silicon Valley, however, appears to remain unaffected by residential zip code changes observed elsewhere in the region.

But, again: There’s so much to love, to appreciate, to find gratitude in living in this magical slice of Northern California.

There are a plethora of iconic staircases to climb; you’d be hard-pressed to find a more queer-friendly metro anywhere… on the planet; the global cuisine available right outside our studio apartments is unmatched in both its accessibility and density; every time Karl The Fog envelops the Golden Gate Bridge, bodies beneath wash with a wave of dopamine; etc., etc., etc.

Those of us who moved to SF from elsewhere — and continue choosing to live here, defiant in not being uprooted by the city’s high cost of living — aren’t unmoored by the twenty-somethings around us making $120,000 a year and complaining about being cash-strapped.

(Though don’t get us wrong: Ephemeral desires to push said financially affluent and unappreciative bipeds into fast-moving traffic do overtake our limbic systems from time to time.)

It only takes one evening stroll through the Panhandle or car-free Ocean Beach or jaunts around the Mission District to understand, on a cellular level, why San Francisco is widely considered one of the most gorgeous places in the world. According to Time Out earlier this year, it’s also the best city in the world.

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Matt Charnock

SF transplant, coffee shop frequent; tiny living enthusiast. iPhone hasn’t been off silent mode in nine or so years. Former EIC of The Bold Italic.