My wife and I just got back from taking care of our 19 mo. old granddaughter in San Francisco while her folks were on vacation. I couldn't believe how many Mini's I saw zooming around the city......alot more than when I was there in December. The kids even share a garage with one. They're fairly common here in Philadelphia, but there's still no comparison.......made me feel right at home.

I don't think I'll be moving to SF anytime soon....I'd just as soon be REALLY glad to see a MINI......

Yeah, there are now 6 of them within 2 blocks of my house. They are everywhere, here.

There's quite a few of used Mini's for sale too.

http://www.craigslist.org/cgi-bin/se...cooper&cat=sss

It was a trip to SF that got me interested in Minis and helped me decide what color combo i wanted! Love seeing them all over the place there, perfect little urban car.

When we were in SF in April we, too, saw lots of smiling people zipping around in Minis. My son saw a jet black/white roof in Tiburon that he thought was the coolest. Guess what we're having delivered in August??? We rarely see black here in AZ so it will be great to have something different.

Yeah SF is full of minis. I really like it now as I can pop over to the city and drool at all of them till mine comes, also it helps make a colour decision, nothing like seeing it in person. But when I go there after I get my mini I just won't feel as original there. Oh well. Minis are a great car for SF, but trafic on the hills will make you want an automatic.

The Mini van on craigs list is so cool!!

Hahahaha, we'll have the exact same car!!!

I've seen several black MCS in Scottsdale.

Yup, tons of minis in SF. I added one to the population last week! There are districts that have more then others. In my hood, I have the only mini , while in others, I would be part of the million mini club:smile: . Depends on where you live.

They are all over the place in Boston too, but once you get outside the city, they are much harder to come by.

THIS IS SIMPLY BECAUSE MINIs AND SAN FRANCISCO RULE!!!!!

SF is a great place to drive a Mini - the tight streets, hills, and lack of parking make it fun when we cruise up from Portola Valley... usually to over eat at Scoma's...

Can you imagine driving a big SUV like an H2 in SF? Good luck parking that.

Yup, MINIs are great for urban use.
I'd think the hills might be hard on the brakes and clutch if you had to live in SF.

Other ideal cities for a MINI would be-
Seattle
Boston
Chicago
New York
Honolulu

London, Rome and Paris are also good.

The bad thing is the lack of torque makes me long for a pulley swap! Or maybe, I'll shut DSC and see how that works out.

I live 16 miles from a MINI dealer but if I see 2 MINI's in a day it's quite an event. For the longest time I had the only one I knew of in my state (Delaware) I know there are more here now but they are well hidden.

I recently drove from Birmingham, Alabama to Twin Falls, Idaho, then to Moab, Utah, then to Twin Falls, then to Yosemite, California, then to San Luis Obispo, California, then to San Francisco, then back to Twin Falls.

Total MINI's seen on the trip:

1 in Nashville, Tennessee
1 in Lincoln, Nebraska
1 in Moab, Utah
1 in Carson City, Nevada
12 in San Francisco

I saw four MCS' and two MCs today in SF. Two out of the six were LY/W like ours and out of the six, one of the drivers waved. The rest were too busy driving or talking on the phone. Most of the time, I spotted them too late to wave but my wife waved back at the girl who waved at us. I did flash one LY/W MCS but she didn't see us. Oh well!

BTW, while parking the car, some one said "nice car". I still have to wipe the finger prints off of my car everyday. Too many people touching it!

I only saw three this morning..two parked and one on the road. That's only in 15 minutes of driving.

BTW, why does Noe Valley have such bad streets considering it's one of the better neighborhoods in San Francisco!!

Well I was gonna say that but didn't want to start an agument with someone who doesn't know the facts.

Reasons why San Francisco has a lot of Mini Coopers. I can think several right off the bat.

1.) San Francisco is a hip city. Mini Coopers are hip. Put the two together.
2.) San Francisco's average household income is one of the highest in the nation. A lot of consumers can afford the markup that Mini of San Francisco or other bay area dealerships charge.
3.) Ease of parking for a smaller car. (Spaces still may be limited though)

Add your own or flame away.

My soon-to-be-San Francisco-based Mini just got built yesterday!

I already have a mental map of the dozen or so "Mini only" parking spots located within a few blocks of my apartment. Never full, unless they're being taken by another Mini! :smile:

Where's your neighborhood?

Bought ours at EB mini and didn't pay any markup. Of course, we waited one year before it arrived! We always have parking so that wasn't a factor in the decision making. I think #1 is the correct answer!

I was thinking more of after 6pm and weekend parking. Like if you were going to hit the town, try finding a parking spot around the Fillmore / Washington Streets area after 12 noon on Saturdays and Sundays and after 6pm M-F.

But yes the Mini will fit in tight spaces.

This got me thinking why New Jersey, specifically why North Jersey has so many MINI's.....it's not really a "hip" place to live, you need to cross the Hudson and move to Red Hook for that. It does qualify for the high household income reason, but not for the parking one. There are 3 dealers within 45 minutes of my house, which might explain something.