I’ve lived in SF since 2007. OP is likely factually accurate about where he lives, which is one of the worst blocks in SF. I’ll add that this was the case in 2007 as well, I wouldn’t say that 7th and Mission has gotten significantly better or worse over the years. It was likely slightly nicer when OP moved in, but that was the exception, not the historical norm.
The main thing is that OP then uses that to generalize about the state of the entire city. This makes it difficult to actually have a reasonable conversation about what is working and what isn’t in SF because everything reverts to the binary “sf is/isn’t a shithole” argument. In OPs case, it actually exposes the reality behind a lot of these “random tech blogger leaving SF” stories where they don’t actually know much about the city or appear to have much of a social life outside of tech that would expose them to other parts of the city. In SF there are tons of places to live that aren’t “single family homes 4 miles from downtown” - the city is 7x7 square miles.
The way it frames things is weird, though. Not to say SoMa and downtown aren't shitholes that will make you feel unsafe multiple times per day; they are. But most other neighborhoods have a much safer vibe, and many of them are literally a 10 minute bus ride to downtown. His pooh-poohing the idea of moving to a different neighborhood is just weird. (If he were complaining about the school system or something being disfunctional or cost of living being too high, then his critique of SF as a whole would make a lot more sense.)
He can't really take his experiences living a block from 6th Street and apply them to the whole of SF, and he must be aware of that, or be particularly clueless.
> many of them are literally a 10 minute bus ride to downtown
Is that 10-minute bus ride a pleasant experience on a daily basis? If you live in a quiet part of the city but must commute back and forth to downtown during which you run a non-negligible risk of a particular unpleasant encounter, then you don't gain a whole lot by being in that quiet part.
I've never lived in SF, but I've worked and spent a lot of time in the area around the OP's home; it sounds like a pretty accurate description of one of the worst neighborhoods in the entire city.
He could walk four blocks in any direction and have a dramatically safer and more enjoyable experience.
It is somewhat true for the few blocks around where the author lived. But it's confusing to me when people say it's worse now than it was in 2016/2017, say. The pandemic made everything worse for a couple years, but I think we're just back to the same level of misery that had me avoiding many blocks in that area back in 2016. That part of the city was clearly already gone and neglected then.
The main thing is that OP then uses that to generalize about the state of the entire city. This makes it difficult to actually have a reasonable conversation about what is working and what isn’t in SF because everything reverts to the binary “sf is/isn’t a shithole” argument. In OPs case, it actually exposes the reality behind a lot of these “random tech blogger leaving SF” stories where they don’t actually know much about the city or appear to have much of a social life outside of tech that would expose them to other parts of the city. In SF there are tons of places to live that aren’t “single family homes 4 miles from downtown” - the city is 7x7 square miles.