Dear Reader, Where Are The Early 20-Something Year Olds in SF?

Courtesy of New24, and of Real Friend Groups everywhere who do the deeply critical work of making stock photos feel more Real.

(Mhm, I’m listening to SZA right now.)

Selfishly, I would love to know where the early 20-somethings in SF are — I know there are new grads who have moved here for work, or people who go to school here, so I am imagining pockets around SOMA/Fidi/Mission where tech offices are, or clusters around the Panhandle where University of San Francisco is, or the Outer Sunset where San Francisco State is. What about youth who grew up here, and/or work non-office or non-tech jobs?

I feel deeply blessed to have intergenerational friendships with people who shift my perspective beyond the immediacy of the next few months, a semester-like cadence of time shaped by what’s been nearly a lifetime of schooling. As someone who didn’t grow up in or go to school in the Bay Area, I’ve wondered where young adults live in the city. According to World Population Data, which analyzes public government data, 9.6 percent of SF residents are age 18-24, and 13.4 percent of its population is under 18. In the same analysis, it was found that 70 percent percent of residents aged 20-24 are employed.

Different public services and regions define “transitional-age youth” (TAY) differently, but definitions usually refer to people who are in their late teens to early twenties. San Francisco says new housing for TAY is a “top priority” and defines the group as young adults aged 18-24 “transitioning from public systems (like foster care) or are at risk of not making a successful transition to adulthood.”

It feels like there are so many parallel worlds and contrasts in San Francisco — locals and transplants, housed and unhoused, tech workers and non-tech workers. I would love to meet more early 20-somethings in the city, especially when there are so few of us! In a very millennial city (the median age of SF falls in the late 30s), where many millennials came into power or wealth (or both) within in the last decade, meeting fellow senior/cusp Gen-Zers sounds like a treat — if that’s you, please give a hollllaa. I would love to co-conspire and commiserate with you.