Other than the cop rant, I have had 15 years of exactly the opposite experience of this guy. SF has been a better place to live and raise my kids (in excellent SFUSD schools) than Santa Clara, Pasadena, Campbell, the nice burbs north of Chicago (seen any John Hughes movies?) and the town where they filmed Groundhog Day, where I lived during Jr high and high school.
Honestly, I'd say this guy needs to stop drinking and reevaluate his life choices.
There are problems everywhere. Find a place where you are happy. But don't speak for the rest of us.
I love it here. I love the food, the people, the weather, the hills, the political engagement. I know all my neighbors. I love the high culture (our avant garde opera and the Golden Gate Brass band) and the low culture (rickshaw stop and the Citadel). I loved hopping on a cable car and paying the guys $2 to look the other way (I miss the days my fast pass would work). Sadly, I don't have a friend to visit on California St anymore.
Jesus, we made bi-rite balsamic strawberry milkshakes Friday afternoon. And the next time the sun is out, we'll stand in line at Mitchell's for Halo Halo ice cream. Those are polar opposites of each other in terms of serving size and price, and neither experience is better than the other.
I've been through the building permit process half a dozen times. It's magnificent in both good and bad ways that only SF can bring out.
We threw an ocean beach bonfire for 5th graders a week ago. We have sat in the sun and the fog at the Beach Chalet garden for jazz and for kiddie rock.
We've watched the sunset from the National Cemetery at the Presidio, and then walked to dinner on Union Street. No one attacked us.
A homeless guy once yelled to me to close my car windows when I forgot to close them. That's my car horror story.
My wife got on the 22 while pregnant, and a teenage "thug" who was fucking around with his buddies suddenly yelled out "shit, this lady is pregnant! Give her your seat!"
I love that there are people in my neighborhood who volunteer to plant the median strips.
I once heard a black guy sweeping up in front of a taqueria tell a white friend passing by "Gung Hay Fat Choy".
The fucking Exploratorium. We went to the London Science museum (among the most amazing in the world) and when their docents asked us where we were from, they would say "You are so lucky, you have the Exploratorium!" (and then we ran into a retired San Francisco supervisor in the cafeteria. Weird.)
We're gonna grow old here. There's some bad shit, sure. But my family in Denver, in Arizona, in New England, in Chicago and LA? They have their shit to deal with too.
So my advice? Either put down the sauce and find the humanity that is crawling all over this city, or find somewhere else to grow old... So I don't have to listen to your pessimism while I live out my years here.