Recent San Francisco Experiences

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is hilarious. Please all you pearl clutchers stay away. SF is not interested in your business anyhow.

I think the city realizes it has a problem, actually. There is a reasonable basis for concern. So no need for your shrieking.

Actually, the San Francisco Tourism Board disagrees with pp. https://sf.curbed.com/2018/2/23/17046028/travel-association-tourism-homeless-trump

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow ... so many suburbanites afraid of city folk. My 25 year old DD lives there OP and makes more money than most people do.

I have never had a single person ask me for money in SF. It happens to me every single day in DC. Maybe get a life or just stick to the burbs and leave travel to others who are more adventurous. I go to SF 4 times a year and really love it.

Why so angry?

And it's not a city v suburban thing.
I've never had a homeless person ask me for money either in SF. Yet the city still smells of pot and urine.

It's important to talk about this. We shouldn't be afraid to address the issue.

[Anonymous]

Yes, stick to the suburbs and avoid SF if you are afraid of people who don't look/smell like you do

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, stick to the suburbs and avoid SF if you are afraid of people who don't look/smell like you do

This comment makes no sense.
San Francisco is not the only place in California, or the world, that is diverse, interesting, and full of different scents.
The entire state of California is diverse and filled with beauty and great food, etc.
on another thread an OP was considering London v SF.
London is more diverse, filled with amazing foods and cultures.
Why put up with urine or reeking pot odors on vacation?

[Anonymous]

In July we're planning a trip to Napa and Sonoma, and an overnight stop in San Francisco before heading back to DC in the morning. We are planning to go to Smuggler's Cove for tiki drinks and Tsubasa Sushi - both on Gough Street, before heading back to the safety of the Airport Westin.

I just want to know how likely it will be that I'm momentarily distracted by a homeless man exposing himself, step in human feces and slip into a pile of Hepatitis A infected needles?

Because I'm going with a 70% likelihood after reading this thread.

[Anonymous]

OH the stories I could tell! I just moved from SF! Good riddance! I will give myself away with these stories, but I don't care.

once when picking up my daughter's birth certificate at the social security administration in the middle of downtown (city hall) I was filling out paper work and a crazy lady came up behind me and knocked me to the ground. A police officer came over to see if I was ok. The lady then did it to several other people. then sat down in the waiting area. And I was thinking "what planet am I on that this is ok and this lady is not escorted out of here at the very least?!"

Once I took my kids to Golden Gate Park. We were walking to Koret playground. This guy whacked out on drugs was crawling around and making strange movements. I told my kids to stay close to me as we fearfully walked by him. This is very normal there. And then of course I have to give my children the frequent reminder to "stay on the path (and not run through the bushes) so you don't step on poop."

Once my husband and I were out on a date night and we walked past a guy taking a dump in the middle of the sidewalk. very romantic night.

We lived in Pac Heights and then in Hayes Valley. Druggies are everywhere. I felt unsafe all the time and was constantly worried about my kids. It was insanely expensive. It has the worst school system.

We lived in manhattan before and never saw anything like what we saw in SF and also never felt unsafe like we did in SF.

I would say if you stick to certain areas then you will be fine. However, I remember not too long ago a mother was walking her son to school on Octavia St. in Cow Hollow and druggie assaulted the young boy. I was always very aware when we lived there.

Sonoma and Napa on the other hand are beautiful and there are many family friendly places to visit!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OH the stories I could tell! I just moved from SF! Good riddance! I will give myself away with these stories, but I don't care.

once when picking up my daughter's birth certificate at the social security administration in the middle of downtown (city hall) I was filling out paper work and a crazy lady came up behind me and knocked me to the ground. A police officer came over to see if I was ok. The lady then did it to several other people. then sat down in the waiting area. And I was thinking "what planet am I on that this is ok and this lady is not escorted out of here at the very least?!"

Once I took my kids to Golden Gate Park. We were walking to Koret playground. This guy whacked out on drugs was crawling around and making strange movements. I told my kids to stay close to me as we fearfully walked by him. This is very normal there. And then of course I have to give my children the frequent reminder to "stay on the path (and not run through the bushes) so you don't step on poop."

Once my husband and I were out on a date night and we walked past a guy taking a dump in the middle of the sidewalk. very romantic night.

We lived in Pac Heights and then in Hayes Valley. Druggies are everywhere. I felt unsafe all the time and was constantly worried about my kids. It was insanely expensive. It has the worst school system.

We lived in manhattan before and never saw anything like what we saw in SF and also never felt unsafe like we did in SF.

I would say if you stick to certain areas then you will be fine. However, I remember not too long ago a mother was walking her son to school on Octavia St. in Cow Hollow and druggie assaulted the young boy. I was always very aware when we lived there.

Sonoma and Napa on the other hand are beautiful and there are many family friendly places to visit!

I used to live in Alexandria (Del Ray) and was walking my kids in the double stroller when we came upon a crime scene - a boy had been stabbed by a man who lived in a nearby halfway house.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/04/20/8-year-old-boy-fatally-stabbed-in-alexandria/8c207c45-65e0-42b8-9d89-a7fc0aa56cb7/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c3e076b55f8a

Bad things happen. More bad things happen where there are more people - ie: cities. San Francisco is not the crazy hellhole some of you are describing. Don't go to certain areas and be alert.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OH the stories I could tell! I just moved from SF! Good riddance! I will give myself away with these stories, but I don't care.

once when picking up my daughter's birth certificate at the social security administration in the middle of downtown (city hall) I was filling out paper work and a crazy lady came up behind me and knocked me to the ground. A police officer came over to see if I was ok. The lady then did it to several other people. then sat down in the waiting area. And I was thinking "what planet am I on that this is ok and this lady is not escorted out of here at the very least?!"

Once I took my kids to Golden Gate Park. We were walking to Koret playground. This guy whacked out on drugs was crawling around and making strange movements. I told my kids to stay close to me as we fearfully walked by him. This is very normal there. And then of course I have to give my children the frequent reminder to "stay on the path (and not run through the bushes) so you don't step on poop."

Once my husband and I were out on a date night and we walked past a guy taking a dump in the middle of the sidewalk. very romantic night.

We lived in Pac Heights and then in Hayes Valley. Druggies are everywhere. I felt unsafe all the time and was constantly worried about my kids. It was insanely expensive. It has the worst school system.

We lived in manhattan before and never saw anything like what we saw in SF and also never felt unsafe like we did in SF.

I would say if you stick to certain areas then you will be fine. However, I remember not too long ago a mother was walking her son to school on Octavia St. in Cow Hollow and druggie assaulted the young boy. I was always very aware when we lived there.

Sonoma and Napa on the other hand are beautiful and there are many family friendly places to visit!

I used to live in Alexandria (Del Ray) and was walking my kids in the double stroller when we came upon a crime scene - a boy had been stabbed by a man who lived in a nearby halfway house.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/04/20/8-year-old-boy-fatally-stabbed-in-alexandria/8c207c45-65e0-42b8-9d89-a7fc0aa56cb7/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c3e076b55f8a

Bad things happen. More bad things happen where there are more people - ie: cities. San Francisco is not the crazy hellhole some of you are describing. Don't go to certain areas and be alert.

no you are wrong. I used to live in Old Town Alexandria too (which is when I found this board). Sure, there is crime everywhere! SF is different. There are druggies and homeless people everywhere and the city is very dirty in many places. There are lots of tents. It is tolerated there. We have been to the playgrounds in central park many times and we don't find human poop and needles all over the place. This is very common in SF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OH the stories I could tell! I just moved from SF! Good riddance! I will give myself away with these stories, but I don't care.

once when picking up my daughter's birth certificate at the social security administration in the middle of downtown (city hall) I was filling out paper work and a crazy lady came up behind me and knocked me to the ground. A police officer came over to see if I was ok. The lady then did it to several other people. then sat down in the waiting area. And I was thinking "what planet am I on that this is ok and this lady is not escorted out of here at the very least?!"

Once I took my kids to Golden Gate Park. We were walking to Koret playground. This guy whacked out on drugs was crawling around and making strange movements. I told my kids to stay close to me as we fearfully walked by him. This is very normal there. And then of course I have to give my children the frequent reminder to "stay on the path (and not run through the bushes) so you don't step on poop."

Once my husband and I were out on a date night and we walked past a guy taking a dump in the middle of the sidewalk. very romantic night.

We lived in Pac Heights and then in Hayes Valley. Druggies are everywhere. I felt unsafe all the time and was constantly worried about my kids. It was insanely expensive. It has the worst school system.

We lived in manhattan before and never saw anything like what we saw in SF and also never felt unsafe like we did in SF.

I would say if you stick to certain areas then you will be fine. However, I remember not too long ago a mother was walking her son to school on Octavia St. in Cow Hollow and druggie assaulted the young boy. I was always very aware when we lived there.

Sonoma and Napa on the other hand are beautiful and there are many family friendly places to visit!

I used to live in Alexandria (Del Ray) and was walking my kids in the double stroller when we came upon a crime scene - a boy had been stabbed by a man who lived in a nearby halfway house.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/04/20/8-year-old-boy-fatally-stabbed-in-alexandria/8c207c45-65e0-42b8-9d89-a7fc0aa56cb7/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c3e076b55f8a

Bad things happen. More bad things happen where there are more people - ie: cities. San Francisco is not the crazy hellhole some of you are describing. Don't go to certain areas and be alert.

no you are wrong. I used to live in Old Town Alexandria too (which is when I found this board). Sure, there is crime everywhere! SF is different. There are druggies and homeless people everywhere and the city is very dirty in many places. There are lots of tents. It is tolerated there. We have been to the playgrounds in central park many times and we don't find human poop and needles all over the place. This is very common in SF.

+1 why are people trying to bury this? It doesn't do SF any good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow ... so many suburbanites afraid of city folk. My 25 year old DD lives there OP and makes more money than most people do.

I have never had a single person ask me for money in SF. It happens to me every single day in DC. Maybe get a life or just stick to the burbs and leave travel to others who are more adventurous. I go to SF 4 times a year and really love it.

Why so angry?

And it's not a city v suburban thing.
I've never had a homeless person ask me for money either in SF. Yet the city still smells of pot and urine.

It's important to talk about this. We shouldn't be afraid to address the issue.

Pot smell=GOOD
Urine smell=NOT GOOD

How can you equate the smell of an herb with the smell of human waste? Dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow ... so many suburbanites afraid of city folk. My 25 year old DD lives there OP and makes more money than most people do.

I have never had a single person ask me for money in SF. It happens to me every single day in DC. Maybe get a life or just stick to the burbs and leave travel to others who are more adventurous. I go to SF 4 times a year and really love it.

Why so angry?

And it's not a city v suburban thing.
I've never had a homeless person ask me for money either in SF. Yet the city still smells of pot and urine.

It's important to talk about this. We shouldn't be afraid to address the issue.

Pot smell=GOOD
Urine smell=NOT GOOD

If I may address the pot smell issue: The pot smell in my SF apartment was SO strong. I had a newborn baby and my apartment constantly smelled like skunk weed. This is an apartment that cost me 8K a month in rent. I did not want my newborn breathing it in and I didn't want my apartment smelling like it. I don't care if someone smokes pot, but when your pot smoking affects my clean air and especially my children's clean air then I have a problem with it. It's no different than cigarette smoke. Why not just eat it in edibles?

How can you equate the smell of an herb with the smell of human waste? Dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow ... so many suburbanites afraid of city folk. My 25 year old DD lives there OP and makes more money than most people do.

I have never had a single person ask me for money in SF. It happens to me every single day in DC. Maybe get a life or just stick to the burbs and leave travel to others who are more adventurous. I go to SF 4 times a year and really love it.

Any she spends her more than most people salary to step around human poop. You must be proud

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh great, a friend and I are going next week for 5 days (just two women.) I really hope this is exagerrated.

I do know two older (early 60s) family members who just went in April and their only comment was that there were a lot of homeless people.... which SF is well known for. These are Fox News watching 60 year olds, so I hope that's an accurate representation of what they saw. They stayed in Union Square, which is also where we are staying.

Tons of homeless people in union square. I was targeted by homeless youth the last time I was there, and I was nearly mugged. A local saw then casing me, approached me and scared them off. I had noticed them as well and sensed something was off, so I was grateful to the local who stepped in. He said it happens a lot.

Where are you from? Have you ever interacted with any homeless people before? I'm the person going with a friend next week, and I have lived in Baltimore and my friend lives in DC. We both have had "encounters" with homeless before... so this is not unfamiliar for us. Just curious if this was something you'd never dealt with before, which is why it sticks out so much to you, or if it truly was a unique situation.

Obviously you have not seen or experienced California homelessness.

No I have not, hence the questions? Seems obvious to me. I have been to southern California (LA and San Diego) and never noticed any homeless/any difference from what you see everywhere.

There is a huge difference between SoCal homeless and San Fran homeless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, stick to the suburbs and avoid SF if you are afraid of people who don't look/smell like you do

Too bad fair I've never had to step over poop or walk around a druggie in my nice quiet 'burb

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow ... so many suburbanites afraid of city folk. My 25 year old DD lives there OP and makes more money than most people do.

I have never had a single person ask me for money in SF. It happens to me every single day in DC. Maybe get a life or just stick to the burbs and leave travel to others who are more adventurous. I go to SF 4 times a year and really love it.

So because your daughter makes more than most people we should all want to travel to the land of addicts and poop?