San Francisco is a ghost town this week

San Francisco’s Union Square was pleasantly quiet late Tuesday afternoon. 

The 83-foot-tall tree twinkled above a plaza that felt vacant at a time when the sun was still shining and the air was balmy. About a dozen people whirled around the ice skating rink, but other than that there was very little movement. The stores and restaurants in the area were open, but most were quiet — except the Apple Store on Post Street that still had a big crowd.

The only signs of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit were fleets of police officers on motorcycles zipping around and a few people with APEC lanyards around their necks. Up the hill, fencing surrounded the Fairmont Hotel, where President Joe Biden is staying as he meets with other world leaders in San Francisco. On Tuesday afternoon, a group of six people stood at the top of the hill at Powell and California streets, where the cable car usually rolls by, waiting for a chance to see Biden’s motorcade. 

Many tourist areas around San Francisco have been a ghost town this week as the summit has overtaken the city. The messaging around the event has warned people to stay away from downtown and, really, the city altogether. Many streets are blocked off, and entire areas of the city are closed, including the areas around Moscone Center and the Fairmont. Muni bus and train lines are being impacted by the closures. Protests have also taken place, especially around Market Street and Moscone Center. 

But basically everywhere else is mostly empty. For San Francisco residents, it might actually be a good time to get out and experience some of the city’s most touristy areas. (Just be sure to check road closures and transit lines before you head out, or even better, walk.)

On a Tuesday afternoon, at a time when the roads are usually clogged for rush hour, I easily drove downtown with light traffic from my home in the Mission, to Market Street, to Franklin and then Post. The trip, which usually takes 30 minutes due to late-afternoon traffic on Franklin, took no more than 15. I zipped along roadways directly into the Union Square parking garage, where I easily found a space. 

After what was likely my quickest commute downtown in my over 20 years of living in San Francisco, I decided to make some calls to people who are immersed in our city’s most touristy areas. I called a colleague who lives only six blocks from Union Square. Julie Richter is a public relations professional, and one of her clients is the ice skating rink. She said reservations at the rink are down this week compared to the same time last year. 

“It’s a great time for locals to come down and have a lot more room to skate,” she said.

Richter told me that a friend of hers who visited the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art on Tuesday reported that it too was lacking its usual crowd. “It was empty,” Richter said. “She was the only person at the Yayoi Kusama exhibit.”

Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39, two of the city’s most popular tourist destinations that sit on the water, have been mellower than usual, too.

“The street is quiet right now,” Jimmy Ruan, a manager at the Bay Company, a souvenir shop near the wharf, told me when I asked him what it was like outside at 11 a.m. this morning. “Sales are down. It’s dropping. We’ve had just a few customers today.”

Sue Muzzin, a spokesperson for Pier 39, told me the landmark is not seeing its usual buzz of tourists, though a few dignitaries did visit Monday night. Film crews from China and Japan were also there Sunday and Monday, she said. Biden is expected to be down the road at the Exploratorium on Wednesday for a party; sections of the Embarcadero will be impacted.

As we talked, she said work crews were busy setting up the pier’s 60-foot-tall Christmas tree in the entrance plaza. Muzzin said it’s going much faster than usual this year because few people are around. 

“It is quiet, it’s beautiful,” she said. “There’s no wind. All the stores and shops are open. You can walk around. It’s actually lovely. If I wasn’t in the middle of doing budget presentations and preparing, I’d be out there more.”