Safety Tips

Safety Tips

Like any large city, San Francisco has its share of sketchy or downright troubled areas, but overall it's a relatively safe urban area. If you use common sense and follow basic precautions (sticking to well-lighted streets after dark, holding onto your bags rather than leaving them next to you), all should be well.

Even with forewarning, some visitors are taken aback by the high number of homeless people in the city's central areas, like the Civic Center. There's also a certain residual counterculture effect -- the lingering visions of the 1960s scene bring in a few thousand street kids every summer. (These teens and twentysomethings tend to hang out in the Haight and camp in the city's parks.) Although most homeless people are no threat, some panhandle aggressively. If you feel uncomfortable, simply don't engage them and move away.

Below is a list of the central city areas that you may want to avoid for safety's sake. Other parts of town, like the Haight, may look a bit scuzzy with graffiti or litter, but are basically safe during the day.

The Tenderloin. Named for a cut of steak, this neighborhood west of Union Square and above Civic Center is a particularly seedy part of town, with drug dealers, homeless and mentally ill people, hustlers, and X-rated joints. It's roughly bordered by Taylor, Polk, Geary, and Market streets. Avoid coming here after dark, especially if you're walking.

Western Addition. An actively dangerous neighborhood, even in daytime, with outbreaks of gun violence. Don't stray down Fillmore Street around Geary Street and Eddy Street.

Civic Center.If you're hoofing it after a show, go west to Gough Street; don't head north, east, or south from the Civic Center on foot, and avoid Market Street between 6th and 10th.

Parts of the Mission District. The flat blocks of the Mission range from a bit scruffy to edgy to truly sketchy, with some gang activity. Steer clear of the areas east of Mission Street and south of 24th Street, especially after dark. If you have to walk between 16th and 24th streets, head west to Valencia, which runs parallel to Mission.

Some areas in Golden Gate Park. These include the area near the Haight Street entrance, where street kids often smoke and deal pot, and around the pedestrian tunnels on the far west end of the park.

Parts of SoMa: You'll be in an empty industrial neighborhood if you drift more than five blocks or so south of Market.