SF, like any city, is all about knowing where not to go. The homeless problem is real, but it’s also pretty concentrated. I live a couple miles west of downtown in the hills and it’s a completely different world than the area you experienced. But the best part of SF is the proximity of so many incredible areas within a couple hour drive.
We only really did SF just for a been there. I’m not bothered with large cities SF just didn’t do it for me. San Diego I find is better. Plenty of homeless there but they just leave you alone.
San Diego is one of my favorite cities in California. I was going to say that San Francisco is more populous but when I checked the opposite is true. San Diego has a larger population but just more spread out. I find San Diego has a small town feel. San Francisco is a more urban environment in the city center itself. But both offer some great places to see within a very short distance. You have the Muir Woods just over the bridge from San Fran and you have the Torrey Pines Paragliding just north of La Jolla.
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Only ever done LA for the parks, Disney, Universal and Knotts. We really enjoyed Knotts. Wasn’t busy and the rollercoasters were very good. We stayed at the hotel there which was excellent as we decided to have a break mid day, went back to our room and had a chill before hitting the park again. Nothing much in LA to interest me.
Century City??
I'm in the real estate business and have done a fair amount of business in the LA area. I've seen most of it. It's sprawling and spread out. But none of it memorable. What is memorable is staying in a nice hotel in Century City, waking up in the morning and going out on the balcony of our room on a high floor and looking at both downtown and it's skyline as well as the mountains to the East and everything in between while the sun is still coming up. Again, I don't like LA and that comes from spending time there. I have no interest in Disney or Universal there even though I've been to both as I find Orlando's versions to be superior. I got to know the Pacific Palisades pretty well as I have had a few clients who lived there. But from a tourist standpoint, again, nothing really to see. We did check out the Hollywood sign. Put me to sleep. The walk of fame was also a snooze fest. The Chinese Theater, same. We spent our time in the places that I felt we would enjoy the most. Santa Barbara is really nice and it doesn't hurt that my wife's step sister lives there. San Diego downtown is quite walkable. LA would never be considered walkable. Clearly I'm being very opinionated today and that just reflects my surly mood. There are things to see in LA. For jazz fans there is The Baked Potato. Definitely worth a visit if someone good is playing there and usually there is. Ironically I caught Yogurt there playing instrumental versions of Zappa tunes. It was a last minute decision for me and I even rented a car just to get out there since I was alone. Sat at the bar. And who ends up showing up? Gail Zappa (Frank's widow), Diva (his daughter) and Beverly D'Angelo. Great show. Anyway. No disrespect intended.
No problem
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Superb