I really want to do a long weekend to SF & Oakland this summer; the main reason is to see the A’s before they move & if I’m gonna be there may as well get a Giants game in as well. However, everything I read is about how much crime there is in SF; lots of shoplifting (won’t affect me directly - less stores, locked up & more expensive merchandise but I won’t lose my stuff or my life) & lots of cars being broken into (could affect me) & that Oakland makes SF look like safe.
IF we go, I’m kind of thinking Oakland for only the (Sat afternoon) game; get in-get out. How good/safe is public transit from/to SF or should I plan on driving? Probably going to get a rental for Golden Gate pics as I want to shoot it for sunrise & not trusting ride share that early; especially if I don’t like drop off spot I want to get sunrise pics of Golden Gate & go to Alcatraz & will probably do the other usual touristy stuff - Fisherman’s Wharf, etc. but other suggestions on what to do? One full day & two half days to play
IMO/IME crime there is a wildly overblown RW talking harping point. It’s no different than any other large US city. Depending on where you live and normally travel, that can be welcome news or horrifying news.
I used to lay over in downtown SF regularly and took buses, Muni streetcars, or BART literally everywhere they went. Including to stops in Oakland, Berkeley, and to A’s games. Heck, if you take BART to an A’s game from wherever, you never set foot on the street nearby; you leave the train at the elevated Coliseum station, then walk an elevated walkway straight to the stadium gates.
For sure there are parts of the whole metro area with rampant drugs and poverty. And the rest of the illegal crap behavior that goes with that. As a tourist you won’t be there unless you’re seeking it out.
I read someplace that the way the thieves target vehicles is by using an electronic device to look for a Bluetooth signal from a smartphone, notebook computer or other electronics stored in the trunk. I think the advice was to completely shut down anything you leave behind so it doesn’t broadcast its existence.
Er, why would you leave anything valuable in the trunk? No reason to assume a passing thief would not break a window and take a quick look in the back, Bluetooth or no Bluetooth. I suppose Bluetooth just makes it that much more likely.
Ideally, you would not leave anything behind, but perhaps you’ve already checked out of the hotel on your way out of town, and have all of your stuff back there, or you were at work earlier in the day, and have your work computer back there. Lots of reasons why someone might have valuables back there.
I go into both SF and Oakland fairly regularly. I was in SF yesterday to see Cirque du Soleil. I agree it’s no different than any other big city; there are sketchy areas in SF, and there are even sketchier areas in Oakland, but those areas generally aren’t where you’ll be seeing tourist attractions. Just keep aware of your surroundings, don’t stroll through rough neighborhoods at midnight with $20 bills hanging out of your pockets, and you’ll be fine.
It’s often difficult to find parking in SF, so if you have a car, consider planning ahead where you’re going to park. Use parkwhiz or a similar service to book a parking garage ahead of time; that kills two birds: it ensures you have a parking place and also gets your car off the street to minimize the chances of a break-in.
As for suggestions on things to do, you’ll have to give us some ideas of what kind of things you’re interested in. There are a million thing to do and see in SF. Depending on what your interests are you could shop and get dim sum in Chinatown, walk through Golden Gate Park, see art in SFMOMA and/or the De Young Museum, see sciency stuff at the Exploratorium, or lots of other things.
Unlike most western cities San Francisco has pretty good public transit. Clipper Card is the easiest way to pay for that and not only covers Muni and BART, but just about all of the transit companies in the entire Bay Area. If you qualify for geezer fares it’s the only way to get them and even for ordinary folk, some of the authorities offer a small discount for ordinary folk if you use it.
I live in the Bay Area and go into Oakland and San Francisco regularly for various events. I feel perfectly safe most of the time, with these caveats:
— Both cities have areas that are totally fine, and other areas that are kind of sketchy. Know what kind of neighborhood you’re in.
— Car break ins are definitely a huge problem. I rarely drive into either city. I usually use public transit, e.g. BART and Muni. When I do have to park in the city I take the precautions mentioned.
— Even the sketchy areas are all right if you’re with a big crowd. I go to a lot of concerts in the city. Some venues are in not great areas. But when leaving together with hundreds of concertgoers, I feel perfectly safe even late at night.
— I mentioned BART and Muni. There are a lot of odd people who ride them, but I ignore them and they ignore me. For anyone used to urban public transit it’s not a big deal.
I live in NorCal, about 2 hours from the Bay Area. I go to SF sometimes if there’s something like a concert I really want to see, maybe once a year on average. I have never felt unsafe there, even walking around at night after a show. I mean you probably don’t want to go walking around the Tenderloin at night, but stick to the nicer parts of the city and you’ll be fine. Honestly I think the stories you hear about crime in SF are at least somewhat exaggerated.
I wouldn’t even bother driving into the city. I always park at a BART station and take BART into the city and then get around on Muni once I’m there. I always park in Walnut Creek, because I’m coming from that direction anyway, but that does make for a long train ride. I’m not sure what station would be best for the OP.
Based on posts on Nextdoor, some people seem to think the mere presence of homeless people inherently makes a place “unsafe”. But like you say, if you’re used to big cities you start to realize most of the time they just ignore you if you ignore them.
That sounds like standard NextDoor scare-mongering. It is technologically possible? Sure, for somebody who wants to bother, gets the right software, etc. Are folks who burglarize cars those kinds of people? Hardly.
When I put away my electronics in luggage or brief case or whatever I leave them in airplane mode. Saves batteries. Also makes them substantially undetectable.
Yeah it’s really not dangerous. The only thing that stands out (I lived there 2004-2019, now in DC metro, and been back to visit a few times since then) is car crime (and bicycle crime though imagine that won’t be at issue during a long weekend) is a bit higher than equivalent US big cities so be more careful about where you park your car and not leaving anything in there. But other than that it’s a truly spectacular city and worth visiting.
Oakland is very doable from the city by public transit by BART (I am not huge fan of the public transit infrastructure in the area, but the thin ribbon that BART serves is actually very good). Note the area around the stadium itself is v sketchy, and there isn’t much there, but the other downtown Oakland BART stops before the Coliseum are worth visiting especially if you are into breweries.
There’s only likely to be 2 or 3 cars parked within 30 feet of any given spot. So break into all of them? Still, I think this is probably a rare modus operandi. Reading the articles linked by Dewey Finn above still doesn’t make it seem very common.
I’d be interested in a source with evidence that this is worse than any other US big city. And I have been seeing stats (admittedly, on local news channels) that property crime is down from last year, as well as violent crime. And, incidentally, the police and DA appear to be getting some kind of handle on organized retail theft…
I live in SF and I drive all around and park on the streets all the time. The last time I had my car broken into was in 1982 when I was living in the Western Addition (a pretty sketchy area that includes the famous painted ladies houses) and had to park on the street at night. That period was also the only time I was ever mugged, fortunately not violently. The biggest current problem with cars seems to be having someone steal your catalytic converter, which is a pain of course, but usually they don’t do that and also burglarize the inside.
I have a friend who was born here in pretty privileged circumstances (she inherited two fully-paid properties and is able to live mostly on the rent from one of them) and who is ostensibly progressive but who has in the 9 years I’ve known her turned into the most paranoid, racist and classist person I know personally, who refuses to recognize her own privilege because she is a woman and so is downtrodden. She would be happy to tell you how terrible everything is (compared to when she was growing up here in the 70’s). She refuses to park her car (a Ford Transit Connect of all things) out of her sight in most neighborhoods in the city because she feels like such a target for auto burglary. Don’t listen to my friend, please. This is still a pretty safe place to live.
griffin1977,
How would you compare the DC Metro to BART seeing as it uses very similar setup and opened 4 years after. I was born in San Francisco but moved back in 1973 at 7 years old so I don’t have a lot of memories.
Yeah, I’d like to see some stats too. Anecdotally, I’ve lived in the Bay Area since 1979 and have parked on the street in SF probably over a hundred times. The one and only time I experienced a car break-in was when my wife rather stupidly left her briefcase in the back seat. There was nothing in it except school papers. An hour or so later she got a call from someone who said they found the briefcase in a garbage can, found her phone number among the papers, and wanted to return the briefcase to her. She was pretty sure this was actually the person who stole it and was just looking for a reward since the papers were valueless.
I would not hesistate to visit San Francisco. It’s pretty much the same as it’s ever been. I would prefer not to drive there, and the public transit is good for getting around the city to most of the stuff visitors would do.
Oakland, however, I would avoid. Recent surges in crime around the airport (car break-ins in broad daylight forced a In-n-Out to close, car break-ins while people are filling up rental cars). Companies based in downtown have security details to escort employees from-to BART. You can take BART to the A’s game but maybe go with a group.
You’ll be safe going to the Oakland Coliseum on BART. There will be other people on the train, and there’s a ramp that goes directly between the BART station and the Coliseum. There are places in Oakland where I wouldn’t wander around even during the day. The Coliseum is in a sketchy neighborhood, but you’ll be insulated from that.
One thing to be aware of in San Francisco is that Union Square, a tourist area with a lot of hotels and restaurants, is right next to the Tenderloin, which is pretty sketchy.
Most of San Francisco is safe, and though there’s property crime, the violent crime rate isn’t high. Wikipedia’s list of U.S. cities by crime rate has San Francisco in 66th place in murders, 67th place in rapes, and 66th place in aggravated assault. Violent crime rates in Oakland are considerably higher.
I find living in Oakland to be delightful. I have a car but rarely get into it because I’m very close to lots of good transit options. That said, I do leave my car unlocked so I don’t have to deal with broken windows.
When I taught middle school here I would take kids on long walks all over town (we once did 30 miles in 3 days during a “special electives” week), from the port to the hills and everything in between. Completely safe, fun, and rewarding.
It makes me sad that listening to the news and reading social media has distorted our perceptions so badly. That’s not really anything new but as media has become more pervasive it has also become ever more tilted towards sensationalism and fear-mongering. My mom used to rail against the way fears of “child endangerment” had arisen because a tiny number of incidents nationwide had driven such a massive overreaction in our society. By the time I had kids of my own it was scandalous that I let them walk to school on their own. Sheesh.