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> Absurd. How do you live like this? For better or worse, this exists in most cities. It’s absolutely not unique to any one city. Not saying this is a good thi

> Absurd. How do you live like this? For better or worse, this exists in most cities. It’s absolutely not unique to any one city. Not saying this is a good thing or something we shouldn’t try to fix. Also this guy wasn’t dangerous. You can see it with your own eyes but this guy is inconvenient and annoying but not dangerous.

monero-xmr 4y ago
I cannot possibly disagree more, living in a top 20 American city and being someone who generally only exists in cities (I hate bugs). This is 100% an SF thing, and if you disagree I think you need to travel more.
- gsibble 4y ago
  Agreed.
- pas 4y ago
  Reading about these encounters with crazy people ... these also happen in Europe too. The gang violence doesn't.
- threatofrain 4y ago
  The 12 of the top 20 American cities by population have a higher homicide rate than SF.
gsibble 4y ago
Are you kidding? It most certainly does not exist in most cities. Stop pretending SF doesn't have a serious problem.
zmnd 4y ago
I bet you are from SF or Seattle where the whole “this exists in all cities” is used as justification. I’ve been to most big cities in the US and it’s not the case. I feel fairly safe to walk outside at 2 AM in New York. In contrast every time I go to SF I’m either personally harassed by a random homeless person or witnessing someone else being harassed. I wouldn’t even go outside that late.
- vineyardmike 4y ago
  You said you live in NYC (edit: nevermind). There’s a huge difference between neighborhoods in NYC, and the same is true in SF. I’ve seen this behavior in NYC (and Boston and LA and cleveland, and yes Seattle too). SF only allows hotels in one corner of the city, and that’s very close to a bad areas. Most of SF is safe to walk at 2am, and i do it daily when i walk my dog. Tourists disproportionately see the worst of the city. We should be trying to make it better everywhere, but tourists really get the worst view of it. I’m very sorry you had a bad experience on your trips, the city has a lot more to offer, and I hope you’ll be able to experience a different side of it one day.
  - zmnd 4y ago
    No, I do not live in NY. Just gave it as a reference, many of other cities are considered as not “real cities” by SF folks. I lived in Bay Area and visited SF frequently. And I spent quite a bit of time in NY. Obviously there’re homeless in NY, but most folks are fairly humble and you know what to expect. And I myself from a third world country, so the bar of safe city is not that high. I say all of this not because of Fox News, or because I never saw another big city, or any other excuse. But because I believe SF is a beautiful city that needs to get their act together.
    - monero-xmr 4y ago
      It’s a Stockholm Syndrome situation where people have lived so long with terrible circumstances that they have rationalized it. “It’s not that bad, every city is like this, statistically it’s actually OK, you just don’t know how cities are, blah blah blah.” I don’t know why I even care. I live in an amazing, safe, large city where I raise children and the police arrest criminals. Whatever, enjoy living in a combat zone.
- Jcowell 4y ago
  Someone who lives in NY, it depends where you are. Walking outside Battery Park @ 2 AM? Yeah of course your safe. Try going uptown @ 2 AM. Try being a woman going uptown @ 2 AM. NY does the exact same thing to socially disruptive people that the folks describe in the story: ignore them. In fact I’m pretty sure we do it better than any other city.
kcplate 4y ago
> Also this guy wasn’t dangerous. But in the moment you don’t know that. What you do know is this person is obviously not acting in an appropriate manner consistent with the expected societal norms for pretty much everywhere in the world except SF. That means they may be more capable of other behaviors outside the norm and that makes them dangerous. That’s enough for most people to be put into a defensive mode in that kind of encounter—causing people to feel unsafe during an encounter that may ultimately just turn out to be annoying and inconvenient.
antibasilisk 4y ago
>For better or worse, this exists in most cities Not to the same extent as SF, it's a disaster, I have quite literally been to cities in third world countries that are better. If I had to choose between London and a place that's half as bad as SF I'd still choose London.

monero-xmr 4y ago

I cannot possibly disagree more, living in a top 20 American city and being someone who generally only exists in cities (I hate bugs). This is 100% an SF thing, and if you disagree I think you need to travel more.

gsibble 4y ago
Agreed.
pas 4y ago
Reading about these encounters with crazy people ... these also happen in Europe too. The gang violence doesn't.
threatofrain 4y ago
The 12 of the top 20 American cities by population have a higher homicide rate than SF.

gsibble 4y ago

Are you kidding? It most certainly does not exist in most cities. Stop pretending SF doesn't have a serious problem.

zmnd 4y ago

I bet you are from SF or Seattle where the whole “this exists in all cities” is used as justification. I’ve been to most big cities in the US and it’s not the case. I feel fairly safe to walk outside at 2 AM in New York. In contrast every time I go to SF I’m either personally harassed by a random homeless person or witnessing someone else being harassed. I wouldn’t even go outside that late.

vineyardmike 4y ago
You said you live in NYC (edit: nevermind). There’s a huge difference between neighborhoods in NYC, and the same is true in SF. I’ve seen this behavior in NYC (and Boston and LA and cleveland, and yes Seattle too). SF only allows hotels in one corner of the city, and that’s very close to a bad areas. Most of SF is safe to walk at 2am, and i do it daily when i walk my dog. Tourists disproportionately see the worst of the city. We should be trying to make it better everywhere, but tourists really get the worst view of it. I’m very sorry you had a bad experience on your trips, the city has a lot more to offer, and I hope you’ll be able to experience a different side of it one day.
- zmnd 4y ago
  No, I do not live in NY. Just gave it as a reference, many of other cities are considered as not “real cities” by SF folks. I lived in Bay Area and visited SF frequently. And I spent quite a bit of time in NY. Obviously there’re homeless in NY, but most folks are fairly humble and you know what to expect. And I myself from a third world country, so the bar of safe city is not that high. I say all of this not because of Fox News, or because I never saw another big city, or any other excuse. But because I believe SF is a beautiful city that needs to get their act together.
  - monero-xmr 4y ago
    It’s a Stockholm Syndrome situation where people have lived so long with terrible circumstances that they have rationalized it. “It’s not that bad, every city is like this, statistically it’s actually OK, you just don’t know how cities are, blah blah blah.” I don’t know why I even care. I live in an amazing, safe, large city where I raise children and the police arrest criminals. Whatever, enjoy living in a combat zone.
Jcowell 4y ago
Someone who lives in NY, it depends where you are. Walking outside Battery Park @ 2 AM? Yeah of course your safe. Try going uptown @ 2 AM. Try being a woman going uptown @ 2 AM. NY does the exact same thing to socially disruptive people that the folks describe in the story: ignore them. In fact I’m pretty sure we do it better than any other city.

kcplate 4y ago

> Also this guy wasn’t dangerous. But in the moment you don’t know that. What you do know is this person is obviously not acting in an appropriate manner consistent with the expected societal norms for pretty much everywhere in the world except SF. That means they may be more capable of other behaviors outside the norm and that makes them dangerous. That’s enough for most people to be put into a defensive mode in that kind of encounter—causing people to feel unsafe during an encounter that may ultimately just turn out to be annoying and inconvenient.

antibasilisk 4y ago

>For better or worse, this exists in most cities Not to the same extent as SF, it's a disaster, I have quite literally been to cities in third world countries that are better. If I had to choose between London and a place that's half as bad as SF I'd still choose London.