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- Y Combinator founder Paul Graham said he wouldn't live in San Francisco with kids due to crime.
- Graham, who lives in the UK, said he was out for dinner when masked men fired gunshots nearby.
- Fears about the city's crime and homelessness issues are driving people and companies out.
Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator and a prominent investor, said in a post on X Wednesday that he wouldn't want to bring up kids in San Francisco after men fired gunshots near his dinner outing.
Graham, who previously lived in the US but is now based in the UK, said the incident took place in the city's Cow Hollow neighborhood.
"Went to SF to have dinner with friends. A few blocks away a car containing 6 masked men (presumably car robbers) was stopped by a security guard, and 3 of them got out holding guns. They fired 2 shots into the air and drove away. No police came," he wrote, without clarifying whether he saw the incident firsthand.
He then added: "It was really cool to see all the driverless Cruises though. They're really ubiquitous now. Two visions of two possible futures of SF in one night."
Robotaxi companies Cruise and Waymo recently got the go-ahead from the city to offer fully driverless rides 24/7 in San Francisco.
One user asked Graham on X: "What do you say to founders thinking about moving to SF but have concerns about this kind of thing?"
He responded: "Personally I wouldn't live there with kids. But if you're young and childless and have your wits about you, it's probably safe enough."
Graham and the San Francisco Police Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment about the incident.
Graham's concerns echo opinions from San Francisco's tech crowd who say the city feels unsafe. Elon Musk has sounded off about the city's crime, homelessness, and drug issues in recent months saying in a post on X that the "once beautiful and thriving" area has become a "derelict zombie apocalypse."
The reality is complex. Statistics from the City and County of San Francisco indicate that violent crime rates in the city have fluctuated each year since 2017, but property crime has sharply spiked. For the first eight months of this year, incidents of homicide, robbery, and motor vehicle theft were up versus the year before, according to data from the San Francisco Police Department.
A city survey released in April indicated that residents feel less safe than they have done in 20 years. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that some of this feeling may be down to the public and "brazen" nature of the crimes.
A number of retailers — including Nordstrom, Anthropologie, Amazon Go, and Old Navy — have closed stores in the city, citing concerns about employee and customer safety.
Whole Foods' flagship in the city shut down just after a year of operating because it was the site of dozens of crimes, The New York Times reported in May.
The store reportedly saw hundreds of calls to emergency services, 14 arrests, and visitors threatening security guards with knives. Theft of food and alcohol was also common at this location, the Times reported.
The killing of tech founder Bob Lee earlier this year sparked further debate over the safety of the city.