I haven't been to SF, CA in decades, but I did make the mistake of going to downtown Austin for a comedy show last year and I was scared out of my mind. I was going to a venue where I wasn't allowed to 'carry' so I was like a sitting duck.

Two shady character dudes were following me in their car while I was on foot - by myself (older handicapped woman) - gimping my way to my car in an underground parking garage at City Hall (which was the absolute only place there was to park on a Saturday night off 6th Street area after driving around for 45 minutes looking for somewhere to park).

The parking attendants at the garage swore to me that they would still be there when the show was over. They lied. They were nowhere to be found when the show got out around midnight.

How I made it to my car and out of there without getting mugged (or worse) is only by the grace of God. I cut through lanes before they could catch up and miraculously got in my car and hauled ass out of the parking garage with them right on my tail.

I will never go to downtown Austin eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever again. A friend of mine who owns a high-rise condo in downtown Austin had not one but TWO of their cars stolen out of the double-secured parking garage within 20 minutes a few months ago. There were 4 people shot last week in downtown Austin during SXSW last week too. It's really bad, IMO.