Mildred, I have to agree with the others that you don't need to drive. I have been there several times, and the one time I rented a car it was rather stressful. I now just rely on public transportation there and it is totally fine.

As for the Mission--it's OK but only if you know where you are going. I've wandered into the wrong areas twice! Kinda scary.

Sorry, XYZ. I'm just Dan who lives in Tampa and I've said nothing about San Jose. Don't know "x"

This about sums up San Francisco's problem in a recent newspaper article.

It takes only a few blocks to realize that street people and panhandlers are as much a part of this gilded hill city as the Golden Gate, the Presidio, or the striking views of Alcatraz from Russian Hill.

San Francisco belongs to them as much as it does to the scions of Pacific Heights or former dotcomers now working in temp jobs. In this tolerant city, politicians who have sought to remove them from street corners have long been labeled callous - and often rousted from office. Here, urinating in public is a cherished right.

As the problem grows, however, San Francisco appears to be reaching its breaking point. According to some estimates, it has roughly the same number of homeless people as New York, even though it has one-tenth the population. Two years ago, nearly 200 people died on the streets - twice as many as in the state of Florida.

The homeless problem has become cataclysmic in San Francisco," says Gray Brechin, a historian at the University of California in Berkeley.

Since 2000, the homeless population of San Francisco has grown by more than a third, totaling some 7,300 people. In places such as the Tenderloin district, streets seem little more than galleries of "Checks Cashed" signs, strip clubs, and wobbly shopping carts packed with worn clothes, trinkets, and trash. Sidewalks double as sleeping quarters, and the smell of stale urine is rarely far away.

Mr. Brechin says he won't come into San Francisco, because he "can't take it anymore." Six-year resident Sonja Brandjes is sometimes afraid to walk the streets in certain parts of town. "It's worse than it has ever been," she says. "We just accept it because it has always been there, but I don't think it's safe."

For example, while most municipalities offer benefits to the homeless in the form of a small cash stipend and other benefits such as vouchers or shelter beds, San Francisco still gives about one-third of its homeless population its benefits all in cash - as much as $395 a month. At the same time, the number of deaths among the homeless has increased recently - from 103 in 1995 to 183 in 2000.

It is interesting how any thread abouit San Francisco quickly degrades into people basically saying "don't go there, it's horrid" and people saying "oh, San Jose is a great city, visit it instead of San Francisco" and the others who try to defend SF. If someone has decided to visit SF, then let's try and give them some useful information about things to do. And if someone has decdided to visit San Jose, let's do the same thing.

I live in Berkeley (across the bay from SF). I visit the city at least 2-3 times a week. Yes, it has its problems and there are some areas I wouldn't walk through. However, there is a lot to see and do that is fantastic, safe and fun.

As far as weather in summer: the day will probably start out a bit chilly (mid 50s to low 60s). As you get close to noon/2pm, it will probably warm up to around the mid-70s. At about 2pm, the fog will start rolling in, the wind will pick up and it will get cooler again (mid60s). Seeing the fog roll in over Twin Peaks is a VERY San Francisco experience. Once the fog has settled for the night, around 6pm or so, it will actually tend to warm up a little (the fog acts like a blanket), but only by a few degrees. Of course, at the hottest, it can get into the low 90s in the city (very rare), but it's not surprising to see mid-80s.

The areas that are truly worth avoiding are as follows:

- the Tenderloin district is west of Union Square, west of Mason Street and south of Post, east of Van Ness and all along Market in that area. It's not all horrible, but that gives you a general sense of the avoidable area. Also, anything that is south of Market in that same vicinity is undesirable.

- The Mission Distirict can be a bit weird. It's very hip, but also a bit run down. It isn't very unsafe, especially when there are lots of people around, except north of 16th Street (bad, bad, bad). 16th Street itself is interesting, but there are a lot of panhandlers.

- Anything around Fisherman's Wharf is FINE!!!

- The Castro District (Market and Castro) is full of 'the gays". Don't wear any Prada shoes or Diesel clothing. They'll roll you for it..... hehe, i'm SOOOO totally joking.

In terms of a car, it's not a bad thing in SF, but parking is a nightmare. At least Union Square has garages! Most neighborhoods have only on-street parking which is impossible to find. Buy a MUNI map ($2 at any bookstore or visitor's center) and use our public transportation (it ain't the fastest way, but it goes everywhere)

Use your car to go to Twin Peaks (up Market, right on Twin Peak Blvd) or the Golden Gate Park and the Ocean Beach. Also, check out the Palace of the Legion of Honor and the Palace of Fine Arts, all easily accessible by car in the city. Or just drive up and down the hilly streets for fun