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It's a very beautiful city, it's exciting! I'm slightly obsessed with the city. And for me the allure is that the city is a haven for rich yuppies and poverty stricken folks. A lot of it is perception, just like any other city there will always be bad and good parts. Statistics say the ratio of crime per amount of people is actually higher in San Francisco than it is in NYC. But whatever, you decide for yourself.
But what really makes San Francisco an intimidating and intense place is not so much the crime but its drug culture. Highest rate of overdoses, heroin users and all of Northern California is a meth hub. Only in this city I can walk around and see a muscle hunk share a crack pipe with a tranny. The question usually is do you use drugs, but in San Francisco the question is which ones do you use.
Overall, if your not looking for trouble, you'll be fine. But in my opinion San Francisco is very insidious. Its good for tourists and yes for the rich people who live there, but if you stay there a while you will realize why it is very intimidating, some people see it on their first visit..Oh San Francisco...the craziest city i've ever known.
The Tenderloin isn't that bad at all. Lots of drug addicts and homeless people, but you're downtown, right under the sky scrapers, tons of people walking around. It's just a sketchy part of downtown. Areas to avoid are mostly South of the city, rough residential neighborhoods like The Point and Sunnydale where no tourist would be going anyways.
To put it bluntly, San Francisco is a safe city to live in if you are a well off White person. That's right, I said it. If you are a blonde haired blue eyed dreadlocked trustafarian from Maine or Alaska who spends all of his days not working, hanging around Haight Ashbury and smoking weed in Golden Gate park or a rich Bentley driving CEO or yuppie, San Francisco is the safest place in the world. However, if you are a minority of any age group or economic class, San Francisco is a much more deadly place to live. For instance, in recent months, there has been many random bloody robbery/murders of Asians perpetrated by Black gang members in San Francisco. These men were brutally murdered simply based on the fact that they were Asian. I was born and raised in San Francisco, but I currently reside in Maryland. Stereotypically, Baltimore and DC are understood to be "rougher" cities than San Francisco. But even in Baltimore and DC, murders are usually strictly limited to people involved in the drug trade. In San Francisco in 2010, any innocent Asian male is liable to murdered on the street on any given day for no reason. There are also many visible Black, Latino and Asian gangs active in the city. Even a simple faux pas like wearing the wrong colors in the wrong neighborhood can spell death for a young Black, Asian or Latino male in the City. Minorities simply face a harsher reality in San Francisco. When I came back home to SF last week, I remember was standing at a bus stop in Outer Sunset one day around noon when I overheard a young Hispanic teenage boy and his friends talking. One of the kids who was dressed in the ghetto uniform of a tall white tee, baggy Girbaud shuttle jeans and white Air Force Ones, told his friend "I need more bullets, those fools were shooting at my window again last night..." I'm sorry, all of you rich, white bred out-of-towners who have infested my hometown have it much easier than the minorities who live in the ghettos of San Francisco.
To put it bluntly, San Francisco is a safe city to live in if you are a well off White person. That's right, I said it. If you are a blonde haired blue eyed dreadlocked trustafarian from Maine or Alaska who spends all of his days not working, hanging around Haight Ashbury and smoking weed in Golden Gate park or a rich Bentley driving CEO or yuppie, San Francisco is the safest place in the world. However, if you are a minority of any age group or economic class, San Francisco is a much more deadly place to live. For instance, in recent months, there has been many random bloody robbery/murders of Asians perpetrated by Black gang members in San Francisco. These men were brutally murdered simply based on the fact that they were Asian. I was born and raised in San Francisco, but I currently reside in Maryland. Stereotypically, Baltimore and DC are understood to be "rougher" cities than San Francisco. But even in Baltimore and DC, murders are usually strictly limited to people involved in the drug trade. In San Francisco in 2010, any innocent Asian male is liable to murdered on the street on any given day for no reason. There are also many visible Black, Latino and Asian gangs active in the city. Even a simple faux pas like wearing the wrong colors in the wrong neighborhood can spell death for a young Black, Asian or Latino male in the City. Minorities simply face a harsher reality in San Francisco. When I came back home to SF last week, I remember was standing at a bus stop in Outer Sunset one day around noon when I overheard a young Hispanic teenage boy and his friends talking. One of the kids who was dressed in the ghetto uniform of a tall white tee, baggy Girbaud shuttle jeans and white Air Force Ones, told his friend "I need more bullets, those fools were shooting at my window again last night..." I'm sorry, all of you rich, white bred out-of-towners who have infested my hometown have it much easier than the minorities who live in the ghettos of San Francisco.
Doesn't sound like he blaming anything on anyone. Just pointing out what he feels is the general insularity of rich whites in San Francisco.
It sounds like he is to me. I'm a 30 year old white guy. I've lived in the Bay Area my entire life. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've experienced racism in my life...and usually not from white people being racist. There are plenty of non-white people in the region who act like the white man is the devil.
I've never done anything in my life to ever hinder any non-white person from attaining his/her dreams in my life and yet I have experienced tons of racism myself...especially from Hispanic people. I grew up in the South Bay and there are tons of Hispanic people with animosity toward white people there!
Give me a break! This is California! There are people here that represent every culture in the world. Personally, I will accept anybody from anywhere who wants to make a better life for themselves and embraces the American Dream. People come here to escape. People come here to be better and live better!
goldenchild08, quit being a cry-baby...who's committing the crimes against your people. Oh, I know the answer- your own people!! Stop blaming the white man....seriously! I'm so sick of this. It's not white people that are creating the problem. I live in the Fremont area and don't live in the "rich" part of town...so, should I be bitching that the rich people here are all Indian and Chinese? The most upscale/expensive areas here are not inhabited by white people! Do you see me crying? No, because I have respect for anybody who has a strong work ethic and makes something of themselves. My landlord owns many homes...and he's Indian! Do I care? No, he's a great landlord!
I've visited San Francisco once before and will be returning this summer to do a little partying and site seeing again. I'm a single black male in his mid 20's from Houston and I tend to dress opposite of the urban culture yet still have a very nice and expensive collection of clothing, tennis and loafers. Even in Houston I stand out as dressing "different". I did not have a single problem. I would hit the BART to get to Oakland and pretty much just walked the streets sight seeing. Did the same thing when I got back in San Francisco and sometimes wouldn't get back in until 3-4am. Again, NEVER felt threatened, even when I had a shirt that said "Everything's Bigger in Texas" (wasn't being disrespectful, wore it because I went to visit a friend whom was also from Texas.) I love this city and will hopefully make it my future home in 2 years time. Just a little worried about paying for parking and finding a unique (non-cookie cutter) loft or studio to live in. Don't really care if I fall on my rear trying to make it happen because at this point I have absolutely nothing holding me back.
Last edited by ayahuasca_mike; 05-02-2010 at 10:56 PM..
It sounds like he is to me. I'm a 30 year old white guy. I've lived in the Bay Area my entire life. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've experienced racism in my life...and usually not from white people being racist. There are plenty of non-white people in the region who act like the white man is the devil.
I've never done anything in my life to ever hinder any non-white person from attaining his/her dreams in my life and yet I have experienced tons of racism myself...especially from Hispanic people. I grew up in the South Bay and there are tons of Hispanic people with animosity toward white people there!
Give me a break! This is California! There are people here that represent every culture in the world. Personally, I will accept anybody from anywhere who wants to make a better life for themselves and embraces the American Dream. People come here to escape. People come here to be better and live better!
goldenchild08, quit being a cry-baby...who's committing the crimes against your people. Oh, I know the answer- your own people!! Stop blaming the white man....seriously! I'm so sick of this. It's not white people that are creating the problem. I live in the Fremont area and don't live in the "rich" part of town...so, should I be bitching that the rich people here are all Indian and Chinese? The most upscale/expensive areas here are not inhabited by white people! Do you see me crying? No, because I have respect for anybody who has a strong work ethic and makes something of themselves. My landlord owns many homes...and he's Indian! Do I care? No, he's a great landlord!
If you're mad about that, Imagine how a non white person feels, we've experienced 10 times the BS you're crying about.
If you're mad about that, Imagine how a non white person feels, we've experienced 10 times the BS you're crying about.
I can respect that. I agree that it's not right for non-white people to feel discriminated against simply by their race. However, I think you missed the basis of my post.
I'm just saying that I'm sick of "whitey" getting blamed for everybody else's social ills. I've never once done anything in my life that would remotely hamper somebody else's ability to live a successful life. I commend anybody from any background who's trying to make something of themself.
Personally, if I was ever somewhere where I was witnessing racism against somebody, I would speak up. I don't condone racism against any race and I think that we all have the right to live in peace and not feel embarrassed because of our skin color. You can't control the way you're born!
With that said, I also hate the fact that as a white guy, I often feel like I have to walk on eggshells because somebody's always going to get offended by me speaking out on any racial issue. I shouldn't have to feel embarrassed to be white. My family immigrated here just like almost everybody else did to make a better life for themselves.
The fact that Oakland Uptown was so quick to jump all over my post pretty much proves my point. I do believe that there are many racist white people...just not nearly as many as many non-white people would like everybody to think. Many non-white people have a huge chip on their shoulder towards white people and act as though they can't walk out their front door without "whitey" oppressing them.
Every weekday morning I work out at my local 24 Hour Fitness. Every time I go in, I smile and say "hi" to the black chick that's working the front desk. Never once has she ever smiled back and said hello. Funny thing though...I see her be friendly and chatting it up and laughing with many non-white people there! One of these days I want to call here out on it, but really there's probably no point.
I'm sorry to anybody who has to experience racial discrimination, and I agree that it's totally wrong and inexcusable. But, I'm also tired of feeling like I almost have to constantly feel apologetic for just being white.
Anyways, now that this thread has gone way off-topic...
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