[KyleHill]

You'll really have to qualify "quality of life," besides the crime rate. And as urban crime rate goes.. it's honestly middle of the road as far as major American cities go, comparing favorably to LA, New York, Boston, and Washington in most categories. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_cities_by_crime_r...)

Anecdotally, I live in Washington but just spent a week out there never leaving SoMa/Market Street/Tenderloin, and felt about as comfortable there as I do in the up-and-coming areas of DC. e.g. just be aware of your general surroundings.

[UnknownEnigmaEx]

I have got to correct you there. It's way worse than NYC as far as cities go in crime-rate. The crime stigma with NYC is still heading back towards pre-2000.

However, San Francisco is comparable to most cities and much safer than West Philadelphia.