Fentanyl was as easy to find as fog. Businesses fled downtown. Residents, allowed to work remotely, stayed home in droves. Tourism declined as visitors worried about losing their wallets and not their hearts here.

But “The City by the Bay” is on the comeback.

A dad films his kid while also competing in a timed 40 yard dash, before the Super Bowl in San Francisco.Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff

Just ask Gary Emich, 74, a retired postal worker who has swum between Alcatraz and San Francisco more than 1000 times. Consider him a trained observer because his life depended on it.

“I was always [watching] to see what the current is doing because it’s all about make sure the currents are not going to take you one way or the other,”says Emich who calls himself an “Aquapreneur.” He organizes swims to and from the closed federal penitentiary 1.25 miles off the coast of San Francisco.

He says things are getting better.

“Yeah, because I think they’re really starting to try to deal with some of the homeless and the fentanyl problems. I know for a long time, car breaks and smash and grabs were a problem, but they started putting those people in jail rather than letting them go. I mean, this is just a great city to live in.”

Gary Emich showers after swimming from Alcatraz Island for the 1,090th time.Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff

Crime is down for the third straight year, dropping 24.1 % in 2025, according to police statistics.

Public safety is the top priority of Mayor Daniel Lurie. “The hope, the optimism is back,” he says.

The Globe presents this look of San Francisco, on the eve of Super Bowl LX, pitting the Patriots against the Seahawks

At the Chinatown Big Game Block Party, Jordan Tran, 14, is celebrating as a dragon. He and his buddy love the crowds cheering them on.

Jordan Tran gets ready to perform in the Chinatown Big Game Block party to celebrate the Super Bowl and the upcoming Lunar New Year on Feb. 17.Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff

“It’s definitely gotten better since Covid. I think the drug problem is not that bad. The only problem is the homeless situation. We’ve got a lot of homeless people.”

Artist Anan Joshua Adam lives in a van with his dog in Haight Ashbury.

There’s still remnants of the “Summer of Love” here, diluted with a touch of greed. The streets are clean, spray washed with the exception of wilted flowers at a sacred memorial commemorating Grateful Dead founding member Bob Weir who recently passed away.

“Everything is getting better all the time and this is no exception,” he says. “This is a special place. … It is a birthing place of creativity and ingenuity.”

Anan Joshua Adam with his dog in his van.Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff

Truckin’ down near Union Square, Albert Pena, on his way to work, offers food to the homeless.

“I wanted to help somebody,” he says. “It is getting better. People are treating each other better and that’s what it’s all about.

“Outside ,people don’t see the real San Francisco. If you were part of the community, then you would know what it is all about. You know that for every struggle, there’s a helping hand.”

They say Boston and San Francisco are sister cities. Not really.

The view of the post sunset sky and the Golden Gate Bridge from SkyStar Wheel is a 150-foot-tall, observation wheel located in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf.Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff

Bostonians don’t wait to cross the street, and those driverless cars that are all over San Francisco, would never be tolerated by Massholes. But the temperature in February hit 70. The Super Bowl Experience, featuring NFL history, a 40-yard dash challenge and other fun, is a big hit.

Artem Zvedochkin, a data center technician visiting with his family from Sibera, was impressed on his very first day here. They went up on the SkyStar Wheel, a 150-foot-tall observation wheel located on Fisherman’s Wharf, at sunset to see the Golden Gate Bridge.

“It’s a beautiful place,” he says. ”It inspires you.”

Stan Grossfeld can be reached at stanley.grossfeld@globe.com.