I'm originally Swedish and moved from France to Silicon Valley in 2001; I found it so depressing to see all the homeless people in SF that I ended up getting a place in Palo Alto rather than SF. As I gradually became desensitized I made my way further and further up north, until I finally ended up in SF 5 years later.

I am very happy in San Francisco and have no plans on moving back for a lot of different reasons: lots of smart people working on interesting projects, great weather, beautiful city, and so forth. Having said that, one of the few things that I don't love about living here is a more civilized i.e. socialistic system.

The current situation, where we live in one of the greatest richest cities in the US, with terrible infrastructure (compared to most European and Asian metropolitan areas) and homeless everywhere is completely appalling and depressing, and I do think most people would be happier if we had great streets, parks, transportation and a clean city even if that meant a little bit less cash in their pockets - even if they don't realize it. I think most people that don't value these things have probably not spent a lot of time in cities that have them.