…surrounded by reality

At dinner the other day, A— quoted someone saying:

“San Francisco. 14 square miles surrounded by reality.”

I thought that was rather clever as I seem to like a slight self-effacement now and again. I bothered to look up the full reference. It turns out the quote was by our very own Mayor McDreamy and he really said:

“San Francisco, a wacky wonderful place, a place of dreamers and doers. I think someone described San Francisco as ‘49 square miles surrounded by reality.’ I kind of like that.
—Mayor Gavin Newsom, Speech at the Sierra Summit

I guess they didn’t have Google in San Francisco in 2005, because Gavin is quoting a saying about Madison, Wisconsinthe Left Coast of Wisconsin.

Sometimes, reality is a big old let down.

Parting shot. I love this city.

3 thoughts on “…surrounded by reality

  1. Actually it was said by Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane in 1967 – does your attestation pre-date that?

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