Originally Posted by
rydabent
In 1960 I was on a Navy base near SF. It was an up scale city that most sailors dressed up a little to go there on liberty. Now we see pictures of a guy taking a dump at the curb right next to an out door cafe. Pelosi and the democrats have about destroyed that city. Who in their right mind would consider taking their family there on vacation.
I would. In fact, my wife and I went there for our honeymoon in 2016. We spent a week in the Tenderloin neighborhood in a cheap, non-corporate motel, and we loved every minute of it. We walked to every other neighborhood we wanted to see (Mission, Castro, HA, North Beach, etc), and the only time we used a car was when we drove out to wine country for the day (checked out a Zipcar for that trip). It was actually really amazing to see that city on foot in late September. We weren't expecting the wide range of weather we got during that week, going from low-60s and overcast to upper-80s and sunny, but it just added to the fun we were having.
We saw plenty of homeless people, for sure, but I've seen homelessness in every major city I've ever visited (NYC, Chicago, Houston, San Diego, Atlanta, Bangkok, etc). Staying in the Tenderloin, we were actually at the epicenter of where SF's homeless people gather, because there is/was a large concentration of services offered to them in that area. There was a group with a trailer full of shower stalls that was helping the people stay clean (their sign said they come out 2-3 times per week, IIRC), there was a group handing out food, and there was another group offering basic wellness check-ups. It was actually nice to know there are organizations giving aid to those who are in need, even if it's not fixing the root of the problem.
Based on my prior experience and the current news about the city, I would have zero problem taking my family back there (post-pandemic, of course). Your assertion that nobody wants to go there is kind of silly.