Things to do in Northern California?

[California]

I can't think of any place in NorCal where you would encounter dangerous hostile locals. Stockton or East Palo Alto might be the only places where you might get caught up in a local dispute but you would be a bystander, not the target. And not in daylight hours.

This isn't like places I've read about in the Midwest, East, South where the wrong offramp could be fatal or at least scary.

Long ago I was a consultant to the state's purchasing division - construction contractors, prison and hospital food suppliers, etc. The state had lost a civil rights lawsuit and was mandated by the courts to bring the percentage of purchases from minority business up to their percentage in the state population. I spent a year visiting and verifying a lot of interesting people. I did the financial analysis, capable of performing a contract and independent, not a bogus front for an existing vendor. My partner was Native American and verified the ethnic minority claimed, we found a couple of bogus ones. We went into some neighborhoods that likely hadn't seen a white person for a while. Never a problem asking directions etc. People are just people. Don't be concerned. The crazy panhandlers in SF are likely the only encounters where you get irritated.

SF's Mission District is famous for the variety of excellent ethnic restaurants, most of them inexpensive. An adventure, not anything to avoid.

 

[Sigarms]

SF's Mission District is famous for the variety of excellent ethnic restaurants, most of them inexpensive. An adventure, not anything to avoid.

At this point, my only fear is to park the car, leave it, and come back to find it stripped. Kind of joking, but could be worse, who knows.

 

[California]

At this point, my only fear is to park the car, leave it, and come back to find it stripped. Kind of joking, but could be worse, who knows.

Yeah with visible luggage it would be wise to Uber into any tourist, restaurant, commercial neighborhood with the car left in a paid and secure parking lot. That said, we've never had a problem dining there, with the car parked beyond where we could see it - but with the car visibly empty.

 

[plowhog]

Wow this report says 30 hotels might shut down in SF. Huge game changer if that happens.

San Francisco's hotel exodus may just be beginning

As many as 30 of San Francisco's hotel could fall into foreclosure as massive loans come due over the next two years and revenue remains in decline.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[ericm979]

Between my wife and myself we probably went to SF a hundred times back in the '90s when it was was way worse. And we were going to the sketchier areas where the clubs were. Before that I worked in SF and drove all over the city. Never had a car broken into or my motorcycle messed with. The times we had cars broken in to were in the towns way down on the peninsula.

 

[plowhog]

Westfield Mall in San Fran just pulled the plug. 1.2 million sq ft of retail space plus another 300,000 sq feet of office space. A very prominent location. Westfield decided to stop making its loan payments and default-- even though that means losing their entire investment. It was no longer commercially viable to try to continue.

The lender on the property (and a receiver) will now deal with the headache. (Boy I'll bet they are thrilled ....)

"Westfield blamed 'unsafe conditions' and 'lack of enforcement against rampant criminal activity'"

Also:

"City officials launched a $6 million ad campaign in May to lure back tourists. ... The international campaign included a commercial featuring an array of local talent, including Lady Camden, a drag queen who became popular on 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' and local muralist Sirron Norris."

San Fran's dying downtown: Westfield stops making mortgage payments

The operator of San Francisco's biggest shopping center, Westfield, has stopped making payments on a $558 million loan and is handing the building back to the lender.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[California]

Modesto Bee:

snowplows have opened the final leg of Highway 108 over Sonora Pass. And a key link to Yosemite Valley from Highway 120 has been restored.

The opening of Sonora Pass allows traffic on 108 between Tuolumne and Mono counties. The highway starts in Modesto and runs through the city of Sonora on its way to the high country.

Tioga Pass on Highway 120 remains closed, blocking most of the northern portion of Yosemite National Park.

Severe pavement damage from the storms had closed Big Oak Flat Road, which connects 120 to Yosemite Valley. The repairs are now done.

 

[Hughman]

4 and 108 have both opened in the last week.

 

[California]

California is so big there is something for everyone. Much of that is described in this Reddit thread, the good and the bad.

But it looks like much of the bad is described by folks who visited only once, if at all. And some, read like they must have seen a TV show filmed around Los Angeles.

Also folks who, despite trying hard, departed after they couldn't get a share of the prosperity that is the more general case.

(Gotta admit this Northern Californian shares some of the prejudice, stereotypes, about Southern California. )

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/148j00v

 

[Racenut]

4 and 108 have both opened in the last week.

And from Angels Camp, that makes a 4-89-395-108-49 Loop a really nice day trip.

There have been a lot of great suggestions and I've seen some of the things you want to do, I would only say to don't forget to enjoy stuff. Trying to pack too much into 2 weeks will be a bit like drive by window shopping. Leave enough time to stop and look around a little