Meet the newest UC Berkeley transfer: a 23-year-old from Hermosa Beach who just got accepted into the Urban Studies program, is visiting the Bay Area for the weekend, and is essentially speed-running the "make lifelong friends" questline with all the subtlety of a guy who was in a UCLA frat for exactly one year ("long story lol").

Honestly? We respect it.

The kid's resume reads like a Gen Z policy wonk starter pack: climate advocacy, housing policy, transit work, and — his words — being "freakishly into trains." If that doesn't scream future BART board candidate, nothing does. One local advised him to "definitely explore the BART system" while he's here, which is either genuinely helpful or the cruelest prank you can play on a newcomer.

The internet, predictably, had opinions. One SF resident suggested the direct approach: "Get drunk at a dive bar and meet some people." Another offered a more measured take: "Take an edible and relax? That sounds exhausting." Fair point — the post does radiate a manic energy that could power a small municipality.

Here's the thing, though. This is actually how cities are supposed to work. Young people show up broke and ambitious, they put themselves out there, they build networks that turn into careers and communities. The Bay Area used to be magnetic for exactly this kind of person — someone who wants to study why housing costs what it does and why the trains don't run on time.

The real question is whether the Bay Area is still worth the move. Berkeley's Urban Studies program is legitimately excellent. But this kid is about to go from LA rents to East Bay rents and discover that "the housing crisis" isn't just academic — it's his landlord charging $2,400 for a studio with a hot plate.

We hope he finds his people this weekend. And we especially hope that his policy education includes a hard look at why building anything in this state requires an act of God and fourteen environmental reviews. The Bay needs more people who understand transit and housing. It just also needs to stop making it impossible for them to live here.

Welcome to the Bay, kid. BART's running until midnight. Mostly.