You are correct about SF. Its a city of extremes. One of the most conservative people i know lives there.
I lived there a few years in the late 80’s.
Wacko city government for sure; but there are wackos everywhere now.
Yes, that was my point in an indirect way. People say the most awful things about anyone living in the SF Bay Area. However, if you were to live here you would see that for the most part families live their lives like they do in most parts of the country. And the wackos are everywhere. Many of the gays have left over the last twenty years, and family types are everywhere now. There have been beatdowns of gays in the Mission and SOMA (South of Market area), even killings, because of the strong religious family traditions there; not that I condone that but it is a reality. But SF is far safer than many cities I have visited. You can walk the streets at night without fearing for your life, unlike Washington DC, Seattle, Atlantic City and so many other cities around the country.
Aside from the City Hall politics, it looks like a normal city (without the ghettos because there really aren't any).