In the comments to our brief on yesterday’s mugging at 23rd and South Van Ness, commenter blooms notes, in part, that he feels that:
There exists a common misperception that the Mission is some sort of hipster utopia, when that it is an illusion. While you are enjoying that cappuccino after a nice meal at Delfina, four blocks down and five blocks over (10 minute walk), gangsters are killing each other. Gangs control the blocks south of Mission St to the freeway, and from 14th to 23rd. So, as the Valencia corridor becomes “gentrified” (so to speak), the rest of the (outer) Mission remains a gangster’s paradise.
This is an interesting point! The Appeal office is at 18th and Treat, and we frequently assume we have nothing to fear but the overly earnest Capital Jay Journalists around the corner.
So we gaily skip up to the 22, laptops on our backs and iPhones in our hands. Which must make us idiots, or entitled douchebags, or both?
How about you — do you truly feel safe walking the streets of the Mission (or any streets in the City?), or are you wary? What measures, if any, do you take to keep yourself safe?
