Yep, can’t bring myself to go back. Got one last trip to Cali because Yosemite is on my bucket list.
OT: San Francisco
- Thread starter SeaOfRed75
- Start date
I went on business 2 years ago. Went in a downtown target to buy a belt (I forgot mine)… it was filled with teenagers openly stealing everything, fighting, swearing. F that place
Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, take a boat to Alcatraz, visit Muir Woods...then get the hell away. It's a shit hole. None of that stuff is actually in SF. Go to Monterey to enjoy a wharf town with a great aquarium.
I don't know what people think they will find there anymore. Even 20 years ago when I lived in the area I only went to the city to go to a Giants game. It was once a really architecturally attractive city, but all the BS has made it not worth the time.
I can tell you so many better places to spend time within 50 miles of SF. Check out the Central Coast - easy drive from Yosemite which I hiked like crazy back in the day while living in San Luis Obsipo (hence SLOHusker).
My cousins husband is from England . His dad is a big wig in computers in over there he and his wife come to the states for meetings and have been in all the major cities. NY. Chicago LA. etc. they said SF is by far the worst and never will go back to conferences there.
If they dropped a nuke on Chicago/Milwaukee you could make a lot of arguments for America being better off.
NY goes without saying.
What? Chicago is awesome for the most part and Milwaukee has totally changed over the last 20 years.
Like, was it that obvious and out in the open? I have never really heard good things about San Fran before.
I’m not sure the last time that guy left his zip code
I’ve spent a little more than a month in SF this year already, all with a rental car and at all the places mentioned
No break ins, no looters, nothing. The homeless are contained downtown for the most part.
And, again, since so many people have left over the past few years, there’s hardly any traffic and parking is surprisingly easy.
Great time to visit
I mean, I am sure that like any "bigger city" there is some bad stuff and some homeless people but, like this idea that everyone is just walking into stores and taking everything they want and walking out...
Or all these cars being broken into and the police not showing up when they are called.
It is seems maybe a bit exaggerated.
My wife and her best friend witnessed it in Chicago too. Those werent kids though. They were 30-40 something women carrying armloads of stuff out of Nordstroms
Been there twice. Coolest thing there I’ve seen by far is Twin Peaks. Cruise the Bay too
To take in the views and really get a chance to appreciate the bridge and the Bay. Driving across it is over in seconds. I will say that unless you are lucky and the winds are really calm it is cold so wear a hooded sweatshirt if you do it.
I know a very leftist woman and her English husband that were obsessed with visiting this mecca of liberalism for the first time a few months ago. They came back shaken. We tried to stifle our laughter as they told us about seeing luggage stolen in front of them, a guy pooping in front of them, drugs everywhere, and feeling too scared to go out in the evening. They went to Napa and enjoyed that more. Of course Napa isn't even the best place for wineries anymore. It's just fashionable place.
it’s nice if you’re very wealthy and can afford to be in the nice parts, but unless you’re pulling in a million a year I’d stay the hell away
We live in the greater Denver area and stopped going downtown almost completely. We used to visit the natural history museum, the zoo, and go to Rockies games, but you can only watch an urban area steadily deteriorate so long before you start questioning why you are going there. We are also very tired of the extreme leftwing politics permeating everything. 2020 was really a major turning point for many of these big cities when the city councils and mayors started appeasing every rioting group. No longer are many of the big cities in this country anywhere near the places they once were. Washington DC, SF, Denver, Detroit, St Louis, Chicago, Memphis, New Orleans, Phily, Portland, Seattle, and NYC have all become pretty dangerous. I used to think every American school kid should visit DC. Now with all the car-jackings I'm not sure I'd recommend it. I once thought about moving to Portland, but no way I'd ever consider it now. Nobody can tell me that NYC wasn't a lot better off during the Rudy Giuliani days of the 90s.
I think it's time to stop visiting many of these big cities and give the smaller midsize cities, historic places, and our natural attractions more time and attention. Some of my favorites are Charleston, Savannah, Bozeman (and much of Montana), Utah, Santa Fe, NM, etc. And there are very interesting museums and attractions in less obvious places like Oklahoma, Arkansas, Wisconsin, and yes, Nebraska.
I was in downtown Denver like 10 years and it was a BLAST. But, as you know, you could kind of see it changing.
I don’t feel Denver “steadily” deteriorated at all. Denver always had its share of problems, especially late at night, but it was a vibrant city with a lot of positive energy. Then COVID suddenly became an excuse to do whatever you want, take whatever you want, and turn the city into a craphole. I feel sorry for the businesses downtown that stuck it out through COVID believing things would get better. A lot of them are now throwing up their hands and giving up.
Californians are locust that go from city to city ruining them.. enjoy it Boise
It was still a blast five years ago. 2020 was a turning point and I don’t see downtown ever getting back to what it was pre-COVID.
If only there were credible researchers who could look into this and see if there is a common denominator with the issues these cities face and then some way to reverse it. Quite a phenomenon.
Several Trump ambassadors were just in El Salvador for Bukele’s second inauguration taking notes for future reference. Holy cow is he getting stuff done with regard to gangs and other degenerate criminals. If you even look like a bad guy, you’ve got reason to worry. They’ll take you down lock you up and ask questions later. Pretty crazy but peace and prosperity have returned and the people are pretty happy with how it’s going
I deleted my post because I really love the state of Colorado itself and it pained me to type that, but everything I said was 100% true.
the state of CO and city of Denver have little and less in common, as you well know
mmmmm there’s still some fabulous family wineries in the Napa area. Quintessa hasn’t bought them all yet.
It’s funny. The few ( 2 or 3) that still do free tasting are some of the best. Just make sure you at least support them and buy a bottle.
I don't care for wine but wine tasting is just a classy way to day drink, right? For the most part?
Not judging, I am totally for it!
We should all be able to distinguish beautiful states and their positives while calling a spade a spade on their poor management of their large cities.
I don’t think we’ve ever ended up paying a tasting fee. We were club members at Palmaz and still are at Cakebread. Rafanelli is my favorite small family vineyard and winery.
My wife and daughter have hit some other wineries without me that they like. We get cases of wine delivered a couple of times per month.
We usually start with a 10am tasting😎. It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.
