re: San Francisco is dirtier than New Orleans.

I spent the last week in March in SF. I stayed in Cow Hollow and spent a good deal of time walking around neighborhoods--Outer Sunset, Outer Richmond, Russian Hill, Marina District, Twin Peaks, the Presidio, North Beach, GGP and the Haight, Ocean Beach--and one thing that struck me was how clean these neighborhoods were.

Of course I avoided the 'loin, Hunter's Point and such places. If you're on the hunt for trash you'll find it in SF like any other big city.

But overall, the city streets were remarkably clean.

Bums, homeless, deranged? SF has its share, but in my experience they were pretty quiet, especially compared to what I experienced as a resident of the city in the mid-80's. There must be some kind of truce on--cops relax on the homeless as long as they don't scare away all the tourists.

One other thing: SF drivers are the nicest in the world. I was truly shocked at the civility when I drove around town. I don't believe I heard a single honking horn my whole time there.

Of course, it was a slightly different story when I popped over to Oakland for lunch in the barrio with a buddy of mine. But--sadly--Oakland gonna Oakland as they say.