Yeah everyone has different tastes I guess, definitely doesn’t match my perception, most people I know love it here too, including people who have moved from all over. It’s all going to depend on where you live, maybe he picked some ill-advised locations.
Any large densely populated city/surrounding area you are going to have very very different sections depending on where you are. There’s definitely some places you wouldn’t want to go, but also some very very nice places. I think you’d like SF, but you would just want a different tour guide than your friend lol.
That is what I remember of Seattle, beautiful surrounding areas and so-so cities.
Agreed on housing pricing here in CA, it’s the biggest shame of this area.
I plan to sneak in New England Novemberish and I think I’ll quite like it. Also will check Pittsburg while visiting my Mom in WV.
Edit: I would recommend visiting Lake Tahoe while visiting the bay area if you ever do, it’s almost a three hour drive but it’s a beautiful area and maybe a good place to end the trip on (there is an airport there) - And don’t just visit SF! Visit Berkeley, Santa Cruz, pop by the east bay and say hi etc