Is San Francisco Still Worth Visiting ??

Mrs Bear and I have fallen into a habit of stopping off in San Francisco on our way back home from Hawaii. Our reservations are made almost a year in advance, so we were a bit wary of this year’s visit, given the reports of homelessness and crime problems. I had seen the news coverage of store closures and the mass shoplifting that caused many businesses to shut down. But SFO is my home city … I grew up ten miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge so a visit combined with seeing old friends always feels like coming home.

We stay downtown near Union Square which allows short walks to Chinatown, Nob Hill, and down Market Street to the Embarcadero. We are happy to report no issues with the homeless … We saw a few, but nothing out of the ordinary. There were more empty storefronts, but what was more obvious were stores that remained open with heightened security at the front doors. Most businesses have security at the front door who monitor the number of shoppers in the store. Any overflow waits at the door until customers leave. We also noticed heightened security in stores, like groceries or pharmacies, who don’t restrict at the door. I think most were accepting of security upgrades because they really don’t want to deal with the mass shopliftings.

We ate out a few times and didn’t notice any new restrictions… Other than the Anchor brewery had closed. This was news to me and very depressing because I have always thought of the Anchor Brewery as the original microbrewery. But they sold to a large corporation and had to deal with bottom lines. There is some rumor of new backing, but we will have to wait and see.

Two pictures up is Mount Tamalpais, the site of the closest redwood trees … I grew up on the flank of the mountain. Our car rental for the day to see friends and old haunts was unaffected by the City’s issues.

On our last day, we rented bikes and road across the Golden Gate Bridge from Fisherman’s Wharfto the vista on the Marin side. Many continue to Sausalito and take the ferry back to The City. We turned around and road back. A great ( and new ) way to wind up a short stay in America’s best city.