Just got back from my first trip to San Francisco in years. It was not that bad!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Going to Portland and Seattle this summer.

Are the homeless people in San Francisco more aggressive than the Portland/Seattle homeless people? That was my anecdotal observation the last time I was in SF, which was many years ago.

I lived in Seattle from 2009-2020. It's depressing what happened to it in such a short time.

[Anonymous]

I just got back there too and had the same feeling. No feces seen by us. I actually think I saw fewer homeless people than I have in the past, and I have visited yearly for 30 years. The few homeless I did see were clearly mentally ill, including a guy wearing a cape sharing his “opinions” with the world.
It is a beautiful city and I always marvel at why I don’t love there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why you'd choose to spend a couple days in SF when you could choose to spend them in Monterey or Carmel. Or Capitola. Or Napa. Or literally any of these places that are like 1 hour from SF.

I’m the PP who is going in April. We’ve been to Monterey and Carmel, as well as Laguna Beach, Dana Point, etc., in the past few years. We’ll have our kids with us so Napa seems meh. We’ll go there when the kids are gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was this post satire?

That's my question too. Is OP for real? The sidewalk poop would have traumatized me. Last time I was there I saw bloody needles laying on the sidewalk - SF is no place for open toed shoes. It's just too crazy and gross. If you must, just drive through SF and spend time in the out lying areas - Redwoods, Napa, Monterey, Carmel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I just returned home from a long weekend trip SF. Our overall takeaway is that San Francisco is wonderful place, certainly one of the great cities of the world!

We spent Saturday/Sunday walking some 30 miles through the north half of the city, exploring everything from China town to the incredible Golden Gate Park. I am still trying to reconcile the experience we had with the overwhelmingly negative press the city receives in some media circles... Far from being a distopian hellscape, we found a vibrant atmosphere full of some of the kindest strangers we have come across in a very long time.

I will just say that while we had an incredible trip, the homeless problem did not go unnoticed... Specifically the mentally I'll homeless problem. The one really bad incident involved human feces on the sidewalk that was actively being trampled by a huge crowd of people, it was honestly one of the grossest thing I have ever seen in my life... Everyone's shoes had poop on them. Then one woman took off her shirt and proceeded to "body slam" the (now decimated) poop pile, getting poop all over her torso and hair. While the issue of mentally ill homeless people is not unique to San Francisco, I think it is also fair to say that the good people of the city should not have to deal with this. There's no excuse for someone to pull down their pants and poop on a sidewalk that people are walking on. If someone does that they need to be taken off the streets, period. That is simply unacceptable behavior in any civilized society.

With all that being said I would just like to reiterate that we had a wonderful visit!!

Pssst. Nice try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Were you there for the convention?
We also just returned and maybe I was expecting worse based on what we’d heard. It wasn’t as bad as I expected. We took Muni and BART a bunch and definitely ran into some colorful people but I never felt unsafe. Would I move there? Also no.

SF native here: there are conventions each week. You'd have to be more specific about which one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get why you'd choose to spend a couple days in SF when you could choose to spend them in Monterey or Carmel. Or Capitola. Or Napa. Or literally any of these places that are like 1 hour from SF.

Those are not cities. SF is a city.

[Anonymous]

Sorry but you could not PAY me to set foot anywhere in California. What a hell hole. And I lived there for three years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Were you there for the convention?
We also just returned and maybe I was expecting worse based on what we’d heard. It wasn’t as bad as I expected. We took Muni and BART a bunch and definitely ran into some colorful people but I never felt unsafe. Would I move there? Also no.

SF native here: there are conventions each week. You'd have to be more specific about which one.

Not if you were there last week. You’d know which one!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's good to hear. I've been wanting to take the kids to CA but have avoided it like the plague due to increase in crime, homelessness, drug use, etc. It didn't feel worth it.

I may change course. TY

All.of that is over amplified by the media, especially Fox News. Yes there are problems, but if you stay away from the major problem areas (mostly just the Tenderloin ) it is totally fine, as long as you can handle seeing a few homeless people.

I grew up in Chicago, in the city. Saw lots of homeless, never poop. I don't think this is overamplified.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry but you could not PAY me to set foot anywhere in California. What a hell hole. And I lived there for three years.

Even Yosemite?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Were you there for the convention?
We also just returned and maybe I was expecting worse based on what we’d heard. It wasn’t as bad as I expected. We took Muni and BART a bunch and definitely ran into some colorful people but I never felt unsafe. Would I move there? Also no.

SF native here: there are conventions each week. You'd have to be more specific about which one.

Not if you were there last week. You’d know which one!

Was it this one?

https://www.clocate.com/advances-in-diagnosis-and-treatment-of-sleep-apnea-and-snoring/88614/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry but you could not PAY me to set foot anywhere in California. What a hell hole. And I lived there for three years.

Even Yosemite?

With the crowds? Hell no.

- DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was this post satire?

That's what I was thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As always, the media entirely exaggerated the situation in SF, which remains one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Meh.

A friend visited in 2023, rented a car at the airport, and before they left the airport grounds, 2 people smashed in the rear window of the rental car (they only managed to get two backpacks out, then fled).