I've also lived in San Francisco for many years, in different neighborhoods. Now with my family including 2 young kids. The usual media narrative around SF is also very foreign to me and doesn't match my personal experience. Living in SoMa has very little in common with living anywhere west of Twin Peaks.

Therefore the need to rely on data to find more objectivity when debating public policies. Yes data can be twisted and most of the time is poorly reported and interpreted by people, but it's better than relying on personal anecdotes.