This sounds kinda fun, actually.
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SF City officials described the 24th St BART station as "chaotic and dangerous " and closed an entrance :
YMMV. Most major cities have homeless issues,but I know of no other where they are allowed to dominate the urban landscape the way they do in SF. As others note, it is highly unlikely you will be murdered. But your chances of what I consider an unpleasant encounter are high.
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If you need to bring a car into SF, just book a parking lot on a parking app.
These apps are great as you can pre-determine your lot. There are TONS of valeted parking lots all throughout the city, both in hotels and office buildings, and they are very convenient if you want to leave the car there all day and use public transport which is plentiful or walk.
The parking apps always have great all-day deals at safe and secure lots that have guards/valets. I routinely use a parking app when I go into SF, and I can read reviews about safety, security, etc. I usually pay $20-$25 for all-day parking and walk to wherever I need to go. The parking lot on the app is often at or near where I need to be.
You can cancel the booking up to your booked start time for free.
If you go into SF without a booking on an app, yes, be prepared to pay huge amounts of money.
I have never had a problem in these lots.
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FYI, Oracle Park is about a very long block away from the last stop of the Cal Train station, which goes up and down from San Jose/Santa Clara.
However, one can take a bus/train from The Embarcadero to Oracle Park too now. Oracle Park is located at 2nd & King or Willie Mays Plaza.
Here’s a map:
To get to Fisherman’s Wharf, take the F-line trolley (the opposite way from Oracle Park) from the Embarcadero/Ferry Building BART or MUNI station(s).
Those two tourist destinations are VERY walkable, unless that’s not your thing.
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It’s been choatic and dangerous since I was a kid.
^^^This. I may be male, but my spouse isn’t. And her friends aren’t either. The family that I know that owns the apartment building, the wife manages the building. She’s not complained once of crime to me.
I know a family in the sunset with a newborn. I’ve not heard a complaint from them either. Just saw them last week at their home in SF.
If one wants to see a performance at the Orpheum or Golden Gate Theater, then the Civic Center is the stop. It’s the stop we used last Saturday evening.
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https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/tenderloin-sam-quinones-17700387.php
Civic center. Perhaps we have different levels of toleration of the unpleasant
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The Civic Center BART/MUNI station and the theaters are not located in Civic Center Plaza for one.
And yes, we OBVIOUSLY have different tolerance levels, but I was actually just there Saturday night, but we didn’t stroll through the Plaza at 11 PM. One couple parked underneath the Plaza though w/o reporting a problem. Two couples including me took MUNI.
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Bari Weiss recently interviewed NYC mayor Eric Adams. One of the questions he gets asked, and with Bari asked is - what are you doing to keep NYC from becoming another SF.
I think that says it all.
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If I knew who Bari Weiss was, then maybe that could “say it all.” 
I’m going to dismiss this thread from future reading. I’ll let the folks that want to, as one poster said above, “fear monger” about SF to their hearts content. 
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Very, very easy to use rideshares (uber, lyft, etc) and soon, hopefully, Waymo. Its a lot of fun! I agree- the fear mongering and hyperbole is so unnecessary here. Last month DH and I were in downtown SF on crutches and a walker. And we are no spring chickens. No problems at all. In fact, people are helpful. The only sad part is downtown, with so many now WFH, at least party time, has gotten so quiet.
@sushiritto, @mynameiswhatever and @adogwillbesad , etc. - I hope you stay on this thread, if the hyperbole continues, to provide a real “person on the street” report. The robotaxis (Cruise, Waymo, Zoox and others) are still working out the bugs, but if they can drive in SF where the trolley tracks go every which way, the bike lanes and bike rental stalls are often in the middle of the street, and then there is the occasional street person on drugs who runs screaming into the street, they can drive anywhere!
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The most “dangerous” part of driving in SF is the layout of the streets: it’s all over the place, with lanes suddenly becoming taxi/bus only lanes, bike lanes etc. Just go slow, and you’ll be fine.
Oh, and NEVER stop in the middle of a crosswalk! I made the mistake of doing that once, and many pedestrians slapped our minivan.
Perhaps this is what the mysterious and quite opinionated Bari Weiss was referring to?
The whole reporting about Bob Lee’s death was beyond histrionic, with the incomparable and usually wrong Elon Musk fanning the fake flames that this was somehow testament to the dangers of SF.
It’s the city that some LOVE to hate, but most love to love.
Ah, and wonderful antique streetcars from all over the US are truly something memorable about SF.
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This just popped up on my feed. Just a day in suburban Connecticut. Stuff happens everywhere. Moment homeowner fights off four car thieves in his driveway captured on CCTV - Independent.ie
Yeah, that’s pretty rare, hence it made the news. Whereas walking past open drug markets with crazy people shouting is just your typical daily activity, thus not newsworthy.
There are many good reasons to remain in SF, but denial of the city’s problems doesnt help.
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The case of the retired fire commissioner guy in SF who got attacked made the news too. Because it’s also rare. Repeating, hyperbole is unhelpful.
Good thing none of them had guns.
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It might be useful to expand the news sources one uses.
Thanks to all for your helpful advice. As a visitor, I get to sidestep the politics that locals live with. I will find fun stuff to do, and manage the risk/reward of going to certain places…. Starting in LA due to flight cost/availability and visiting family, so not sure about going to the Bay just yet, but may get up there for a Clark Griswold-type quick adventure.
Limiting your view to reporters like Bari Weiss who clearly have an axe to grind is not the best way to understand safety issues with SF et al:
When I first visited here YEARS ago, I was stunned by how quickly the transition is made from Alpha City to unoccupied lands to the redwood forests to the oceans to the mountains. That’s the Bay Area and its environs.
Remember that SF itself is a relatively small city, both in population and geography. But when you take the contiguous Bay Area (from San Jose, to Silicon Valley, to SF, to Berkeley, to Oakland, Fremont, and back to San Jose), it’s something like 7-8 million people. And EVERY one of these cities and towns is totally unlike any other.
Depending on how much time you have, you can easily drive from Los Angeles to the Bay Area in 6-8 hours. If you take the coastal route, you will see wonderful places like Santa Barbara, San Clemente, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, and Monterey. That alone is worth it, and you’re not even in the Bay Area yet.
If time is short, the LA/Bay Area corridor has TONS of flights. There are five major airports in LA and three major airports in the Bay Area (SFO, OAK, and SJC), so you can easily make it up here at a very low cost by air if you want to avoid driving.
Regardless of the horror stories you might be reading here and elsewhere, this is an amazingly beautiful area with very low violent crime. As with any metro area, be smart and wary, but you will be fine wherever you go. For example, I would NEVER leave suitcases in my car. Broken car windows are really common in SF and Oakland. Just don’t give anyone the reason to do so.
Clark Griswold strongly suggests a family-type trip, and that will work out very well here, regardless of the age/interests of the various family members. There is simply tons of stuff to do here that will fill the bill for all interests.
There was a recent thread (in the last 12 months) here with someone contemplating a similar trip, so that may give you more ideas.
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Uhhh, he lives in The Bay.
SF is easily one of my favorite US cities. One of the things I like about it is its compactness (unlike, for example, LA). I still go visit, but now I have to be more careful in choosing where to go and how to get there. The fact that there’re other places in the US where the crime problem may be even worse isn’t very comforting.
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