Just had a colleague return from a convention in sanfran. She stayed in a nice hotel, the convention was in the “nice” part of the city.
She was absolutely disgusted by the homelessness and general sanitary state of the area.
She said she had dinner in the hotel’s outdoor dining area the first night, and none of the others. The homeless were camped right up against the small fence surrounding the hotel patio. She could literally smell them as she ate dinner.
The 70’s were a pretty cool time. I could drive downtown and park anywhere. Saw many a show at 444 Battery. Forgot the name of the place. Could be all the Chinese money that came in after Hong Kong went to the mainland. Would it have stayed the same? I don’t think so. The south of Market became Manhattenized under Willy Brown. Couldn’t stand the big mouthed New Yorkers who came in thinking they knew it all. It was Nirvana back then.