My point was taking issue with equating Berkeley and its surrounding area as being a slightly run down version of NYC…especially considering I am a NYC native and grew up at the tail end of the high crime era.
The comparison didn’t fit when I visited in the late '90s and it fit even less several years later on a subsequent visit.
There’s a chasm of difference between saying Berkeley isn’t as spruced up as UCLA and saying the surrounding area around Berkeley is so gritty to imply it’s dangerous/unsafe.