5 ms·

I doubt his experiences were primarily in the city -- absolutely no mention of homelessness, human excrement, or hypodermic needles, incredible!

gumby 8y ago
Well, TBF he did say Silicon Valley, not SF.
stryk 8y ago
homeless citizens and needles I understand, but 'human excrement' -- what? Is people shitting in the streets as common and as noticeable as homelessness? WTF is that about, I thought SF was, by and large, wealthy? Why isn't it clean?
- mattthebaker 8y ago
  If I had to estimate "common and noticeable" sightings based on our old office near twitter and my experiences: Homelessness -- multiple per block Excrement -- every other block Public drug use (non pot) -- every other day Public urination -- once per week Public defecation -- once per month I was assaulted at the street corner near our office once in the 1.5 years we were there. My guess is that the homeless population is just too large to manage any reasonable degree of cleanliness.
richliss 8y ago
I visited about 2 weeks ago from the UK and after 2 days in the centre staying around the SoMa area, I believe SF is the most overrated place I've ever visited. 1. The homeless/junkies felt like 1/3 of all people visible. They can be seen face down in the middle of pavements and can be aggressive. Human excrement is definitely a thing there and I've not seen it before in any other city. 2. People buying $7 latte's stepping over homeless people and calling themselves "progressive" and "liberal" don't understand the meanings of those words. "Self Important" and "pretentious" are more accurate. 3. The traffic is insane. The public transport sucks. 4. The food was the best I've had in the US in that it was fresh and seemingly unprocessed. It is expensive though. 5. Tech companies annoyingly rent public spaces and decent bars when there are conferences. I'm looking at you Google. 6. Drinkable beer is expensive. 7. The Computer History Museum is good. 8. The Pier area is meh with chain restaurants.

gumby 8y ago

Well, TBF he did say Silicon Valley, not SF.

stryk 8y ago

homeless citizens and needles I understand, but 'human excrement' -- what? Is people shitting in the streets as common and as noticeable as homelessness? WTF is that about, I thought SF was, by and large, wealthy? Why isn't it clean?

mattthebaker 8y ago
If I had to estimate "common and noticeable" sightings based on our old office near twitter and my experiences: Homelessness -- multiple per block Excrement -- every other block Public drug use (non pot) -- every other day Public urination -- once per week Public defecation -- once per month I was assaulted at the street corner near our office once in the 1.5 years we were there. My guess is that the homeless population is just too large to manage any reasonable degree of cleanliness.

richliss 8y ago

I visited about 2 weeks ago from the UK and after 2 days in the centre staying around the SoMa area, I believe SF is the most overrated place I've ever visited. 1. The homeless/junkies felt like 1/3 of all people visible. They can be seen face down in the middle of pavements and can be aggressive. Human excrement is definitely a thing there and I've not seen it before in any other city. 2. People buying $7 latte's stepping over homeless people and calling themselves "progressive" and "liberal" don't understand the meanings of those words. "Self Important" and "pretentious" are more accurate. 3. The traffic is insane. The public transport sucks. 4. The food was the best I've had in the US in that it was fresh and seemingly unprocessed. It is expensive though. 5. Tech companies annoyingly rent public spaces and decent bars when there are conferences. I'm looking at you Google. 6. Drinkable beer is expensive. 7. The Computer History Museum is good. 8. The Pier area is meh with chain restaurants.