I'm from the Bay, but I lived in LA (for a little bit) and SD (for longer) in my college years, with post-college being back in the Bay. While LA seemed to be all about bars/clubs, SD was more chill with bondfires and house parties.
There was an image, growing up, of BBQs and Potlucks as things "older people" (or at least families) do, but as I'm into my 30s, they are things I find myself doing with my friends. I'd be happy to know more people are doing them more often, and the group get-togethers I had (w/ my foreign friends) in public parks were, in fact, very low-cost and a lot of fun.
As far as my criticism, in the Bay I was friends with all different kinds of people, across many divides, and the majority of them were unfortunately stuck in the bar/club paradigm. The foreigners being the only ones who were more open to other activities.
With everyone having their own experiences, at different ages, with their own social groups, it'll be quite hard to discuss the whole topic w/o comparing individual observations.
There was an image, growing up, of BBQs and Potlucks as things "older people" (or at least families) do, but as I'm into my 30s, they are things I find myself doing with my friends. I'd be happy to know more people are doing them more often, and the group get-togethers I had (w/ my foreign friends) in public parks were, in fact, very low-cost and a lot of fun.
As far as my criticism, in the Bay I was friends with all different kinds of people, across many divides, and the majority of them were unfortunately stuck in the bar/club paradigm. The foreigners being the only ones who were more open to other activities.
With everyone having their own experiences, at different ages, with their own social groups, it'll be quite hard to discuss the whole topic w/o comparing individual observations.