Least SF Places in SF

I think Chinatown is one of those places. I don't really feel like I am in SF when I am there. Union Square reminds me of Times Square a little, except cleaner.

Well when I wonder through the Tenderloin, I feel like I am in a very scary Zombie movie (so many homeless people)!!! I find it so unsettling and strange that a neighborhood like that can be so close to the beautiful Union Square, or the major tourist hot spots. Does anyone else agree?

I know what you mean. I used to drive down 6th street to work and just as you Turk and 6th it becomes extremely shady. A lot of homeless people.

Good POST! Seal Rock/Ocean Beach feels like a Hitchcock movie early in the morning before the sun breaks through and you can hear the foghorns in the distance. To me, Tenderloin is scary but the proximity to other neighborhoods still makes it have an SF feeling, in a weird sort of way. The architecture, perhaps?

Oh yeah, and Buena Vista Park. Some parts of the paths are just secluded enough where you can pretend you are not in the middle of the city anymore.

@StephSF - Seal Rock /Ocean Beach is a good one! There are certain parts of Ocean Beach (lookouts) where you feel like you are on an island somewhere. Just gorgeous views. Another place where you feel like you are not in SF is Sea Cliff. Feels like you just stepped into Life Styles of the Rich and Famous or Melrose Place (but way nicer).

@Tracypie - Agreed on Sea Cliff. Took me a minute to place it but I definitely get that vibe - although the architecture still has a bit of a San Francisco-y feel (if that is even a word).

What about Harding Park/Lake Merced? Nice as it is, it feels like you could be in almost any nice suburb in the U.S. A lot of the Western SF neighborhoods are like that...

@StephSF - I would agree on Harding Park - definitely has that suburbia feel, probably b/c of the strip mall.

This might sound like my usual piling on when it comes to the Wharf--but the Wharf doesn't really feel like SF to me. I know its got views of the Bay and walruses and tours to Alcatraz--but its kinda like Disneyland. Its more about entertaining visitors than it is about the everyday life fo the city. I don't necassarily mean that in a negative way. Its nice to go there and hear languages from all over the world and people discoverng the Bay for the first time. But its not really where SF lives and breathes for me.