I feel very safe in New York (except a few parts of deep Brooklyn and the Bronx) but surprisingly, San Francisco at night freaks me out a bit. I also don't mind taking subway rides in New York to see friends (Emily-I don't mind the 1 hour during the day and 2.5 hours late night ride to your place) regardless of how long or how late because I usually feel totally safe and can read the whole time. Most of my reading is accomplished and enjoyed while riding the MTA.
SF Muni is totally different. The buses are dirty, extremely bumpy (preventing reading and causing motion sickness), it takes a long time to get places, and so there are so many unpleasant people. The back half of buses is totally reserved for smelly homeless men, thuggy women blasting music, and people selling tattoo needles to strangers (no joke). I have traveled to many different cities and this one seems so large and not very safe after dark.
I now have a car to use for late night trips, mostly Friday nights when I finish work at the de Young at 9:30pm. I guess this is part of learning a city, but I never felt like this in New York. Hopefully, once I learn my way around the city better, the buses will seem easier and safer.
Yeah, I think it's because so many people use NYC public transportation -- it has to be nice and kept-up, and there are always tons of non-sketchy people on it even at 3 am.
ReplyDeleteI feel weird on the train or bus in Chicago in the middle of the night, and Chicago's a big city too, so I know how you're feeling. I guess New York wins in the public transit department.
Aw, thank you for not minding taking long rides to visit me!
I was thinking of another thing that makes the nyc subway better than the buses here. In the subway, when a smelly or crazy person is in your car you can move to another one and the problem is solved. Here there is no escape until your stop. Plus the crazy people get way too close and have no idea that they are crazy or smelly...
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