I have lived, worked and played in San Francisco for 25 years. The Bay Area is where I grew my interior design business, threw events for clients and friends, attended parties, explored the many cultural offerings of the city, and ate at my favorite restaurants.
It’s also one of the many reasons why I decided to live and work part-time more than 2,000 miles to East Lansing MI this year.
I’m not alone.
The pandemic has motivated many of my clients and friends to upend their lives from cities like New York, San Francisco and Chicago and move to more sparsely populated areas.
But the virus is not the only reason why. Too many people have been trying to live in the same seven square miles for too many years. For now, there simply isn’t enough room at the ball.
A cultural migration makes a point
When COVID-19 happened, the pulse of city life flatlined. No more restaurants and parties. No more subways and crowds. Remote working and homeschooling are the new reality.
Without the distraction of city life, a decades long cultural struggle has been exposed. Has the city become a suburb for the mega-wealthy?
I operated a gallery called IS: Fine Art and Design for a few years in San Francisco. I finally decided not to renew my lease after it became clear that living in the city is untenable for young artists struggling to survive and entry level collectors can no longer afford to buy. The patrons of the art are champions for a healthy intellectual culture. What will happen to the now vacant spaces in the city once filled with vibrant art galleries and retail shops?
On the other side of the country, New Yorkers are making headlines for fighting over real estate in New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut. One of my best interior design clients with a home in San Francisco and a Park Avenue coop in New York is exploring the option of moving his family to Connecticut. While he is absolutely in love with the city, the recent events of 2020 have made city life with a small child too challenging.
Still, others are looking for a slower pace of life. A stylish friend recently asked me to help her find the perfect house in Connecticut or the Hudson River Valley. A soulful trendsetter who has been living in Chicago, she craves space and a reconnection to the outdoors. My very first client in San Francisco also is in search of greener pastures — at least two acres in Connecticut and the Hudson Valley, to be exact.
These are people who have never met, but they are headed in the same, general direction.
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The future impact of this cultural shift
The Midwest is a respite after years of exhausting myself with fast-paced city life and the ever-rising expenses that threaten my business. The 1988 Irving Tobocman-designed house my husband and I purchased in Michigan is four times the size of our Nob Hill apartment in San Francisco and costs half as much.
Like any change in life, there are trade-offs. I miss the view of the city and the Bay, but, now, I have a stunning garden to dig around in and a pool to enjoy. We also miss our San Francisco neighbors, but half of them have moved away over the last 7 years.
The idea of the city is as much a part of who I am as my new Midwestern surroundings. I still maintain my business in San Francisco, a city I love with all of my heart. I’ve filled three passports and I am used to working internationally. I’ve had the opportunity to work in many amazing cities — including New York and London — where I have forged strong community and family connections. I traveled for work the better part of the last decade. For now, I am grounded.
My hope is that my fellow design- and art-loving urban peers will nurture the diversity and Bohemian spirit of the city into these new areas — including the Northern Wabash River Valley, The Hudson River Valley; and the university belt of lower Michigan, from Ann Arbor to East Lansing and from Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids.
San Francisco was a lovely Bohemian seaside village of a city when I first moved there as an 18 year old to study film and design. I’m hopeful this cultural shift will allow cities to return to these roots and regain the authenticity that once helped them shine.
Until then, this cultural moment appears to be meant for the countryside, or at least the leafy green suburbs.