SF (and Oakland for that matter) was at its peak around 2014-2016 then started getting worse and worse with increasing tech bro and fiend presence. Your daily interactions these days are about limited to which failing startup you work for or someone screaming in the middle of the street with his pants down.
People love to talk about “Fox News exaggerating” but as someone who grew up in the city, I can tell you that while overall number of crimes was higher back in the day, you knew which blocks and districts to avoid. There were always homeless people, but most of them weren’t aggressive,violent, and widespread like they are today.
I moved to SJ with my family in high school and moved back to the city after college. I moved out to the South Bay/Peninsula around 2016 as soon as I noticed the griminess spreading throughout previously “nice” parts of the city. I still worked in the Mission/SOMA/Union Square until 2020, and the best part of my day M-F was getting the hell out of the city and coming back home to pristine neighborhood with fresh air, zero filth on the streets, zero fiends screaming or taking a @$@$ outside of my home.
People who still like SF are just strange to me. Sure, you’re not going to die or anything, and it’s still better than cities like Baltimore, Philly, etc. , but I feel like they haven’t experienced staying in any other expensive city on earth to see the difference in quality of life.
Short story: still like going back home to the Bay Area, (other than the cost, its still one of the nicest metro areas of the country with great weather and access to nature), still support my Bay Area teams, hate going anywhere in the actual cities of SF/Oakland in 2024