For anyone uncertain whether to attend SF in person, I was there at the end of April for RSAC 23.
I stayed in the Hyatt on the opposite corner of Union Square from the Hilton being used for 117, with a morning commute of approx 10 minutes or so to the Moscone Centre on foot. Union Square itself was home to what appeared to be a permanent SFPD mobile
command centre and I passed a couple of SFPD officers every block or so whilst walking to and from the main RSAC venue.
Whilst there was some evidence of drug abuse in the city centre, it was at a much lower level than I've seen in some other US cities. It was notable however that quite a few retail units were empty, underlining the fact that SF has been hit far harder
than many other cities since covid, with much lower footfall than you might expect. It was also apparent that SF is an expensive city (who knew!), for example with conference attendees being charged as much as $60 per person for their hotel breakfast buffet
so the RSAC catering was very popular.
In short, the part of the city where I stayed felt pretty safe, as did some of the other main tourist areas like Fisherman's Wharf etc. YMMV but I've no qualms about returning to the city for IETF 117.
Andrew
