"it wasn't better back then, you were just younger"
- unknown internet pundit
You'd wake up in a tree somewhere and everyone was friendly as hell. Volunteers would pick up afterwards.
Then a new mayor came in and ruined it all, locked it down, limited the area and basically killed the spirit of it.
I was younger sure but it was so much better. Applies to lots of things that get ruined.
Or is there some point where you think cohort "value in tradition" was different?
It's possible for them to believe that the techno/rave/DJ scene is worse now, and that other similar culture/social activities done now are not.
SF had many more fun venues when SOMA was underutilized industrial real estate available to promoters and artists. A counterculture needs cheap space.
A promoter friend told me after the first dot-com crash that half the twentysomethings had left SF and the other half were working their butts off to survive.