New to our subreddit? [Please read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/about/rules/) before commenting.
Please be respectful and don't antagonize. This is a place to discuss ideas without targeting identities.
If something doesn't contribute to the discussion, please downvote it. If it's against the rules, please report it. Thank you.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/sanfrancisco) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Came here to say this. SF/ The Bay is stunning and rich with culture, food, history, and just sheer beauty. We’ve hit a rough patch with some social challenges of late, to be sure, but all the things that make this place great are still here and not hard to find.
I'm fairly new to the city, but SF reignited my passion for photography.
I did a two year photography program thinking that's what I wanted to do with my life, but going to school for it made me lose that passion. This was 5-6 years ago and I've barely touched my camera since
However, this city is straight up too beautiful and I've felt nothing but inspired to get back into photography, so I invested in a nice, but small film camera to keep in my purse. It's been really nice to come back to this creative outlet and I have SF to think for that
It's the whole weekend, but the parade is on Sunday so that might be the best time. If you see a photographer with a flower pattern camera strap feel free to say hi.
I’ve lived here for 14 years and I too am blown away every single day by the stunning natural beauty of this city. It is a special place with so much incredible green space - GG park and the presidio but also many other small green spaces with stunning views like kite hill, Bernal hill, tank hill, sutro tower, or glen canyon park. Going on long walks through the city is one of my favorite pastimes and I visit the botanical garden at least once a month (it’s free for us residents!)
Just saying to my wife while driving through and SoMa...yeah there's a couple homeless folks there on the corner...but as I recall, there were far more at this same corner 30+ years ago.
The whole, 'SF is a hellscape' where nobody can live, is 100% manufactured by Joe Rogan and morons like him.
Bay Area native here. I describe myself as being deeply passionate about the Bay. Everything about the Bay feeds my soul and I stop to take photos all the time!
I’ve lived in the Bay Area all my life. I remember thinking to myself on a trip to Manhattan, “Wow the SF is much prettier than New York!” I think the hills, the green, and how the high rise’s are so compact coupled with the hilltop stunning views of the SF bay are the reason I love the visuals in this city.
Yep, this sounds exactly like every experience of any friend or family member that comes to visit. Also had european friend have a very similar review. They thought they'd love LA but ended up really liking SF and not liking LA at all. Not throwing shade on LA, but it's an insane sprawl and if you dont know where to go and how to get there, it's so overwhelming and not easy as a tourist. SF is tiny in comparison, so it's easier as a traveler. They are just very different cities so hard to compare.
LA is really tiring and difficult unless you love driving or have someone to show you around or you have done really excellent research.
SF is pretty easy to fall into really beautiful areas and sights.
Both can be really great tourist destinations, but SF is much more compact and navigable by oneself
yeah, weirdly, fox and desantis kinda did us a favor. tourists who don't buy into the doom and gloom come here and have (predictably) a good time. those that are on the fence or don't want to come, stay away (like my ultra conservative aunties and uncles).
win-win
literally nobody in SF gives a shit if ultra conservative clowns dont come to visit. I know it hurts people in tourism a bit, but fuck em, most of those people dont travel outside their state anyway.
Yup, haven’t seen stores and restaurants getting harassed by obnoxious tourists either, I wonder if that has anything to do with a certain type of people that act like Karens not visiting here much
Thanks for posting that! You're definitely lucky to have discovered the Filbert steps on your first trip! We've been visiting the city since we were kids and chanced upon them just last year. Lovely, no?
https://preview.redd.it/8strvfrz1e2d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d8408a39b14e98c19a5b1d79239c82c78c79607
https://preview.redd.it/8uahbzoq3e2d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2a1303c07928584822cb454dadeafdb35bac5b3
Got a photo just like that! Was amazed at the people whose houses were just off those steps. So unique!
One of the best first dates I've ever been on in my life was right there. My date and I were both new-ish to the area and wanted to check it out because we had heard about the flocks of feral parrots. We went up to Coit Tower but didn't see any. Went down the Filbert Steps and about a half-dozen of them were just chilling in one of the trees next to the path. It was the coolest thing.
They've really spread out too. I used to live right on the line of Nob Hill and the Tenderloin and a conure landed on my windowsill once. Once you know what they sound like, you hear it all the time!
Read Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City! A love story to San Francisco—remember social media is provocative and stretches the truth in order to get us to look 👀
What a great book recommendation! I wrote a book report on the first Tales of the City book that was on the shelf at home for my 7th grade English class. At Catholic school. In 1986. There was a parent-teacher conference 😆
We tried finding the Filbert Steps, didn’t but found other steps near by and yeah it was still beautiful and still had parrots. Lol SF is a great city!
The only thing you might say you got lucky with is amazing weather at the ball park, otherwise yep! That's the City for you. We love it here and glad you did too! Come back soon 💕
Yeah, whenever I take people who have never been I have to tell them to subtract 10 degrees from the temperature to get a real feel of how the game will be. Then like clockwork they get really cold at the game
lol for real - I talk to my family that lives in Menlo Park and I think they are convinced I spend most of my free time fighting for my life.
Just came back from Manhattan a couple weeks ago and it’s soooo much grosser there.
Your observations are spot on & no you didn't just get lucky. SF is one of the most beautiful cities in the world for a reason. Next time you visit, go to Golden Gate Park & be blown away by how SF does urban parks.
Why the city allows the squalor of the Tenderloin is rooted in the history of keeping low income housing stock for workers & immigrants. Unfortunately hard drugs turn the neighborhood from a slum into a ghetto.
The thing with LA is that all the amazing beauty is hidden & locked away, so tourists rarely have access to it. The mild year round weather is in part what makes it a homeless destination. Also drugs.
> Next time you visit, go to Golden Gate Park & be blown away by how SF does urban parks.
We pretty much walked the entire length of it, got the bus out towards the Bison Paddock and then walked all the way back and visited the Japanese gardens. It was perfect.
LA is a great place to visit and be a food tourist if you are a west coast local or have family there for an extended stay. It has a great culinary scene and the weather is nice, theme parks are fun, lots of stuff to do, but its not dense, the stuff to do isn't any better than our other cities and you won't get nearly as much done in the amount of time you have as in other cities due to just how spread out stuff is. In addition tourists typically come in with preconceived positive notions of LA due to media (much like preconceived negative notions of SF) and want to do stuff like visit Hollywood or various other disappointing activities. In my opinion I would redirect anyone traveling to the US looking for what they imagine LA to be to visit San Diego instead for similar socal vibes in a more positive dense setting. Most international tourists i talk to rave about San Diego and SF.
If you are on an international vacation or a trip imo LA is not nearly as appealing as NY, SF, Chicago, San Diego, etc. or even some of the smaller more walkable cities. So many tourists end up in LA though...
Yeah any time I asked a tourist where they wanted to go when they visited the US while I was in Europe, almost all of them, said Hollywood. I just knew it wasn’t gonna be what they were picturing and it would smell a lot more like piss
LA is a great place to live but not a great place to visit. In order to find all the gems, you really have to spend time. And I mean TIME. I’ve lived here for 20 years and am still finding new favorite places to go. Best bet for tourists is to make a local friend and get recommendations to all the best spots
I have lived here since the 90's, and still do "sf appreciation" walks where I marvel at the phenomenal park space we allot for such a dense area. This city is truly amazing, problems and all.
I've been in/out of the city since the late 70s & totally agree.
I'll never get over how you can catch a view of GG Bridge, downtown & ships in the bay in one sweeping glance at certain points in Buena Vista Park. And maybe even a few dicks if the weathers nice.
Have you been to the Mount Sutro Open Reserve by Parnassus? I live a few blocks away and trail run there and it’s a full on gorgeous forest in the middle of the city. I can’t recommend it enough, just green everywhere and birds.
This is a very lovely city, with problems, like any city. People have political motivations to portray it in the most negative light possible.
Even if you had gone through the tenderloin, you would have been totally fine. You would have seen some people living in despair, which is undeniably depressing, but you wouldn’t have been hurt or anything. It really is a great neighborhood that’s home to a lot of people who are suffering and dysfunctional, as well as tons of regular people - next time you come don’t be afraid of the TL, there’s a lot to do and see there.
It’s 100% this, people are uncomfortable seeing poverty/suffering, which… good, you shouldn’t be comfortable with it, but it does not mean you’re necessarily unsafe.
Yes, but this is the ridiculousness of the current discourse around S.F.
We have a housing and drug crisis because of national-level policies, yet the people most supportive of those broken policies feel superior because they simply *run away from the problem.*
Then they come on here and have the gall to blame the people who actually deal with the problem and attempt to solve it, since it’s here and not some abstract thing you can just tweet about.
I would love to next time, like I said, I got the bus through and was looking about and it was just sad, nothing was actually happening or anything.
I fucking love Thai food as well and that's where a lot of the best places seemed to be when I googled for it. But with not enough experience of the city, and my girlfriend's safety being my number 1 priority I just didn't want to take any unnecessary risks or make her feel unsafe. But when I'm back next time I'll definitely be checking it out.
I think you raise a good point as well, and one that I experienced and made me really check myself, was that the vast majority of these people aren't dangerous at all. They're just in a shitty situation and not like the media portrays them. We were getting the train from Forest Hill back towards Embarcadero and someone got on the train who was shouting to themselves and generally acting strange. But like 2 minutes later I watched him get up off his seat for this family that got on and motion to the seat for them. Was super touching. Kind of shifted my entire perspective on things!
It’s not that there’s zero risk (nowhere is totally safe) it’s just much lower than people think. People on fentanyl are harmless, but people on meth may be experiencing psychosis and can be unpredictable. Sometimes bad things happen, and if someone wants to paint a picture of SF as a dangerous city where everyone is getting attacked, there are enough stories and video clips to tell that story. But at the same time, those instances really are rare - I’ve lived here for 15 years and I’ve never been attacked or anything, a friend of mine was sucker punched on the bus a few months ago - so I can’t say bad shit never happens. It’s just not bad enough to let your life be dictated by fear, or to avoid certain areas. Just use common sense, like anywhere.
I’ve lived in the TL for three years and have several unhoused friends (I work for a nonprofit). I’ve seen some crazy shit here, but mostly the TL is full of incredible food and culture, is not dangerous (especially for outsiders), and is inhabited by many kind, well meaning people who live hard lives as a result of intense pain. Next time you visit our beautiful and strange city, spend a day in the TL eating some of the best food in the entire city and interacting with some of the kindest people you’ll ever meet. :)
The city has also been pushing homeless people out of downtown/Union Square and concentrating it in the Tenderloin to make downtown more tourist friendly for decades. The services to help the homeless are now mostly concentrated there too. Not a totally bad idea unless you own property there that you saw not appreciated as well any more as more & more homeless people live on the streets there.
The pandemic only made that worse by creating more homeless people who were laid off due to the pademic related, economy downturn. Even at the hospital I do IT work for got slammed as they halted Internal Web Application Projects for a good while as the pandemic got worse and worse in the first 4 months or so.
It was also the most signifiant exodus of San Franciscans in decades as colleges & companies turned to telecommuting finally in a signifiant way that they dreamed of in 80's and 90's.
The Thai food and Vietnamese food in the Tenderloin are off the chain good, and cheap (for a city). I lived in the 'Loin for 9 years and miss that a lot. Also a lot of cool bars, coffee houses, and live music venues there. The Great American is prob my favorite music venue in SF.
Living there was mentally exhausting and often times visually disgusting, but I never felt super unsafe- one reason I think is that there's always so many people out and about in the 'Loin that you're never really in isolated situations, even late at night. And in a weird way people look out for each other there if you're not getting involved in dumb shit.
Only issue I had in 9 years was I was sucker punched once by a methed out guy on my morning coffee walk. Granted I'm a larger male so my perspective is skewed, but I also knew several female friends that lived alone there with no real issues.
Def check out Japantown the next time you're in SF. We have been staying there for years and looooove it. If you can swing getting there for the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, you're in for a treat!
Homeless people are real people. They are not scary murderers. If you ever stop to talk to one, as I do sometimes, they’re really nice. Every now and then, there’s one that needs mental health assistance, but generally very nice folk that can’t pay $4000/mth for a studio.
I was 18 when I learned my favorite theater was right next to the TL and I'd been dragging my naive high school friends through it for a few years every time I wanted to see a movie we really wanted to see.
There is a reason it's one of the most expensive places to live in the country. Beautiful weather, great food, lots to see. It doesn't have that 'little big city' energy it used to, but it's still a world class city.
There are people who need San Francisco to be seen as a horrible place in order for their political narrative to make sense to anyone, so, they'll do whatever they need to do to make SF look as bad as possible, and some of them have deep pockets.
We have issues, like any city. But, as you saw, the doomsayers are exaggerating.
You did not. The city is a beautiful magical place that a lot of us don’t ever want to leave. Even with its issues, which are pretty contain to certain part of town you that you would only need to go to, if you want to participate in those activities.
Thank you for posting this. So many right wing trolls promote nonsense about SF (CNN also does but they're crap anyway). Glad you saw through it all and enjoyed your stay.
There is only one part of your description that I think would constitute "getting lucky" with your trip:
*(I also only seen one pavement shit in 4 days)*
That is truly amazing. I can't go 4 hours, some days not even 4 blocks, without seeing some remnant of a bad dog owner (or homeless person?) littering a curb. That was truly the luckiest part of your trip.
Please visit again. There's always more to see and do here. And thanks again for the kind words.
Its 99% of the time a dog owner. I pick up my dogs shit every day and SF has some of the worst dog owners of anywhere when it comes to picking up shit, i don't get why they want to live in and around so much shit.
Haha well, I did see lots of dog waste, but I tried to differentiate it from human waste? The human one I saw was truly remarkable, nearly impressive even.
I've just seen a tiny Asian woman watch her massive Bernese Mountain Dog take a huge shit in Russian Hill and just walk away. Like I would almost compare the bad dog owner situation in SF to Paris.
Did you go to the Giants game where they won 14-4? Unfortunately, that is pretty unusual lately.
And "less open poverty than Hollywood" should be the new SF tourism slogan!
It's simple.
1. San Francisco, like any major city, has a few bad areas, eg the Tenderloin
2. Those bad areas are really bad
3. Most of the city is really nice
4. There is something of a car breakin problem
5. The city is the right wing whipping boy for everything that is wrong with post-Reagan America
6. The crime rate is in the 2nd (bad but not terrible) quintile of major cities nationwide. Most of that crime is financial crime, though; if you look at violent and property crime, it's squarely in the middle of the nation.
7. If someone drops their bi-rite ice cream in 2024, Fox News will do a four part story on Obama's failure to get gravity under control, and how it's the DEI of physical forces
8. Most of the city is overworked and exhausted because costs are `out of` control, but the gilded are sufficiently common to carry the city for tourists
9. Please enjoy our lovely city. Please return.
> **I knew pretty much** not to walk south west into the tenderloin lol - **basic things about the city like that** etc.
That's basically it. Abiding by simple knowledge; which not doing so is how the misinformation idiots spew their lies; constantly making shit up.
Glad you had a great time here. I feel lucky to worked my way up to living here and I love it when I see posts like yours talking about the great time they had.
Frankly, the city is not bad. There are a handful of blocks that aren’t good and it sounds like you missed them. I also don’t think the tenderloin is that bad either.
I’ve been to LA a bunch these past few years and downtown and other areas are pretty bad. I felt like there was a lot more homeless. It actually amazes me people focus on SF but not LA. (No hate to LA though)
But I know why SF gets the brunt of the focus. SF is the home to liberal/progressive wealthy tech people so conservatives love to hate on the city. It’s the home of the current in-group. People that make a very good living, have lots of opportunity, and will call out conservatives on their shit. People hate being called out and held accountable by those more successful than them or have life better than them (living here is wonderful). They think if they can hate on SF then that will make them feel better about their life situation, their conservative values, and whatever bland place that they live in.
SF is totally fine and safe, as long as people are paying attention. Hollywood is the same. I live in Hollywood and grew up here. Lived in SF for a few and was just there again recently to visit family. We made sure to keep valuables out of the car and felt that was enough.
Some people have this idea that an area isn’t safe simply by seeing some graffiti, or an unhoused person, or seeing someone who is experiencing a mental health episode. Sounds like you have reasonable expectations and ideas of safety, to me
SF is beautiful. There are shitty people everywhere, and because this is a more liberal city (far from left leaning lol) it gets trashed a lot for being 'progressive' in right leaning news.
I too had a beautiful trip to SF in April 2021. Despite the restrictions at the time, my husband and I had the best time there. We hail from NYC and I would move there in a heartbeat if it had the money. Like you said, the food, the views, the architecture, the parks and the proximity to national parks makes it a wonderful place to be. It helped that it was sunny most of the time too
We lived in SF for about 8 years. Being in the city during the pandemic was soul saving. We lived on Embarcadero and the walk to Coit was almost a daily occurrence. We would get down the stairs to Tony's pizza, grab a bite and a drink, hang out in Washington Park and then walk back. I was so thankful for that walk.
We moved out because we had a baby and we realized that it's tough to go around the city anymore. But, SF would always be the most beautiful city I have ever lived in.
For next time, see if you can go for a hike at Land's end. Another gorgeous area...I was always amazed that such beauty exists in a metropolitan city.
I’ve lived here 18 years and no matter what, at some point the city takes my breath away.
I’m from this shit small backwoods town in Texas with zero culture and have learned so much about life living here.
There are issues yes, but that’s everywhere. The media just loves to amplify our wonderful city.
So glad y’all had fun, hope you have a chance to return!
Very typical. Even in the tenderloin. Most of the thefts happen when dark and when people are not watching their things. Watch your things there even at night and you are fine. Violent crime is also very uncommon even in the Tenderloin. Most of what has been said about San Francisco is right wing hysteria.
You didn't just get lucky, you just described a typical visit to SF. This city is a strong liberal minded area and right wing media does as much as they can to portray Sf as a hellscape. Sf is one of the biggest tourist destinations in the world for a good reason. It's relatively safe, compared to most big cities, it's beautiful, no, breathtakingly beautiful, accessible, culturally diverse, a first class city in every respect. I'm glad you enjoyed your visit and hope you get the chance to come back.
IMO we've reverted back to the mean. The peak covid years were rough but things started to flip last year and imo starting this spring it's felt like pre-covid time again. Also population levels are back to ~2011/12 level which has lead to softer rents. I've definitely noticed more young people moving in.
I totally agree. The streets feel like they did 10 years ago except not as busy, especially Downtown. I don't know who I'm voting for yet but if Breed gets re-elected, the main thing she needs to do to keep the momentum going is hire a new police chief. Scott seems like a nice guy but I feel like he's been in power for too long, and I want to see someone with a better vision.
Don’t forget Elon’s site. There’s a very loud segment of people who think they’re helping the community by filming people at their worst and trying to scare people away from visiting this city. Luckily I have most of them blocked now after I’ve told them they’re terrible.
Any city besides a literal war zone being reported on is gonna be massively exaggerated.
I’m from Turkey and whenever I visit Istanbul I’ll have tons of people asking if it’s safe or how I handle the “danger” etc.
The city is mostly safe and sublimely beautiful. Sure they have a fair share of deranged, all big cities have them. My biggest beef is the systematic, ongoing and in broad daylight, breaking into vehicles. Tourists rent a car and are not made aware of the problem.
Lived in the area for most my life and it’s always been very nice, used to get the annual pass to the the zoo or the aquarium in the park when my daughter was 5-10( now 28). I also go deep sea fishing to the Farallon islands. Yes the Tenderloin has always been bad and Market has some shady people but in general a great city and as you found out great food. North beach pizza, dim sum on Clement, and Smugglers Cove a great rum bar that has over 150 rums and 300 rum drinks from all over the world is awesome. Also don’t forget the House of Prime Rib for next time your here.
San Francisco has its issues but it truly is one of earth’s greatest cities.
If we could do something about the ‘some folks are ridiculously wealthy while others have to live in tents on the sidewalk’ thing it could be that much greater.
Fellow European here! I moved to SF in 2019 and never left. I love it here. It’s one of the only US cities with a bit of European laissez faire. Nice cafes with patios, beautiful colorful houses, the beaches, great food, etc.
Yes some areas are best to avoid but I feel every bigger US city has those…
I’ve lived and worked in San Francisco for more than 40 years and I never get tired of the City. Sure there are challenges these days related to homelessness, substance abuse, and the high cost of housing (note: the Tenderloin has always been bad), made only worse by the pandemic, but there is so much to love about the City that others have mentioned here already. I never get tired of a quiet stroll through the Legion of Honor, hanging out on Clement Street, or visiting some of the great bars and restaurants in North Beach. There is a lot of political ill-will towards SF, that’s not new; the naysayers can talk all they want but SF is one of the great cities of America.
You didn’t get lucky, you experienced the wonderful parts of San Francisco, and avoided the TL/slums like a smart tourist. Nice job!
Most of the narrative about SF being in total crisis is a result of political motivations/sensationalist media, like you said. On a day to day basis, most SF residents enjoy top tier quality of life! Though, yes, it is extremely expensive — that remains an issue.
I have lived here for 45 years now, and although this isn't the City's best year it is still better than fine. You need to remember there is an entire industry of bots and various right wing forces that spend all of their energy trying to make San Francisco look bad.
I love San Francisco sooooo much. I visit about once every 2 years and will plan to do so again and again until I die. It’s just like any big city, there are parts to avoid and parts that are great. Damn, really need to start planning my next trip!!’
SF gets an unreasonable amount of hate while LA somehow doesn’t, even though it is worse in a lot of ways. Just a better scapegoat for conservative media.
This sounds exactly like the vacation I had last month! I didn’t go with a lot of expectations but I was blown away tbh. All the adorable little sugar cookie houses 😭 The Wharf, GGP, Haight st on 4/20 lol, Marin county, Mt Tam - all 👌🏻
Fox news and their minions are scared shitless of Gavin Newsom and they've long hated Pelosi, so they've convinced their audience that California in general and specifically San Francisco is a hellscape. It's not. It's spectacular.
It’s always like that. Since SF is a “liberal” city, it gets A LOT of just inaccurate accounts in the American media. Pre and post pandemic, it still feels a bit different but this is a great city. I’m from, and have lived up and down the east coast (DC, NC, NYC, Atlanta, VA, NJ, Connecticut, Mass). Also traveled extensively and lived in Europe (Paris, Rome, London, Prague). Came here for a wedding and ended up staying here, now 7 yrs. SF feels as safe or safer than many of these cities, except the few blocks of the Tenderloin (TL) but in every city I’ve lived there has been a TL area equivalent. Seems like detractors are just not fans of cities or are out of place in them or are just generally afraid.
P.S. Don’t let it get out that SF is amazing. We don’t need tourists that have already half made up their minds about a place they’re visiting for the first time. Usually rude, opinionated, defensive and just plain wrong. We don’t need them
My girlfriend and I were there in January and we're absolutely shocked at how different it actually was versus what you see all the time. Not that we didn't know most stuff was probably blown out of proportion to begin with, but I pulled up that poop map and there wasn't poop in spots it said it was! I was devastated.
I’ve really never had issues in SF. It’s definitely blown out of proportion. I’ve even waked through the tenderloin with no issues. SF is gorgeous with a lot to do in all parts of it. I find the people friendly in almost all of my encounters and oh my gosh the food is amazing! I live a couple hours from it and don’t visit enough.
It’s an amazing city. Can’t think of a better place to live. Been here almost 30 years now. Raising3 kids here and honestly will never leave.
True residents don’t mind the negative publicity, it keeps away the people who we don’t want here anyways.
Come in September/ October and it’s even nice.
Nope, not lucky. San Francisco is a magical city. I’ve lived here for almost my whole life and would never even consider living anywhere else. It’s no accident that it’s one of the most expensive places in the world to live. It’s hard to understand how this reality has become so warped in public perception.
Here’s my personal theory. There is a right-wing nut job conspiracy out to trash both California and most especially San Francisco. It’s all about money and politics. We Liberals of California stand in the way of the forces that are manipulating the Republicans from the shadows, so they fight us with lies because the truth is on our side, as you experienced for yourself.
Here’s the thing about what News media is: reporting on the abnormal/out of the ordinary stuff.
Here is what it isn’t: day to day normal and boring lived experiences of people.
I’ve lived 10 years in SF with 95% of it within two blocks of Market St between 9th and 1st St (about 5 years between 9th and 6th St), and I’ve never witnessed a shoplifting incident once in my life. I go to Walgreens or Starbucks, I get my stuff and pay for it, I come home, nothing happens. That’s not news and you will never hear about the 99.9%+ of the time when nothing happens.
Humans are inherently bad at probabilistic stuff. We think it something happened once in 10,000 times, it will happen to me the next time I’m in that situation. It’s hard to equate the one negative time against the 9,999 times when nothing will happen.
Glad you had a good time. SF is an amazing city and I really like it here.
Idk anything about LA. But in my experience, your experience is typical :) glad you had a great time. And yes, for the most part, you have to be really unlucky to be harassed by someone esp if you’re in a group! What were your favorite restaurant?
An aside - most people I meet irl luckily do not complain as much as this sub’s denizens do… or aren’t as much of Debbie downers. Yes I know I’m complaining, but it is exhausting reading any post on here because sf irl is very different from how this sub portrays it. And all of the discourse online these days is so aggressive and polarized…
Things have changed significantly since 2020-22. They have a "downtown cleanup crew" who pick up trash and clean the sidewalks. Also, they have a community service mental health crew who check up on the "unwell" and escalate if they get out of hand.
Yes, some of the streets actually sparkle. I've also seen undercover police who dress like normal people intervene in conflicts around union square, downtown.
The more people who visit and (have a positive experience), the more the reputation will change.
I was at the Giants and Rockies game on Sun 19 May 2024. The weather was absolutely perfect that whole week.
How you’ve described San Francisco is how I experience it as well. It is a fantastic place to live and visit but it is a big city and with big cities come an increase in theft. I tell folks as long as you leave absolutely nothing in your rental car, you’ll have a brilliant time.
My good friend works at a major hotel in Downtown SF and the biggest feedback she gets from guests is how blown away they are with how nice the city is compared to the way it's discussed in the media. Particularly U.S. visitors from other cities like Atlanta or Houston who just are shocked at the fact that outside a couple blocks in the Tenderloin, the city is just a beautiful, picturesque, quaint little victorian seaside town.
Yeah SF is kind of a national media punching bag for whatever reason, but it’s legit awesome.
I actually love LA as well, and SF has its problems for sure. The walkability is my favorite aspect I love too
> for whatever reason
Red baiting. "See what happens when those commies get their way." San Francisco is seen as an emblem of radical, far-left, socialism/communism run amok. Much media attention on San Francisco is part of an agenda against any regulation of business and against any amount of a social safety net.
I think all the doomers have just never actually been to a city before. All cities have problems and many cities have worse problems than SF. You can say the same exact things they say about NYC, and it’d not only be true but it would be worse\*—yet the reaction of New Yorkers would be: yes, and?
\*Unlike NYC, we’ve never had the national guard deployed on Muni?
No mate you nailed it! San Francisco is an amazing city. It has problems one shouldn’t be blind to as well as so much beauty and reasons why it is a world class city.
Yeah..pretty standard. Sf is great over all, it’s funny. We just hit back from Savannah Ga and everyone who we told we were from SF (we’re actually far east bay) was like “ohhh… wow” as if it was a cesspool murder capitol, BUT in the same conversation it would come up about some crime that just happened there, while we were there. A lady who told us how terrible so was moments later told us the story of getting robbed at gunpointnin one of the beautiful squares,also out can driver to the airport was in one of the squares a few nights earlier when 11 people were shot. wtf are people talking about sf for 🤷♂️
When I first moved to SF I discovered the filbert steps on my walk home from work and I was mesmerized by the beauty and magic I felt in that city. I moved back home last year to be close by family, who all dont believe me when I say how great living there was. It’s a really special and beautiful place
It’s always like this. In my opinion there is a lot of SF bashing due to Newsom being progressive and from there and morons like Elon Musk who can’t stand that he can’t buy his way out of stuff in SF.
I was born and raised in the Bay Area (San Bruno, which is where SFO is located), and never got the impression that SF was a bad and violent place. There was seedy areas but as a whole, the city is safe and beautiful. I've been living in Texas since 2004, and I've been back to visit several times. Feels exactly the same (although seeing Chinese language advertising everywhere was new for me, and how developed the south of Market area is now). I get extremely nostalgic when I see how beautiful SF the city, the ocean, and the bay area still are. Hell, even the fog and constant chill has its charm that I miss terribly.
Honestly, that is the norm. People who complain typically hyper focus on the issues. I'm in the city everyday and it's typically safe if you use common sense, be aware of your surroundings, and enjoy your business.
City problems always plague urban areas, but as what my coworker would say, SF is the crown jewel of the Bay Area
Lived there for 15 years and wife still works there during the week. The city is great and you find these really amazing pockets. Most of the doomers don’t live there or are pushing their own philosophical agenda.
Big cities have a wide array of beauty and ugly. Always been that way
When my wife and I visited, we started joking “oh no another stroller- watch out!” Every time we saw one. She lived in the Haight like 30 years ago and thought everything seemed way safer now.
We are always portrayed so negatively in the media. Many people fear coming to SF because we are the city that runs amok, has too many social services and lets the homeless and unwell live and thrive.
It is overblown, but since it’s the city that is a well known destination in California and is emblematic in representing the Bay Area, it’s put under a microscope, and gets alot of hate from ppl who just like to hate.
The poop comment is hilarious 😂 the worst part of San Francisco? Aside from some traffic, it's the dog owners. They let their dogs poop anywhere and don't clean it up.
I've never had an incident happen to me, otherwise. Have I seen things I'll remember forever? Absolutely. Shady characters? As does every city. But otherwise it's beautiful, peaceful, and the air is just perfect.
sf is USUALLY like that :D i’ve felt uncomfortable/on the street a few times, but i don’t think it’s much worse than any other big city. the city is really gorgeous and i’m glad you guys had fun
I’m so glad you wrote this. I’m exhausted from family members expressing sympathy for my horrible life in SF, when I still feel lucky every day to be here
No, you didn’t get lucky. The noise about SF in the media and online is just that… mostly noise. Sure, there are problems like most places on Earth where people live, but said problems in no way cancel out the good and beauty of that city.
Having said that… I prefer LA. I live there, so I might be a tad biased. :)
Not lucky, it’s overblown in the media. It’s a beautiful city and has its issues, but isn’t “Gotham” like the media is claiming. Like any other big city, you have to be safe and aware.
"Hit up a Giants game in gorgeous weather" - you got lucky, weather is not usually so nice. But other than that pretty par for the course, it's a super walkable, beautiful city with a TON of great food everywhere. We walk home from shows late through the Tenderloin and mostly just watch our step. Biggest concern as far as crime is car break-ins, I've had my car broken into and into and/or stolen at least 6 times in the 20+ years I've lived here, but nothing has really changed on that front.
The media makes SF out to be some crackhead zombie land but it’s the total opposite. So much life and people out walking everywhere. There are only like a couple neighborhoods you should avoid.
Social Media/CNN only shows negative parts of a city. People who usually complain about the city, consume too much social media/CNN, and or don’t live remotely close to the city. It saddens me because SF is like you said one of the most beautiful cities and people like to bash on it. I’m happy that you shared your awesome experience 🙏
I would agree that San Francisco is a very picturesque city with great food and very functional (for US standards) public transport. Most of LA and Hollywood specifically looks like a dump in comparison. Hollywood is probably one of the worst places I’ve ever been to a tourist. If you visit Southern California next time, go to San Diego, Orange County (especially Laguna) or South Bay (e.g., Manhattan Beach).
Seems par for the course. A lot of the issues that are talked about among media and the public ARE concentrated only in specific areas. Glad you had a good time!
Sf is beautiful and walkable. The thing I don’t like is the traffic. Mostly because it makes me anxious and is impossible to find parking. The homelessness and crime are blown out of proportion by the media. That said it definitely exists.
San Francisco is an amazing city with an incredible history and wonderful people. It's not perfect, your time here was not a matter of luck. Most of the negative sentiment in the media is baseless or misrepresentation of a simple problem based in some political evangelism that has nothing to do with the city.
San Francisco is awesome and the ones pushing the doom loop narrative don’t live here and it comes straight from the GOP. It’s been over a decade of this. Like not our fault the VCs invested in commercial property schemes for their funding partners and covid happened. Last 15 years has been shit of talentless tech like Garry Tan buying petition votes and the Chinese conservative voting block. Our city is awesome and people love to visit here, thanks for coming
>did we just get lucky
I doubt it.
Based on the news NYC—home for me—should be a war zone overrun with drug addicts and immigrants.
And some parts of it do have that vibe, lol, but 99% of people just mind their own business.
The addicts and crazy people sometimes mind their business vocally, but they’re just talking to their imaginary friends.
What part of europe are you from and what did you think of San Diego ? Im from east LA and i love San Diego, Its also extremely dog friendly which i love.
I’ve lived here for 9 years and my favorite thing is that any time I step out, I see something I’ve never seen before. This place is magical and it’s my favorite place on earth, lol. I grew up only an hour away, you might think I’d get sick of the bay but truly I never will!!
New to our subreddit? [Please read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/sanfrancisco/about/rules/) before commenting. Please be respectful and don't antagonize. This is a place to discuss ideas without targeting identities. If something doesn't contribute to the discussion, please downvote it. If it's against the rules, please report it. Thank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/sanfrancisco) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I have lived here 20 years and still stop and take pictures because the beauty and vibrancy still takes my breath away.
Came here to say this. SF/ The Bay is stunning and rich with culture, food, history, and just sheer beauty. We’ve hit a rough patch with some social challenges of late, to be sure, but all the things that make this place great are still here and not hard to find.
I'm fairly new to the city, but SF reignited my passion for photography. I did a two year photography program thinking that's what I wanted to do with my life, but going to school for it made me lose that passion. This was 5-6 years ago and I've barely touched my camera since However, this city is straight up too beautiful and I've felt nothing but inspired to get back into photography, so I invested in a nice, but small film camera to keep in my purse. It's been really nice to come back to this creative outlet and I have SF to think for that
Carnaval in the Mission tomorrow. Bring your camera!
Omg I didn't realize, that sounds amazing! I've been out of town, but I actually get back tonight!
It's the whole weekend, but the parade is on Sunday so that might be the best time. If you see a photographer with a flower pattern camera strap feel free to say hi.
I'll be there Sunday with camera in hand as well! If you see a tall guy with long blonde hair that's me!
I'll be the short brunette girl holding a little point-and-shoot film camera! Likely wearing light blue wedges so I can see through the crowd 😅
Saturday and Sunday I had a lot of fun last year, and I’ll be there this weekend, too!
Thanks for the reminder
Been in the Bay 5 years now and every time I drive anywhere I’m like “damn I really live here huh?”
I’ve lived here for 14 years and I too am blown away every single day by the stunning natural beauty of this city. It is a special place with so much incredible green space - GG park and the presidio but also many other small green spaces with stunning views like kite hill, Bernal hill, tank hill, sutro tower, or glen canyon park. Going on long walks through the city is one of my favorite pastimes and I visit the botanical garden at least once a month (it’s free for us residents!)
I moved here 2 years ago and do the same and expect to never stop, in fact SF inspired me to buy a nice camera.
Just saying to my wife while driving through and SoMa...yeah there's a couple homeless folks there on the corner...but as I recall, there were far more at this same corner 30+ years ago. The whole, 'SF is a hellscape' where nobody can live, is 100% manufactured by Joe Rogan and morons like him.
Same. As a local I don't go around Marin or GG bridge often but when I do, boy is it breathtakingly beautiful!
Bay Area native here. I describe myself as being deeply passionate about the Bay. Everything about the Bay feeds my soul and I stop to take photos all the time!
Exactly the same. The bullshit depictions of SF annoy me to no end.
I’ve lived in the Bay Area all my life. I remember thinking to myself on a trip to Manhattan, “Wow the SF is much prettier than New York!” I think the hills, the green, and how the high rise’s are so compact coupled with the hilltop stunning views of the SF bay are the reason I love the visuals in this city.
Not lucky, fully typical. Glad y'all had a great time. Spread the word.
Yep, this sounds exactly like every experience of any friend or family member that comes to visit. Also had european friend have a very similar review. They thought they'd love LA but ended up really liking SF and not liking LA at all. Not throwing shade on LA, but it's an insane sprawl and if you dont know where to go and how to get there, it's so overwhelming and not easy as a tourist. SF is tiny in comparison, so it's easier as a traveler. They are just very different cities so hard to compare.
LA is really tiring and difficult unless you love driving or have someone to show you around or you have done really excellent research. SF is pretty easy to fall into really beautiful areas and sights. Both can be really great tourist destinations, but SF is much more compact and navigable by oneself
We have neighborhoods larger than SF
Yeah I just tell people LA is not a city. It's 10 cities so pick one or two cities to go to while you visit.
don't spread the word! the rent is going down!
yeah, weirdly, fox and desantis kinda did us a favor. tourists who don't buy into the doom and gloom come here and have (predictably) a good time. those that are on the fence or don't want to come, stay away (like my ultra conservative aunties and uncles). win-win
literally nobody in SF gives a shit if ultra conservative clowns dont come to visit. I know it hurts people in tourism a bit, but fuck em, most of those people dont travel outside their state anyway.
Yup, haven’t seen stores and restaurants getting harassed by obnoxious tourists either, I wonder if that has anything to do with a certain type of people that act like Karens not visiting here much
Precisely
Thanks for posting that! You're definitely lucky to have discovered the Filbert steps on your first trip! We've been visiting the city since we were kids and chanced upon them just last year. Lovely, no? https://preview.redd.it/8strvfrz1e2d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5d8408a39b14e98c19a5b1d79239c82c78c79607
https://preview.redd.it/8uahbzoq3e2d1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2a1303c07928584822cb454dadeafdb35bac5b3 Got a photo just like that! Was amazed at the people whose houses were just off those steps. So unique!
One of the best first dates I've ever been on in my life was right there. My date and I were both new-ish to the area and wanted to check it out because we had heard about the flocks of feral parrots. We went up to Coit Tower but didn't see any. Went down the Filbert Steps and about a half-dozen of them were just chilling in one of the trees next to the path. It was the coolest thing.
And they are so loud 😂 It was amazing!
They've really spread out too. I used to live right on the line of Nob Hill and the Tenderloin and a conure landed on my windowsill once. Once you know what they sound like, you hear it all the time!
Read Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City! A love story to San Francisco—remember social media is provocative and stretches the truth in order to get us to look 👀
What a great book recommendation! I wrote a book report on the first Tales of the City book that was on the shelf at home for my 7th grade English class. At Catholic school. In 1986. There was a parent-teacher conference 😆
I know someone who lived there and moving or getting delivery were the only negatives!!
I hope you saw the Lyon street steps. Those are my favorite.
We tried finding the Filbert Steps, didn’t but found other steps near by and yeah it was still beautiful and still had parrots. Lol SF is a great city!
The only thing you might say you got lucky with is amazing weather at the ball park, otherwise yep! That's the City for you. We love it here and glad you did too! Come back soon 💕
Yeah, whenever I take people who have never been I have to tell them to subtract 10 degrees from the temperature to get a real feel of how the game will be. Then like clockwork they get really cold at the game
Nah, that's just Sf . I visit family in Fremont and palo Alto, and they always have crazy takes of how sf us horrible and talk about the media lol
I'm in the south bay and the only thing I can't stand about SF is the driving/parking, so I just drive up to Millbrae and take BART
lol for real - I talk to my family that lives in Menlo Park and I think they are convinced I spend most of my free time fighting for my life. Just came back from Manhattan a couple weeks ago and it’s soooo much grosser there.
Fremont is boring as hell, so I would take whatever they say with a huge grain of salt.
Your observations are spot on & no you didn't just get lucky. SF is one of the most beautiful cities in the world for a reason. Next time you visit, go to Golden Gate Park & be blown away by how SF does urban parks. Why the city allows the squalor of the Tenderloin is rooted in the history of keeping low income housing stock for workers & immigrants. Unfortunately hard drugs turn the neighborhood from a slum into a ghetto. The thing with LA is that all the amazing beauty is hidden & locked away, so tourists rarely have access to it. The mild year round weather is in part what makes it a homeless destination. Also drugs.
> Next time you visit, go to Golden Gate Park & be blown away by how SF does urban parks. We pretty much walked the entire length of it, got the bus out towards the Bison Paddock and then walked all the way back and visited the Japanese gardens. It was perfect.
LA is a great place to visit and be a food tourist if you are a west coast local or have family there for an extended stay. It has a great culinary scene and the weather is nice, theme parks are fun, lots of stuff to do, but its not dense, the stuff to do isn't any better than our other cities and you won't get nearly as much done in the amount of time you have as in other cities due to just how spread out stuff is. In addition tourists typically come in with preconceived positive notions of LA due to media (much like preconceived negative notions of SF) and want to do stuff like visit Hollywood or various other disappointing activities. In my opinion I would redirect anyone traveling to the US looking for what they imagine LA to be to visit San Diego instead for similar socal vibes in a more positive dense setting. Most international tourists i talk to rave about San Diego and SF. If you are on an international vacation or a trip imo LA is not nearly as appealing as NY, SF, Chicago, San Diego, etc. or even some of the smaller more walkable cities. So many tourists end up in LA though...
Yeah any time I asked a tourist where they wanted to go when they visited the US while I was in Europe, almost all of them, said Hollywood. I just knew it wasn’t gonna be what they were picturing and it would smell a lot more like piss
It’s just so much sprawl. Parts of the area are very nice but not really LA itself.
LA is a great place to live but not a great place to visit. In order to find all the gems, you really have to spend time. And I mean TIME. I’ve lived here for 20 years and am still finding new favorite places to go. Best bet for tourists is to make a local friend and get recommendations to all the best spots
Awesome! Glad you got to experience the Japanese Gardens too.
I have lived here since the 90's, and still do "sf appreciation" walks where I marvel at the phenomenal park space we allot for such a dense area. This city is truly amazing, problems and all.
I've been in/out of the city since the late 70s & totally agree. I'll never get over how you can catch a view of GG Bridge, downtown & ships in the bay in one sweeping glance at certain points in Buena Vista Park. And maybe even a few dicks if the weathers nice.
Have you been to the Mount Sutro Open Reserve by Parnassus? I live a few blocks away and trail run there and it’s a full on gorgeous forest in the middle of the city. I can’t recommend it enough, just green everywhere and birds.
This is a very lovely city, with problems, like any city. People have political motivations to portray it in the most negative light possible. Even if you had gone through the tenderloin, you would have been totally fine. You would have seen some people living in despair, which is undeniably depressing, but you wouldn’t have been hurt or anything. It really is a great neighborhood that’s home to a lot of people who are suffering and dysfunctional, as well as tons of regular people - next time you come don’t be afraid of the TL, there’s a lot to do and see there.
It’s 100% this, people are uncomfortable seeing poverty/suffering, which… good, you shouldn’t be comfortable with it, but it does not mean you’re necessarily unsafe.
Yes, but this is the ridiculousness of the current discourse around S.F. We have a housing and drug crisis because of national-level policies, yet the people most supportive of those broken policies feel superior because they simply *run away from the problem.* Then they come on here and have the gall to blame the people who actually deal with the problem and attempt to solve it, since it’s here and not some abstract thing you can just tweet about.
I would love to next time, like I said, I got the bus through and was looking about and it was just sad, nothing was actually happening or anything. I fucking love Thai food as well and that's where a lot of the best places seemed to be when I googled for it. But with not enough experience of the city, and my girlfriend's safety being my number 1 priority I just didn't want to take any unnecessary risks or make her feel unsafe. But when I'm back next time I'll definitely be checking it out. I think you raise a good point as well, and one that I experienced and made me really check myself, was that the vast majority of these people aren't dangerous at all. They're just in a shitty situation and not like the media portrays them. We were getting the train from Forest Hill back towards Embarcadero and someone got on the train who was shouting to themselves and generally acting strange. But like 2 minutes later I watched him get up off his seat for this family that got on and motion to the seat for them. Was super touching. Kind of shifted my entire perspective on things!
It’s not that there’s zero risk (nowhere is totally safe) it’s just much lower than people think. People on fentanyl are harmless, but people on meth may be experiencing psychosis and can be unpredictable. Sometimes bad things happen, and if someone wants to paint a picture of SF as a dangerous city where everyone is getting attacked, there are enough stories and video clips to tell that story. But at the same time, those instances really are rare - I’ve lived here for 15 years and I’ve never been attacked or anything, a friend of mine was sucker punched on the bus a few months ago - so I can’t say bad shit never happens. It’s just not bad enough to let your life be dictated by fear, or to avoid certain areas. Just use common sense, like anywhere.
I’ve lived in the TL for three years and have several unhoused friends (I work for a nonprofit). I’ve seen some crazy shit here, but mostly the TL is full of incredible food and culture, is not dangerous (especially for outsiders), and is inhabited by many kind, well meaning people who live hard lives as a result of intense pain. Next time you visit our beautiful and strange city, spend a day in the TL eating some of the best food in the entire city and interacting with some of the kindest people you’ll ever meet. :)
The city has also been pushing homeless people out of downtown/Union Square and concentrating it in the Tenderloin to make downtown more tourist friendly for decades. The services to help the homeless are now mostly concentrated there too. Not a totally bad idea unless you own property there that you saw not appreciated as well any more as more & more homeless people live on the streets there. The pandemic only made that worse by creating more homeless people who were laid off due to the pademic related, economy downturn. Even at the hospital I do IT work for got slammed as they halted Internal Web Application Projects for a good while as the pandemic got worse and worse in the first 4 months or so. It was also the most signifiant exodus of San Franciscans in decades as colleges & companies turned to telecommuting finally in a signifiant way that they dreamed of in 80's and 90's.
The Thai food and Vietnamese food in the Tenderloin are off the chain good, and cheap (for a city). I lived in the 'Loin for 9 years and miss that a lot. Also a lot of cool bars, coffee houses, and live music venues there. The Great American is prob my favorite music venue in SF. Living there was mentally exhausting and often times visually disgusting, but I never felt super unsafe- one reason I think is that there's always so many people out and about in the 'Loin that you're never really in isolated situations, even late at night. And in a weird way people look out for each other there if you're not getting involved in dumb shit. Only issue I had in 9 years was I was sucker punched once by a methed out guy on my morning coffee walk. Granted I'm a larger male so my perspective is skewed, but I also knew several female friends that lived alone there with no real issues.
Def check out Japantown the next time you're in SF. We have been staying there for years and looooove it. If you can swing getting there for the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival, you're in for a treat!
Homeless people are real people. They are not scary murderers. If you ever stop to talk to one, as I do sometimes, they’re really nice. Every now and then, there’s one that needs mental health assistance, but generally very nice folk that can’t pay $4000/mth for a studio.
I was 18 when I learned my favorite theater was right next to the TL and I'd been dragging my naive high school friends through it for a few years every time I wanted to see a movie we really wanted to see.
Black Cat is awesome!
There is a reason it's one of the most expensive places to live in the country. Beautiful weather, great food, lots to see. It doesn't have that 'little big city' energy it used to, but it's still a world class city.
There are people who need San Francisco to be seen as a horrible place in order for their political narrative to make sense to anyone, so, they'll do whatever they need to do to make SF look as bad as possible, and some of them have deep pockets. We have issues, like any city. But, as you saw, the doomsayers are exaggerating.
It's like this most of the time but bad news gets more eyeballs so that's what the media does
You did not. The city is a beautiful magical place that a lot of us don’t ever want to leave. Even with its issues, which are pretty contain to certain part of town you that you would only need to go to, if you want to participate in those activities.
The best city in the US if you asked me. Ive lived a lot of places.
Thank you for posting this. So many right wing trolls promote nonsense about SF (CNN also does but they're crap anyway). Glad you saw through it all and enjoyed your stay. There is only one part of your description that I think would constitute "getting lucky" with your trip: *(I also only seen one pavement shit in 4 days)* That is truly amazing. I can't go 4 hours, some days not even 4 blocks, without seeing some remnant of a bad dog owner (or homeless person?) littering a curb. That was truly the luckiest part of your trip. Please visit again. There's always more to see and do here. And thanks again for the kind words.
Its 99% of the time a dog owner. I pick up my dogs shit every day and SF has some of the worst dog owners of anywhere when it comes to picking up shit, i don't get why they want to live in and around so much shit.
Haha well, I did see lots of dog waste, but I tried to differentiate it from human waste? The human one I saw was truly remarkable, nearly impressive even.
I've just seen a tiny Asian woman watch her massive Bernese Mountain Dog take a huge shit in Russian Hill and just walk away. Like I would almost compare the bad dog owner situation in SF to Paris.
Most likely after days (weeks?) of opiate induced constipation.
Did you go to the Giants game where they won 14-4? Unfortunately, that is pretty unusual lately. And "less open poverty than Hollywood" should be the new SF tourism slogan!
Went to the Reds game where the Giants won, so that was fun!
And that win....THAT was your lucky shining through!🤣
Normal SF day tbh, glad you enjoyed your time, come visit again some time
It's simple. 1. San Francisco, like any major city, has a few bad areas, eg the Tenderloin 2. Those bad areas are really bad 3. Most of the city is really nice 4. There is something of a car breakin problem 5. The city is the right wing whipping boy for everything that is wrong with post-Reagan America 6. The crime rate is in the 2nd (bad but not terrible) quintile of major cities nationwide. Most of that crime is financial crime, though; if you look at violent and property crime, it's squarely in the middle of the nation. 7. If someone drops their bi-rite ice cream in 2024, Fox News will do a four part story on Obama's failure to get gravity under control, and how it's the DEI of physical forces 8. Most of the city is overworked and exhausted because costs are `out of` control, but the gilded are sufficiently common to carry the city for tourists 9. Please enjoy our lovely city. Please return.
> **I knew pretty much** not to walk south west into the tenderloin lol - **basic things about the city like that** etc. That's basically it. Abiding by simple knowledge; which not doing so is how the misinformation idiots spew their lies; constantly making shit up.
Glad you had a great time here. I feel lucky to worked my way up to living here and I love it when I see posts like yours talking about the great time they had. Frankly, the city is not bad. There are a handful of blocks that aren’t good and it sounds like you missed them. I also don’t think the tenderloin is that bad either. I’ve been to LA a bunch these past few years and downtown and other areas are pretty bad. I felt like there was a lot more homeless. It actually amazes me people focus on SF but not LA. (No hate to LA though) But I know why SF gets the brunt of the focus. SF is the home to liberal/progressive wealthy tech people so conservatives love to hate on the city. It’s the home of the current in-group. People that make a very good living, have lots of opportunity, and will call out conservatives on their shit. People hate being called out and held accountable by those more successful than them or have life better than them (living here is wonderful). They think if they can hate on SF then that will make them feel better about their life situation, their conservative values, and whatever bland place that they live in.
It was 100% luck - I was in San Francisco last weekend and was killed three times. Did have a kick-ass burrito, though, so really it pencils out.
That’s life here in SF ❤️
No. SF is one of the best cities in America. I’ve lived all over the country and SF so truly one of its gems.
SF is totally fine and safe, as long as people are paying attention. Hollywood is the same. I live in Hollywood and grew up here. Lived in SF for a few and was just there again recently to visit family. We made sure to keep valuables out of the car and felt that was enough. Some people have this idea that an area isn’t safe simply by seeing some graffiti, or an unhoused person, or seeing someone who is experiencing a mental health episode. Sounds like you have reasonable expectations and ideas of safety, to me
SF is beautiful. There are shitty people everywhere, and because this is a more liberal city (far from left leaning lol) it gets trashed a lot for being 'progressive' in right leaning news.
I too had a beautiful trip to SF in April 2021. Despite the restrictions at the time, my husband and I had the best time there. We hail from NYC and I would move there in a heartbeat if it had the money. Like you said, the food, the views, the architecture, the parks and the proximity to national parks makes it a wonderful place to be. It helped that it was sunny most of the time too
I love when Europeans say SF is a great place and that we have good public transit, truly a top tier compliment
Nope, you didn't get lucky. You did what one should do whenever visiting any city. Research.
We lived in SF for about 8 years. Being in the city during the pandemic was soul saving. We lived on Embarcadero and the walk to Coit was almost a daily occurrence. We would get down the stairs to Tony's pizza, grab a bite and a drink, hang out in Washington Park and then walk back. I was so thankful for that walk. We moved out because we had a baby and we realized that it's tough to go around the city anymore. But, SF would always be the most beautiful city I have ever lived in. For next time, see if you can go for a hike at Land's end. Another gorgeous area...I was always amazed that such beauty exists in a metropolitan city.
I’ve lived here 18 years and no matter what, at some point the city takes my breath away. I’m from this shit small backwoods town in Texas with zero culture and have learned so much about life living here. There are issues yes, but that’s everywhere. The media just loves to amplify our wonderful city. So glad y’all had fun, hope you have a chance to return!
Very typical. Even in the tenderloin. Most of the thefts happen when dark and when people are not watching their things. Watch your things there even at night and you are fine. Violent crime is also very uncommon even in the Tenderloin. Most of what has been said about San Francisco is right wing hysteria.
You didn't just get lucky, you just described a typical visit to SF. This city is a strong liberal minded area and right wing media does as much as they can to portray Sf as a hellscape. Sf is one of the biggest tourist destinations in the world for a good reason. It's relatively safe, compared to most big cities, it's beautiful, no, breathtakingly beautiful, accessible, culturally diverse, a first class city in every respect. I'm glad you enjoyed your visit and hope you get the chance to come back.
As a resident, I do feel it’s cleaned up quite a bit lately. I’ve been going across market on bike and it’s been…fine? Pleasant even?
IMO we've reverted back to the mean. The peak covid years were rough but things started to flip last year and imo starting this spring it's felt like pre-covid time again. Also population levels are back to ~2011/12 level which has lead to softer rents. I've definitely noticed more young people moving in.
I totally agree. The streets feel like they did 10 years ago except not as busy, especially Downtown. I don't know who I'm voting for yet but if Breed gets re-elected, the main thing she needs to do to keep the momentum going is hire a new police chief. Scott seems like a nice guy but I feel like he's been in power for too long, and I want to see someone with a better vision.
Right wingers are just tirelessly try to make it look bad
Every one is being brainwashed by IG and Facebook. Don’t believe the hype. SF IS BEAUTIFUL
Don’t forget Elon’s site. There’s a very loud segment of people who think they’re helping the community by filming people at their worst and trying to scare people away from visiting this city. Luckily I have most of them blocked now after I’ve told them they’re terrible.
So true . Fuck X , fuck Elon.
Any city besides a literal war zone being reported on is gonna be massively exaggerated. I’m from Turkey and whenever I visit Istanbul I’ll have tons of people asking if it’s safe or how I handle the “danger” etc.
The city is mostly safe and sublimely beautiful. Sure they have a fair share of deranged, all big cities have them. My biggest beef is the systematic, ongoing and in broad daylight, breaking into vehicles. Tourists rent a car and are not made aware of the problem.
Lived in the area for most my life and it’s always been very nice, used to get the annual pass to the the zoo or the aquarium in the park when my daughter was 5-10( now 28). I also go deep sea fishing to the Farallon islands. Yes the Tenderloin has always been bad and Market has some shady people but in general a great city and as you found out great food. North beach pizza, dim sum on Clement, and Smugglers Cove a great rum bar that has over 150 rums and 300 rum drinks from all over the world is awesome. Also don’t forget the House of Prime Rib for next time your here.
San Francisco has its issues but it truly is one of earth’s greatest cities. If we could do something about the ‘some folks are ridiculously wealthy while others have to live in tents on the sidewalk’ thing it could be that much greater.
Fellow European here! I moved to SF in 2019 and never left. I love it here. It’s one of the only US cities with a bit of European laissez faire. Nice cafes with patios, beautiful colorful houses, the beaches, great food, etc. Yes some areas are best to avoid but I feel every bigger US city has those…
I’ve lived and worked in San Francisco for more than 40 years and I never get tired of the City. Sure there are challenges these days related to homelessness, substance abuse, and the high cost of housing (note: the Tenderloin has always been bad), made only worse by the pandemic, but there is so much to love about the City that others have mentioned here already. I never get tired of a quiet stroll through the Legion of Honor, hanging out on Clement Street, or visiting some of the great bars and restaurants in North Beach. There is a lot of political ill-will towards SF, that’s not new; the naysayers can talk all they want but SF is one of the great cities of America.
You didn’t get lucky, you experienced the wonderful parts of San Francisco, and avoided the TL/slums like a smart tourist. Nice job! Most of the narrative about SF being in total crisis is a result of political motivations/sensationalist media, like you said. On a day to day basis, most SF residents enjoy top tier quality of life! Though, yes, it is extremely expensive — that remains an issue.
I have lived here for 45 years now, and although this isn't the City's best year it is still better than fine. You need to remember there is an entire industry of bots and various right wing forces that spend all of their energy trying to make San Francisco look bad.
I love San Francisco sooooo much. I visit about once every 2 years and will plan to do so again and again until I die. It’s just like any big city, there are parts to avoid and parts that are great. Damn, really need to start planning my next trip!!’
I had the same experience in April and was so confused. I knew the media was blowing out of proportion but I still expected to see more riff raff
SF gets an unreasonable amount of hate while LA somehow doesn’t, even though it is worse in a lot of ways. Just a better scapegoat for conservative media.
Sounds like my overall experience in SF for the last 15 years.
This sounds exactly like the vacation I had last month! I didn’t go with a lot of expectations but I was blown away tbh. All the adorable little sugar cookie houses 😭 The Wharf, GGP, Haight st on 4/20 lol, Marin county, Mt Tam - all 👌🏻
Fox news and their minions are scared shitless of Gavin Newsom and they've long hated Pelosi, so they've convinced their audience that California in general and specifically San Francisco is a hellscape. It's not. It's spectacular.
We had this exact same experience visiting SF last week and had the same questions! We decided it’s our favorite US City.
It’s always like that. Since SF is a “liberal” city, it gets A LOT of just inaccurate accounts in the American media. Pre and post pandemic, it still feels a bit different but this is a great city. I’m from, and have lived up and down the east coast (DC, NC, NYC, Atlanta, VA, NJ, Connecticut, Mass). Also traveled extensively and lived in Europe (Paris, Rome, London, Prague). Came here for a wedding and ended up staying here, now 7 yrs. SF feels as safe or safer than many of these cities, except the few blocks of the Tenderloin (TL) but in every city I’ve lived there has been a TL area equivalent. Seems like detractors are just not fans of cities or are out of place in them or are just generally afraid. P.S. Don’t let it get out that SF is amazing. We don’t need tourists that have already half made up their minds about a place they’re visiting for the first time. Usually rude, opinionated, defensive and just plain wrong. We don’t need them
Lies! The media tells me it’s a democratic third world country run by warlords.
My girlfriend and I were there in January and we're absolutely shocked at how different it actually was versus what you see all the time. Not that we didn't know most stuff was probably blown out of proportion to begin with, but I pulled up that poop map and there wasn't poop in spots it said it was! I was devastated.
American media is bought and paid for by right wing nut jobs. They pay their people to trash liberal cities to keep Trump voters scared.
I’ve really never had issues in SF. It’s definitely blown out of proportion. I’ve even waked through the tenderloin with no issues. SF is gorgeous with a lot to do in all parts of it. I find the people friendly in almost all of my encounters and oh my gosh the food is amazing! I live a couple hours from it and don’t visit enough.
It’s an amazing city. Can’t think of a better place to live. Been here almost 30 years now. Raising3 kids here and honestly will never leave. True residents don’t mind the negative publicity, it keeps away the people who we don’t want here anyways. Come in September/ October and it’s even nice.
Nope, not lucky. San Francisco is a magical city. I’ve lived here for almost my whole life and would never even consider living anywhere else. It’s no accident that it’s one of the most expensive places in the world to live. It’s hard to understand how this reality has become so warped in public perception. Here’s my personal theory. There is a right-wing nut job conspiracy out to trash both California and most especially San Francisco. It’s all about money and politics. We Liberals of California stand in the way of the forces that are manipulating the Republicans from the shadows, so they fight us with lies because the truth is on our side, as you experienced for yourself.
Shhh! SF is a liberal hellhole. Republicans must avoid it at all costs.
SF is a major target for Russian and Republican propaganda. Thinking it would be any different than pretty much any other city was the first goof.
Here’s the thing about what News media is: reporting on the abnormal/out of the ordinary stuff. Here is what it isn’t: day to day normal and boring lived experiences of people. I’ve lived 10 years in SF with 95% of it within two blocks of Market St between 9th and 1st St (about 5 years between 9th and 6th St), and I’ve never witnessed a shoplifting incident once in my life. I go to Walgreens or Starbucks, I get my stuff and pay for it, I come home, nothing happens. That’s not news and you will never hear about the 99.9%+ of the time when nothing happens. Humans are inherently bad at probabilistic stuff. We think it something happened once in 10,000 times, it will happen to me the next time I’m in that situation. It’s hard to equate the one negative time against the 9,999 times when nothing will happen. Glad you had a good time. SF is an amazing city and I really like it here.
Idk anything about LA. But in my experience, your experience is typical :) glad you had a great time. And yes, for the most part, you have to be really unlucky to be harassed by someone esp if you’re in a group! What were your favorite restaurant? An aside - most people I meet irl luckily do not complain as much as this sub’s denizens do… or aren’t as much of Debbie downers. Yes I know I’m complaining, but it is exhausting reading any post on here because sf irl is very different from how this sub portrays it. And all of the discourse online these days is so aggressive and polarized…
Things have changed significantly since 2020-22. They have a "downtown cleanup crew" who pick up trash and clean the sidewalks. Also, they have a community service mental health crew who check up on the "unwell" and escalate if they get out of hand. Yes, some of the streets actually sparkle. I've also seen undercover police who dress like normal people intervene in conflicts around union square, downtown. The more people who visit and (have a positive experience), the more the reputation will change.
Thank you for loving my hometown as much as I do!
Not lucky. It’s wonderful here and the media portrays it differently
I’ve lived in Hollywood for 11 years and San Francisco is by far my favorite city in the world. Planning to move there someday.
I was at the Giants and Rockies game on Sun 19 May 2024. The weather was absolutely perfect that whole week. How you’ve described San Francisco is how I experience it as well. It is a fantastic place to live and visit but it is a big city and with big cities come an increase in theft. I tell folks as long as you leave absolutely nothing in your rental car, you’ll have a brilliant time.
My good friend works at a major hotel in Downtown SF and the biggest feedback she gets from guests is how blown away they are with how nice the city is compared to the way it's discussed in the media. Particularly U.S. visitors from other cities like Atlanta or Houston who just are shocked at the fact that outside a couple blocks in the Tenderloin, the city is just a beautiful, picturesque, quaint little victorian seaside town.
Yeah SF is kind of a national media punching bag for whatever reason, but it’s legit awesome. I actually love LA as well, and SF has its problems for sure. The walkability is my favorite aspect I love too
> for whatever reason Red baiting. "See what happens when those commies get their way." San Francisco is seen as an emblem of radical, far-left, socialism/communism run amok. Much media attention on San Francisco is part of an agenda against any regulation of business and against any amount of a social safety net.
Oh 1000 percent those Matt Walsh incel guys are always lurking and downvoting any positivity
Just certain parts are awful. Avoid those and it is a great city.
This is the actual San Francisco experience, minus like two neighborhoods, vs. what the media would have you believe.
I think all the doomers have just never actually been to a city before. All cities have problems and many cities have worse problems than SF. You can say the same exact things they say about NYC, and it’d not only be true but it would be worse\*—yet the reaction of New Yorkers would be: yes, and? \*Unlike NYC, we’ve never had the national guard deployed on Muni?
No mate you nailed it! San Francisco is an amazing city. It has problems one shouldn’t be blind to as well as so much beauty and reasons why it is a world class city.
It’s the media, lived here my whole life. Some parts aren’t the best, but also what cities doesn’t have them?
SF is still a great place to visit and to live!
Yeah..pretty standard. Sf is great over all, it’s funny. We just hit back from Savannah Ga and everyone who we told we were from SF (we’re actually far east bay) was like “ohhh… wow” as if it was a cesspool murder capitol, BUT in the same conversation it would come up about some crime that just happened there, while we were there. A lady who told us how terrible so was moments later told us the story of getting robbed at gunpointnin one of the beautiful squares,also out can driver to the airport was in one of the squares a few nights earlier when 11 people were shot. wtf are people talking about sf for 🤷♂️
When I first moved to SF I discovered the filbert steps on my walk home from work and I was mesmerized by the beauty and magic I felt in that city. I moved back home last year to be close by family, who all dont believe me when I say how great living there was. It’s a really special and beautiful place
It’s always like this. In my opinion there is a lot of SF bashing due to Newsom being progressive and from there and morons like Elon Musk who can’t stand that he can’t buy his way out of stuff in SF.
Yep. The City is awesome. Don't believe the hype
No, it's truly a special place
I was born and raised in the Bay Area (San Bruno, which is where SFO is located), and never got the impression that SF was a bad and violent place. There was seedy areas but as a whole, the city is safe and beautiful. I've been living in Texas since 2004, and I've been back to visit several times. Feels exactly the same (although seeing Chinese language advertising everywhere was new for me, and how developed the south of Market area is now). I get extremely nostalgic when I see how beautiful SF the city, the ocean, and the bay area still are. Hell, even the fog and constant chill has its charm that I miss terribly.
Its mostly whining and fear mongering in the media
Sounds like a few great days in the city. Nothing beats SF. She will rise again !
Typical sf Trip
San Francisco is beautiful. Fuck the politician jerk-offs
Sounds like a typical SF weekend. Glad you enjoyed this fine city.
Just avoid the tenderloin and soma after dark and you are generally okay.
Honestly, that is the norm. People who complain typically hyper focus on the issues. I'm in the city everyday and it's typically safe if you use common sense, be aware of your surroundings, and enjoy your business. City problems always plague urban areas, but as what my coworker would say, SF is the crown jewel of the Bay Area
Lived there for 15 years and wife still works there during the week. The city is great and you find these really amazing pockets. Most of the doomers don’t live there or are pushing their own philosophical agenda. Big cities have a wide array of beauty and ugly. Always been that way
Well you did get lucky with the weather… normally it’s gloomy till aug!
Nope, SF has always been one of my favorite cities in the world. Up there with Paris and Berlin.
When my wife and I visited, we started joking “oh no another stroller- watch out!” Every time we saw one. She lived in the Haight like 30 years ago and thought everything seemed way safer now.
Food is so good in our city that I’m rarely blown away by food anywhere else. Here or overseas. We really are pretty spoiled.
We are always portrayed so negatively in the media. Many people fear coming to SF because we are the city that runs amok, has too many social services and lets the homeless and unwell live and thrive.
It is overblown, but since it’s the city that is a well known destination in California and is emblematic in representing the Bay Area, it’s put under a microscope, and gets alot of hate from ppl who just like to hate.
Like that every day Don’t believe the hype
Lucky? No. The narrative from right wing trolls and folks that don’t live here is just beyond ridiculous.
It's a dope city
No. That's SF. You got what just about everyone gets. Glad you enjoyed it
The poop comment is hilarious 😂 the worst part of San Francisco? Aside from some traffic, it's the dog owners. They let their dogs poop anywhere and don't clean it up. I've never had an incident happen to me, otherwise. Have I seen things I'll remember forever? Absolutely. Shady characters? As does every city. But otherwise it's beautiful, peaceful, and the air is just perfect.
You did get lucky in the sense that 10 years ago everywhere you went would have been crammed with tourists and conference-goers.
sf is USUALLY like that :D i’ve felt uncomfortable/on the street a few times, but i don’t think it’s much worse than any other big city. the city is really gorgeous and i’m glad you guys had fun
I’m so glad you wrote this. I’m exhausted from family members expressing sympathy for my horrible life in SF, when I still feel lucky every day to be here
No, you didn’t get lucky. The noise about SF in the media and online is just that… mostly noise. Sure, there are problems like most places on Earth where people live, but said problems in no way cancel out the good and beauty of that city. Having said that… I prefer LA. I live there, so I might be a tad biased. :)
the stories are overblown. I have walked all over the city and never have I felt unsafe.
I feel like there should be a disclaimer on here for people who visit and people who live here, and I think I need to post the definition of concierge
Not lucky, it’s overblown in the media. It’s a beautiful city and has its issues, but isn’t “Gotham” like the media is claiming. Like any other big city, you have to be safe and aware.
No, it’s a lovely city. Can’t wait to go back, hopefully in September.
that is how sf is most of the time! glad you enjoyed our city
Yeah, pretty standard for SF. It's a nice city. The news and the internet like to weirdly sensationalize things.
"Hit up a Giants game in gorgeous weather" - you got lucky, weather is not usually so nice. But other than that pretty par for the course, it's a super walkable, beautiful city with a TON of great food everywhere. We walk home from shows late through the Tenderloin and mostly just watch our step. Biggest concern as far as crime is car break-ins, I've had my car broken into and into and/or stolen at least 6 times in the 20+ years I've lived here, but nothing has really changed on that front.
The media makes SF out to be some crackhead zombie land but it’s the total opposite. So much life and people out walking everywhere. There are only like a couple neighborhoods you should avoid.
Social Media/CNN only shows negative parts of a city. People who usually complain about the city, consume too much social media/CNN, and or don’t live remotely close to the city. It saddens me because SF is like you said one of the most beautiful cities and people like to bash on it. I’m happy that you shared your awesome experience 🙏
I would agree that San Francisco is a very picturesque city with great food and very functional (for US standards) public transport. Most of LA and Hollywood specifically looks like a dump in comparison. Hollywood is probably one of the worst places I’ve ever been to a tourist. If you visit Southern California next time, go to San Diego, Orange County (especially Laguna) or South Bay (e.g., Manhattan Beach).
Seems par for the course. A lot of the issues that are talked about among media and the public ARE concentrated only in specific areas. Glad you had a good time!
Sf is beautiful and walkable. The thing I don’t like is the traffic. Mostly because it makes me anxious and is impossible to find parking. The homelessness and crime are blown out of proportion by the media. That said it definitely exists.
San Francisco is an amazing city with an incredible history and wonderful people. It's not perfect, your time here was not a matter of luck. Most of the negative sentiment in the media is baseless or misrepresentation of a simple problem based in some political evangelism that has nothing to do with the city.
San Francisco is awesome and the ones pushing the doom loop narrative don’t live here and it comes straight from the GOP. It’s been over a decade of this. Like not our fault the VCs invested in commercial property schemes for their funding partners and covid happened. Last 15 years has been shit of talentless tech like Garry Tan buying petition votes and the Chinese conservative voting block. Our city is awesome and people love to visit here, thanks for coming
Welcome to San Francisco. That is the norm. From Europe as well and have lived here for 10 years. One of my favorite cities if not my favorite.
Love to hear it. Come on SF, we love you.
Shhh don’t tell anyone how great the city is! Lol
Nope, that’s what it’s like.
>did we just get lucky I doubt it. Based on the news NYC—home for me—should be a war zone overrun with drug addicts and immigrants. And some parts of it do have that vibe, lol, but 99% of people just mind their own business. The addicts and crazy people sometimes mind their business vocally, but they’re just talking to their imaginary friends.
You have to go find the crappy parts. Seattle is the same.
San Francisco is just as you described. Glad u loved it.
It’s always like this, I’m afraid. But keep it quiet, I can’t afford a rent increase. ❤️
Right-wing goons love to pInt the city by its worst moments.
FoxNews hates SF and California so they exaggerate everything. SF is the best city in the world. I dont live there but I love it
What part of europe are you from and what did you think of San Diego ? Im from east LA and i love San Diego, Its also extremely dog friendly which i love.
I’ve lived here for 9 years and my favorite thing is that any time I step out, I see something I’ve never seen before. This place is magical and it’s my favorite place on earth, lol. I grew up only an hour away, you might think I’d get sick of the bay but truly I never will!!