Normally people are asking what should they do when they visit San Francisco, including me a few days ago. Here I'm going to ask for some advice on things we might not want to do when we're in town next weekend. We're staying on Divisadero near 4505 Burgers & BBQ and have plans to experience many parts of the city. We live in Philadelphia, so we're definitely used to "life in the city" and all that entails, good and bad. But, although crime and shady characters seem to be fairly isolated to specific parts of Philly, the reports I've read seem to indicate things happen on a somewhat more random basis in SF. I haven't reached the level of being nervous, and I'm not trying to insult anyone or their city; I'm just curious, mostly for the benefit of my wife, if it's advisable or OK (however you describe that) to do the following... ...walk back from Frances (17th & Pond) to our hotel (Divisadero & Page)? ...walk from our hotel to Zeitgeist, and then Valencia toward El Farolito/La Taqueria? ...the best route to walk to Cellarmaker from the Civic Center BART station? ...drop our rental off in the Tenderloin, walk to Mikkeller, then wait at BART w/ luggage for train to SFO? I can handle homeless people just fine, and walking a mile or two is a regular occurrence here in Philly, but I can't help but wonder, would it just be more enjoyable to lean more toward Uber/Lyft than walking?
While I don't live in SF, I visit about 8-10 times a year (live in the South Bay). The Market and South of Market has really changed over the last 5-10 years (towards the better). You should have no problem walking to Cellarmaker or Mikkeller. SF is homeless friendly. You will find a lot of them on Market and Tenderloin. However, I have never had any problems with them. I can't really address your top two bullets.
It's a very short walk from BART Civic Station to Cellarmaker. After that I did walk from Cellarmaker to Zeigeist, it's a relative short walk too. But then I walked from Zeigeist to Toronado, this one took me a lot longer to walk.
The times I have visited the bay area, I have never felt threatened walking in San Fransisco, Oakland or Berkley. The one think you should be advised of though if you are planning on walking, there are some SERIOUS hills that you guys back east don't really have. Those mile or two walks you take in Philly are probably of the flat variety. Unless you have a serious stairclimbing habit, it can get a bit steep in some areas.
This, for sure. Even your hotel to/from Frances and Zeitgeist is much harder than it looks on a map. FWIW, The Page Bar is better than you might guess--they actually got Pliny the Younger last year. And Ragazza has really good pizza. If you had to choose, I'd take Toronado over Zeitgeist anyway, especially given the location of your hotel. The best thing Zeitgeist offers (depending on your POV) is public pot smoking. EDIT: most of the legs on your itinerary I'd just Uber anyway; SF is swarming with them.
I've ended up in the Tenderloin late at night and while it was somewhat uncomfortable it was ok. Like others have said the walk from CC BART to Cellarmaker/City Beer Store and to Mikkeller bar is really short and SOMA while, ehhh, not my favorite neighborhood by a long stretch, isn't really that bad. If you are in the Mission at night walking to 24th (El Faro/La Taq) I would DEFINITELY make that walk on Valencia rather than on Mission and then cross over to Mission via 24th. Big difference in those two streets at night.
I agree with those who say there are a lot of homeless people there and that they're not threatening, but it's worth noting that there is a LOT of human piss and feces on the sidewalks. You get used to it after awhile but it's not a good thing to have to get used to. I wish SF was homeless-friendly enough to provide more public restrooms.
Use your best judgement when walking any city streets. Especially at night. I flew up to San Francisco 13 years ago for a concert at a small venue near downtown Oakland. I knew it was going to be a risky area to walk in late at night. And it was. The local buses stopped running late at night. I got lucky as an off duty bus driver was heading back to the station when she pulled and gave me a free ride to the nearest BART station to get back over to SanFran.
As long as you don't mind a little crack smoking and spare-change'n, you're good to go. Totally safe.
Your first two walks to/from your hotel are totally fine. My only suggestion would be not to walk up or down Divis/Castro south of Oak because it is a lot hillier than anything to the East. From Civic Center BART to Cellarmaker I would walk town 8th to Howard. The intersection of 8th and Market is a little funky, but 8th below Market is pretty mellow. Where is your car rental place? Once you drop your car off I would suggest making your way to 5th and taking 5th up to market.
Oh and btw Toronado is an obvious stop from where you are staying and The Beer Hall is not too far either, as is Hayes Valley with lots of good bars. Plus NOPA.
A good resource is www.beerbybart.com Lists lots of transit options. Also heads up, Toronado is cash only.
We'll drop the rental off at the Enterprise at 233 Ellis St. Mikkeller is just around the corner. Then we'll take BART from the Powell St. station to the airport. From the posts here, it sounds like that should be fine, too. Thanks, everyone.
