I Spent 50 Hours in San Francisco to Show You the Other Side 

Yeah a lot of it is overblown. Your experience is pretty typical. There is, however, some pretty hilarious news coming out of SF this week. The cleaned up the entire downtown in three days to get ready for the APEC Conference.

If you park in SF at night there is a very good chance your car will be broken into. Especially if you have out-of-state license plates.

Went to Missions District. Was really clean man

It's certainly an expensive place to live.

But once you buy a house in California your property tax cannot increase more than 2% per year, i.e. less than inflation.

I just talked to a Ph.D biotech engineer that lived by SF Mission District's Dolores Park. Cool, but he was renting a walk-in closet. That was all he could afford.

Thank you so much for sharing this. I'm glad to hear that SF is a positive and comforting place for you. All the best for your friends abroad.

I never watch "why is this city dying videos" Most people don't understand that the titles are click bait. The more people who visit your channel the more money you make. Alot of RU-vid has exaggerated content.

I hope your loved ones stay safe, and that this war ends soon. Thank you for introducing some honesty and realism. San Francisco has its problems just like every other major city but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a city so visually beautiful and teaming with such caring souls. Be Well in 2024🧡😊

To be fair, I did intentionally go to every location at off days/hours and avoided filming people as much as possible because I'm embarrassed lol. But It's definitely less crowded in mosts places than it was pre covid.

@@AdamDoesNotExist It's coming back. San Francisco Tourist Association says there was a 211% increase in international tourism in 2022.

@@neutrino78xyeah because went from zero do to Covid look at the date don’t be told

where are the people ???

it seems soulless

This! Stay away from the one neighborhood where Fox News films all of its segments and you'll have a great day in SF. That's it.

All great points!

Gorgeous city. I work and play in SF. One in a million!

Thank you! I agree. Things got really bad in a lot of places during the pandemic. Fortunately some are a lot better now.

Yeah, if you've actually lived in the city then you would know to stay away from the Tenderloin. It's literally impossible that no one mentioned that to you in three years. So why not just stay out of the neighborhood that you know is bad and enjoy the city?

@@TohaBgood2 How the hell can you enjoy the city when the politicians are making it more unsafe each and every day. Their chosen blacks are just trashing the place just like all the drug addicts that are protected. You must have your head up your butt, and will continue to vote for people like the newscum.

I lived there from 2006-2018. It only took 3 yrs to see the radical fees, fines and taxes. Non locals don't even know the worse of it and I'm sick and tired to explain to them. In 2016 I said they will lose their mall and everyone laughed at me.

What sane person would? Moved there in ‘79 and moved back in ‘82 and so far have never looked back. But it sure was a different city 40 years ago. Although, even then it was the overall vibe that sent us hot-footing it back to New Yawk…

Glad you enjoyed it! You're right, the "doom loop" is a lot more clickable than what I did. I wanted to focus on the positive while still showing a bit of both sides. Thanks for watching!

Well I welcome you to what people have done covering Detroit for the last 30 years. So much good but only the bad gets clicks smh

@@Mark-oy1wv 💯

That sucks. Where were you?

We were at fisherman's Warf where we encountered all the garbage pickers, and the mentally ill. We decided to leave, as we did not feel comfortable there. We went through China town were we did not have problems, but beyond that we decided to play a game where we would try to guess how many bums would be at the next intersection. We were on a motorcycle. As we stopped at one intersection with one bum, he decided to piss on the news stand while we were stopped at the light. The wife insisted that we flee the city and I did not argue. @@AdamDoesNotExist

Lol, welcome to sf!

Every city has a bad part. Why did you stay in that area instead of a nicer area.?

A guy took a pee and you fled? I'm pretty sure no major city will be safe for you!

Pretty sure I put it under the seat on the bus and forgot about it…

Thank you! I did live there for a few years. Interesting comparison to the CCP

Thank you! I agree, there’s a lot to love. Glad you liked the video!

Hahaha, likewise! I'm glad to hear I'm making a 35yr SF local proud!

Thank you! I completely agree. Glad you enjoyed the video!!

True! Though it's really hard to convey exactly how I was feeling in an 8 minute video. My answer to 'is it that bad' is a bit more nuanced. It is that bad in certain places, but not everywhere. And if that matters to you is a personal choice. I didn't really try to answer if you should live there, but perhaps that was part of my motivation. Again, that's a very personal question.

So San Francisco its like Cuba, Theres separeted places to tourists see, not to see The flop areas

It doesn't matter if you stick to the tourist areas. If you rent a car it will get broken into.

Hahaha. That’s great!

It certainly has changed a lot. Sadly much of it for the worst. Though what city hasn't changed since the 70s?

Glad you liked it! I think a bit of worry is probably warranted, but it's up to you if you want to have a good trip or not!

Thank you!

Awesome, thank you!

Thank you! I was visiting mid week in off times intentionally to avoid crowds. But overall it is a bit less busy in the city than it was pre pandemic.

@@AdamDoesNotExistthe last time i drove to San Francisco from Stockton homeless and drug addicted are almost everywhere in San Francisco most of the store are closed down due to high crime and shoplifting the last time i saw a mentally ill white woman i believe she is homeless take a SHIT in front this Italian restaurant over on north beach in front of customers while they eatin their food that is just so nasty

Thank you very much!

It clear that you already know this, but the situation is a lot more complicated than it may appear.

Thank you! I appreciate the comment.

Think about what you are saying. Only rich people can live in the city. So why would very rich million and billionaires live in San Francisco if it is so awful. It is true that San Francisco is a very wealthy city. So why does such a high percentage of the population bring home such huge salaries. Some of you don’t think very deeply. You will believe whatever the media tells you.

@@lori8379 I’m 72 years old, my father was a stock broker and my best friend from high school entered the same ‘profession’ and has now been, for many years, a multi-millionaire, a fact that he doesn’t brag about but never wants you to forget… I’m an artist, I have other interests in life than generating wealth but some folks obviously are different. Personally though, I believe that having a system that allows for the accumulation of enormous wealth by some folks while other Americans - by circumstance or by other means - find themselves ‘living’ in the streets and on the sidewalks of our nations cities to be an abomination. And what could an individual possibly do in a lifetime to be personally worth a billion or more dollars? Maybe our public service people have that kind of value to society, at least more so than the clever, avaricious and greedy financial class who are grossly and stupendously over compensated…

Hello there! Glad you liked this video and thanks for all the kind words! Your channel is really cool. Sub back atcha! I've resisted the temptation to "choose a niche" for a couple reasons. One - I'm interested in a lot of different stuff. The Bay Area of course (two videos from now is going to be another Nor Cal specific vid) but also cooking, and weird pages on the internet that no one has hear of. And Two - I don't really know why a video works or it doesn't. I made essentially the same video on Oakland. I thought it was a lot better than this SF video, but essentially no one watched it. And I don't really know why. The shorts are purely from putting my longer videos into an AI thing called Opus. I thought it would be fun to experiment and see what happened. Not sure I'd recommend it, but it is cool to see how some get traction. All the best!

@@AdamDoesNotExist Yeah, "Choose a niche" was all the talk when getting into this hot mess 😆I did. And I have stuck with it, but I can certainly understand others who want to "explore." I want to get to that magical 1K subs, and I am closer, so, that I can buy a cup of coffee a week, maybe! After that, I will explore other content ideas. And yeah, the algorithm is a funny thing. I too recently tried an Opus offshoot, Vizard to shorten my long-form content to shorts. Eh, but, Ill try again for a few and see how it goes. Pleasure meeting you! 🥤

Century Theater on Larkin still open

Thank you! I agree!!

That's a bit more cautious than I was in SF, but in general that's good advice. There are still places you can go out at night without worry, but there are also certainly places to avoid any time of day.

Gee, sounds really fun, thanks!

I’m going to sf, I had no idea about this. Thank you 🙏

That's a good way to look at it!

That’s great! You might also just be a positive guy! The mission is getting quite a bit of bad press these days.

@@AdamDoesNotExist Could have been lucky and just missed some of the mess, but coming from LA and San Diego, it seems on par (both have their charming and sketchy areas, and everything in-between).

Trust those who have actually been to the city recently. Anybody else is just brainwashed by the media and frankly are harboring quite a lot of bitterness and ill well. Geographically speaking, San Francisco is not large enough to have a bunch of bad neighborhoods. The tenderloin is the neighborhood that is skid Row it has always been Skid Row. The city is beautiful and unique. I think that’s why it’s getting a lot of negative attention. In general, there is so much negativity in the media. It’s quite obvious they seek to destroy and lie to push their conservative agenda. No matter for the time being, the truth always prevails, and so will this beautiful city.

Sounds like some exagerration

@@mteokay1246 Unfortunately, it happened just as they described it to me. That came from my 2 nieces, a nephew, and their kids. My niece's family are now considering a shotgun for home protection.

I just came from SF/ Oakland last week and this is definitely still happening. I seen a man do a smash and grab in broad daylight in front of the restaurant I was eating at.

How many of you out there are afraid to look up the actual crime statistics in major, and not so major cities in the United States. It may not actually support your exaggerated claims. You may be shocked. But try it anyway it’s fun to look up things and to get actual facts. Also, I’m curious to know where some of you live I would like to look up a few things about your crime statistics as well and maybe some of your not so nice neighborhoods. It’s good to share.

The event I cited is, of course, completely anecdotal in nature. It is one incident. However, the observation by my other niece is borne out by news reports from major US news networks. As an aside, I do live in a country with areas that have a high crime/violence incidence. That is why my entire family is gun-trained @@lori8379

Hello! Glad you liked it!

@@AdamDoesNotExist Hello there Yes i like it 🤗🤝

If you visited and loved it before, you’ll probably find that it’s about the same.

Yup totally. You can film to support just about whatever narrative you want to share.

Didn't know that! But I could see why

Never. Just Karl.

Totally agree

Same! There’s so much to see and do, and it’s really not hard at all to avoid bad areas. Glad you liked the video!!

You know better than I do, that about sums it up!

Downtown has changed a lot. In general I wouldn't recommend it to tourists. But all the classic tourist areas were still nice. I saw mostly tourists in those areas, and heard a lot of French, German and Spanish as well. I had a really good time while out and about as soon as I got out of downtown.

@@AdamDoesNotExist I’m glad you enjoyed the other local attractions. My point is someone has to explain the drastic drop in real estate for business and homes prices and the large amount of vacancies. A continuous exodus. Economy is disappearing which also affects tourism. My friends were saying it seem like a ghost town and few people were around the main attractions. They said it was a sad sight compared to the other years they were there. They told me go to Florida instead for my vacation and use your travel and hotel points there instead. Don’t get me wrong I love SF but to many have told me it’s not what it used to be.

​@@johnjohncrisostomo6152it's people who Vote Politician tho'

@@GameplayTubeYT well people should realize blue does not work.

@@johnjohncrisostomo6152 don't look at color look at the Politician background if they Just tell lie on Election day don't vote those Guy! Innmy country too people like to vote by colors but that's what make my country a failure because what really solve the problem is by not voting liars, self centered Politician!

Glad you appreciate it!

If you don't want to go, definitely don't!

@@AdamDoesNotExist I know it's a nice city and I do want to visit, but it's more important not to encourage the stupid policy in the city so the governers can learn a lessen. Yes we should cancel San Francisco to save the city.

Ya love to hear it!

I'm really glad to hear you liked the video!

When we came back to Cal., after living in Conn., and Ga. from 1973 - 1979 I was enrolled in an East bay school where we lived with my mom's sister in Castro Valley, Cal. for a few years. The first thing I noticed (coming from the East Coast) is how dirty and poor the school was. The kids dressed sloppily, had bad language, and disrespectful bad behavior. I even saw shit on the outdoor steps one day soon after I got there. It was disturbing to think a child would do that. I never thought it was dog poo and I thought it was an ill adjusted or not well functioning child that did it. I was shocked as a 4th grader to see so many differences in principles. In Ga. everyone was well dressed and my school was clean and pleasant. Fast forward to now, living N. of Berkeley (The East Bay) see my comment from Metal Leo, he's got East Bay videos of stores closed too. I've been disgusted by my youngest daughter's "school" during "cvd" and we had to take her out of there. All the real men left here and took their families to nature or to where there are more real men and women protecting their children from the chem-tech-predators. My comment from Metal Leo YT Channel's video called: every store is CLOSED in Embarcadero San Francisco. But he only mentions (it's Embarcadero Center (a shopping plaza) in his video descriptions. I never even went there, besides once) and that is not that important in Sf. Cross the street to the Ferry Plaza tower the whole Embarcadero strip is open and lively. Why doesn't he mention that? A lot of the people seem more like pre-covid types (real people), not that many mask tards. Berkeley stores are closed due to them and the techies and bio-techies not nice to be around. They drove up the housing prices and drove the natural ones out of California or homeless. Over 700,000 (real) people left California (in 2020 alone!). There is also a (new) very large multicultural immigrant influx walking around enjoying what's left of the infrastructure in N. Berk., Alb, E.C. (that the disgusting politicians and "schools") hope will be order followers (of lies and malpractice). Along with the order following remote controlled robot UC "students" programmed with lies to work in the UN Agenda 2030 chemical tech. war industries that seek to bring in the Gnd/Communist/Nwo.

Just to let you know all of this began in 2012, since they've been visibly engineering the californiadrought and fires for me it was a nightmare, while all the blind EV drivers, techies and biotechies and fake (control) science profe$$ionals can't see or speak a word of truth.

Glad you enjoyed it!

I think the mayor wants to tear it down no? But you’re right! It’s still operating for now.

@@AdamDoesNotExist Lol, I didn't hear anything about tearing down the mall building. It's a historic building anyway. It's illegal to tear down. But it's not even closed. The mall will continue operating under new ownership. The operating company won't change, only the corporate owner. People are desperately trying to make this a thing, but it's not that big a deal.

I have been to so many malls in the USA and some are doing well, while some have few stores, and some are dead. Westfield San Francisco Mall is close to dead. There isn't enough foot traffic for companies to have reasons to open stores. There was a really high-end mall in Chestnut Hill, Boston named "The Atrium" that was already dying back in 2017. I was in Baltimore July 2017 and Harbor Place Mall had quite a few vacant stores already then and now it is empty, but the escalators and water fountain are still on.

And don’t leave anything in your rental. In general, I wouldn’t rent a car unless you absolutely have to

Maybe. It kind of worked in Detroit and Philly. I think most would agree that what's going on now simply isn't working.

Haven't had a Republican mayor since the 50s.

@@AdamDoesNotExist What's not working? I have lived in the Bay Area all my life, SF is a great place to visit. Because there's homeless in the Tenderloin and car breakins, it's not working? I disagree. That's only two negative things in a sea of positive. btw the Tenderloin has been like that for like 50 years, across Republican and Democratic leadership. The car breakins, that was a thing already when I was in high school, I graduated 1996.

in terms of violent crime safe. Most spots still incredibly vibrant but what ever you do pls DONT BRING UR CAR.

@@neutrino78xI also live in the Bay Area, the tenderloin isn’t the “tenderloin” anymore IT GREW ALOT, the city has spiraled out of control with their WACKO policies such as the DA claiming certain laws are “racist” and when there broken it targets black people (read that again it makes absolutely no sense) but the mayor was with the DA on that so laws have been pushed back greatly !

I love Sonoma! It’s surprising to hear you haven’t been back especially considering how close you are.

How’s Rohnert Park and Cototi? We lived on Dexter Circle back in the 70’s right by the entrance to the Rohnert Park Country Club Golf Course. My Dad was a professor at Sonoma University.

Both wonderful in my opinion. I like to stay in Rhonert Park when I visit overnight because it puts you right in the middle of the various wine regions (and Russian River Brewing!).

@@AdamDoesNotExist I see, before my Dad purchased the house in Rohnert Park, We resided in Novato. It was a blast being there, for the parties were cool. BOSTON was a new Rock band that was the rage of the time. That’s where I learned to drive . We had a 1963 Avanti we would drive to Marin and Tiburon Bay and visit friends .

Stop believing the media honey they lie come back and have a good time. I live in Marin county and work in San Francisco. I enjoy San Francisco as much as I always have. My family and I had a ball this holiday season shopping in the city. We also visited the Mormon Temple in the Oakland Hills. The holiday light display on their grounds is beautiful. I would recommend it to anyone.

That's awesome!

Glad you enjoyed it!

The tenderloin. It’s been covered almost exclusively by pretty much every other SF video. Though it is impossible to show the entire city in 8 minutes.

Please be careful in every city. And maybe a bit more careful in SF.

@@AdamDoesNotExist Yeah but I’m SF, the Most subtle things can Affect your life. Be careful who you talk to, and Be careful who tries to touch you!

It's so cool that it's in the city, and beautiful, with beautiful views of the bridge!

You just need a jacket and a wetsuit!

Thank you!

Word

And a Banana Republic flagship just opened in Union Square. Hopefully a sign of good things to come.

Thank you! I love Alameda. You might find the video I did on Oakland interesting as well!

I'm ready for it whenever it does come. Meanwhile there are still some redeeming qualities.

I don't... but I used to!

​@@AdamDoesNotExistwhen did you left?

@@Alejandro-vn2si ‘21. But I didn’t go far

@@AdamDoesNotExist So, you stayed in the bay area? Or you left california? You have made good videos about SF and I wnat more content about it.

Hahaha! They Take you to Colma.

@@AdamDoesNotExist Thanks. I had a hunch that was the case. I wonder if Diane Feinstein has a place picked out.

I heard homeless die they can be left their for days before they finally realize their dead

@@ramenlover1727 YIKES!!!

You’re completely right. Don’t get me wrong, there are parts of SF that are absolutely falling apart. But there are parts that are still amazing.

Yup. Crazy isn’t it

I think you just about nailed it!

Yeah don’t go. You wouldn’t like it.

Very spooky in some places

@@AdamDoesNotExistnot what I ment

Totally

I'd love to hear your perspective. Obviously it's changed in the last 70 years. I wasn't alive back then. It's changed in the last few months even. But there are still great spots!

It's a fun time!

Yeah pretty much. Mid market, near the Twitter (or is is X now?) building and the malls are good places to avoid. Any of the classic tourist places, and many of the well known neighborhoods are still lovely.

Hi Adam, I'll be visiting SF in November. If mid Market (around the exTwitter building) is a place to avoid, should I avoid the City Hall area? I was going to include City Hall as part of my itinerary.

@@munbok When I was there, City Hall was fine. But unless you're there to get married, or go to a concert at Bill Graham, there just isn't that much to do. Maybe plan to walk around the plaza for a little bit, then walk over to nearby Hayes Valley for restaurants/bars/stores.

Thanks for the comment! Glad you appreciated the video!!

This comment is hilarious! Sounds like you had an authentic SF experience. Glad you enjoyed the video!!

The transit center is so disappointing. To be fair to the park, I was there super early, well before most people in those offices show up for work.

🔥🔥🔥

You bet!

I think it depends on the statistic, the timeframe, and the reporting..

Most of the people committing the property crimes in SF are from Oakland.

There are a bunch of Whole Foods stores in SF and each one is in a very different neighborhood. Some very nice, some not so much.

Sad about Whole Foods...there is literally a Trader Joe's a few blocks away that has been in business for years and doesn't have the huge problems that Whole Foods had

@@psfca There's video explaining why Traders Joe escapes the level of shoplifting that Whole Foods experienced: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-C_6jdxtyTGw.html

Keep in mind I’m going in off hours and intentionally not filming people. But I’m general it does feel less busy than pre pandemic.

@@AdamDoesNotExist I lived in the Bay Area for twenty years and visited San Francisco often for community events, concerts, festivals, etc. San Francisco was always full of people and traffic was busy no matter where you were. I would park my car at Colma, and take the BART in to save on the garage parking that could easily exceed $30 for a short meetup with friends at the Fairmont, Tonga Room, etc. Experiencing San Francisco is only affordable to those who earn good salaries. The admission for one adult at the Academy of Science is $45. Factor in two adults and two/three children for a two-hour experience that is "meh" at most. SF lacks the world-class fine arts/antiquities museums that NYC, Boston, and Chicago have. The MET in NYC (one of the most impressive museums in the World) is free, with a recommended, but not forced donation. Want to see awesome Medieval art and a huge collection of armored suits and weapons/arms? Yeah Nah. You won't find that in SF anywhere. Pre-Covid, a very humble two-bed hotel room near Union Square - Like Mark Twain - was $300/day - without breakfast. A room at the "W" on Lexington Ave in New York City didn't even cost that much or in hotels on the West side near the Natural Museum of History would be under $180. San Franciso is a wannabee city on par with something like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The transplants who live there think it is God's creation on Earth, when it is anything but that. The Brooklyn Bridge and Bow Bridge are far more impressive than the Golden Gate Bridge, and at least both cross to somewhere more interesting than Sausalito or Tiburon! San Francisco lacks relevant history or culture and walking up hills in dress clothing and shoes is anything but a selling point if Uber and Lyft are overwhelmed and you have to wait an hour for a cable car to get you back to your hotel because one only runs every 20 minutes.

That’s a good point. It’s tough to ignore the negative side of things in SF.

Yeah that's true. Not only that but I was by myself which I think allows you to be much faster. Still, with google maps you can navigate pretty easily. Finding parking isn't really that bad, but DO NOT leave anything in you car while it's parked. It's hard to "stumble" into a bad area of town. You'll know if things aren't pleasant pretty quickly.

So what, a visitor can end up in the wrong part of town in London, NYC, Rio de Janeiro, etc No matter what city one chooses to travel to do your research ahead of time and ask locals what areas to avoid

100%. A quick google search can tell you what areas to avoid in SF or any other major city.

Dude, just literally stay away from the one bad neighborhood and you're fine. That's it. That's the totality of information you need to have a fun day in SF. Don't go to the Tenderloin and you'll be fine.

@@psfca Yet, isn't it sad when you have to learn warfare survival skills to navigate a city as a tourist in order to feel safe, specially when in just a decade or so ago such wasn't necessary? I AM from Rio de Janeiro and, after living over a decade abroad, I still catch myself thinking while walking at night or arriving late from work "no frekking way I'd escape unscathed from such behaviour in Rio..." No, San Francisco is no longer a pretty city if you have to switch to a warzone mindset in order to enjoy it.