judy

I just went on the forum to check out some things about S.F. and I can't believe that all I am reading about is this war between NYC and SF. I live in nyc and I don't know what that has to do with people giving a nice review of a city. get real and enjoy what we all have!!!!!

kam

Boy, Judy, do I agree with you. I was born in NYC and now live near SF. The two cities are lightyears apart, in my mind nether one is better or worse, just different. I do agree that dollars given to the homeless are wasted and what we need is a program which is effective in dealing with the homeless. I do not agree with offering them a corral next to the buffalo in GG park, as has been suggested in the past. Does anyone know where the homeless went when Rudy was mayor? It certainly seems to me that NYC has a much worse gang problem than SF. Most of the gang activity is in Oakland and East San Jose. That doesn't excuse it, but it isn't in the city itself. Maybe I should go buy that big dog!!

ssss

SF is nothing but a cesspool for drug addicts, prostitutes, and the homeless. I have never seen such a dirty place. It is way overrated. I would not recommend spending any time there.

D

"ssss" you bore us with your childish attacks on a city. Who the f**k cares if you would "recommend" it!? Personally, I'd listen to travel magazines before I would you! They all pick SF as either America's favorite city to visit or at least a top five.

ssss

D,

Okay, let's listen to the travel magazines that are being paid by these cities to get on their list. How biased is that. I don't rely on what other people say, I prefer to check things out for myself. I was shoked at how awful of city SF has become, and there are many others who feel the same way.

D

Blah blah blah. Every time someone says how much they enjoy SF you attack them. loser.

ssss

D,

Your're the loser. Obviuously you know that the negative things that are being said sbout SF are true, or else you would not see the need to get defensive.

d

No, dear, I'm not defensive. However, you can't let ANYONE say that the enjoyed SF without carping the same old crap you always drag up. You're the "negative Nancy" of this board and luckily no one pays much attention. I won't post anymore because I realize children must have the last word and you're sure to post again!

ps - I live in the Bay Area and don't dispute that SF has problems. They just aren't all there is to the city and you can't see past that!

Dennis

I visit San Francisco regularly, and don't notice a really horrible homeless problem. I mean, they're there, but they're not horribly aggressive nor numerous. Didn't bother me at all.... (shrug)

Buyer

You know.. I could absolutely fix this entire S.F bashing...
I live in Los Angeles, and love it! Ok...I'm ready, take a swing!...lol

karg

I love SF and NYC. The Bashers probably cannot afford to live in either city.

Deborah

I absolutely love NYC but SF was more than underwhelming. Everyone seems to overhype SF and when you finally get there, you realize that there is really no substance. The culture and the restaurants did not meet my expectations. I would agree that SF really needs to be cleaned up badly.

Thomas Cindy

My wife and seven year old son recently traveled to San Francisco and love every moment of it. Unfortunately, my wife hurt her back the very first day there and spent most of our 6 days there in the motel room. But with a wonderful view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay, it wasn’t a total loss.

We wisely purchased a 7-day transportation pass for $15 each and were able to get our monies worth out of it. The buses are good to very clean, run regularly, and go to about anyplace in the city, even the Golden Gate Bridge. You probably have heard it before; you don’t need to rent a car in this city as the parking spaces are very limited and garage parking can run a small fortune. Since my wife was restricted to the hotel room, my 7-year-old son had a blast riding the buses and the trolleys.

The weather was great as we were there just before the anticipated heat wave (how hot did it get?). The homeless people were quite numerous in certain parts of the city but we always felt safe. Of course, we were out only during the day.

San Francisco is a very scenic, culturally rich, overflowing with restaurants, and a fun loving city. If you haven’t been, you need to go, at least once in your life. You won’t regret it!

Bob

Thomas Cindy,

The buses never run on time in SF. I routinely have to wait at least 30 - 45 minutes for a bus when they are in fact scheduled to come at least every 10-15 minutes. SF's public trasportation system is in complete disarray.

Keli

Visited SF several times but not within the past 12 years....why can't something be done to clean up the homeless problem? Other large cities seem to be making more headway with respect to this problem than SF. What's wrong with the Mayor there? Is he just not making the problem a high priority?? Just curious... Keli

Emma

I'm an ex-Londoner who spent a few years in NYC and is now living in San Francisco, and I do agree that SF is not as cosmopolitan as NY ... but not many places in the world are. You have to look at SF realistically and judge it on its own merits. You're (of course) free to like it or not, as anywhere else. 'High culture' isn't really SF's strong point - I'd be surprised to hear that it's marketing itself as a centre thereof. Some of my favourite 'cultural' things in SF are the Mission (see Mission Dolores, and check out the 'Precita Eyes" mural project) and Chinatown. The city is espeically visually pleasing from a height (Top of the Mark, bar on top of the BA building) or a distance (East Bay, Marin headlands, top of the Coit Tower, ariel view from a plane).

If you live in North America and are relatively free to travel, why not come to SF for a short trip and see for yourself? Look for airfare and hotel deals - there are many - and if you don't like SF proper, you can always escape to Napa, Mendocino, the Central Coast, or even SoCal. If you live on the other side of the world and would have to pawn your grandparents to get here, then OK, don't come.

Bob - Public transportation in SF is heinously uneven. CalTrain is usually good, BART and MUNI light rail are fine unles they break down (tho' MUNI is often a little bit behind schedule). MUNI buses are touch-and-go: some lines/routes are very reliable, others are routinely awful. And there can be a bad day on any line, when someone doesn't show up for work and other drivers aren't allowed to work overtime.

Keli - SF won't do what, for example, NYC did under Guiliani, because they consider it inhumane. The feeling is that SF has, for whatever reason, gotten into a situation where housing is scare & overpriced and jobs are rare and underpaid; SF has created and facilitated homelessness and just making it impossible for homeless people to survive in the city (which is essentially what NYC did) is not acceptable. There aren't, unfortunately, any good American solutions to the problem of homelessness so far.