Growing Up in San Lorenzo | East Bay Memories & W8V Clothing
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By Arnold
I was born in the Philippines, but I came here when I was two years old. Lived in Daly City for a little bit, but San Lorenzo is where I grew up. That's home. That's the East Bay. And honestly, that place made me who I am.
Everybody Was Right There
Growing up in San Lorenzo, everybody lived near each other. And I mean that literally. My friends were a few blocks away, maybe a street over. That was it. No texting to make plans, no Facebook invites, no scheduling something two weeks out on a calendar. You just walked to someone's house, knocked on the door, and asked if they were home.
That was it. That was the move.
I used to walk to school at San Lorenzo High with my friends. We'd walk the same blocks, pass the same houses, stop at the same spots. There was something about that routine that felt solid. Like the neighborhood was part of us and we were part of it.
I miss that. I really do.
The 24-Hour Starbucks Days
You want to know one of my favorite memories from growing up in San Lorenzo? The Starbucks. There was a Starbucks in San Lorenzo that used to be open 24 hours. And we used to hang out there pretty much all night just kicking it.
No real reason. Nothing specific going on. Just us, late at night, hanging out because we could. Because everybody was close by. Because that's just what we did.
Those were the good times. Simple as that.
Things Are Different Now
I get it. Things change. A lot of my friends have kids now, they're married, they have family priorities just like me. Life moves. People get busy. You can't just knock on someone's door anymore without texting first.
But I think about those days more than people probably realize. There was something about that closeness, that neighborhood feeling, that you just can't replicate when everyone's spread out and life gets complicated.
We didn't need technology to stay connected back then. We just needed to live near each other.
Those Blocks Still Talk to Me
Sometimes I drive through San Lorenzo now. Down Bayfair near the BART station, past the movie theaters, through the streets I used to walk every day. And it never fails.
I always look back.
I think about the memories I made on certain blocks, on certain boulevards, on certain corners. I can still picture me and my friends right there. All of us together, young, not worried about much, just living in that neighborhood that felt like ours.
That feeling never goes away. And honestly, I don't want it to.
Why This All Connects to W8V
When people ask me why I'm so passionate about making something for Bay Area dads, this is part of the answer. It's not just about hats. It's about where I'm from and what that place gave me. San Lorenzo gave me my foundation. The East Bay gave me my community. The Bay Area gave me my identity.
And now I'm a dad raising my girls in that same Bay Area culture. I want them to feel that same pride. That same connection to a place. That same sense of home.
That's what W8V is really about. It's for the people who feel all of that when they hear "Bay Area." The ones who grew up here, who have those memories on those blocks, who still feel it when they drive through their old neighborhood.
West of Everything. Always.
Arnold, founder of W8V Clothing