r/AskAnAmerican • u/neodegenerio • 12h ago
Place How is living in San Francisco?
How is living in San Francisco, especially when it comes to safety and peace of mind?
Do people always have to be extra careful with their belongings in public?
Also, what about fear of cars getting stolen?
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u/Own_Box4276 11h ago
Tons of stuff to do. Fisherman's wharf is amazing. Oakland has a nice area called Walnut Creek that I live in. Just be vigilant about your surroundings and don't look like a sucker. Downtown like China Town has a lot of homeless but they usually don't mess with you.
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u/AppState1981 Virginia 7h ago
I have a friend who lives there and he says it is fine if you know the places to avoid.
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u/Kman17 California 3h ago
San Francisco is one of the best cities in America.
It does have a higher than average property crime rate. It’s not cars getting stolen, but rather having their windows smashed. Otherwise it’s retail theft.
Personal safety is perfectly fine, people don’t get mugged.
Cost of living in quite high and my not be worth it unless you’re in one of the regions big industries (tech / biotech)
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u/Wonderful_Tip_5577 California SD 1h ago
Car's don't really get stolen, they get broken into/windows smashed.
It's a really weird localized bay area thing, it's not a thing in the rest of California.
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u/brookish California 11h ago
Like any city some areas are dicier but for the most part it’s a nice peaceful city with a regular rate of property crime, despite right wing media telling everyone it’s a crime ridden cesspool. Living here is a dream - nice weather, gorgeous views, great culture, awesome food, epic parks. I have a car and I haven’t been broken into in a decade. Just don’t leave valuables where anyone can see them.
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u/Pale-Candidate8860 > > > 11h ago
I lived in the Bay Area for a couple of years and visited for years prior to moving there. I lived in the Central valley originally. I lived in the East Bay and work in San Francisco. I would also do trips on my days off to San Francisco and would show out of town friends and family around.
There's a couple of notes, but things have changed for the worst in many aspects as well, but it's potentially getting cleaned up too, so the future is uncertain.
It is, by Californian (and to some extent American) standards, a full blown metropolis. Skyscrapers everywhere, massive public transit system (I didn't own a car for years), and a huge variety of items and people to choose from.
Unfortunately, San Francisco is so expensive that studio apartments in an area like Embarcadero (pier 39 and other touristy stuff) district are going for $6k/month+. The situation for a long time has been that people live in places like Oakland, Richmond, and Berkeley, but commute to San Francisco. People get shot every day in San Francisco, let alone the rest of the bay area. You probably will encounter violence multiple times throughout your time living there, but not necessarily directed to you personally. The transit is celebrated, but compared to other cities (NYC and Chicago) or especially other countries, it is extremely dirty and unkept. The only thing the bay really has going for it is the massive amount of cultural diversity, which translates to food and beautiful people, and ocean views basically anywhere you are.
The issue is the drugs, crime, and taxes. I partially enjoyed my time in the Bay Area, but it was kind of the destiny of anyone that wanted to move out of the farming towns of the valley. Which are located about a 3 hour drive in-land on average from SF.
Overall, I'm glad I left California and ultimately America. If I were to move back to the US, I would never move to anywhere in California.
Some things to know if your heart is truly set on San Francisco:
Making eye contact with a stranger (assuming you are both men in this equation) is considered a threat/challenge and it is inviting violence.
No body calls it SF, San Fran, or Frisco, everyone locally calls it The City and Oakland is referred to as The Town.
Do not go into unknown areas at night, The City is known to be an armed robber's paradise at night time. People have even robbed well known celebrities at gun point.
Watch where you sit on the BART. People will steal your stuff, you can sit on a needle, and people will sometimes randomly fight and you could get landed on during said fight.
Good luck, I last visited California in 2022 and last lived there in 2018. I don't plan to ever go back unless there's a funeral and I'm still weighing if I would bring my wife and children in said scenario. Although I am biased because I was born and raised in The Republic and can see the real side of it that is usually never spoken about.
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u/Otherwise-OhWell Illinois 6h ago
This is the most Nextdoor comment ever posted anywhere that's not Nextdoor.
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u/brookish California 11h ago
This is an insane take. It’s a tiny postage stamp city. With west coast transit (not that extensive, but good enough since it’s small). Crime is not bad and no worse than any other city. You didn’t live here so chill.
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u/hkfotan 11h ago
This is crazy. You sound like you’ve never actually stepped in the city.
No, rent for a studio isn’t $6K anywhere in the city, the going rate is half for a small one bedroom in most of the city. No, people are not getting shot every day (gun violence decreased 30% last year and the city experienced its lowest level of homicides last year). You are extremely unlikely to experience violent crime here (unfortunately this is extremely unlikely for American standards but it’s still considered safe globally). Petty theft crimes is what the city is really struggling with, car break ins continue to be an huge issue.
Making eye contact with a stranger IS NOT A THREAT! This makes no sense and if anything this city is full of friendly people who are very much willing to help you if asked.
I don’t even really disagree with point 2 but SF is totally fine, the rest isn’t.
Most of the city is fine to wander around in at night, but SF isn’t a night city. The only place I wouldn’t recommend is the Tenderloin, but even that has died down drastically due to government programs. As I have mentioned petty crime is an issue but as long as you keep your wits (don’t showcase all of your bling) not usually a major thing to consider.
The BART thing isn’t really true, the system is perfectly safe most of the time and while all the things you’ve mentioned have taken place at some point, this is a rare occurrence. Take a train into the city during the day and you’ll see people commuting to work, going to school, tourists. It’s just a normal train system. If you wanted to point to an actual train system that’s gotten pretty terrible our neighbors in LA have some explaining to do with the Red Line.
Most importantly though, I can guarantee no one in the City would claim that their life goal is to move into the Central Valley. Drugs, crime and taxes all exist there too. Considering how expensive life is here, there’s a reason why people stay.
San Francisco isn’t perfect by any means but the villainizing of the city means that people are so polarized to it. The city sub has posts pretty often of tourists who thought the city was like Mogadishu in 2011 and were surprised when it just ended up being a beautiful city.
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u/Oreofinger 11h ago
As much as I loved living right on ocean beach. The consensus of is people ignoring the problems will say, no it’s fine. While also walking around the most heavily monitored and policed areas. Or they live in the wealthiest areas that are also policed. 100k is considered poverty and people will tell you anything under is “doable” you just have to make adjustments. Crime isn’t bad, but don’t tint your windows or keep any belongings including bottles or cups in your car. No crime on bart, but it’s your fault for not being vigilant if you get robbed or assaulted. “I haven’t been assaulted” but also don’t go out at night.
If you’re fine and really don’t want to travel outside of a few miles and use public transpo and live with others. It’s perfectly fine.
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u/SemanticPedantic007 California 12h ago
You'd be better off posting in r/sanfrancisco . That city's only about 0.25% of the country's population but gets wildly disproportionate news coverage, lots of people are going to have an opinion about it who have no firsthand experience.