Long, long ago and far, far away, I fell in love with San Francisco, California, USA. This was the second large California city that I grew to admire, the first being Los Angeles where I earned my doctorate degree.

But I digress. What do I mean by “SFO of Yesteryear Ain’t Today?”

I have visited San Francisco since first attending a conference in 1984. Then again in 1986, ’87, and twice in ’88 all for meetings related to my “then” job. Subsequently, I returned hundreds of times again, and sometimes with my spouse with me as well.

During those times, I enjoyed the walkability and “transitability” of the city. The stores and restaurants were interesting and diverse, though today even more so.

For example, on Tuesday night, my boss and about 20 colleagues met at a brew pub for dinner. This restaurant featured very expensive “organic” beer. Organic beer? Really? What’s wrong with inorganic beer? Label it organic to be able to justify charging more… for a glass of beer?

Oh well, I don’t drink alcohol so I took a pass on the beer. I won’t mention the “organic” burger that was burned and smaller than a McDonald’s quarter-pounder for “just” $15!

Yesteryear, you could find a decent, affordable seafood restaurant, or Italian, or just regular American grub. And for those who like it, you could find plenty of Chinese or other Asian restaurants, too. These days, almost all restaurants cater to the millennials who pay exorbitant prices for foods featuring the latest fads — gluten free, organic, farm-to-table, GMO-free, vegan, paleolithic, macrobiotic, and so forth.

I took a long walk through the financial district and SOMA (South of Market) neighborhoods on Wednesday afternoon. The vast majority of people walking on the street were younger than 30. Almost every single one of them had his or her face buried in a smartphone. Some were riding skateboards, some even wore flip-flops with suit pants. The diversity of the city remains intact, but the average age has dropped. Either that, or I am much older than I feel.

There is a froo-froo coffee shop on almost every corner. Frappe, latte, foamy expensive swill… and almost all the millennials on the street had a cuppa in one hand and a smartphone in the other.

Okay, they enjoy this stuff. Fine for them. It just isn’t the same as when I lived here.

Lived here? Yep… there was a rather large “event” in 1989 that brought me to the Bay Area for work. My work-base was still in DC, but my work-work for three weeks per month was in San Francisco… for five years.

During that time, I grew to learn the city and the towns and counties that surround it. In my off-time, I learned more about the leather community and stores that cater to it. That’s when I learned more about leather and purchased fitted leather garments that I wore, at first only at night when I occasionally went out to a gay bar or event, but then more regularly as I became more confident and learned to worry less about others’ opinions.

Yesteryear, there were a large number of gay-oriented shops and bars, especially in South of Market San Francisco. I fondly remember building a fast friendship with Mike, then the owner of Stompers Boots. Man, what I learned from him and about boots … and how many pairs of boots I bought there. Today… no more. The current owner of Stompers Boots is someone I don’t know and have not done business with.

These days, there are far fewer gay-oriented shops and bars. As my friend Larry said, being gay in San Francisco is much like a “so what?” Businesses that do not keep up with the times close while those that cater to the current population’s interests open and thrive.

Thus, it really doesn’t matter if yesteryear’s fond memories don’t jive with the San Francisco of today. I am happy to see a thriving downtown, both day and night.

Personally, what the city has to offer today is not what I enjoy, but that’s because I am not fond of the things that millennials like, eat, or do. And I also resent being charged a 3% “Healthy San Francisco” tax on restaurant meals to pay for health insurance for city residents on top of the already very high 8.75% sales tax. That makes the total taxes on an already over-priced meal to be 11.75%. Sheesh… okay, I admit it, I’m cheap. They can have their high taxes.

Times change, cities that keep up with it thrive. Good for San Francisco, but probably not a place to which I will choose to return for a personal visit again.

Life is short: enjoy the memories, but don’t live in yesteryear.