quote:

Originally posted by oddball:
You won't have to worry about feces on the sidewalks, buy maybe cholera

The Bay Area is experiencing storms and heavy rains, and it is supposed to continue this week. It seems they can't handle heavy rains very well, the infrastructure seemingly fails when the rain level goes above an inch. My friend in the Bay Area says that it is just a shitstorm, so many weather related problems.

Check the weather reports.

God's way of cleaning up the streets, shame what's gone on there, we lived in the Bay in the 80's great area, visited often after we left.

When travelling back to SFO, we caught a transport to the city, when needed we rented at one of the in city agency locations near the hotel for the day trips to Napa, etc. That way, zero parking issues or fees, just rent, drive, return to the Agency before they close. Avis, Budget, National all have downtown locations to rent from.

Could a nice Buena Vista Irish Coffee on a cool rainy day though....

You can't rely on that standard LEO saying "when seconds count we are only minutes away." Police won't be much help even hours later.

Good golly fellas…

My wife just went a few weeks ago for a week long business trip. Just a few blocks off Union Square and Market.

Certainly my hackles get raised a little bit ‘cuz I know that area fairly well. But haven’t been there in a while.

She went and was just fine. She is all of 5 foot nuthin’.

I’d be grateful for the flood currently… Probably keeps most of the homeless indoors While washing the feces into the bay.

I spent 10 days there not long ago.

It is a neighborhood by neighborhood problem, some have them some don't.

I stayed by Giants/Oracle stadium.

It was clean, and no one living on the streets.

At 5 AM a truck with power washing equipment would come by and wash the sidewalks.

Cross the bridge and tents started to show up.

We ubered everywhere.

Hit some of the tourist places, no problems there either.

Where they call tenderloin has been bad for 50 years. I stayed away from it.

Chase Center was down the street and we walked by it daily to get coffee by where the Warriors play.

Lots of parks some were very clean and well-kept.

Some were a little neglected but nothing like the shit show I was always seeing on TV.

Have fun, there are lots to see and do.

Like any city, stay out of the ghetto and you will be fine.

To piggy back on sig2392's post, because my recent experience (summer 2022) is in line with his.

I did some work at Chase Bank Arena, that area, which is all fairly new, is very clean. The adjacent parks are clean, not much by way of bullshit on the street, at least nothing you wouldn't find in 50 other cities.

I housed up at Union SQ and routinely had to cross the street to avoid the transient population shitting on the sidewalk, pissing (back to the street, arcing urine towards the storefronts) on the sidewalk, or laying on the sidewalk as if it were a bed.

One evening, I met some friends for drinks, this was an earlier hour, maybe 8:00pm. I wrapped up around midnight and decided to walk back to the hotel, the route took me through tenderloin, which is disgusting. Heavy transient and tent populations, trash everywhere, people slamming heroin right on the street, and the typical human waste. I'm comfortable in most large cities, but i'd stay elsehwere on my next trip to SF. If one of my friends told me they were going there with little kids, I'd suggest they skip Union Sq area entirely and stay somewhere else.

There's still a lot of cool things to see and food to eat in SF, but as previously mentioned, neighborhood by neighborhood.

I visited San Francisco on a tour in 2018. We stayed at the Mariott Marquis Downtown, next to St. Patrick's Church. Walked around that area a little, but the group had scheduled tours of the city and I did those. I did attend an evening service in the church and got some nice photos of the interior. We also visited Golden Gate Park and did a Bay Cruise. We ate lunch at Capurro's Restaurant on the waterfront.

It was a good visit, but possibly hadn't gotten so trashy 4 years ago. Photos at https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157694618068670/

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
I wonder if The Stinking Rose is still open.

They reopened one block away from their former location after being closed for all of 2021; being a restaurant or, any small business in the city was brutal, city/state government did them no favors. They had shrunk their space prior and the owners spent much of '21 trying to sell the business. A novelty menu, it's a reliable spot to bring out-of-towners and while it isn't going to gain any culinary awards, it's actually isn't too bad for a unique experience.

This is interesting to hear. My family and I were in San Francisco in mid-March 2020 starting a couple of days before things were locked down. I took them to the Stinking Rose for dinner on our first night in town and we were the only table sat in the entire place. It was really spooky.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
God's way of cleaning up the streets, shame what's gone on there, we lived in the Bay in the 80's great area, visited often after we left.

Problem with this concept is that SF streets flood easily in certain areas. The sewer system actually combines runoff water and human sewage, so when streets flood, even slightly, human waste is everywhere.
https://www.sfgate.com/local/a...Gate-HP-CP-Spotlight

I was last in SF in October, my very last business trip since I retired shortly after. I will never step foot into that city (or CA) ever again.

What has happened in SF is kinda sad. I lived there in the late 1960's till 1973 when I got city life out of my system and move to a small remote town where I still live. I think the last time I even went down there was in 2003 to go to a Giants game. Seemed ok then, but I drove a delivery truck around the city when I lived there, so I know the areas to stay away from. Like any big city, it has it’s bad areas and good areas. The Tenderloin is an interesting place to visit, but stay in your car. I drove over a liqueur bottle that I didn’t see in time while driving thru the Tenderloin once. I drove half way across the city to get to a safe area to change the tire.

It wasn’t too bad by the airport where we were staying, walking around the tenderloin near the federal building where we were meeting was pretty nasty. Never felt uncomfortable but it’s a pretty shorty area.

I was there for a conference in the late 70s. Walked around a lot, ate at some excellent restaurants and went home. It is a shame that it has become a shithole.
Visted Portland and Seattle around the same time. Even considered relocating there. Glad I did not.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
It wasn’t too bad by the airport where we were staying, walking around the tenderloin near the federal building where we were meeting was pretty nasty. Never felt uncomfortable but it’s a pretty shorty area.

Areas around SFO are fine, north part is more bio-tech, light industry and the communities are simple work-a-day towns. South of SFO are the nicer communities (and hotels) of Milbrae and upscale Burlingame. Lots of airline cabin crew have rental units scattered about in this area; weather is also warmer than in the city.
Tenderloin even when I was growing up through the 70's was always the seedy arm-pit of the city, mentally ill & social misfits, lots of SRO hotels, grimy dive bars, used/consignment shops, families living there were low-income and/or newly arrived immigrants. Unfortunately located adjacent to both Union Square and theater district and more ironically bottom of the hill from Nob Hill. All the large scale shoplifting in 2020 and into '21 forced SFPD to put a mobile station in Union Square, consequently all the presence doesn't matter if the DA office minimizes charges or, a city official raises a stink about something other than the actions of the assailant.

Yeah our hosts warned us about the area there. Stated a lot of government assistance was available nearby which kept it pretty gross.

After 12 hour days and traffic I wasn’t up for meeting any SF members but it was a good trip overall.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
After 12 hour days and traffic I wasn’t up for meeting any SF members but it was a good trip overall.

Hope you ate well.
For all the grief this city generates, the eating is hard to beat.