I am in the bay area on business, I was in So Cal earlier in the week and saw several Mini's there but the number is much more in the bay area. I have been jealous of the Mini drivers I have seen around as San Francisco has got to be one the best towns for this car-especilly the MCS! I was coming back to my hotel from Saulsalido on the 280 tonight and a laser blue/white MCS zipped past at around 90mph and it sounded great.

 

AAhhh yes!! very true! How I'd love to be home right now

 

How long are you going to be in town?
Jim

 

I am flying out of San Jose Friday and I am going to see my sister tomorrow in Fairfield (Travis AFB) which will be nice as it's been about a year since her husband got stationed out here and I have not been to see her and my niece and nephews. That MCS I saw on 101 near the 280 exit tonight looked a lot like yours-was that you?

 

Probably not. I was on 280 South last night at about 4:15. Took 280 down to 92 East. Plus, I tend to stay at the speed limit on 280. Lots of CHP patrolling!
Enjoy your visit with your sister and family!
Jim

 

One of the regular NAMers is at Travis. BumblesAngel I think is the SN.

 

Enjoy your stay in the Bay Area! It really is a great place, and not just for Minis.

 

I bought my MCS from the Bay Area last Sept. Decided to look there because 1. Seem to be plentiful there (more on the used market?)
2. My uncle lives in San Francisco and could easily look at any cars I was interested in for me.

Great place to visit, I try to go there once a year.

 

BSSP (MINIUSA's Ad agency) is located in Sausalito
http://www.bssp.com/

 

I noticed the same thing last week when we were on vacation in SF - lots of Minis around, and almost all of them wave back! Saw a lot of Minis parked while we were riding the cable cars around (yes, we were tourists).

 

you should see dc metro! ill be in SF early next month for business, good to hear.

 

I don't see much waving at all -- MINI is just too common here. When I walk the dog, I'll typically see around 6 MINIs during a 20 minute walk. Yes, that means an average of one every few minutes. There are now two R56s in my neighborhood.

 

thats the mini city for sure, but some of the roads in downtown are terrible driving a mini on. if you ever want to see a mini in almost every block then you should visit noe valley which is 5 minutes from downtown san francisco. a nice neighborhood with some nice restaurants to boot.

 

yeah, i get no waves back too. i guess the mini for most people in the city is a driving statement like a prius is. yeah i'm pretty surprise i only seen one r56 in a city where minis are plentyful.

 

Well, driving around SF is not something to do lightly. The streets are tight and the traffic is always intense, not to mention pedestrians. When I'm there, I wave when I can, but most of the time there's too much going on around me and I need to pay attention to my driving.

 

What's interesting is how dramatically the density drops just outside the city borders of San Francisco. In some parts of the city, you truly see MINIs everywhere you turn. Once outside the city, even just over a bridge or down the peninsula, MINIs are suddenly much less easily found. I guess there is a particular advantage and incentive to own a very small car in the city. Leaving the Bay Area, there is an additional sharp drop in numbers of MINIs. Last year on a trip to Yosemite, once we left the Bay Area, I saw only one MINI during the entire trip.

 

I think they're just afraid to let go of the death grip on the steering wheel. I, too, noticed a large population of MINIs when I was in SF. Maybe the theory is, the smaller the car, the less likely it's going to have something fall on it during the next earthquake.

 

Gotta love the wide streets

 

I just remembered a statistic and realized it must be an important factor that allows MINI to become so popular here. Most people here don't need a family car. San Francisco has the lowest number of children (per capita) of all major cities in the US. I can tell you that there are very very few families with kids in my neighborhood (Russian Hill area).

 

I knew there was a reason I love SF. Now if I could only AFFORD SF.

 

A lot of it has to do with the parking situation too. Trying to find street parking almost anywhere in the city is freaking impossible!

 

Even the garages are exteemly tight. I had a meeting at UCSF dental school and had to park in there garage- HOLY COW that was tight-I could barely get out of the car! I saw a guy in an S Class Benz and was so glad not to be in his shoes!