SF doesn't deserve all the blame. The problems may be worse in SF, but several of the issues identified by AMC are statewide. Prison overcrowding was so bad that Federal Courts required California to improve conditions. California chose to improve conditions by decreasing the prison population by transferring low level offenders to county jails, who in turn release inmates quickly.
Nor is SF completely without redeeming qualities. SF has good public transportation, great restaurants, and easy access to beautiful scenery. On the other hand, it is expensive, has a homeless problem (when I lived in SF, homeless used the fountain in the UN Plaza as a public urinal; I hated walking by on windy days because the wind would blow the water at you and you could smell the urine), and significant violent crime. I lived in the Tenderloin neighborhood of SF (20 years ago). I could hear gun shots with some regularity from my apartment. Some friends and I asked a taxi driver if there were any neighborhoods he wouldn't drive -- he said "no, but if there were it would be where I'm taking you [i.e., the Tenderloin]."