Areas to Avoid, San Francisco

I just had a discussion with my wife where she suggested that someone we know comes from money because she was born and raised in SF. I stated maybe not and that every city has a ghetto. She doubted it (even tho neither of us has been there :)

So I searched the issue and came upon these reviews. The last one gave me a giggle where he suggested that if you must complain dont visit.

Being from NYC, Brooklyn to be precise, I have my love hate relationship with tourists. Now
I know that there may be bad areas of San Fran, and now I KNOW that it contains its share of rude assholes. LOL.

Gotta love it.

I have lived at the Corner of Hyde and Ellis in the Tenderloin for several years. I love it! It isn't that dangerous. Just so you know, The neighborhood I work in, which happens to be Fisherman's Wharf is much more dangerous than the Tenderloin ever was or will be. Here is my advice, if you're going to complain, then stay home and don't come to SF. The TL has some of the best food in the city and if no matter where you go in SF you are going to find what you people deem "danger." Please. If you think its that bad, then please don't come here.

Avoid the bay view hunters point area, avoid the tenderloin, western addition, avoid sixth st in San Francisco. Best areas for tourist are the fisherman's wharf, lombard, marina district,pacific heights, presidio, sea cliff, and ocean beach.

so what area would be best to stay in? Is it better to stay by Fisherman's wharf or union square. We plan to go to Golden Gate Park and Bridge, and china town, as well.

Do you have suggestions what would be close to the trolley, BART and cabs of course, but what area would be safest, I am travelling with my young daughter.

Hi Mark,
Me and my husband just came back from San Francisco as it was one of our honeymoon destinations. We were there only last week and we absolutely LOVED it. I thought it was charming and just breathtaking. Pier 39 is just the cutest thing ever, don't miss it.
Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of homeless people, it is a fact, but we had no problems whatsoever, at the end of the day, do the same that you would do when at home, just make sure that you are aware of your surroundings and that's it, and if you feel funny about something take a cab.
In any case we were there for 5 days and were staying at Nob Hill and we walked absolutely everywhere.
I loved San Francisco and I plan on returning, it is such a charming place.
So enjoy your stay am sure you and your girlfriend will love it.

I have recently booked a trip to go to NYC then onto San fran for 10 days. Having just read all these stories i am a little sceptical.
I do realise that every major city has its problems ( coming from London i know to well :) ).
Reading about all the no go areas and having to avoid a lot of places and if in doubt take a cab, walk fast, dont make eye contact. !!!!!!!!!.

This has myself and my girlfriend particularly worried even before we set foot on the lovely San Fran !!!.

Can anyone say anything positive about it ???

I say that last bit in Jest but you do know where i am coming from i hope ???

Thanks in advance.

Mark

I'm traveling through South America and having heard many first-hand accounts of theft and robbery, came on here initially to check out warnings for Quito. I didn't want to freak myself out so I moseyed on over to the San Francisco warning page to see what people had to say about a city I knew just to help gain some perspective.

First let's agree that any city, particularly big cities and particularly in areas with income disparities, there is a higher level of danger that requires caution paired with common sense.

Here's what I will tell you about the Tenderloin. If you want to see San Francisco, you can't avoid it altogether. It's right in the heart of this city and takes you into some beautiful neighborhoods, plus the TL has some amazing gastronomical offerings. Many hotels are based in or around here because it is so central to the things you want to see.

Don't let fear ruin your experience, but also don't be careless.

When leaving your hotel, know where you're going and don't look like a lost tourist. Get a map, study it, know which streets to avoid at night and don't go on those streets. If you must go down some sketchy streets, walk with big-city attitude and confidence. Understand that neighborhoods in SF can go from posh to hellish in about one block flat. Again, try and know where you're going. If you don't, take a cab.

Don't take more money than you need. Don't be flashy with jewelry or other personal belongings.

Ignore the crazies. No good comes of dealing with irrational people.

Watch your bags on buses. Don't get distracted or zone out.

Enjoy SF!

A native New Yorker, who is well-traveled in the United States and world, I lived in San Francisco for a few months in 2008. It was my first time going to San Francisco. I traveled there for a job and wanted to try out San Francisco to see if I would like living on the West Coast. Having lived in New York my entire life, I had never been so afraid for my safety before. My father traveled to San Francisco with me initially - he too also lived in New York since the early 1970s and as a former Marine, he too also felt unsafe in San Francisco. I was working in the Tenderloin so I had to commute there everyday and would sometimes venture out for lunch. Fortunately, the area of Golden Gate Avenue I worked near was not terrible because it was a business area in the day, but I would recommend do NOT venture further east into the TL on Golden Gate Avenue past Van Ness INCLUDING during the daytime. In the TL, you will see the same crackheads daily asking for money, I saw a pregnant prostitute on the corner near the KFC soliciting for men, you see people shooting up drugs in broad daylight and the poverty is on another level. One day I missed my bus stop on my way to work in the morning, and ended up deep in the heart of the tenderloin. The bus let me off not to far from the Glade Memorial Church (featured in Pursuit of Happyness) and there a lot of people and homeless milling the streets in the morning looking for trouble. My father one day after leaving me near my work office walked the "wrong way" and saw a line of black men (we are also black) staring at him in a menacing way, wondering why he was new to their hood. He quickly and frighteningly walked out of that area. The area near the Macy's on Market Street is also very sketchy and if waiting by anyone near the Macy's or the mall (Civic Center/TL/SOMA), just be aware of your surroundings and try not to wait too close to Golden Gate Avenue. At night in the Tenderloin, you will see and hear police sirens, prostitutes screaming, broken bottles and other noisy activity.

When I initially moved to San Francisco, it was to stay with family in the Bayview's/Hunter's Point Area. Like I said earlier, this was my first time venturing out into SF. Bayview was the worst neighborhood I had been in my entire life. There were bullet holes in the Bus station glass, blood stains from murders on storefront sidewalks, crackheads and drug addicts galore, and it is not safe as a young woman to walk Anywhere alone - not even to Walgreens, to a store, restaurant, nor barely even to catch the city train. Believe me when I say after a few days, I moved right out of that area and into Inner Richmond which is a more expensive area, but I rather be safe than fear for my life every morning when going to work or trying to enjoy myself as a young person in a new city. Cars are broken into as a normal occurrence; radios are stolen; and car parts. I would also avoid the Western Addition and Fillmore areas which while I was staying here had murders frequently on certain blocks and you would not want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the Financial District one night, I saw a homeless man yell at two tourists who were retrieving money from an ATM machine because they would not give him any money. The tourists were shocked and did not seem to know it was a bad idea to take money out (even in a "good area" of San Francisco) after dark. I don't know if they eventually gave him some or all of their money.

Some SF residents are in denial about how unsafe their city is compared with other major cities in the USA. New York City is like Disneyland in terms of how safe you feel on a day to day basis as compared with San Francisco. I guess in NYC you have more options as to which areas you frequent and larger portions are the city are very safe with a small minority of neighborhoods in the extreme, but in SF, the crime is block-by-block and unsuspecting tourists or newcomers have no idea what they are in for. Needless to say, I decided San Francisco was not the city for me.