LA is similar unless you never leave your little neighborhood.
DC was similar when I lived there about 4 years ago.
SF is cleaning up, but I’ve regularly walked on streets where it’s just bodies and needles
I was shocked by the Vietnamese area of Seattle. It felt like a zombie land.
I mean, if we’re talking city core yeah this it the average experience. I say this as someone who loves cities, American cities leave a lot to be desired and a lot of that comes from simply refusing to enforce basic laws that the rest of the world (including much more left countries) don’t hesitate to do.
I've lived in the NYC metro area for nearly two decades and have yet to see a single one. Definitely saw them when I lived in Baltimore, and have seen them in Philly, but even then not "regularly" in either case.
It’s very hard for me to make a case for urban living, and more apartments, and less cars when the average experience in cities in America is rampant drug use, and tons of unenforced quality of life issues.