I grew up in the suburbs south of LA in the 90's and when I got a car I would drive up to see what bad neighborhoods were like. Skid row, Compton, Long Beach, east LA. None of that prepared me for Oaktown. So eventually I started driving up to the bay area to explore. San Fran was still a nice place to hang out as long as you stayed out of the Castro. Even the Tenderloin was pretty chill if a bit depressing. To save money I would spend the night in Berkeley, definitely a rougher town than SF but as long as you didn't fuck around after dark it was OK. One time I decided I wasn't going to pay the bridge toll to get back to SF and the 101 highway, but the route south through East Bay wasn't obvious, so I stopped at a gas station and asked the clerk if I could get to a highway by heading south into Oakland. I'll never forget the look on her face. She just said "No." Of course being young, dumb, bored and somewhat sheltered decided to drive through the hood. I made it about a mile before I rolled up the windows, turned the radio off, locked the doors and made sure not to catch anyone's eye. There were easily a hundred people out on the street, all restless watchful and looking for a spoil, spilling out off the sidewalks and into the street. Various cliques were posted up on the corners and around bus stops. Not a white person in sight and 90% black. I caught a few mean mugs but appearing uninterested seemed to get me through. That was 15 years ago and I've never been back, it's only gotten worse