Western Addition has pockets of good and pockets of not so good. It's an area which should be assessed on a block by block basis. By driving through the areas you can get a good idea of what blocks would work for you or not. Personally I have a few friends (30 something married couples; 1 of which with a baby) who live in the area and have felt great about their purchase decisions. One lived on Golden Gate right across the street from a housing project while the other lives on a little one block street called Biedeman.

This part of SF has always been "iffy" and since there is a large public housing facility in the area gangs seem to run hand in hand with the projects. Are there any areas in the Western Addition that are better than others? Sure, get as close as you can to Geary.

Tony,
Please read: City attorney seeks stay-away orders for 76 gang suspects
Injunctions asked in Mission District, Western Addition. Here is the link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/13/…

To find out more, about the topic, go to Google News and search (for example) for Gang activities in Western Addition. Hope it helps.