During the early 1990s, nothing earth-shattering took place in San Francisco. The nationwide recession influenced the beginning of the decade, and the quiet rumblings of the new frontier in Silicon Valley escaped much notice. By the middle of the decade, however, San Francisco and the surrounding areas had discovered a new kind of gold rush -- the Internet industry.
Not unlike the gold fever of the 1800s, people flocked to the Western shores to strike it rich -- and they did. In 1999, local media reported that every day 64 Bay Area residents were gaining millionaire status. Real estate prices went into the stratosphere, and the city's gentrification financially squeezed out many of those residents who didn't mean big business (read: many of the alternative types, the elderly, and minorities who made the city colorful). New businesses popped up everywhere -- especially in the SoMa area, where startup companies jammed warehouse spaces to the rafters. As the most popular posteducation destination for MBAs and the leader in the media of the future, San Francisco no longer opened its Golden Gate to everyone looking for the legendary alternative lifestyle -- unless they could afford a $1,000 studio apartment and $20-per-day fees to park their cars.
The new millennium was christened with bubbly in hand, foie gras and caviar in mouth, and seemingly everyone in the money. New restaurants charging $35 per entree were all the rage, hotels were renovated, the new bayfront ballpark was packed, and stock market tips were as plentiful as million-dollar SoMa condos and high-rises. San Franciscans were too busy raking in the dough and working and playing hard to heed the writing on the wall.
