Lawrence Ferlinghetti Recounts More Than Six Decades of Life in San Francisco

Ferlinghetti's $65/mo rent in North Beach, adjusted for inflation, would be about $584/mo today. Unthinkably low in central parts of New York City, the Bay Area, or other first-tier metropolitan areas. The workings of the market have seen the attractions of these places, and reserved even the outlying and interstitial areas for rich people. And that is a loss.

But Ferlinghetti's rent reflected that the area was not so built up then, not considered so desirable as it is today. It was an underappreciated gem. In other places, there are other underappreciated gems like North Beach in 1951 (edit: not exactly the same, for the same people, obviously). If you want Ferlinghetti's deal, you'll have to look for one of those. Probably not within commute distance of San Francisco, though.

This is pretty funny coming from Ferlinghetti. I wonder how many times he and his friends were accused of lacking manners and having no respect for "high culture." He spent decades building a bookstore, a publishing company, holding art exhibits, and encouraging anyone who would listen to come to San Francisco. Any list of the folks most responsible for its gentrification would have to include his name.

He did what so many are doing now: come for the adventure, stay to run a business.

The Detour app has a great tour of SF taking you in the footsteps of some of the Beats and their contemporaries, including Ferlinghetti. Took it last week when my sister came to town, highly recommended.

I wonder how much time he spends out of San Francisco, because as someone who lives in Texas and has almost no grasp on how the internet and Silicon Valley have influenced San Francisco over the years, it's still quite unique to me and I consider every visit there to be a treat. It's all relative, I guess.

Sad to see a giant reduced to yelling at clouds. I say that as someone Who enjoys a good cloud scolding.