Me Love You Long NY Times

Trust us, there's nothing East Coasters enjoy more than Crazy California stories. Especially if it involves San Francisco, Berkeley, or the Britney Spears wedding train wreck. Which brings us to this story in today's New York Times about the bid to decriminalize prostitution in Berkeley. The ballot initiative to decriminalize prostitution, or "Angel's Initiative," which we covered during our Labor Week series, failed to muster enough signatures to get onto the ballot in Oakland or San Francisco but did in Berzerkely and will be voted on this November. Despite the fact the initiative got enough signatures to qualify, not all Berkeley denizens sound stoked on the idea. Berkeley's Mayor, Tom Bates, is quoted as saying this about the initiative: "We're a progressive city - we just think it's a bad strategy. It's the wrong message to say, 'Come to Berkeley, we're wide open.'" That doesn't sound too different from the message Berkeley usually sends - "Come to Berkeley, we've got kind buds and beautiful blown glass bongs."

The article has that arch tone of "oh those wacky Californians," but SFist would like to point out that those hotbeds of New Age, Granola-crunching, Yoga-posing Hippiedom, Nevada and Germany, have decriminalized prostitution and have seen a decrease in STDs and violence among professional sex workers. The Bay Area already has a well-deserved reputation for sex tourism, an industry which should see a boost from looser restrictions on strip clubs. All New York has had going on lately is Bloomberg's smoking ban (wonder where they got that idea?) and the Republican National Convention, during which there were reports of an influx in prostitutes from across the country. Looks like we're not so crazy after all.

SFist Jon contributing.