Use the SLR. The best and easiest one to use is the Pentax K-1000: a camera I wish Asahi Pentax would bring back to consumer sale.
You can go with a zoom, where you can stand quietly and shoot from distances where nobody sees you. Or you can just aim and stand there for a bit of time, eventually the folks around you will ignore you and maybe you’ll capture some candid moments on film.
And I’d also use chroma black and white film….or put on a sepia lens filter to get that “street” look to your pictures.