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I wonder how the tourism industry is doing. I visited friends in San Francisco a number of times in the early 2000's, and spent two weeks there for my honeymoon

I wonder how the tourism industry is doing. I visited friends in San Francisco a number of times in the early 2000's, and spent two weeks there for my honeymoon in 2007. I'd love to take my 6 y/o daughter to show her some of the places she's seen in our photos, but it sounds pretty horrible out there. (This article is the most over-the-top sounding coverage I've heard yet, but I tend to think, based on what I hear from friends, that it's probably mostly accurate.)

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mceachen 7y ago
I've worked and lived by San Francisco for 25 years. Downtown (market, tenderloin, mission) have always had blocks that are fine right next to blocks decidedly not fine. But if anything, the streets are less gritty than 20 years ago. There is rampant car theft. Don't leave your stuff visible in your car, and don't conspicuously open your trunk with sparkling goodies inside. But that's advice that was reasonable 30n years ago. It's as safe to bring your family to SF as it is to NY. And, like NY, there are wonderful things to see and do here. You just need to be smart about it.
CapricornNoble 7y ago
Apparently tourism is solid. from: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/heatherknight/article/A-year-after-calling-his-own-city-filthy-SF-13842394.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/heatherknight/article/A-... "Tourism is still booming, despite San Francisco’s miserable side making headlines around the world. In 2018, 25.8 million people visited San Francisco, up 1.2% from 2017. They spent $10 billion, which was also up slightly." As an anecdote, my S.O. watches a Youtuber, a Japanese airline stewardess who makes typical travel/foodie content. She had a San Francisco vid a few months ago.....which made the place look like heaven on Earth. I don't think she even once touched on or mentioned some of SF's problems. I wonder how many other foreigners are formulating travel plans based on similarly one-dimensional picture-perfect content.
- akiselev 7y ago
  I wonder how many of those tourists would even care. Income inequality is a global problem and many tourists come from countries that have been rapidly developing in the last few decades. The situation in SF might not be that shocking to much of the cohort.

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mceachen 7y ago

I've worked and lived by San Francisco for 25 years. Downtown (market, tenderloin, mission) have always had blocks that are fine right next to blocks decidedly not fine. But if anything, the streets are less gritty than 20 years ago. There is rampant car theft. Don't leave your stuff visible in your car, and don't conspicuously open your trunk with sparkling goodies inside. But that's advice that was reasonable 30n years ago. It's as safe to bring your family to SF as it is to NY. And, like NY, there are wonderful things to see and do here. You just need to be smart about it.

CapricornNoble 7y ago

Apparently tourism is solid. from: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/heatherknight/article/A-year-after-calling-his-own-city-filthy-SF-13842394.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/heatherknight/article/A-... "Tourism is still booming, despite San Francisco’s miserable side making headlines around the world. In 2018, 25.8 million people visited San Francisco, up 1.2% from 2017. They spent $10 billion, which was also up slightly." As an anecdote, my S.O. watches a Youtuber, a Japanese airline stewardess who makes typical travel/foodie content. She had a San Francisco vid a few months ago.....which made the place look like heaven on Earth. I don't think she even once touched on or mentioned some of SF's problems. I wonder how many other foreigners are formulating travel plans based on similarly one-dimensional picture-perfect content.

akiselev 7y ago
I wonder how many of those tourists would even care. Income inequality is a global problem and many tourists come from countries that have been rapidly developing in the last few decades. The situation in SF might not be that shocking to much of the cohort.