When I lived in San Francisco, during the aftermath of the first dot-com boom, it was not uncommon to find used syringes at the playgrounds in GG Park. I was living in an apartment in the Inner Sunset, and every could of days the building manager had to hose down the steps to our building because someone was using them as a public toilet. By all I have heard, the situation in SF has only gotten worse. I don't know, it's not where I would want to raise kids.
I think it's moved. GG Park, when I've visited recently, has been delightful - I let my 18mo play freely in many of the open areas. The Mission, Tenderloin, Civic Center, and much of Market Street looks like a warzone. Or an outhouse. Or an outhouse that got bombed in a warzone.
SF is weird in that you can have very nice areas that are literally just a couple blocks away from hellholes.
