Seconded. On my visits to Berlin, my travel companions were often absolutely terrified because of the huge amounts of graffiti, the gutter punks at train stations and the open prostitution around Oranienburger Straße. They thought that they had arrived in some sort of dystopian nightmare. After a few days, they realised that Berlin is incredibly safe and welcoming, it just doesn't have any pretensions. Berlin has the same social problems as any other big city, but they're managed in open view rather than swept under the carpet.