Beer and books: The staples of San Francisco. In case you haven’t already heard, we here in the fine city by the Bay drink and read more than any other city in the country. Well done, my fellow San Franciscans. I’m proud to call this city home.
Rob Morse puts it best:
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“Our image of ourselves as literate wastrels is confirmed. Eat your heart out, New York and L.A. You trail far behind in the traditional authorial arts of fortifying the mind and weakening the liver.”
Here are the Top 10:
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BOOKS AND BOOZE
San Franciscans spent the most on alcohol and reading materials in the
Labor Department’s ranking of selected cities for 2000-2001.
ALCOHOL READING
San Francisco $744 $266
Denver $625 $137
Honolulu $554 $163
Portland $514 $226
Seattle $468 $170
New York $450 $195
Wash. D.C. $434 $205
Chicago $431 $158
Los Angeles $412 $148
Philadelphia $373 $144
Source: Department of Labor
Chronicle Graphic
Is it any wonder that all the great writers fancied themselves masters of the spirits? It also begins to make sense why so many of my Irish forefathers immigrated to San Francisco and settled in the damp, foggy neighborhood (reminiscent of the motherland) that I now call home.
Here’s to you, San Francisco. Cheers!
