Should You Visit San Francisco?

San Francisco is one of America’s most beautiful and iconic cities. The city is home to the Golden Gate Bridge, the twists and turns of Lombard Street, the ‘painted ladies’ of Dolores Park, the cafes of North Beach, a vibrant Chinatown, stately hotels, the lounging sea lions of Pier 39, and the green space of Golden Gate Park.

Tony Bennett left his heart, Lawrence Ferlinghetti founded City Lights Books, and Grace Slick helped build this city with rock and roll.

“The City” long been a hub for technology, shipping and financial services, has also been a mecca for business travelers.

But San Francisco, like other U.S. cities, struggles with crime, drug addiction and homelessness. Travelers and residents alike ask “Is San Francisco Safe?” San Francisco is relatively small (about 700,000 residents) so shocking street scenes, like a woman giving birth on a busy sidewalk near Union Square, happen in public. Such issues, along with a slow pandemic recovery, have some questioning its appeal as a destination.

“I don’t pretend that my city is pristine and perfect. It’s far from both. But as a tourist destination, it’s an important one,” says journalist Erica Sandberg, (@EricaJSandberg,) who has been critical of the city’s response to its issues.

Sandberg encourages travel to San Francisco but recommends checking to be careful where the hotel is. ”You can’t always tell the neighborhood by looking at Expedia or the hotel’s website. Definitely avoid any hotel that is too close to the Tenderloin.” Property crime is the most egregious issue that visitors face, she says, “so be extraordinarily careful to take everything out of your car. Don’t leave so much as a jacket behind.”

As many visitors plan to drive down the coast or visit nearby destinations like Napa wine country or Muir Woods, rental cars are frequent targets. A CNN correspondent in town to report on crime had her rental car broken into and looted in minutes.

While the extent of the crime problem is vigorously debated, California Governor Newsom did call in both the California National Guard and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) on April 21. The stated aim was to help San Francisco fight its burgeoning fentanyl issue, which has led to hundreds of overdose deaths.

“Two truths can co-exist at the same time: San Francisco’s violent crime rate is below comparably sized cities like Jacksonville and Fort Worth – and there is also more we must do to address public safety concerns, especially the fentanyl crisis,” Newsom said.

A recent LA Times column tried to depict San Francisco’s issues as an invention of “the far right.” It nonetheless acknowledged “an addiction crisis that has led to unacceptable levels of property crime, areas of the city where drugs are openly sold and consumed, and stolen goods are offered for sale in street markets.” Meanwhile, “anti-Asian hate crimes, have rightfully fueled fury.”

The Bay Area has seen the departure of major companies like HP, Oracle, Tesla, and Charles Schwab. San Francisco’s city and county population shrank 7% from July 2020 to July 2022, according to April 2023 Census Bureau data. A Twitter meme dubbed California Governor Newsom “U-Haul Salesman of the Year.”

Have San Francisco’s well-reported woes contributed to a slow tourism recovery?

On March 21, the San Francisco Travel Association, the official destination marketing organization for the city and county, released 2022 tourism figures with a 2023 forecast.

It reported 21.9 million visitors, up 29% from 2021’s 17 million. Travelers contributed $522 million in tourism-generated fees and tax revenues to San Francisco. This year, visitor arrivals are expected to reach 23.9 million, with 2023 visitor spending expected to grow to $8.7 billion.

But the city has a way to go to reach 2019 levels of tourism, when San Francisco had a record 26.2 million visitors and $9.6 billion in visitor spending. San Francisco travel doesn’t expect to reach 2019 visitor spending until 2024, or match visitor volume until 2025. Hotel occupancy reached 62% in 2022 but lodging RevPAR (revenue per available room) isn’t expected to reach 2019 levels until 2026.

Perhaps particularly concerning are bookings at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. In 2019, Moscone hosted 49 conventions. Spending by the convention and meetings industry accounted for $1.9 billion, more than 18% of total tourism spending in San Francisco.

Last year, “the 33 events booked at Moscone Center [drove] $587 million in convention and meetings spending,” said Joe D’Alessandro, San Francisco Travel’s President and CEO. Just 21 events are currently booked at Moscone for 2024.

The city has lost thousands of tech jobs from layoffs and company moves. The Financial District has been the slowest of 62 major U.S. cites to bounce back, with activity at 31% of pre-pandemic levels. From 2022 to 2023, ten tech firms, led by Block, Meta, and Salesforce, announced that they were vacating 2.4 million square feet of San Francisco office space.

“Expects need to mitigate risk. and SF’s reputation is poor right now, whether its deserved or not. But going to Moscone is MUCH better than Las Vegas. We have a real city,” says Sandberg, in booster mode. “Meeting/convention planners will find amazing deals on incredible spaces. This is the time!”

Governor Newsom is correct that the violent crime rate in San Francisco is comparable to or lower than many other cities. However, the city has a significant property crime problem.

A Whole Foods flagship store shut down this month because of shoplifting and drugs, including a man who died of an overdose. The New York Times wrote “People threatened employees with guns, knives and sticks. They flung food, screamed, fought, and tried to defecate on the floor.”

While great restaurants and shopping remain, travelers may find some stores shuttered, whether shopping for food, drugstore items or luxury goods. A video of a man brazenly shoplifting from a Walgreen’s while riding a bicycle went viral last year. Union Square lost 17 retailers since 2020, while seating “mysteriously disappeared at SF Starbucks.”

Police Chief Bill Scott says San Francisco’s police department is understaffed by 25%. But Mayor London Breed recently announced a pay increase to keep and attract SFPD officers. “People want our officers to focus on the open-air drug dealing, retail theft, home burglaries, and violence impacting our neighborhoods, but we need more police to deliver,” she said.

San Francisco is trying to address its issues. But like a battleship, turning things around can take time.

“I absolutely believe that San Francisco remains a great place to visit. The beauty, architecture, history, and special neighborhoods are intact. The food and drink remain amazing,” says Sandberg.

“But I do think there is another reason to visit. San Francisco is not an amusement park. It’s a place where people live and work, where we fall in love, get married, have children, open businesses. It is part of the United States and Americans especially should see it in its current state. I think people should see the reality of drug culture gone mad. After all, most of the people who make it to our streets are from elsewhere. They could be your neighbor, your child, your friend.”