I lived in a crappy $500/month place in Chinatown for a year, ending this spring. It was the lowest rent building I've ever heard of in SF and most my neighbor

I lived in a crappy $500/month place in Chinatown for a year, ending this spring. It was the lowest rent building I've ever heard of in SF and most my neighbors were elderly immigrants with limited English (or even Mandarin!) language skills. It was way safer than any of the three directions that went down hill (i.e. towards Market, towards the Embarcadero or towards fisherman's wharf). There was also a notable absence of beggars. I think there really is something to it just being too much of a PITA to hike up all those hills.