12 things you probably haven't done in San Francisco — but should ASAP

Los Angeles Times

05-08-2025

Maybe you've heard about San Francisco's doom loop. But have you met its jumbo nude?
As just about any San Franciscan could tell you, 'doom loop' is shorthand for the city's post-pandemic troubles. Many of those worries stem from dwindling demand for office space, but would-be visitors have also been nervous about crime and withering retail energy.
That brings us to the jumbo nude. It's a 45-foot, semi-translucent sculpture of a woman now standing at the foot of Market Street, officially named R-Evolution. Not everyone loves her, but she is one among many new or improved elements attracting locals and visitors these days.
Even with San Francisco's office vacancy rate hovering around 35%, the sun keeps rising and visitors keep smiling, most of them, much of the time.
Make your way to the city and you can see major park upgrades at the Presidio and Ocean Beach. Or you can frolic among massive balloon installations, vintage photo booths and '60s artifacts in permanent and pop-up places that bill themselves as museums.
There's also the prospect of a new 'bay lights' show with 50,000 illumination points on the Bay Bridge. (Those lights were supposed to be on by now, but installation snags led to a delay; organizers say they're hoping to be ready 'sometime this fall .')
Also, the food doesn't hurt. When our critic Bill Addison chose 101 of his favorite California restaurants recently, 35 of them were in San Francisco.
Meanwhile, crime has been falling since early 2023, especially this year. Tourist arrivals are 11% behind 2019 but have grown steadily since 2021.
As this list attests, there's plenty to see. But first, we should talk about a few places not on this list.
One is Fisherman's Wharf. It has added a SkyStar Ferris wheel (which migrated from Golden Gate Park in 2023) and the Port of San Francisco says it will soon begin a big redevelopment, but the area remains dominated by T-shirt shops and multiple old-school restaurants that have been shuttered since the pandemic. The neighborhood was to have added a Museum of Failure this year but, not kidding, the enterprise collapsed amid an intellectual property dispute before opening. The storefront 'failure' sign was still up in June, creating the snarkiest photo op ever.
Another mixed bag is Union Square , whose hotels, department stores and passing cable cars have made it the starting point for legions of tourists through the decades. The square is still pleasant by day, with young visitors drawn to assorted free games (ping-pong, badminton, cornhole) while cable cars pass, tourists line up for Big Bus tours and guests at the adjacent Beacon Grand Hotel (formerly the Sir Francis Drake) explore the neighborhood. But many key retailers have shuttered, including Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, and Macy's will follow. (The company has said it will close as soon as it finds a buyer for the property.)
'We feel safe here. But kind of disappointed by all the closures,' said Melinda Parker, visiting San Francisco with her husband from Boise. Also, Parker said, 'a city should be judged on the quality of its public toilets. They have one here, and it's closed.'
Still, there are more than enough bright spots to light up a San Francisco visit. Let's go back for a second to Tunnel Tops, one of the city's recently improved park spaces. You grab a snack, commandeer a patio table and gaze upon the Presidio and Golden Gate. A family debate erupts over whether to hit a museum next or try an urban hike. This is a sort of problem, but a nice choice to have. And San Francisco now offers plenty like that.