Most neighborhoods in SF have very little crime and homeless. Look at the Sunset and Richmond districts, Seacliff, Presidio Heights, Marina and Pac Heights (some of these might/will be prohibitively expensive because they're extremely nice), Forest Hill, Twin Peaks, Diamond Heights, Glen Park, Noe Valley, Bernal Heights, Parkside, Sunnyside and Portola if you don't mind being a little further south.

Basically just avoid SoMA, Civic Center, Financial District, Tenderloin, and any immediate surrounding areas. I also avoid the Mission but some people like it.

Thank you for the advice! This is exactly what I was looking for. Very strong chance I end up renting some 1BR in the Presidio Heights / Marina area. I may have to commute to Mountain View 3 days a week though, so maybe the southern options would work better for me. We will see.

Yeah to be honest I recently moved here and the news/press coverage is way heavier. Life is chill (I'm in North Beach), people are friendly, I see heaps of families and friends enjoying the city. Even Downtown/SOMA which are pretty dodgy are not as bad as the news suggests. South Bay is great as well.

Yeah I lived in the south bay for a while after graduating. Awesome place, but I'm reaching a point in my life where I'd like to meet more people, which seems tough in the south bay. Thanks for the info.