gaobest

Zero idea how Sf pr department scored this fluff piece in NYT


https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/21/t...e=articleShare

dhuey

People from other parts of the U.S. sure spend a lot of time thinking and commenting on the ups and downs of living in the SF Bay Area.

Eastbay1K

Yes, I've noticed - as I sit here having my morning coffee on a 55 degree overcast morning while most of the country is melting.

Speaking of museums, I noticed someone yesterday with an OMCA sticker and was going to see what exhibitions might be going on, as I've not been since pre-COVID. Further speaking of museums, the B of A Museums on Us program has some excellent museums in the local repertoire - the Legion of Honor, the DeYoung, the Contemporary Jewish, and the Oakland Museum of California.

UKtravelbear

Since museums passes got a mention earlier this year I became a member of the GLBT historical society. For not much more than the cost of the basic membership fee I get access to a host of museums for free across the US via the NARM (North American reciprocal museums) scheme.

San Francisco museums include the De Yonge , the Disney family museum and the CA Historical Society plus paces in Oakland and Berkeley

They were happy (with a few weeks warning) to facilitate the printing of the card for me to collect at the museum rather than post it to my home in the UK.

https://narmassociation.org

gaobest

any bad publicity is still better than zero publicity.

KathyWdrf

Um, no.

Eastbay1K

Someone bitter that she missed the "Louis Vuitton 100% Off Sale" last year

gaobest

I fetched my mother in fisherman’s wharf today and decided to drive us down Lombard street (THAT block). While there are fewer T tourists than 2019, I’m sorta surprised to still see so many tourist people out & about.

lhrsfo

California is still a major tourist destination. I have friends from the UK who visit and figure it will be once in a lifetime, so they will need to "do" SF and LA as part of a two week trip. I do my best to discourage them from staying in SF or spending any real time there but I do understand why they feel the need to see the Bridge and the Bay and the hilly streets. I now have a detailed list of "safe" hotels and areas and an itinerary which avoids the worst of the crime, drug-taking and homelessness. I've had three trip reports from this itinerary from last year and this year (so far). Two were along the lines of "don't know what you are worried about, never saw anything bad" type, missing the point that I'd designed the trip to avoid the badness, and the other reported that it was even more dystopian than the press had let on, with one of their family being randomly punched near the California Street Cable Car turnaround.

So the tourists will keep coming, but will take a lot of persuading to come back again when (I hope and pray it's a when) SF gets its act together again.

USA_flyer

My family and I will be in SF for the beginning of Sept and would welcome hotel suggestions. My wife is looking at the Omni. Is that in a safe neighbourhood?

KathyWdrf

I really think you should post your suggestions somewhere on this forum, either on this thread and/or others. Could be helpful to both visitors and locals.

nnn

No issues, IMO. Might be a bit quiet around the hotel on weekends, since it's in a business area. Even during weekdays, it won't be as busy as it would have been pre-pandemic. But I don't see that as a problematic place to stay.

mjm

Safe, yes. Attractive, absolutely not. The area is mostly large office buildings at the base of which homeless love to gather and set up camp. They get shuffled off often enough that the streets are not as filthy as they are 2-3 blocks south on Market St. It is an area that once was more vibrant and during even 2020 there were a number of shops that stayed boarded up, primarily for safety from the rioters a couple years earlier. That they opted to keep boards up is telling. Conveniently, a few blocks west is the Ferry Bldg. and all it offers, and just north of that is a rather nice residential area tucked away. Overall you could do worse, but rather than dangerous, the neighborhood is just completely devoid of personality.

USA_flyer

Thank you for your input, I feel a little more chill knowing we're not near the 'action'.

The missus booked the Omni. We've had good experiences with Omni DC and San Diego so hopefully it will extend to this hotel.

dhuey

Yep, ever since the early '90s when I worked in the Financial District (and maybe long before then), it has been a boring part of the city. People work there, they might go out for a drink after work, and then they leave. By 9 pm it's pretty quiet.

The Fairmont and Mark Hopkins are far from the nicest hotels in the city, but their location on Nob Hill is right on the California cable car line. It's a pleasant neighborhood with great views, and it's a genuine San Francisco experience. Chinatown is a short but steep walk (or ride) away.