For vegetation control (e.g. pavement cracks and fence lines), I'm a fan of glyphosate. I was a professional applicator for years and Roundup is a very, very gentle chemical. It breaks down very quickly and is barely toxic to animal life at all, even in pure form.
You won't see me say the same things about other common pesticides, though. I can't even stand the faintest whiff of 2,4-D (broad leaf herbicide that's a common component of lawn sprays) on the breeze. Awful shit.
But in my food and ornamental garden I typically weed by hand. Mulch where you want mulch. Better yet, grow ground covers that choke out other things. In the food garden they're called cover crops.