San Francisco 2.0

Mid-trip review of San Francisco, after all the walking

This was my walking route today:

And this was yesterday:

Yes, I’m making good use of the time between the conferences. Surely, staying in the city helps (it’s not funny how much of a big city guy I am) - I don’t know what I would have done had I been staying in the South Bay this time.

In any case, I’m done with my “roaming around” for this trip, and will be focussing on work for the rest of it. So this is a good time to take stock and make notes on my observations about San Francisco on this second trip here.

For the sake of completeness, this is what I’d written the last time around:

Walking

It is almost a truism now that the best way to learn about a city is by walking around. While I did a fair amount of it last time, it was cold and often rainy, and though I partly lived in the city during that trip, a lot of my meetings were in the South Bay, which meant that I kept commuting using cabs and trains. So I didn’t walk around that much the last time around.

This time, both conferences I’m here for are at the Moscone Centre in SF, and so I picked a hotel that is ~20 min walk away from the venue. And so I’ve walked a lot. On Monday, when I was jetlagged, my desire to catch “quick naps” meant I walked up and down three times! Also this time the weather has been brilliant.

Yesterday and today, I walked around parts of the city that I hadn’t seen before. It has been fantastic.

Public transport

Notice that both routes I’ve put above are “open” (the start and finish points are different). While walking a city, sometimes you can get bored. Sometimes you are tired. Sometimes you just want a change in scenery. In such circumstances, public transport is ideal - you just hop on to a bus (or train, or tram) and you get transported.

Last time I was in the Bay Area I was severely disappointed with the “public transport”. Caltrain trains are good but run only once every half an hour! BART is more frequent but downright creepy (on one ride on a Monday morning away from the city, there was only one other guy in my compartment, and he kept making random noises. I was relieved when more people got in midway).

However, transport within San Francisco proper itself is actually pretty good. Since I’d found BART creepy I didn’t go for the muni trains either (you don’t want to go into those stations). The buses are nice (and frequent), though. So today’s walk started with a bus (14R) ride to Mission and 24th. Yesterday’s ended with a bus ride (1) from close to Richmond to the Financial District (where I’m staying).

There were a couple of other occasions when I considered hopping on to a bus, but ultimately didn’t.

Big Up And Down

I’ve said this in my report from my last trip here, but this is a city of hills, much steeper than what you’ll see in the hillier parts of Bangalore (Banashankari or Mahalakshmi Layout). Being able to squat heavy (I’d done 135 kg x 3 reps just before I travelled to SF) is no guarantee that you’ll be able to walk these slopes. My shins, calves and hamstrings are singing.

However, the up-and-down areas are also really pretty (and safe). Like I had tweeted long ago (and an old friend who lives in SF agreed), dopeheads can’t climb, and so the hilly areas are safe.

And speaking about “dopeheads”, the homeless people in San Francisco are very unlike those you find in India - they are not “ordinary beggars”, they are all drug addicts. And that makes them dangerous. I don’t know if it’s the parts of town I’ve been in this time (like I haven’t gone close to the Tenderloin District at all), but I’ve seen fewer crazies.

That said, the other day I was walking back from a networking event (somewhere close to Market and 3rd street) and I heard one lady shouting threateningly behind me. Everyone around me started walking fast and I started walking fast as well. I turned and hurried away quickly so couldn’t see her.

And today, while walking back along Market Street, somewhere between 7th and 6th streets, I saw bunches of people who you wouldn’t want to go near. I looked away (anyway I was wearing sunglasses) and walked quickly. Basically there is a lot of empty real estate in that section, which makes it unsafe. And I guess there is some game theory at play in terms of moving into the area - you don’t want to move in until others have moved in. Etc. Etc.

Beauty

Did I mention that the hilly parts are pretty? Here are some pictures from my walks over the last three days. I don’t need to say more.

Financial District, seen from somewhere near Noe Valley / Castro

Due Eest, from Noe Hill. You can see the Bay in the background

Intersection of Powell Street and Washington Street (I think - could also be Clay) in Chinatown. You can see the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance

San Francisco is a fundamentally pretty city, ruined (hopefully only temporarily) by misguided “bleeding heart” policies of the previous city government.

Diversity

And, maybe needless to say, it is an incredibly diverse city. Notice that my walks were mostly along straight lines (San Francisco actually has a fairly impressive grid of streets). It is not funny how quickly the streets change character.

Today’s walk had been planned with the help of ChatGPT, except that the conversation was on my computer and I’d forgotten the details by the time I started in the morning. All I remembered is “take bus / BART to mission and 24th and walk right”. I took the bus (of course), and got dropped in this insane latino area. There was a bustling street market on the Sunday, tonnes of beautiful graffiti (PS: what’s the difference between Graffiti and Mural?), one guy with a mic preaching about Jesus Christ (in Spanish) and what not.

And then I started walking along 24th and soon started climbing. And the character suddenly changed. Houses started looking really posh (they are all what in the UK are called “townhouses”). Soon I was at the high street of Noe Valley (a rather posh area, it seems). Past that there was an absolutely steep climb (and lots of pretty houses). Then I landed in the Castro, which is the traditional LGBT area of the city.

It was a similar experience yesterday, going from the sleepy financial district to bustling Chinatown, to “normal” Nob Hill and ending up in the posh Pacific Heights. And then along Fillmore Street, sudden the shops started looking downmarket. It is rather fascinating.

Anyway, I like this place. I don’t know if, on further business trips here, I can continue to be in the city or be in the South Bay, since that is where Silicon Valley is!