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Because CA politics ruined it. Too woke to clean up after the homeless and drug addicts who seem to take over the city.
But raising taxes.
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Yeezus*
Politics killed SF. Horrible place to be, homeless everywhere, income disparity off the charts, poop and needles. And for some reason people are leaving there and trying to enact the same things that made it the way it is today. Insane.
Agreed. I live in SF right now and wish I could get out of here. Don’t get me wrong, the nature is amazing but the cons outweigh.
Yes it really is that bad
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Sitting in SF rn - pandemic has reduced the number of homeless on the street dramatically + in many parts of the city things are looking much cleaner. The issue we have right now is people haven't all come back yet so the city is slowly coming back to life but not there yet.
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You know things have really changed when people are telling you to live in Oakland for safety
SF is a strange city. Been here for 7 years, moved from NYC. Love the beaches, parks and the neighborhoods. Hate: never feeling safe, petty crime everywhere, bikes get stolen all the time, expect garage to be broken, at least once a year. If you are a beaming smile type of a person, expect cold stares back. People are often too serious solving the worlds problems while stepping over a grandma passed out on the street.
This is helpful. I’m also moving from NYC so the comparison is useful. What do you miss most about NYC? What’s better then NYC (I’m guessing the beaches)?
Complete dump
Went to SF for two weekends and thought it was the prettiest city I’d ever seen. If you’re ok with the financials side of it, go for it! Weather is very mild and lots of nature nearby
Rising Star
Lol that bike getting stolen my friend
Rising Star
I love SF. Just don’t live in the tenderloin, bay view or parts of Soma. Any city has crappy parts.
That said the allure of the west coast (except LA), is the breath taking outdoors you have easy access to.
If you’re a hardcore city person and don’t care for that LA or NYC would probably be better.
^^ EY-P is spot on. Lived at SF for four years and loved it! You will be fine with good neighborhoods- marina, Russian Hill and Pac Heights and stay away from tenderloin.
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Your experience in SF highly depends on where you live. There are plenty of neighborhoods where homelessness and crime doesn’t seem materially worse than what you’d find in other big cities. Would go as far as to say that’s true for most parts of the city (geographically speaking). I think a lot of consultant and tech types end up getting a place in SOMA and working downtown, and then wonder why they’re seeing so much homelessness on a daily basis.
Other thing is there is a huge culture of complaining in SF because a lot of people are just here for their career, whereas other cities (New York, Chicago, Boston) have more pride for whatever reason. Doesn’t excuse the problems in SF but think this influences perception too - it’s completely normalized to just complain about SF with people almost as a small talk topic, which has never been true anywhere else I’ve lived.
Thank you both! I’m ok with avoiding certain neighborhoods (I’ve had to do that in every city I’ve ever lived in so it’s not unique to SF) but just wanted to know if there are “liveable” areas too or whether it was all tourists and homeless. Glad to hear there are options
Have been in the city for about 3 years. A lot of what others have mentioned is very true. My 2 cents. It’s a great city to live in for a few years but it won’t be great for the long haul. Consider where you work, if your job is in the city vs in one of the tech hubs (Palo Alto, MTV, Cupertino) that commute will drain your life and you’ll be a zombie.
Unpopular option, I actually think you need a car in SF. Mainly to LEAVE SF, aka Tahoe, wineries, redwoods. Either you find a friend who has a car or you rent one yourself, you aren’t making it out to nature without wheels.
Also the climate depends on the neighborhood you pick. Expect to wear a Patagonia jacket everywhere you go because it’s just a bit cold/foggy. Then walking up the hills will murder you and you’ll sweat balls. 😂
Sonoma*
Living on either side of Divisadero makes a huge difference weather wise for example!
I love it. Picking the neighborhood that suits your vibe is pretty important, though. Check out Lower Haight, Cow Hollow, NOPA, Presidio, Bernal, etc.
Feel free to DM with questions. Like all cities, plenty of people don’t like it here, but many wouldn’t trade it for any other place.
Thank you so much. I’d love to DM and ask a few follow up questions
We were in Oakland for a summer and loved it. Great access to Napa, hiking and a fun social scene. Every time I went into the city though, I felt very unsafe and nervous. The homeless people there are AGGRESSIVE. If you’re female, it is NOT safe to be alone at night (or during the day in some places). I’d suggest being in Oakland and taking the BART into SF.
This is my concern. I’m female and I’m used to living in cities where I can get around on my own no matter time of day. I want to retain that! Did you find that level of aggression and lack of safety everywhere or only in some neighborhoods? Also, did you feel that you could be safe if you were in an Uber vs walking for example?
Rising Star
+1’ing to what has been all said above. Beautiful weather and great place to be in tech.
On the flipside, male tech monoculture with not much else going on. Absolutely moronic local government that has been incapable of dealing with rampant homelessness, drug abuse, and theft. Also, if you’re Asian, nontrivial chance someone will just randomly stab you too.
There’s no other city in the entire world where you’ll regularly step over human feces on the sidewalk and the government just shrugs its shoulders.
I love SF. Moved here from Florida 4 years ago and never going back. Wine country, Yosemite, pinnacles, amazing breweries, Lake Tahoe … we do something different and amazing every weekend. The taxes suck, but the weekends make it worth it.
SF is beautiful. Amazing, fresh food. I grew up in Marin/Sonoma and spent so many weekends in SF. It’s still amazing. Yes there’s more homelessness, mental illness on streets, and crazy rent prices. But crime isn’t high, there’s major police reform happening, and it’s a beautiful place to live. 9/10.
I think SF is a great city, I ve been living here for a few years and I love it. Of course there is homeless and bad areas, but I haven’t feel the need to be around those and I have never felt in danger. If you leave in a nice area like marina or Russian hill you would love it. Regarding the car it’s definitely cheaper to rent on weekends if you don’t need it on a daily basis.
Rising Star
Yes
San Francisco is an absolutely fantastic city.
What do you love about it? Thanks!
If the money ain't funny, you'll like it.
If it's under $140K, be prepared to feel a pinch
What do you like about places you have lived or visited before?
I will make one note on diversity/culture - in the city of SF there is not a huge black culture and there is a huge Asian influence. This isn’t good or bad, but for me coming from New York it was a really big shift that I noticed all the time. Most of the cool black culture is in the east bay, in Oakland. For me SF proper doesn’t feel as comprehensively international/diverse as NYC or LA or even DC, both because of tech bro monoculture and because I feel white and Asian culture dominate compared to my experience of greater multiculturality and particularly more black American/African immigrant/Caribbean culture in NYC. But, in the greater Bay Area most cultural/diversity experiences are available but my experience is it doesn’t feel as present and obvious in SF proper as it did for me in NYC and even DC. Part of this I also this is how small SF proper is and how shitty public transit is as compared to the east coast, so places just feel less accessible/further away than they are - going to oakland from the city always feels way more of a PIA than going from Manhattan to Brooklyn or queens felt for me.
Adding to the points above, it’s arguably the worst city for dating if you’re single straight male since the city is a massive tech bro sausage fest
Good point. I’m a female so I guess I’ll be fine!