Originally Posted by
Turbosina
SF may be #37 on the crime list, but it's the 17th largest city in the US. That means its crime rate per inhabitant is significantly lower than average. If the crime rate per inhabitant was average, then it would be #17 on the crime list. Not #37.
I will say, though: if all you experience of SF is the 5 square blocks around the layover hotel, then I can understand why you'd believe the hysterical narratives being peddled on Fox, etc. The core area of downtown SF, especially around the Tenderloin, Market between maybe 2nd and 8th, and Union Square, got clobbered by covid (closed storefronts, etc) and hasn't rebounded.
The Tenderloin in particular at the moment (especially late at night) looks like the setting for a postapocalyptic zombie video game. But get outside that core and you'll see that SF is as safe a large city as you'll find anywhere. The earlier suggestions about getting on the Muni Metro and heading to Cole Valley, Duboce Triangle, etc. are spot on and are a wonderful way to experience the San Francisco you don't really see in pictures.
It’s not hysterical narrative when office space vacancy is at 40%, and building owners are walking away from their mortgages. The owner of the building the Hilton is in just walked away from almost $700m in equity and threw the keys on the counter because, in their own words, “this city is uninvestible.” Couldn’t sell the building, couldn’t make money, walked away. Not the only one either.