Daily Life in San Francisco #2

Daily life in San Francisco is changed.  Before, everything was "old normal".  Now, the "new normal" prevails.  

One unfortunate feature of the new normal is the absence of San Francisco's famed cable cars.  

(February 20, 2020)

Our apartment-hunting trip to San Francisco occurred during the old normal when the cable cars were still operating.  

With a carpe diem mindset, we rode the Powell-Hyde Street Cable Car from end to end.  We enjoyed the comfortable (albeit bumpy) ride across the city.  And we are happy that we seized the day because the cable cars ceased operating shortly after our arrival and are not expected to resume until some time in 2021.

The most interesting part of riding the cable car was experiencing how steep the hills are, especially Russian Hill.  The cable car easily rolled up and down the hills.  It was certainly easier for us than walking.

We later learned that San Francisco's cable cars were an unintended consequence of how the city was laid out. When San Francisco exploded from a small camp on the edge of the bay to a bustling Gold Rush town in the late 1840's, city planners laid out street grids without regard to the city's many hills.  So, some streets were built on very steep hillsides.  Since horses had great difficulty pulling people and loads up the steepest streets, cable car lines were established starting in 1873.  The cable cars facilitated real estate development and everyday living atop San Francisco's many hills.  

Thankfully, a couple of the original 23 lines survived and still operate.  With luck, the cable cars will return in 2021.