Except it's not charming at all... it's much colder than the rest of California (it honestly feels like a different planet), MUNI absolutely sucks compared to any transit system in the civilized world (NYC/Europe/parts of Asia), and the homeless problem is the worst I've seen in any major urban center.
San Francisco has a long way to go before I'd consider it a world-class city.
It's easier to put on a jacket if it's cold than to strip down if it's hot.
"MUNI absolutely sucks compared to any transit system in the civilized world"
It's better than pretty much everything else in California (except maybe BART? I don't take either very much).
Because tourists see the crooked street and the bridge and the hills and the cable cars. They don't see the high suicide rate or the muni or etc.
Uber and Lyft and self-driving cars will shortly solve drinking and driving and then my final complaint about the suburbs will be gone.