Can you tell easily who is a local and who is a tourist in your city at a glance?

[Razor]

Originally Posted by montréaliste

Easy. The Germans wear their lederhosen while the French normally have a scarf, beret and wear a striped sailor shirt. If you can't tell an Eye-talian from his clothes, you will notice tomato sauce on the corner of his mouth or curly mustache. Easy peasy.

Yup..You are playing stereotype.

If the males are sporting Adidas sportswear, then Eastern European.
If said sportswear is matching pants and jacket, then Baltic.
If the males are sporting long pointy dress shoes, then Middle Eastern, but could be Lebanese locals.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Not sure if you're attempting a joke, but if not, this is misleading and not the norm. Most of the property crimes in SF are nonviolent thefts, typically in the form of car break ins. There are very few "attacks" where someone is actually getting robbed. I and many other photographers have walked around SF many times with DSLRs and have never had anyone even physically attempt to steal our gear from our hands. And yes, I've walked around the Mid-Market/Tenderloin areas with my gear.

Of course, there are occasional instances where even news crews get mugged.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...co-pier/67510/

Also, most decent camera lenses alone are worth more than $950.

This doesn't mention cameras but I'm sure if they look grabable they'd be fair game too--and the more they seem worth the more so:

These BART stations saw the most phone and laptop thefts, amid surge in snatch-and-grabs
Phil Matier Jan. 22, 2020 Updated: Jan. 22, 2020 8:30 a.m.
Comments

BART saw a significant surge in thefts of cell phones and laptops in the past year, with the No. 1 target being passengers on trains running through San Francisco stations, where 512 robberies and thefts were reported in 2019.

Systemwide, BART police records show, 1,180 devices were reported stolen last year — that’s an increase of 288 thefts over 2018.

“The typical snatch-and-grab occurs when the train doors open and the victim is not paying attention,” BART Police Chief Ed Alvarez said.

According to BART, the thieves are often juveniles. They eyeball someone engrossed in their device as the train is pulling into a station, then grab the phone or laptop and run off the train just before the doors close. That leaves the stunned victim and any witnesses trapped on the receding train as the thief makes his getaway.

The thieves then often head for Civic Center Station, where there has long been an active thieves market around U.N. Plaza.

“They can quickly fence the phone for $300 to $400, depending on the model. And they are paying cash,” Alvarez said.

The thieves usually turn off the phone immediately after the grab, so it can’t be tracked by its signals . . . .

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...d-14993367.php

I just wouldn't walk around SF these days with anything valuable in plain site. I have read we have apparently won the prize for highest rate of property crime in the US these days.

SF ranks high in property crime while it ranks low in arrests
Phil Matier Sep. 15, 2019 Updated: Sep. 15, 2019 7:49 a.m.

San Francisco has by far the highest property crime rate in California, with more than twice the number of reported thefts per capita than Los Angeles or Santa Clara counties, according to a new report by the Public Policy Institute of California.

And when it comes to arrests, San Francisco is 50th out of the state’s 58 counties.

Statewide police records reviewed by the PPIC show San Francisco averaged a whopping 5,844 property crimes per 100,000 residents per year from 2014 to 2016, the last period for which detailed arrest data are available . . . .

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...s-14439369.php

In relation to the topic of this thread, many locals, like the tourists, either don't seem to know the risks or don't care as they display their electronic goodies casually. So it may not be a great way to tell one from the other. But the smart people walking the mean streets of SF keep anything valuable out of sight and, if possible, keep a firm grip on it.

[homebucket]

I mean that kind of stuff can happen in any city. I don’t think it’s unique to SF. How many times have we heard of friends that have been abroad and had their wallets or passports picked? Paris seems to be the most common one at least in my circle, although it seems there the thieves do it more subtlety where you don’t notice it’s gone until later.

The bottom line is, if you have basic street smarts (like waiting until you’re in a safer location to review your photos) and are aware of your surroundings (ie not walking around with your face buried in your phone) you’re probably going to be fine.

That being said, most SF locals are likely to be wearing either the North Face or Patagonia as outerwear, yoga pants if female, khakis or jeans if male, and Allbirds or Adidas Ultraboosts as footwear.

[Crawford]

What is it with Allbirds? So ugly and frumpy. Looks like orthopedic shoes for grandma doing her laps in the Cedar Rapids Mall.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by JManc

You do realize there is a whole profession and hobby dedicated to photography right? So yes, someone with a camera in Times Square will stand out as a tourist, someone doing time lapse photos on some random city street will not.

When I was in Chicago taking photos, I was taking random shots of the L track blocks away from most of the touristy stuff and that's where I was hit up for directions. If I was at the Bean, most would have assumed I was a tourist.

well, ok now i see what you mean.

however, in ny i still would think it was a tourist. photo tourists are all over nyc these days. there are hardly any no go zones. also, around here you just automatically don't assume anything on face value, because you will usually be wrong.

i would tend to ask directions in a shop or bodega or standing lost on a street corner.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

This doesn't mention cameras but I'm sure if they look grabable they'd be fair game too--and the more they seem worth the more so:


https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...d-14993367.php

I just wouldn't walk around SF these days with anything valuable in plain site. I have read we have apparently won the prize for highest rate of property crime in the US these days.


https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...s-14439369.php

In relation to the topic of this thread, many locals, like the tourists, either don't seem to know the risks or don't care as they display their electronic goodies casually. So it may not be a great way to tell one from the other. But the smart people walking the mean streets of SF keep anything valuable out of sight and, if possible, keep a firm grip on it.

Wait, didn't someone on here just last month state that stealing phones is so 5 years ago or something? Eh

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

Wait, didn't someone on here just last month state that stealing phones is so 5 years ago or something? Eh

Yes. From exactly five years ago:

Activation Lock has reduced iPhone theft by 25% in NY, 40% in SF, 50% in London

Feb. 11th 2015 4:06 am PT

Officials in three major cities have reported dramatic reductions in iPhone thefts since Apple introduced Activation Lock as part of iOS 7, preventing devices being re-activated without the original owner’s iCloud login. Reuters reports that the number of reported iPhone thefts has fallen year-on-year by 25% in New York, 40% in San Francisco and 50% in London …


Activation Lock was originally announced in June 2013 as part of iOS 7, resulting in theft reductions in the three cities of 19%, 24% and 38% respectively. Switching on Activation Lock by default in iOS 8 has further boosted these numbers as thieves are discovering that stolen iPhones are little more than pretty-looking bricks.

While it is technically possible to remove Activation Lock, this is not something a typical thief could achieve, and the company which announced the service, ChronicUnlocks, says that it will not carry out the $150 unlock on iPhones which are in lost mode.

https://9to5mac.com/2015/02/11/iphone-thefts/

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by homebucket

That being said, most SF locals are likely to be wearing either the North Face or Patagonia as outerwear, yoga pants if female, khakis or jeans if male, and Allbirds or Adidas Ultraboosts as footwear.

Hehe you mean you guys haven't moved on to Columbia yet? I feel like I've been seeing those Columbia jackets for the past several months now. I personally don't like logos on my clothes.

sportsmans.com

[dimondpark]

I always dress up when I travel abroad, and depending on the douchiness of the crowd Im going to be with, I make it a point to wear American designers(Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Tom Ford etc)#teamusa

[pj3000]

Pittsburgh: tourists (or non-natives) are the ones NOT wearing some article of Steelers clothing.

[bnk]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

This doesn't mention cameras but I'm sure if they look grabable they'd be fair game too--and the more they seem worth the more so:


https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...d-14993367.php

I just wouldn't walk around SF these days with anything valuable in plain site. I have read we have apparently won the prize for highest rate of property crime in the US these days.


https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...s-14439369.php

In relation to the topic of this thread, many locals, like the tourists, either don't seem to know the risks or don't care as they display their electronic goodies casually. So it may not be a great way to tell one from the other. But the smart people walking the mean streets of SF keep anything valuable out of sight and, if possible, keep a firm grip on it.

For a City of 883,305 people

"Still, according to The Chronicle’s Car Break-in Tracker, there were 2,279 vehicle break-ins reported in San Francisco last month, or roughly 73 per day"

And that's just cars and not phones or personal items off people.

That's unacceptable. San Fran is not the city I remember from the 1990's- early 2000's sadly.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Capsicum

Before asking strangers personally or having them come up to ask for directions, is it easy to recognize tourists vs. locals these days vs. in the past?

Back in the old days the stereotype of tourists looking around, being loud, taking big cameras and snapping pics all around, dressing differently than locals, seems to have been tempered a little since nowadays people take selfies on phones rather than cameras and dressing styles have diversified/globalized a bit more.

Yes.

1. If they have an umbrella, they're a tourist. Locals don't do it, ever. It's usually too windy, and even if it's not, it's not part of our culture. This is a pretty accurate blanket statement, although there are obviously exceptions. But here's one blanket statement that is 100% accurate: the above is even more true in winter. Locals haven't even thought about umbrellas in snow. That feels not only foreign, but hilarious.

2. If a group of them is standing outside a business on their phone. It's obvious they're there for WiFi. This is especially common when cruise ships come in. Locals don't do that, they have them all saved.

3. If they look foreign. Diversity here is having, in ONE town, Irish Catholics AND English Protestants. Both TOGETHER!? Can you imagine that? We've been relatively diverse in the capital city for a long time (centuries-old communities of Jewish, Syrian, Chinese, and Lebanese people, etc.), but it still catches me off guard when the lady in a hijab at the mall has a thick Newfoundland accent. If you're very tall, darker than Salma Hayek, or wear the latest European jeans for men, it's obvious. We never go that tight or that acid wash, no matter what the global trends are.

4. Driving. Our streets are a knotted mess and the lines aren't painted. If you don't know there's an an unmarked left turning lane, you're obviously a tourist.

[ocman]

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Hehe you mean you guys haven't moved on to Columbia yet? I feel like I've been seeing those Columbia jackets for the past several months now. I personally don't like logos on my clothes.

Now, it's all about those quilted puffy jackets. When Patagonia banned power vests, that was the beginning of the end.

[initiald]

Yes, whoever doesn't walk like they are in a speedwalking competition is someone from outside the city. Rural people walk soooooo slow

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by initiald

Yes, whoever doesn't walk like they are in a speedwalking competition is someone from outside the city. Rural people walk soooooo slow

See, this is odd... As a former denizen of a trailer in a pasture, I had always been taught growing up that in big cities, everyone went everywhere at a dead sprint, scowling, arms out in case they needed to quickly shove someone in front of a bus. Big-city denizens were basically borderline feral, in other words, and would attack at the slightest provocation, but what made them angrier than anything was slow hicks like myself who would dare to impede the flow of traffic on a sidewalk or an escalator.

But this has not been my experience. In my experience, in places like New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, Atlanta, Miami, Washington DC, Detroit, New Orleans, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver, is that I'm usually, by far, the fastest person on the sidewalk. Everyone else just moseys along enjoying the leisurely pace of life and often just stopping, right there on the sidewalk, to take in a detail, greet a long-lost friend, or just stare into space because some profound thought just hit them. It's usually all I can do not to scowl and shove them into traffic. In fact, the only place where I ever encountered a stereotypical borderline feral city dweller was Philadelphia, where a counter person at Wendy's, apparently offended that some asshole would come in, right off the street, and order something, threw my food at me without a word before spinning on her heel and stalking into the back.

Maybe that's why I like Philadelphia so much... It lives up to expectations. I dunno.

[badrunner]

In LA I can always tell someone's a tourist, not by the way they look or dress, but by the way they drive. It is SO obvious. Only locals will understand.

[initiald]

Originally Posted by hauntedheadnc

Everyone else just moseys along enjoying the leisurely pace of life

Tourists. Or the homeless, or, late at night, the drunk. Weekdays everyone is speedwalking. If you don't get to that parking deck by 5:04 you are going to be stuck trying to get out. Every minute you are late getting to your car is 15 minutes you'll be later getting home

[Boisebro]

When possible, I like to have the comics answer all of life's questions.

[edale]

Originally Posted by initiald

Tourists. Or the homeless, or, late at night, the drunk. Weekdays everyone is speedwalking. If you don't get to that parking deck by 5:04 you are going to be stuck trying to get out. Every minute you are late getting to your car is 15 minutes you'll be later getting home

I wouldn't have thought Raleigh would be home to fast walkers and extreme traffic. Every time I've been to the Carolinas, everything and everyone seemed super slow.

[edale]

Not really the question of this thread, but one thing I've noticed from taking public transit in LA is that people here genuinely have no clue about standing on the right side of the escalator to allow people to walk past on the left. If you did this in New York or DC, you would definitely get asked to move, and probably not very nicely. It's such a common thing here for people to either stand side by side on the escalator, or just a single person to stand on the left side that I've basically stopped trying to walk up. We really need a public awareness campaign for this, though it seems like common sense. An LA quirk perhaps.