San Francisco is Dead. Done. It's Over

I show you the streets of San Francisco and what they're really like in 2024. There's a lot of media attention on the city, but it's usually just negative sensationalism or stuff from the visitors bureau and travel influencers. It's rarely just showing what the actual city is like. That's what this video is.

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0:00 Intro/ Chestnut St/ Marina District
1:51 Walking up Fillmore St (photos)
2:57 Fillmore St/ Pacific Heights
5:16 Unnarrated Pacific Heights
8:12 Haight St/ Haight-Ashbury
13:32 North Beach/ Little Italy
14:28 Outro

[foisixes]

I visited SF for the first time 2 years ago and cannot tell you how many people thought I was out of my mind for daring to visit such a lawless, chaotic third world cesspool. I can happily say I had a fantastic few days and SF is one of the most beautiful cities in the world

[williamzavlaris]

Thanks for actually showing current activity in SF. I am a 74 year old native who retired to the desert for health and affordability but miss San Francisco every day. I cannot remember a time when there weren't complaints that the city was not what it used to be.
The past is always remembered better than it actually ever was.
Cities change constantly both positively and negatively but dire headlines always sell better. Homelessness, drugs and lack of services for the mentally ill is an American problem whether one likes it or not rather than a regional one. Thanks again for the reality check and keep up the informative vlogs.

[ShonnMorris]

As a person who grew up across from SF (Berkeley and Oakland), it's nice to see someone do a video showing all the good things SF has. The city is more than just the Tenderloin and Lower Knob Hill. What you showed is typical SF on almost any day of the week. It is vibrant, walkable and interesting. I live in San Diego but try to get back home once a year to visit mom.

[robertwatson]

Born and raised, in the city. 50's, 60's, early 70's. That record store used to be a bowling alley. It was called Park Bowl, Went to Polytechnic High school around the corner. Met my wife at Poly, and took her bowling. Kezar Stadium, and 49ers. before it changed. Grew up in the inner Sunset District, next to the G.G. park. More or less on my own at 7 years old. Good fun, lots to do, clean, and safe. Rode my 20" single speed bike everywhere. Stow lake, boats and frogs, Japanese Tea garden, scavenged for coins in their ponds. de museum, learned to draw trees, and Steinhart aquarium, and natural history, and science. Sunday orchestra, all volunteers. I took it all for granted, and I was young. Nice memories.

[jeniromero]

I'm from San Francisco, but I left in 2001 because it was hard finding employment and the rents were getting so high. I used to live below Twin Peaks, above the Castro District. I worked in the Financial District downtown. I really miss my City so much. There was so much to do, it was a lot of fun, especially back in the 90's. I never needed a car to get around town. Hopefully I'll visit again one day. Enjoy your stay and have fun. Thanks for showing the good stuff of the City. 😊

[Kedai]

Please let the death spiral media narrative let the cost of living fall, I want to move back

[brettevans]

Historical correction. The historical Fillmore jazz district was not a poor area, it was a vibrant middle-class African-American neighborhood and business corridor before it was bulldozed for a highway that was never built. It was that construction that downgraded the neighborhood to a poor area.

[mitchellmclaughlin]

Similar experience. I went to San Francisco for a conference last year. Everyone talks about how bad it is, but man. I had a BLAST. The parks were really stunning and I was so impressed with the network of urban trails. I also felt like it was one of the few American cities where the streets felt like they were designed for people, not just cars.

[amg]

Thank you for this video. I have been so upset over the media description, of a city I do not live in, but visit every chance I get. I love the good and the bad about San Francisco! This is the one place I took my son in his mid-teens on vacation, and he fell in love with it, went walking by himself, taking pics, and just absorbing what he saw as a place he thought he would live in, if he could. Thank you for this refreshing video visit. Planning my next visit now!

[AwayGoalRule]

Just got back from SF yesterday. Absolutely gorgeous, historic city. It’s so amazing.

[norwoodwildlife]

I went to Chicago in March, I was expecting the worse, but turned
out to be a beautiful city and the people couldn't have been nicer.

[paulsholar]

Other than NYC and perhaps also Chicago, San Francisco has the most dynamic, unusual, and interesting history of any large US city.

[bryan]

Media has a business model: Keep people addicted to fear, panic and outrage. That's what gets clicks and keeps viewers hooked. Thanks for posting a dose of reality.

[bertchiu]

We were JUST in San Francisco last week for a few days and we stayed with our niece and nephew in the Bayview district which is a fairly old neighborhood. We visited the SOMA district, Chinatown, Little Italy and Fisherman’s Wharf and never did I feel uncomfortable. Although I was somewhat concerned prior to our visit, I was pleasantly surprised how clean and relatively “safe” I felt. Not to mention their transportation systems are next to none — the streetcars and subways are efficient and we even had a fun ride on WAYMO!

It still is a beautiful city and I hope that their city officials can turn things around.

[in]

I'm a native San Franciscan who is now living in Oakland. You captured a much more typical scene in SF then the one currently in the media, so thank you!

One correction: Pacific Heights has some of the wealthiest people in the city, but it's not by the western coast of SF. The Richmond district further west touches the coast, but it's mostly what I'd call a middle-class district (although SF mid-range housing is still expensive).

[paulsholar]

SF the city is only 7 miles by 7 miles in area, so you can literally walk almost from edge to edge of the city in any direction in a couple of hours. When I lived there, I often walked from near the U of San Francisco campus to any of the downtown neighborhoods.

It is a fantastic place for walking around. Each time you crest one of the city's many hills, the view of the rest of the city is different. And most of the time, the city's local climate is invigorating, even though the western neighborhoods can become shrouded in a thick morning fog, especially during the summer months.

[deltajukejoint]

This video is why I appreciate Geography King. Cities are not all manufactured and corporate shopping areas, they are moving, living, and constantly changing areas that take in everyone and allow you to be you. It is why cities attract the people they do.

[bigbabado]

I love vids of people walking around cities like this! I wish more would actually focus on positives like you, because a lot of American city exploring vids have this apocalyptic narrative where they go through the worst part of a city then call it "dead". I guess a lot of Americans just love to be negative 😅, can't say that's healthy for the soul though!

[otstan]

Thank you so much for this, i hope everyone comes visit our city

[erynpimentel]

Kyle - THANK YOU. I’ve been to SF many times, was just there for work last month, was in downtown and the Mission, things are a little different post-COVID but there have been so many upgrades in streets regarding bike lanes and redirected traffic with more outdoor restaurant space etc. and really every part of the city has a different character. I’m always partial to Sunset but that’s just me. Oh and I rode in a Waymo which was a surreal experience