Ask HN: What sucks about where you live?

1. Public Transit - a lot of the city isn't super walkable, and BART is dirty/unreliable/sometimes-sketchy. Something like NYC's subway system would be a game changer for me, but I tend to stay between only a few neighborhoods I can walk to, else I have to lyft (pretty quick, but usually around $8 to $15 each way).

2. No seasons - Personal preference, but I love winter and fall, and we don't really get either. Some people love this, but for me, the whole year feels like perpetual summer purgatory.

3. Yuck - The streets of SF are gross. WAY grosser than NYC. Like, human feces on every block in the areas surrounding the Tenderloin. Even in nicer areas like the Financial District, the streets are covered in trash and smelly.

4. Homeless population - It's absurd how many homeless folks there are, and the extent to which they're dehumanized on the streets of SF. Many of them have mental health issues, and some have tendencies towards getting aggressive. It's disheartening to see, and in order to survive in the city, you kind of have to come to terms with tuning it out in a way that I don't think is good for the empathetic, human part of being a person.

5. Crime / drugs - I have fairly thick skin with respect to sketchiness, but it's so bad that the police don't respond in person to car break-ins anymore (they can't afford to). You can see a whole host of people shooting up heroin directly across the street from the police station. You can find discarded needles and crack pipes in most neighborhoods. In some neighborhoods (especially the TL, lower nob hill), it can take the police a long time to check up on reported disturbances unless they're violent.

6. Not a great place for dating (for cishet men, at least. I can't speak to other folks' experiences) - There are more men in the city than women, which sometimes feels like a shortage of available women in the dating pool. YMMV

1) Sprawl - Like most Texas cities homes are moving farther and farther from city center. You can ignore all this and live in the city which I do, but interacting with anyone not apart of the same mindset will take 30-45 mins drive. At least I can live near downtown for - This affect public transportation options. Expect a couple 1/2 hr hub to hub bus stops.

- Good food is limited and spread out

2) Entertainment - Not a huge music scene

3) It's hot.

4) Airport doesn't have many direct flights

1.) Traffic

- The traffic congestion levels are bad, it's normal to encounter traffic jams all the way to Santa Rosa or Sacramento.

- Uber and Lyft, while convenient it's getting to an excessive level.

2.) Attitude

- People in general have more anxiety and aggression than they used to. I think it's related to how unaffordable everything has become, everyone is "trying to make it" and few can.

- Compromise, there's a lack of compromise in The City. There's the "I'm from here so I do things my way", to "This city could be more efficient and my way makes more sense". Overall there is an abundance of negativity and not much compromise on both sides.

4.) Culture

- Older generations are still in the area but they're quickly leaving. Local manufacturing businesses are selling off and the older generations are going away. South San Francisco is being transformed at an accelerated rate. I expect the Trump Tariffs to increase this rate (know small business owners already impacted by them).

- Young people in The City have different backgrounds, beliefs, and appearances but their primary focus is usually money and "trying to make it". Related to housing issues and lack of compromise.

5.) Homelessness

- I've always respected San Francisco for being a safe haven for people unable to adjust to a "normal" society. It's been a hub for rebellion, change, and misfits. As prices rise and the rebellious culture erodes we've seen an increase in homelessness and drug addiction. No surprise, it's hard to transition to "hyper-capitalistic" San Francisco. Most people making six figures have a hard time living here.

5.) Lack of emergency awareness

- The City is going to be in a lot of trouble during the next big earthquake. Do you know where your neighborhood meeting points are in case of an emergency? Gas shut off? Have emergency food provisions and water? There are less than 70 fire engines in this city. When you call 911 no one is going to respond when the "Big One" hits.

There are problems but they can be solved, I think the biggest issue is lack community discussion and compromise.

- getting in, getting out, and how much farther "out," means. (sprawl)

- post-globalization: chains and franchise businesses make most of it like being stranded in an airport. There are a lot of great niches, but they are rarer and further afield in the sprawl.

- petty crime: bike theft and car break-ins are normal to the point of going unreported.

- street parking: the city is predatory with parking tickets. Mayor shifted enforcement to maintain traffic flow, which was right, but council is addicted to fines.

- local media: they just aren't very good. Its like nobody's asked if newspapers are dying because they are just bad.

- commitment to park maintenance: garbage is common.

- politics: polarized, mainly due to the quality of discourse taught in institutions.

- lots of crappy art: it's a bit of a cringe fest.