[pz]

tenderloin probably has the highest density of crackheads. if you want to get your kidneys harvested i'd go to chinatown or the sunset because i just assume that the chinese are the only ones sophisticated enough to steal and then sell organs. (crackheads just don't have the resources to pull something like that off)

i lived in the tenderloin for a year and some change and i kind of liked it. there's good night life on polk street and good cheap eats there. i had four indian restaurants within a block of my apartment and could walk to the great american music hall or BART. but it takes a certain kind of person to live amongst that kind of drudgery for so long.

if you want true danger, head down to bayview and hunters point. even the tenderloin has its share of wine bars and quaint coffee shops. the 'view is like another world.

[kolya3]

I have met a seasoned cop who refuses to go into Hunter's point as hired security.

[dillydally]

Huh. I canvassed there during the 2008 election. I didn't even get funny looks, which has happened to me more than once when I went into the "wrong" neighborhood in Chicago.

In fact, I once pulled over into a gas station only to have the attendant tell me I needed to get into my car and drive off.

I've never once had an experience like that in SF.

[dillydally]

In Chicago, not SF. Nothing like that has ever happened to me in SF, even as a white guy going door to door in Bayview.

Also, I wouldn't call it a "decent neighborhood," I just don't want to make it seem like you'll get shot for setting foot there, is all. I wouldn't live there.

[sliverstorm]

> In fact, I once pulled over into a gas station only to have the attendant tell me I needed to get into my car and drive off.

How exactly does this prove it's a decent neighborhood again?

[ryanwaggoner]

I think he meant that happened in Chicago or elsewhere, not SF.

[kolya3]

Maybe you got lucky? Went there on a "good" day? No idea. Either way, I like to learn from others' mistakes :)

[angelbob]

Is it a time-of-day thing? The tenderloin seems way worse at night.

[catch23]

the danger in the tenderloin is definitely overrated. People who think the tenderloin is dangerous has obviously never lived in places like NYC, Atlanta, or St. Louis. You could get mugged in broad daylight in Atlanta and the cops won't even blink. I've seen it happen.

[rdl]

I lived in the loin around 2003, pretty much at the worst part (6th/Jones). It was bad enough that I got hassled on the streets by drug dealers when I stood outside (I think they assumed I was involved in the business somehow?), and female friends would be really reluctant to visit without an escort to/from BART. I had 2 guys get shot right outside my door, and the police didn't come by to take a statement from me until the next day (I happened to be looking out the window right at the time, and called it in 5 seconds after it happened).

It's definitely gotten better since the 1990s, but I still would really not want to live there and do a startup.

It's nothing compared to HP, Bayview, EPA, parts of East San Jose, or parts of Oakland, though. When in the area, I often am driving to HP at night (to go to 200 Paul Ave, one of the big datacenters on the West Coast), and I'm always relieved when the gate closes behind my car.

The mission has some bad areas too; unfortunately the area right outside Noisebridge is actually pretty sketchy.

[tlrobinson]

My friend got punched in the face by a crackhead in the Tenderloin for no apparent reason.

Just throwing out my datapoint...