
SF tourists: "I will never step foot in San Francisco again" - pdog
http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Cable-cars-climb-halfway-to-the-stars-but-SF-12372796.php
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borkt
Really feels like we need a tough mayor to come down on this crap. As someone
from a working class sicilian family living in the city since the late 1800s
things these days are unbelievable. I don't understand how the city could have
grown so expensive yet appear to have no desire to properly police the
streets. Blatant drug use/sales and dirt bike groups breaking every law
imaginable are just a small example of what I encountered on my last trip
through the city. How the police cannot stop the dirt bike groups amazes me as
I've seen them knock very young children off of sidewalks into the street
where they could get run over yet the police seem to have no desire to use
force on them.

~~~
nodesocket
These are all my personal opinions.

There is lack of law and consequences for bad behavior. It comes from leaders
that are afraid of extreme liberal backlash and outrage. Unfortunately, I'd
even say there is a disdain for police officers in SF. That has to be an
incredibly hard and frustrating job.

I've been in SF for over 5 years, but enough is enough and I moving out next
month for Nashville, Tennessee. Downtown SF is no place to raise a family.

~~~
tfmatt
Can you expanded on why Nashville? I have heard this exact same scenario 3
times in the last month on HN. Super curious, thanks.

~~~
nodesocket
You sure it wasn't me? :-) From another one of my comments.

> Nashville is growing and expanding like crazy. I believe it is in the top 10
> fastest growing US cities and it is VERY business friendly (no state income
> tax) and has favorable small business conditions. While Nashville is
> certainly a music city, the business environment continues to improve.

> Ready to settle and slow life down. I absolutely love music (played drums
> and piano) and really enjoy the amazing live music scene in Nashville. I
> also found that people are super friendly, charming, and ultra polite in
> Nashville. That southern charm is real.

~~~
tfmatt
it was you, best of luck

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cylinder
>She’s still staying in a shelter at night and still panhandling during the
day with her daughter, who’s now 5 months old and has her first tooth. Police
officers walking past stopped at the alarming sight, but couldn’t do much
other than buy her diapers and formula.

>Doudney said her shelter stay ends Dec. 12, at which point she plans to visit
her mom in Nebraska and then maybe take a road trip. She said she’s thinking
of going to school to study early childhood psychology.

You have a mom you can stay with in Nebraska but instead choose to panhandle
with a newborn in SF? There's no reasoning with these people! This is not only
idiotic but definitely child endangerment.

~~~
yladiz
If the woman is staying in a shelter and panhandling, then she probably can't
afford to _just_ go back home, regardless of her want of taking a road trip
and going back to school. It's also just as likely that she won't be able to
visit her mother in Nebraska because she won't have the money for it and will
just be on the street with her baby daughter (likely the only reason she was
able to get into the shelter in the first place). If she can't physically go
to Nebraska to being her daughter, how would you propose she get her daughter
to Nebraska?

Beyond that, take a step back and realize that a good portion of the homeless
people in SF have mental health and drug abuse issues and so, yes, it's not
really possible to reason with them, but not because they are unreasonable,
but because they often times aren't able to reason in the same way. It's
better to direct your anger at a city that takes in high taxes through sales
tax and property tax but can't seemingly help with this issue (through
whatever means that would be, like affordable housing or better outreach).

------
gnu8
Previously: [https://justink.svbtle.com/open-letter-to-mayor-ed-lee-
and-g...](https://justink.svbtle.com/open-letter-to-mayor-ed-lee-and-greg-
suhr-police-chief)

Justin Svbtle caught a lot of flak for the insensitive tone of his open letter
back when he wrote it, but he was rightfully pissed off at the time, and it
seems the problem has only gotten worse.

How is it possible that there aren't enough resources to take care of everyone
in a city that generates so much wealth?

~~~
nodesocket
Yes I did take flak... And death threats and people Tweeting my phone number
and address. I do regret some of my wording and insensative tone. I wrote it
quickly and emotionally out of frustration never expecting more than a handful
of people to see it.

At any rate, I'm leaving SF next month for much greeener pastures. Nashville,
TN. I just can't deal with SF absurdity, hypocrisy, and the lack of
accountability and action anymore.

------
ahmetyas01
Silicon Valley wants to save the world but can't help Silicon Valley itself.

~~~
gumby
Silicon Valley residents live a typical conservative sub urban existence and
visits SF when they want weirdness (which is, despite this article, mostly
being squeezed out of the place).

I have lived in Palo Alto and SF, back and forth for 35 years and feel the
difference.

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techpop10
You could lump in San Jose in this story as well. It amazes me that well
meaning residents and leaders of the bay area have completely ignored the
social problems that engulf the region.

~~~
the_common_man
San Jose downtown is in complete shambles. It is honestly very scary because
many people walk buy threatening you and offer weed directly.

~~~
nradov
It depends which part of downtown SJ. East of the light rail tracks is a
shambles, especially after business hours. West is mostly safe.

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rb808
Add me to the list. I visited SF with the possibility of moving there. Its
unlikely now, wife hated it.

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deadmetheny
"Mayor Lee — after touring the goofy Museum of Ice Cream but before eating ice
cream and playing pingpong with its co-founder, Manish Vora — said he is
working hard on these issues."

Clearly, this is a top priority.

~~~
danielvf
Is that just when they reporter picked the time to ask that question?

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hacker314159
I imagine if the police actually did something about public drug use, theft,
and mentally ill assailants, there would be a backlash against the perception
of a fascist police state.

~~~
chrisbennet
Justifiably so. Police are the wrong tool to address mental health and
homelessness issues.

------
kdamica
Car break-ins are a major problem in SF. I wish the city would do some kind of
sustained sting operation to capture the worst offenders.

~~~
nradov
Same for bicycle thefts.

------
shirro
I am a long way away but my impression via the media is that this is sort of
what New York was like and that it was substantially cleaned up. Are there
parallels and lessons to learn there or are they very different?

~~~
indemnity
Anecdote: As a tourist visiting both for a month one after the other, felt
way, way safer in NYC than SF. Maybe it’s not the case, but people seemed more
looked after in NYC than SF, even for people on the margins.

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pavel_lishin
> _“We went to the museum immediately and reported it. Their response was,
> ‘This happens all the time.’ They didn’t even come down to look, nothing,”
> Donoghue said._

Why would they expect museum staff to look at the scene of a crime?

~~~
jstarfish
It happened on their property.

~~~
danielvf
It actually didn’t - the parking lot was Parks property.

These kinds of bureaucratic neighbors that are functionally incapable of
working together to solve crimes can be pretty funny when they build large
signs just to let you know the fault is with the other Department.

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ericmcer
Regarding the quote in the title: Don't leave $8,000 dollars worth of stuff in
your car? I enjoy Oakland and SF because you do have to keep your wits about
you. If I left my backpack in my car and someone smashed my window to grab it
I would blame myself.

~~~
ggg9990
There are plenty of places in the US where I can comfortably leave $8,000 of
camera equipment in my van. SF isn't one of them.

~~~
dragontamer
But how many of those places are big cities?

I would never stuff $8000 of equipment unattended in Chicago, Detroit,
Washington DC, New York City, or San Francisco.

Hell, I rarely drive in cities for that reason alone. Some cars get broken
into for no reason (probably guys looking for valuables). My preference is to
park outside the city (any city) in a safer area, and then take the subway in.

~~~
ggg9990
New York is the only one I'd feel comfortable in of the ones you've listed.
Others are Seattle, Austin.

~~~
moonka
>Seattle

I'd rethink that. We're blessed with relatively low violet crime numbers, but
property crime is pretty high. We take it as a given that our car will be
broken into every once in awhile living here.

