This is the main part of the problem to me. There's nothing even remotely interesting going on in that city's culture. The entire city is split between people who can afford a 2-million-dollar house, retirees, and people who sleep on the street.
Crime is about the same. When I moved to SF in '98 the very first thing that happened to me was my bicycle got stolen, and my convertible car got its top slashed so many times that I started leaving the doors unlocked, at which point people started sleeping in my car, so I sold it.
Violent crime is actually much lower but that's a long-term trend.
IMHO the problems with that city all stem from the inequality caused by the housing crisis. It drives property crime and it's the reason the city is intensely boring.
It’s still 3k for a 1 bedroom, so I’m assuming there are still some tech workers left
A 1 bedroom apartment in SF has been ~3k for half a decade now. With inflation this means effective price was lowered.
Are car break ins relatively common in San Mateo and Santa Clara?
Nah. SoMa is exactly the same as it always was, fidi is just quiet but otherwise also unchanged.
Back in 2014 you had a mesh of artistic and tech. This lead to a great social scene.
Now the artists were priced out and they moved to Oakland. The SF tech workers left in droves. What’s left is the homeless and crime.
Much of the city still hasn’t recovered from covid. Soma and fidi are in shambles. Feels like only 1 out of every 4 places is still in business.
However Silicon Valley (San Mateo & Santa Clara county), San Jose, and east bay are all thriving relative to their past