Well, 24th St. Station would be crazy.

I mean because it's so much farther from the restaurant than the other two.

I would take the F streetcar to one of the more populated BART Stations - Embarcadero and then catch BART there.

We recently spent 2 weeks in SF and used the 16th St BART station a few times. While it was ok, it was not my favorite place to be around.

Civic Center is a bit of a walk along a not so great stretch of Market.

Take the F, and you should be fine.

Why walk to/from any of those stations, just get on the F streetcar (which runs above ground on Market) and take it to/from the Montgomery or Embarcadero BART stations. Or if you are so concerned about the dangerous City, take a cab to those stations at night.

I don't know what news reports you have been reading but the area of Market where the restaurant is located is neither skeevy or full of gang activity. Areas of the Mission do have gang activity but unless you are a young Latino male you are not a likely target.

Great minds Deb.

Thanks Deb. SAB, thanks too, minus the snark.

Sorry christy that you did not like the tone of my response, but I live in San Francisco and have done so for over 30 years, and after a while I get somewhat tired of hearing that it is dangerous, gang infested, full of homeless people, and dog poop. And reading questions about is it safe? So I tend to react to comments about reports of "gunfire and gang activity".

Well, you can tell I don't take public transportation all that often in the city!

SAB, I understand, but every big (American) city has areas you might not want to visit. The people on Fodors don't thoroughly know the cities they are asking about, otherwise they wouldn't be asking.

Perhaps you should be directing your impatience at the San Francisco Chronicle? Which is where I kept reading about innocents caught in Market Street crossfire.

Get off anywhere along Market St. and catch the "F" line going toward the Castro.

christycruz, there are certain parts of San Francisco I prefer not to walk around, especially at night, which is why I was hesitant to suggest you do so. So, I'm curious what you read about gangs and gunfire, since I did a search on SFGate (the Chron's website) and turned up nothing of the sort.

The sfgate search is awful. Use something else like Google News:

http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-06-26/news/29704925_1_gang-shooting-pride-festival-pride-event

So, one incident on Market in May equals "many reports of gunfire and gang activity lately". Depends on your frame of reference I guess.

Depends on your frame of reference I guess

or frame of mind.

I would take a taxi to BART - or ask your friend if s/he or another guest can give you a lift to a BART station.

I also agree with DebitNM about taking the streetcar to a "safer" station like Powell.

I posted ONE of the stories. So, no, that wasn't all.

Proving myself right to the overly sensitive isn't a hobby I'm interested in pursuing.

You know, for someone sensitive in how the city is portrayed, you are really not helping its image. Ever think of that?

I've lived in SF or within 15 mins of it for over 36 years, read the Chron daily - and I agree with SAB.

Stu Dudley

Stu, what exactly do you agree with? I can't even figure out what the beef is. There's crime. Some areas are worse than others. I would like to avoid those. I researched it more, and it's a corner near SoMo with the lastest incidents happening near end of Sept., but how is a person not totally familiar with the area supposed to know?

Why be snide about it? I don't understand.

If worried about safety, the first two BART stops in SF and then the "F" line on Market street is the safest public transportation option.

I agree with SAB that the number of murders & crime in general is not as great as you may think it is.

There was an article in the Chron a couple of years ago which stated that 60% of the murder victims in SF were African-Americans. Most of these were gang/drug related and occurred in an area of the City that you won't be getting close to. Another chunk of murder victims are Latino gang members - as SAB indicated. So unless you are in one of these two groups, your chance of getting murdered is slim.

You are obviously concerned for your safety - so instead of criticizing the opinion of locals who have lived here for decades, just take SAB's or Michael's advice (he is a local also) and head to a the Montgomery or Embarcadero BART station instead of walking on Market St. Actually, I would head 2-3 blocks to the Muni-Metro underground Van Ness or Church St stations & take any train to any shared Muni-Metro/ BART station & stay underground all the time.

Stu Dudley

Stu, I can't believe you agree with the tone of the responses.

I thought I could come here and get friendly advice.

I was half right.

***All three bystanders hit were from out of town - one from England, one from Florida and one from the East Bay, Suhr said. The most critically injured victim was one of the bystanders, he added, but did not identify which one.***

The article states this is the SECOND year violence occurred. Note, the victims were from out of town. If YOU were going somewhere you weren't familiar with wouldn't that be alarming? It is for most and especially women! Better to be safe than sorry.

I have just re-read the thread. I beg forgiveness for all involved. I'm so sorry for overreacting.

Menopause is a bitch. But it's no excuse.

I'm really not like this usually. Or maybe now I am...eek.

The advantage of the "F" line is that the rider can use visual landmarks to see when to get off--i.e. one stop after the crossing the Central Freeway-Octavia intersection.