Admittedly I experienced San Francisco long after Herb Caen had shuffled off this mortal coil, but nonetheless, SF of the mid 80s thru the end of the century still held the magic of which Caen wrote. Yes, we were surrounded by death in the 90s but that magic still seemed to permeate The City in the face of the abject horror that was decimating our community.
While I have not returned since I left in the spring of 2002, I have a good feeling from those who remain that a lot of that wonder has disappeared, fueled in no part by the ultra-wealthy moving in and taking over every inch of those 49 square miles.
Yeah, there have always been ultra-wealthy in San Francisco, but during my time there they were still ensconced in their mansions and towers on Nob Hill and Russian Hill. The rest of the city was still relatively affordable and I couldn't spend as freely as I'd like, I was able to make decent living and afford a one-bedroom apartment on my own on the $35-45K a year I earned during my tenure there. And parts of the city (while geographically undesirable to me for whatever reason) were quite affordable.
That's no longer true.
Do I miss it? In many ways yes, but in an equal number of ways, no. Will it always have a special place in my heart? Unquestionably, yes.