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Conservatives post this like once a week here lmfao. SF is by far my favorite city to visit in America.

Life in an oligarchy contributes to homelessness and related problems.

We are living in another gilded age. Wealth continues to concentrate at the top. Rules are written to support those with power and money.

Corporations are making record profits, while inflation makes it difficult for many to afford basics. Rx prices are the highest in the world.

College was once the ticket to breaking out of poverty, yet tuition rates now make it unaffordable to the unprivileged.

Some were sold BS like "right to work". Wages the went up dramatically for those at the top while remaining stagnant for everyone else.

This should not really be a D vs R issue, both sides continue to get equally fucked.

Requiring the 1% to pay a tax rate equivalent to those paid by the middle class should not be controversial.

The system is rigged, but we've fixed it before and can fix it again, but only once we realize that all of those in power have zero incentives to actually adress the root causes of our growing inequity.

Would you bring a family with six kids under age 11 to visit San Francisco?

I wouldn’t bring a family with 6 kids anywhere. That’s too many kids, we’d be a nuisance + spend too much money everywhere.

I did visit SF with a group of 10 kids though when I was around 12 and we all had a blast.

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I’ve spent probably two months of my life there now, even in the cheapest areas like the Tenderloin, and have never seen anything I haven’t already seen growing up in my conservative hometown. Obviously SF has some huge problems but so do most of the US, and other areas don’t have the upsides.

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Most walkable city in America. Stunning natural beauty, arguably the best of any major American city. Million things to do. Elite food. Best job market in America, if not the world.

The third of Americans that honestly believe none of this is true make my hotels there cheaper, thankfully.

Year-round mild weather, world class dining scene with foods from just about every culture, incredible hiking in every direction, amazing urban parks, beautiful scenic vistas everywhere you look, world class cycling, incredible museums, world class surfing, easy access to skiing, 2 hours to wine country, high walkability and ability to live without a car, great biking infrastructure, large number of career opportunities, many educational opportunities, endless events and parties, a massive gay scene, interesting and open minded people with a 'live and let live attitude' that allows others be themselves, a general vibe that encourages people to explore who they are and find their passions - no one here is gonna ask you when you're going to 'settle down' or have kids. I could keep going but I doubt the person I'm replying to will even read this far.

It has its downsides like high cost of living, homeownership being out of reach for many, the intractable NIMBYism that tries to crystalize the city in amber, public transit that's often inefficient and frustrating, business cartels that block new restaurants and shops that might bring competition, and a more carrot than stick approach to dealing with the drug-addicted homeless population but anyone who says SF is an unlivable shit-hole either hasn't spent any time here or has very different ideals and just doesn't like cities.

I was extremely disappointed by San Francisco when I went there. Doesn’t have the museum clout like DC or NYC, and frankly, it felt like a city who’s spirit was taken out back and shot. It doesn’t even breach my top 3 favorite cities I’ve visited.

I will say, the homelessness and lack of cleanliness was a “negative”, but I love NOLA, and it’s not any better.

DC and NYC are probably 2/3 for me. SF is just way prettier than either, but I get what you’re saying about museums and DC.

Why are you posting something that is 5 years old?

Well we can’t just stay home forever. Trying to plan an eventual cross country parks and cities trip.

And I can’t figure out what the truth is about San Francisco. Is it the most beautiful and awesome place in the world where only the richest of the rich can afford to live? Or is it littered with needles and excrement, full of strung out homeless criminals who smash your car windows twice a week even if there’s nothing valuable in there at all? Or is it somehow both?

Having lived in SF and having lived in NYC now for a decade, SF is nice place to visit but a poorly run city.

Both cities are constantly smeared by conservative media, but things generally work so much better here in NYC. And while we have problems with drug addled people on the streets, it is nowhere near the level of SF. I’m a decent sized guy and even I would feel unsafe walking major streets.

These numbers do not match the problem either, so posting this is being annoyed and acknowledging the problem but not really being honest about what is going on or why. For example, how does this map to public toilets or recently shut public toilets?

Where in San Francisco, though? The museums in Golden Gate Park are quite nice.

2018 is a long time ago at this point. Just to toss out one example, I work near a park on 5th between Bryant and Harrison that just got ripped out and fenced off to keep campers out. Progress on this is not easy but it is happening.

It’s funny you say that about the most liberal state in the US and the one that collects more taxes than any other state (also the one that spends the most on homeless and social programs).

The shit I brought up is happening everywhere. All of my examples are things that affect everyone.

You forgot to mention that the GDP of CA is greater than the combined economic output of NV, MT, UT, ID, ND, SD & NM.

Also, CA is one of the only states where most of the cities never have deadly weather.

Fox News is trying really hard to make CA seem scary, but it really isn't. Sure they have their problems, but at least they are trying to do something about it. CA spending "the most money" on social programs (BS unless expressed on a per GDP basis) is not the own you think it is.

It's so nice of San Francisco to make the rest of the country happy we don't live there.

Dude, I literally live in California. San Francisco to be precise.

I grew up in Brazil and I can assure that SF is scary. I feel safer in my hometown in Brazil (so called 3rd world) than in California (not everywhere, though). After 9 years living there, they already broke into my house once (in a nice neighborhood in RWC and 3 times into my car in SF).

I don’t know why people keep defending SF like it’s not crazy bad. This is just about ideologies. Admitting that SF is a shithole at the moment, won’t automatically make republicans right and democrats wrong. Maybe there’s just a few things that we should reconsider.

Net domestic migration rate per 1,000 inhabitants in 2020-2021:

Florida: 10.14

Texas: 5.77

California: -9.36

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_net_migration

I guarantee it's even higher in 2021 and 2022.

2020-2021 was not exactly a typical year.

There was a general trend that started during the pandemic of people moving to places with a lower cost of living. The trend has continued, albeit more slowly since as more people work from home or have otherwise evaluated work-life balance. The median price of a home in CA is about $800K.

CA has a major problem with homelessness. Almost every local politician agrees that this is among the most important challenges. However, with housing costs so high, it is a tough nut to crack.

Most societal problems have their roots in poverty, which was my main point.

Since the 1980s almost all economic gains have gone to the wealthy, with middle incomes remaining steady and low incomes actually declining: https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/

The bottom 90% earned about 70% of all earnings in 1979. In 2020, the same group earned 60%. Between 1978 and 2020, wages for the top 1% (now >$800k/year) grew by 119%, while the 0.1% (>$3.4 million/year) has water growth of 389%.

This should concern everyone. Trickle down was a lie, told by the rich to make themselves richer.

“Most walkable city in America”. So walkable, there is a website showing the locations of human feces on sidewalks, among other places. https://wmmr.com/2019/04/17/someone-made-an-interactive-san-francisco-poop-map/

And check out this video. I’m very thankful I don’t live there.

Yes, SF is literally the most walkable city in America: https://www.walkscore.com/cities-and-neighborhoods/

You can always tell who has never actually been there and only hear about it through Fox lol

The sidewalks exist, but can you walk on those sidewalks, and feel safe doing so?

I've been to downtown Los Angeles several times. It's pretty bad. From what I have heard (including from San Francisco residents), San Francisco is probably worse.

I have spent 2 months in SF over my life and have never felt unsafe while walking anywhere. My last trip there I walked probably 10 miles/day on average, including through some worse neighborhoods, and 1) the walks are way nicer than anywhere I’ve ever lived before 2) never felt unsafe.

Did see a few guys smoking crack lol but you see those type of people in every city if you walk around enough.

I currently live near downtown Los Angeles and it’s 100% worse than SF, but still tolerable. SF is just so beautiful, it’s hard not to have a good time there. Not so true for LA lol.