Oh, spare me. This isn’t new, it’s not confined to SF, and very, very few of these armchair commenters who decry “liberal” policies offer but one workable solution.
Let’s be clear: the San Francisco of today is a far safer place than it was 20, 30, 40 years ago. This is backed up both by statistical evidence and personal anticdote. The homeless population is smaller than it was before Gavin became mayor. It’s never been a squeaky clean city, which is of course part of its charm. People are moving to the Tenderloin and then complaining about drug use? What on earth did they expect?
Nearly every US City is dealing with both a heroin and a homeless issue. It’s simply the state of the times in which we live, and there are exactly zero helpful ideas coming from Washington in dealing with this.
54
San Francisco could do as Santa Barbara does and sweep the homeless off the tourist beaches early in the morning before tourists are out and about. They send them south to Ventura.
4
Or North to Santa Maria, where I live. San Luis Obispo does that also.
3
The whole country sends their “too hard basket” population to SF. This is a National problem that our unfit-to-govern incompetent national government is definitly not going to fix until we all clean House.. and the Senate.
2
When you see two people laying in the street you know one brought it's lawyer.
4
I have lived in San Francisco for 20 years. The homeless problem is in every neighborhood, not just the Tenderloin. Homeless people regularly sleep in doorways on Chestnut Street in the Marina District, which is an upper income neighborhood. Dilapidated campers fill the streets and parking lots every night. Car break-ins and shoplifting at the local Safeway are a daily occurrence.
Meanwhile, rich white women bring their dogs to the movie theater and the City built a new dog run at the local park that has turned in to the hottest meetup place for young singles.
We failed our homeless population just as we failed our lower and middle class populations. Hopefully our politicians are right that we are ready to do something about this.
402
@Dan I
"Hopefully our politicians are right that we are ready to do something about this.'
Yep, the politicians gave themselves tax cuts for the rich.
3
@Dan I And it is not just about getting them off the streets, its about addressing the reasons that people are homeless in the first place - mental health issues, addictions, loss of income, lack of resource, lack of ability to seek help. People are desperate. I don't know the answer but I agree that we have failed our lower and middle class populations. It has become political rather than a matter of human decency. Breed's photo op with the broom is ridiculous. The City needs to aid and assist and enable those groups who are working toward betterment - Tenderloin Housing, Tenderloin Medical Services, Mercy, CHP, St. Anthony's, Project Connect. Help them.
5
@Dan I
I was born and raised in SF, and just left the city in ‘14. I had a really nice condo that bordered on the Tenderloin. I joined the SF Northern station Neighbourhood Team, and reported everything to them regularly. They responded ONCE. I parked my car underground, where our maintenance man would wash sidewalk feces and urine into a drain. The smell was atrocious, and the conditions unsanitary. When I read about new parks being put up for dog lovers, I about had it. Dog walkers make up a large part of street feces, as they certainly don’t want to touch it. The city caters to the rich and does nothing to help the homeless situation. LA had a similar problem, and cracked down hard to clean it up. I drove through there last week, and it is so much cleaner than SF. I would have liked to stay in the city, but I could not bear the conditions. I worked hard for 7 years to make a change, and no one so much as lifted a finger for change. The money budgeted for cleanup and homelessness has gotten shuffled to other departments, and the poor people have lost the battle. When we can get some politicians and a City Council that cares about this issue, perhaps it will be resolved. Newsome left the city in tatters and did nothing to ensure the future of SF. The big whigs at Twitter and Uber have Security to push the homeless away from their areas, and have police support as well. Same goes for Pac Hts, the Marina, and most other high-income districts. It’s disgusting.
5
Liberals run the city ... 'enough said.
18
Some good news here: right on Larkin Street in front of the San Francisco public library is an unusual low cost resource: a converted public bus that offers showers and toilets on wheels, giving dignity for the unhoused in San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles. Called 'Lava Mae' - the bus is hooked up to the library's water supply. The mentally ill and chemically dependent use this service as a life line. But the repurposed buses at a cost of $300,000 each, don't just appear by magic: creative funding, human power, and tact to make sure this isn't a NIMBY (Not in my backyard) operation. The buses are greatly needed in New York City - we have our own homeless crisis here in the big Apple. A small donation can go a long way.
25
In the European social democracies housing is a basic right as it is in the Universal Delaration of Human Rights. Danes, Norwegians, etc have a constitutional right to education, culture, housing, five week minimum paid vacation, training, workplace democracy etc etc. The Nordic/German workers are far better off than their American counterparts. When Trump entertained the Norwegian prime minister she was blown away by his ignorance.
11
It breaks my heart to see the beautiful city of San Francisco, one of the great cities of the world, reduced to this post-apocalyptic squalor. I love city life. I lived in London, Hong Kong, Venice and Tel-Aviv, all magnificent cities with rich and varied cultures. I visited numerous cities, from NYC to Oslo and Shanghai. I just came back from Phnom Pen. Nowhere have I seen the spectacle of streets polluted to this extent by junkies, criminals and crazies. This is not about inequality, which exists everywhere. This is about the municipal powers-that-be derelict in their duty to the city and its inhabitants. The homeless encampments have to be disbanded and people moved to institutions, whether hospitals, rehabs or jails, I don’t care. Poverty? Give me a break! Cambodians surviving on a couple of dollars a month have a greater sense of personal pride and civic engagement than American junkies. They don’t leave piles of excrement on the streets. People who do behave like animals and have to be treated accordingly.
118
Right now America has the strongest economy and lowest unemployment is 60 years.
Imagine San Francisco if Democrats take control of the house and our economy collapses. How many homeless then?
33
@William Rodham How would the Dems taking over the House collapse the economy if the Republicans have had total control of policy and all branches of government for almost two years and of Congress since 2014?
5
I moved from Boston to San Francisco a year ago, and never have a missed an old city and disliked a new city more. I hardly visit the city any more. The filth and the homelessness combined with the billionaires and the rampant inequality is not just reminiscent of third world countries but also seems utterly surreal - is this what one of the wealthiest and most liberal cities in the world has to offer?
880
@Ashutosh
The wealthiest simply do not care.
The growing income gap between the rich and the poor and massive tax cuts for the already richest of
Americans proves this.
8
@Ashutoshv I moved to Boston from San Francisco, and met with a lot of "why would you ever do that?" To which I reply, if you had lived there, you would know.
3
@Ashutosh i found your response incoherent. I guess what you mean is you moved to the bay area and you rarely visit SF. It would help if people like you moved away, as you surely will once the economic well dries up. Neoliberal policies and new lame .com's who HAVE to be in this area, spoiler alert: no they don't, is what has caused this.
2
As long as you continue to elect Democrats, this is what you get. It's just like any other inner city. Rudy Juliani cleaned up NYC and DeBlasio turned it back into a dump.
17
@Bo..well said.
2
If you subsidize something, you will get more of it. Good job democrats.
37
Reactionary, racist, fearful, and insular personalities will blame the victims of mental illness, homelessness, and joblessness who line the streets. They will invoke the name of the fascist and negligent lying mayor who encouraged tens of thousands of New Yorkers to get lung cancer by lying about the hazards of poisoned air in the aftermath of 9/11: Rudy Giuliani. Arresting and sequestering the poor, putting them in detention camps and criminalizing poverty is one alternative route for 'cleaning up San Fransisco that could work at the mere cost of losing our Constitutional rights and becoming like Nazi Germany or Mussolini's Rome. But, will that solve spiraling land costs, housing shortages, drug addiction and the other problems that are the root cause of these symptoms? Not at all.
27
@jwp-nyc: Hey good comment! We'll get right on it!
@jwp-nyc that's right. people will have to lose their fear of socialist based solutions and lose their unwarranted and unquestioned beliefs in capitalism.
@jwp-nyc
Your post recalls for me the Ed Koch/Billy Boggs battle of the 1980s in NYC. Boggs was a homeless woman, perhaps mentally ill, who was living on Manhattan streets and causing lots of disturbances. Koch forcibly removed her from the streets, but he didn't have her imprisoned.
Civil liberties groups argued that Boggs had a right to live on the street. Koch claimed that as mayor he had an obligation to protect her and others from her own dangerous actions.
Koch eventually won, I believe, and Boggs became a symbol and cause celeb of both the homeless problem and the dilemma facing mayors and municipalities across the nation.
I also recall that Harvard invited Boggs and/or her lawyers to speak to the issue at a forum.
Koch was no Nazi or Black Shirt. Neither are the citizens who want to walk without fear of assault or stench from one side of Hyde Street to the other. Its a true dilemma and it wouldn't hurt for both political parties to take a step back and see where their respective policies have gone wrong.
7
solution to problem---------elect liberal Democrats to get it back into shape............oops.....never mind.
26
How ridiculous, the Mayor walking around carrying a broom for a photo op. San Francisco, the city of no personal accountability, deserves the filth and disease they have promoted. They have pridefully promoted themselves as a "progressive" city, as an open-minded and open-armed "sanctuary" city, not only as a legal safe haven for criminal illegal immigrants to escape the laws of the land, but also as a port of call for the intentionally non-viable from around the country to lay about and feed off of the taxpayers. You made your filthy streets, now walk in them.
56
@Barry Brumfield How many people do you think would opt to live in Missouri (anywhere) vs. San Francisco?
The city is getting what it deserves. Long time liberal policies will eventually bankrupt the moral fabric of the community. You reap what you sow.
54
No addiction problems in, say, West Virginia? Tennessee? Kentucky? Skyrocket the rents in these places and watch the same problems unfold.
21
@X
Sure there are. But the article is about homelessness, aggressive behavior and defecating in the streets. And, comparatively, there is much less of that in Tennessee than in San Francisco.
1
This disaster appears to be normal for mega cities governed by Democrat political machines. Keep forcing your socialist, social justice policies down the throats of taxpayers, and soon SF will become Venezuela. The tax base will move away to survive.
15
What rubbish. This is also about inequality and lack of social safety nets. You do see some homeless in Europe but a piffling number compared to the might USA. You are world leaders in something at least.
12
@Simon: but this is not Texas or Florida. It is CALIFORNIA. It is all blue, all Democrat -- a one party liberal system.
If they cannot solve this, in their own backyard -- how dare they pontificate to US about what WE should do?
1
"For many who live here it’s difficult to reconcile San Francisco’s liberal politics with the misery that surrounds them."
Look at any liberal city, and you'll see the same thing, but none of the intellectuals get that you can't govern based on emotion and reaction. Until this country begins using its brain instead of knee-jerks and bleeding hearts, we're all doomed.
20
I don't think your theory is supported when considering cities across liberal Scandinavia. In fact the root of the problem is likely the lack of social safety nets and accessible and affordable health care. There are many countries and cities who have greatly improved or taken care of these problems.
193
@Norm..well said.
@Karyn: OK....then why hasn't SUPER LIBERAL....richer than Midas...California! done one thing to fix this?
Why don't they have a STATE safety net? nothing prevents them from having a state single payer health system.
Nothing stops uber-wealthy SF from building housing for the homeless.
Nothing stops them from building public restrooms all over the place....with showers and storage lockers.
California already has the most generous welfare benefits in the nation, and a nice climate -- so the homeless FLOCK THERE.
Another liberal strong hold turned into a third world dump. All these tech companies there and you have this? Liberals should be so proud. Shame!!!!!
35
years and years of liberal democrat rule...……………...
25
I moved out of San Francisco in 2010, just before the techwave 2.0 exploded. Having visited 3-4 times since then, I can attest that the city has gotten even filthier.
For example, Powell St. station was always dirty, but today you see (and smell) actual feces at the entrances. There are needles and beer bottles littering most street corners around Union Square/Civic Center. To say nothing of the other parts of the city, many of which are lined with $5 million dollar condos, but are nearly as filthy.
City politicians continue to coddle the homeless population. No one wants to be the "bad person" who gets tough on the homeless problem. Who will it take to make San Francisco a beautiful place again?
82
Drugs.
Mental illness.
Homeless.
Inept government.
Corporate greed.
Corruption.
All the above are the foundations of Hyde Street. The top three problems can’t or will not be fixed until we solve the bottom three problems.
There are many Hyde Streets, urban and rural, across this country and if we continue down this road, eventually there will be no difference between Hyde Street and Main Street.
We can and must do better.
35
It's telling that this article was written by the NY Times and not the SF Chronicle or Examiner. The article is totally true. The only problem is that it gives the impression that this situation only exists in the Tenderloin. The same thing are going on in most neighborhood in SF. I live near Market St and Van Ness Ave. As I was walking home from taking my dog on a walk, a young man and woman were sitting on the sidewalk leaning against my building. They had 5 or 6 syringes on the sidewalk between them and were preparing to inject. I politely asked them to not leave their used syringes on the sidewalk. The girl jumped up, ran at me and screamed at me lots of words that I can't write in this letter because the NY times wouldn't print them.
As a 10 year resident of SF I have seen the city go from bad to worse. The Board of Supervisors, the Mayor and the SF Police Department do nothing to solve the problem.
127
We recently relocated to SF from NYC where I lived for 27 years. My brother has lived in the TL for about 10 years. It’s an interesting neighborhood and in some ways great as they have tried to retain some affordable housing for working class people, and the SROs. Organizations like the TL Housing clinic have been providing housing for people who are trying to get back on their feet. I lived through Rudy Guliani terms as mayor and he cleaned up the city quite a bit, which benefitted everyone who lived there. Some of his methods and pet causes were questionable, but it takes a firm hand to deal with a problem as bad as this. I work on 9th and Market, right between the TL and SOMA, a couple blocks from the Civic center BART station. The level of depravity there is astonishing. Literally hundreds of addicts and mentally ill people. Also drug dealers on every corner, who are doing their trade literally under the noses of the police. It’s hard to blame those cops, because where do you start. You arrest one dealer and two more take his place. San Francisco is a great incubator for Turing ideas into useful products and services, the best in the world. How about a public private, for profit partnership to try to solve the problem. The money is there and SFs government hasn’t been efficient at finding a solution (like all governments with most problems). Make solving the drug and homeless problem a for profit enterprise. Can’t hurt.
58
Mayor Breed, Assemblyman Chiu, and Senator Weiner all have stated they are against Prop C, which would allocate .5 percent of revenue above 50 million from the city's 400-500 largest corporations to go towards homeless issues. Not by any means the final solution, but it would have meaningful impact and more significant optics than carrying a symbolic broom around for a photo op.
Twitter, AirBnB, Google, etc. already benefit from massive municipal tax breaks brokered long ago that could otherwise address the homeless situation and utter collapse of the SFPD's ability to achieve any tactical success here. It is left to the street-level activists like Amy Farah Weiss who are trying day and night to find answers.
42
Is this just one block this is happening on? Just afew? The wording around on the Internet makes one think its the entire city that is like this. What is the truth about this?
5
It’s a few blocks, out of literally thousands.
Let’s be very clear: this is NOT a citywide issue. As soon as you add any sort of hill, the problems end (junkies and shopping carts don’t go up hills).
43
Mayor London Breed needs to wearing some serious work boots, not some cute little flat shoes when traversing that area posing with a broom. The food handling gloves are a joke as well.
The overtaxed citizenry don't want to pay for an avoidable comp claim.
31
There is little or no political will to even begin to fix this. Convention and other travelers are choosing other cities. Maybe once the money starts to dry up the supervisors and the business community will start to address this shameful situation. One can only hope. However, it is San Francisco. So, we shouldn’t get too hopeful. I, for one, have no intention of returning to this toilet until the cleaning begins.
37
I remember learning about the caste system in India in which some people were designated as untouchable. I wondered how could a society allow such human degradation and believed America would never allow such inhumanity. Fortunately, India abolished "untouchability" and now forbids discrimination by caste by law. Unfortunately, American has created a caste system and now has untouchables on the streets called homeless people.
48
I grew up in the Bay Area in the 80's and 90's and homelessness has always been an issue. However, San Francisco, maybe not so much more now than in the past, has a legacy of radical politics including community organizers and advocates for the homeless. It's interesting to see a New York perspective on San Francisco, because the West Coast perspective on homelessness is far more about tolerance and acceptance of the problem from Portland down to Los Angeles.
28
There has indeed been a steady deterioration in the cleanliness of San Francisco. Some of it has to do with ineffective government, and some of it has to do with people simply failing to take basic actions. I see trash all the time deposited within short distance of a trash can. That’s not the government’s responsibility, but it certain could help by doing such things as actually fining people for littering. More people on public assistance should be required to pick up trash (and I actually saw a crew this morning).
The broader issue is the failure of government. It’s not for lack of funding. The economy here has been booming for a long time, and the city coffers are full. But we live under the governance of one of the last great democratic machines. The feather-bedding and sheer waste is staggering. I’m definitely a liberal on social policy issues, but do expect good governance, particularly when I pay as much as I do here. We are not getting it. The fire department is excellent, and police are generally responsive and helpful. The rest of the city bureaucracy, particular that which deals with homelessness and basic cleanliness, is failing badly.
I don’t see it happening anytime soon, but eventually more conservative politicians will appear to offer an alternative. If they can credibly offer more efficient, effective local government, they will gain public support. I just hope the current machine gets its act together before then.
34
@Douglas Evans
Great points but why do you call a politician who wants to address those problems “conservative”? Seems like what we have now is anarchy so anything would be an improvement.
18
Here's an idea for a colorful start to cleaning up:
The city could create 2 garbage trucks that are painted/decorated --ENTIRELY, every inch -- with an award-winning design through the districts' elementary schools art contest, following some discussions on "what can we do with these trucks so they'll be ready to help beautify our neighborhoods?" Then hire a few men and women who want that beat. They can drive around all day, every day, with one job: Be there to pick up what people want to throw in or have left on the sidewalk. It would instill pride in the process of keeping things clean and people will enjoy the process while saving money and morale. In fact, maybe some of those following drug rehab determined to succeed, could be given a small apt and the job in exchange for staying clean.
14
I've seen many people (on the NextDoor platform) discuss the Tyranny of Tolerance which belies the issues in San Francisco, the city of Peter Pans, of adults who don't want to contribute to a larger society or grow up.
Everyone on the street is imagined as a victim of something - certainly not their own bad decisions! Millions of dollars are given to non-profits who help those on the streets. Sure, they help them by making it easy for them to shoot up and get high while fighting for their civil rights (to dirty and destroy the beauty of this city). This is the problem with a small but loud and demanding uber-liberal tyrants who make life for the majority difficult. And many are fearful that if they do speak up they will be shamed by the Tyrants of Tolerance.
It is changing, though. We voted in London Breed to move the city in a positive direction. I am supporting her message and her actions. I hope she gets a full term as mayor so she can finish what she has begun.
46
We once had great politicians who focused on the issue of Poverty. Now we have President Donald Trump who has zero empathy for poor people. If he could, he would take away all Government Assistance Programs and give the money to the Rich so they can buy more Mansions, Yachts, etc. America will not be remembered fondly in the History Books.
19
I lived in San Francisco for 8 years during the 1990s. There were homeless people but nothing like it is now. While Gavin Newsom was mayor from 2004 to 2011 the homeless population in San Francisco more than doubled thanks to his handing out tents and allowing people to squat through out the city. It’s frightening that he will likely be elected governor of California where he may destroy the entire state.
23
Gavin Newsom did not hand out tents. I've lived here for 30 years - I'm not a Newsom fan, but in fact he did more to curb homelessness than just about any other Mayor with his Care Not Cash program. The tents are much more recent and are attributed to several religious organizations.
47
The homeless situation is also crazily out of hand in Los Angeles especially Downtown and the Beach Cities. I’ve seen SF and I think LA is worse. Many of the homeless appear to have chronic psychiatric issues and are unlikely to seek help or will ever integrate back into society. Even if housing could be magically provided, many of them will not be able to maintain their home and the apartments will function more like a nursing home/ psych ward. Those who are homeless due to loss of job or insufficient wages or are infirm are probably the easiest to help but the many with mental illness just wants to be left alone. It would be difficult to forcibly remove them without appearing in humane or possibly violating their civil rights.
34
I was visiting friends in Berlin, Germany last year for 17 days. In that time, I saw just FOUR homeless people. I'm sure there are more, but I couldn't find them. Asked my hosts what was up; Germany has programs to house, train/retrain, and medically and psychologically support the homeless so that they transition into productive lives. They do this for two main reasons: Civic pride ("Its undignified for any city to allow its citizens to live on the street...") and the FACT that people can be taken care of with the right resources. What do we do here? In SF, spending $70M a year just cleaning the streets! That's $191,780. per DAY...and this is the result?
By the way, I grew up in the bay area and I live about 25 miles from SF. Grew up going into the city all the time with my family. I don't go there anymore. Too filthy, too expensive, too crazy. Tired of stepping over and around the mess. Tired of running for my life from groups of drugged out youth screaming at me to give them money (this happened to me several times, even when I was walking around with men). It's very sad, because it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But it's getting buried under garbage and filth. Sorry for the rant, but there's just got to be a better way.
75
For all those outside the City doing the paint-by-numbers "socialist City Hall" or "why won't greedy tech step up?" takes, this article from today's SF Chronicle demonstrates that, as in so much else, San Francisco doesn't adhere to your stereotypes. The Mayor is opposing a ballot measure calling for higher taxation to tackle this problem, while a tech mogul spends millions to support it--with an outcome that would cost his company at least $100 million more than they pay now. Agree or disagree with either, but don't caricature their positions. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/amp/Benioff-comes-out-strong-for-hom...
18
LA to SF is one giant suburban mall. As a rural independent I go to any big city and all I see is a continuous line of big block stores, overpriced restaurants, and grime. From Boston to NY to LA cities are pretty well digusting.
I'll continue to live far away from cities for my whole life. Cities mean money, but you can make just as much if you live 50 miles away and commute.
18
For a city that prides itself on progressive attitudes and policies, the interviews, column, and comments section reek of NIMBYism, contempt for the poor, and a strong whiff of entitlement.
Yes, there is a problem. Yes, something needs to be done. But the outright hostility to homeless folks and substance users is astounding. Indeed, it is reminiscent of what I imagine many techies feel about "normal San Franciscans" - get out of *my* city!
Having gone to high school just blocks from the area chronicled here, I offer a rebuke to the total disregard for the down-on-their-luck: how about instead of, frankly, whining about the problem itself, we push for reform? This is not a problem without a solution. There are evidence-based ways to solve this, not the least of which might involve a miniscule tax on the billions of tech dollars that have rendered the city unaffordable for so many others. Or, perhaps, allowing a substance use treatment center to open, instead of screaming (as mentioned above) Not In My Back Yard!
The neoliberal, self-congratulatory hypocrisy has got to end.
13
@Trevor
Says the guy from Marin. Doesn't impact you much there, eh?
31
This situation reminds me of New York City a few decades ago. The Mayor at the time was tolerant of the “homeless” lifestyle - along with crime. Grand Central Station had scores of people in sleeping bags occupying the main floor - the same thing occurred in Penn Station and doorways along Madison Avenue. Then Giuliani took office and he installed Commissioner Bratten. Crime went down. No more sleeping bags in Grand Central or Penn Station. Criminals started going to jail. The “homeless” either hid themselves better or left town. The City slowly became livable again. Maybe the people in San Francisco can study what NYC did.
39
@Maureen The homeless people didn't disappear, dear. They may have left NYC, but they were just relocated. Gulianni didn't solve homelessness, he just used policies of intolerance against them.
28
One of our sons lives within blocks of there. He considers San Francisco "his city". And the problems with the inner city people, part of the "culture" there. Personally, I wouldn't live there, paying ultra high rent, to have to step over human excrement, to me , is unacceptable. And the last time I was there, they broke a window out of my car to steal a camera, in broad daylight, on a main street.
22
Big cities have common problems and not surprisingly our until recently tranquil residential block in Toronto feels exactly like this - discarded needles, trash, stolen bicycles, urine and human feces.
the source of this disaster is the woefully under-managed, under monitored #21parkroadshelter.
5
To paraphrase the Hippocratic Oath:
Liberals, heal thyself.
15
My sister lived in the tenderlion for a few years. She actually befriended the drug dealers. Of course, they do not want to make residents mad because they would become informants. She moved to the hilliest area because "homeless dont like hills."
I have had bums come up and say very sexually explict stuff to her and was told I couldnt do anything since the homeless are a protected class. After being mugged 4 times, San Fran said she had no cause to own a firearm.
The food is amazing but San Fran has earned itself the dubious honor of being one of the dirtiest places in the country.
20
San Francisco these days is about as liberal as its former mayor, Diane Feinstein. Too much corporate money, too little compassion.
The Tenderloin serves as the city's mental ward. I feel safer in East Oakland at night than I do there in the daytime.
19
Using this for an assignment, Thanks :D
3
The thing is nobody wants to crack down hard on these people because there are groups who will got to the highest courts to fight the right of someone to sit on a public street to shoot up
27
Sadly, under the mayorship of BDB, New York is not very far behind SF's horrendous situation. He has made it clear that he does not give a hoot about orderly, clean (and safe) streets, but only extremist social engineering; and really he does not care and the City, he is not a NYer (go Red Sox).
He actually likes it as he can keep pushing for more "affordable" housing at the expense of all else. When in reality, these new arrivals are NOT New Yorkers, the word is out among the vagrant and drug addled demimonde that they are welcome in NYC. The police have been ordered to do nothing and we have given them the streets of midtown, and much of Manhattan, as their living room, bathroom and bedroom - we even now offer those kiosks to plug in their smart phones (basically super computers that they could use to change their lot in life) and watch on the sidewalk. Anyone who objects is Trump / Mitch McConnell wannabe. Even the policiticans in SF are saying enough is enough. NOT here in NY. the new arrivals are mostly white, young, and from other states - they have money for dogs, tattoos, hair dye and of course drug. And yet we are supposed to have sympathy and open our wallets. I give a big Bronx cheer for that. Get them on a bus out of town - one way ticket.
36
It is fortunate that the "progressive" governments of California and San Francisco have been able to create such a good safety net to protect the poor with the exorbitant taxes the impose on their citizens. Hard to believe the richest state can treat its citizenry this way.
18
Thank you for this article. I live two blocks from a beautiful city park that has a playground and dog-walking paths. It's been taken over by teen and 20-something homeless kids, each with a dog or trained cat, who sleep there overnight, defecate and urinate in the bushes, and leave their litter. Taxpaying families in the neighborhood can't use this park due to safety concerns. We need a combination of local government providing better support systems to the homeless and a grassroots action to Take Back Our Parks.
55
I have lived in this city for 30 years. I have seen lots of good changes over the years as well as some bad. Homelessness has been a problem for some time. Many who are homeless are NOT from here. They come from all over the country to get services. We cannot afford to pay for other states and cities failings of its citizens. People need to realize, this city is expensive due to lack of space and desirability which makes building shelters difficult. Unemployment is low which drives up demand for housing too. This city is trying to address this issue. I don't believe throwing money at the problem is the only answer. As far as I'm concerned, San Francisco is still one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
25
Why does New York have 'clean streets' and San Francisco does not?
Just got back from a trip to the Big Apple and the city looks great. City workers must do their jobs and residents must abide by the law.
San Francisco has garbage on the streets and homeless folks too many to count. My wife and I crossed the street to avoid a young man shooting up. In the last two decades the Mayors, City Councils and Police have basically 'given up' on solving the gargage and homeless problem!
31
I adore San Francisco and ultimately may move north of the city, but the conditions of the streets continue to deteriorate. For all the money invested the area, and the insane costs of housing it's unacceptable to allow these areas to become permanent slums. City officials can't continue to close their eyes to the growing numbers of transient populations, addicts & homeless. California has become the mecca for homeless because they have tolerance other major cities don't.
My daughter is in med school there and I absolutely worry for her safety.
15
When will this problem be resolved? When the tech billionaires and the merely millionaires who work in tech insist, along with other citizens, that it must be ended.
I like California and considered living there during about an eight week period I spent in the state after college. But, the place gives me more than pause, it is deeply upsetting to see the grinding poverty and desperation that inflicts the state, top to bottom, LA to SF. The state has some of the greatest natural beauty, one of the largest number of the wildly wealthy and some of the worst poverty I have ever seen in America.
Are they still handing out cash to the homeless in SF? We stayed at a boutique hotel in the middle of the mess some years ago and we learned that there was a program to give money to the homeless each month. Did anyone ever stop to think that this would then attract thousands of homeless drug users to move there and make the problem much worse? We had to walk through a gathering of active drug users to get into the post office.
This is not acceptable. It cannot be allowed to continue. The idea of the tenderloin district being a sacrifice zone is likely correct, but the activities carried out on the streets make almost everyone there subject to arrest (unless defecating and selling drugs has been legalized).
Nothing like this happens by accident. Everyone in the community bears some responsibility but it is passed the point where "helping" the homeless is going to do anyone any good.
22
I moved out of the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco four years ago after living there for 15 years. It's not a small neighborhood. There are practically NO homeless people in Pacific Heights. It also happens to be where Feinstein, Pelosi and more than a handful of billionaires live. Coincidence?
35
Not sure about Feinstein, but Pelosi does not live in Pac Heights.
6
A part of me is absolutely baffled that people seem to be shocked that a densely populated, desirable, and wealthy urban center would have a disturbing homelessness and destitution problem. And that same part of me is baffled anyone would be surprised that the powers that be would decide to at least "contain" the problem in certain pockets of the city -- the Tenderloin has been the Tenderloin for a while in fact.
What exactly do the residents of San Francisco or these specific containment pockets expect? For the homeless and scarred and drug-addicted to suddenly decamp to Turlock?
The discarded and lost of Hyde Street will be moved along somewhere else soon enough. Out of sight out of mind?
5
mental health plus substance issues or substance issues plus mental health. the reality is they need everything - not just a roof over their heads. yes, it will be and continue to be expensive but, doing nothing gets no results.
it reflects badly on ALL of us.
8
SF is a compressed version of the US. The rich step over the poor, & many of the poor are shooting up on the sidewalks. It is certainly sad to see but at least it is all out there in the open, not hiding. The reasons are many. Affordability, homelessness, drug addiction & income disparity are but a few of them. Alot more money & effort will be needed to solve all the problems. Cities do not have th capacity to do it alone.
11
Please read Atlantic article- How Can the U.S. End Homelessness? Also, Mother Jones magazine- The Shockingly Simple Cost- Effective Way to End Homelessness.
Homelessness adversely affects all of us and the blame game gets us nowhere. According to the Atlantic, 1/2 million people are homeless and 1/4 are children. There are many reasons for homelessness and shelters are not the answer for a number of reasons: They are not homes and there is no sense of permanency. People often have to give up their sentimental possessions to stay in them, sometimes violent assaults, thefts and sexual assaults occur. Other costs are truancy from schools, food insecurity, drug and alcohol abuse, and unemployment.
Some of my students are homeless. While editing a senior essay with one of my girls, I read the gut- wrenching tale of one child's experience living on people's couches so she could graduate from our high school. The family split up. A story of desperation, domestic violence, and a destroyed family. I just about fell apart in class as I read her story with her seated next to me.
Is this how we want to be as a society? We are better than this. These are not moral failures either and that argument takes us down a dead end. We can figure this out by working together.
19
I was visiting friends in Ohio this weekend, trying to explain what it’s really like here, but until you have seen it, it’s impossible to comprehend.
Thank you NYT for not sugar-coating this.
In addition to the stink and the third-world conditions of the streets, there is the added nuisance of property crime (particularly car break-ins) which are rarely punished.
Nothing I have seen in NYC, LA, Chicago or any other major American or European city even comes close to the degradation and lawlessness on our streets.
58
Th Economist reported that since 2010, new jobs in the Bay Area have outpaced new homes 8 to 1. If demand exceeds supply, prices go up. That’s why I could never understand why so many San Franciscans are against the “Manhattanization” of SF and building vertically and changing the “character” of the city. It’s crazy to drive through huge swaths of the city and see streets full of three- and four-story buildings, with so many homeless. Now, with rents having gone up so quickly, many more middle-class people are one big medical bill away from being homeless. Many SF residents are in denial about the fact that the city is already changing. And since they haven’t built the housing to accommodate this size of an influx, instead of SF changing into a more vertical city, it’s changed into an appalling dystopia.
23
The homeless in NY have simply been mostly run out of Manhattan.
San Francisco is only 7x7 miles large. We don’t have as many places to hide our homeless, and “I can’t breathe” policing tactics won’t fly out here given our politics.
San Francisco is no more unaffordable than Manhattan. It’s just we still have some of our poorest people living among us, and yes, including on the streets.
The vast majority of San Francisco’s homeless don’t want jobs, and good luck keeping them in shelters or homes. They want drugs and/or are too mentally ill to function in society.
Re-institutionalization is the only real solution. And that’s a heavy lift. That means ANOTHER prison(-like) system with everything that entails.
51
The root of the problem was created in the 1970s by then governor Ronald Reagan. He shut down thousands of homeless shelters.
21
The other day I passed a young man on the streets with a sign that read "Too honest to steal, and too ugly to prostitute." There have always been mentally ill and drug addicts on the street. but the explosion of the homeless population over the past decade are people who have fallen on hard times and have just never been able to get back up again. It's not fair to write them all off because some of them are aggressive, hostile, or violent. Most homeless suffer in silence and are not on the street by choice.
24
No easy solutions. Start: why "homeless"-- because of (1) mental illness or addiction, (2) lifestyle preference, (3) temporary economic reverses? Each has to be treated differently. Our precinct captain personally visited with a homeless guy in our privileged neighborhood who has previously torn up and given back to the officers many summonses for various violations--they are like traffic tickets. Our liberal judges don't like to punish for lifestyle violations (or for breaking into cars). So the captain asked, "What's it going to take to get you to move along?" The response: a nice three bedroom house with a car and parking. And he wasn't joking--the vagrant (hey, call him what he is) has no interest in social services or living in a shelter. He'd rather live on the street or in the bushes. We are too "nice" to punish or institutionalize the insane or the addicted, and we can't force an able bodied person to work or to live in a shelter. And in this overheated economy, even people with temporary economic reverses should be able to find jobs. So haven't we brought this on ourselves, making San Francisco so attractive that it is a magnet for the addicted/disaffected/insane? As long as things are as they are, they will continue to be problematic. While there are individual successes, we solve the problem by the ones, but more vagrants come to San Francisco by the tens and twenties.
28
I lived in SF for about 40 years, worked and lived in the Tenderloin, as well as other neighborhoods. This strata of society was forced outdoors by rents willingly paid by many of the people complaining about this subsequent street scene.
12
Some ways to begin to address this problem include: raise taxes on those best able to pay for it ... property values over $1.5 million and all business employing more than 50 people. SF is considered one of the most desirable places to live. It’s time for those with means to start paying their fair share. No one in the city wants to see the sort of behaviors and conditions described in this article, so start getting serious on taking care of it.
9
@LS
That’s so untrue. You are speaking out of ignorance. If it were that easy it would have been done a very long time ago.
If you spend $1.5M on a San Francisco property you will pay a hefty property tax bill - at or over $20,000 per year. That’s the price you pay for being able to afford a $1.5M home.
If you lived in SF long enough and have paid $200K 30 years ago you will pay a fraction of that. If you ask some of the people who are retired to suddenly increase their property taxes to $20K/year, you will have hundreds of thousands of homeless people overnight.
12
Sadly it appears the situation in SF has not only failed to get better, but has grown worse.
I traveled to SF in the mid '90s staying near Union Square, and took a walk to explore, inadvertently finding myself in the Tenderloin with panhandlers, drug dealers, and homeless.
I moved to SF several years later ('99), living in the Russian Hill area, and working near the Civic Center. Most of the time the area near my home felt safe and clean, though from time to time I would spot a person sleeping in a building doorway.
The Civic Center area though was quite different. It had obvious homelessness and drug use, and a large fountain filled with human waste and needles. Not bad (except smell) during day, but not somewhere I walked alone at night.
I continued to work in the City until the late '08 (though living in Marin), noticing the slow decline in the city, the ever-present challenges with homelessness and drug use, coupled with issues driven by gentrification, housing affordability and inequity taking their toll.
I wish I had solutions to offer as I will always have a soft spot for the city and its people, and wish nothing but the best (I lost my heart in San Francisco).
Sadly though, I believe the issues run so deep, and cut across so many social, economic and political boundaries, that finding solutions will require the type of strong leadership, compromise, and willing to work together that appear to be all but extinct in today's political environment.
25
Remember the film version of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"? Or the film "King of Hearts" Both these films were beloved in the late 1970s and popularized the notion that mentally ill people are really more sane than so-called normal people and deserve to be free. Hence in the 1980s we get the economically expedient closing of facilities to house and care for the mentally ill. So now they are indeed free - free to suffer life on the streets and free to wreak havoc on the rest of us. And here in San Francisco any time solutions are suggested that advocates for the homeless feel impinge on the freedom of those too addicted and/or mentally challenged to take care of themselves, these solutions get nowhere. As a result our streets, jails and mass transit systems have become de facto mental institutions and we are all suffering. Housing is not the answer. Live-in care facilities are.
43
Holding a photo op carrying a broom is not enough to get anyone to believe the new mayor of SF is serious about dealing with the homeless issue. I hope she it and maybe using conservatorship on those 100-150 she has identified will help. But the real issue it the las enforcement of existing laws by the SFPD. And writing tickets and issuing fines is not enough. The police really need to lean in to the problem and do their job.
The city has already lost one major convention that was slated to come here because, the organizers stated, their attendees just didn't feel safe in the city. They won't be the last cancellation the Convention and visitors Bureau will have to deal with unless something is done to deal effectively with the problem. Is the new mayor going to spearhead that change? We'll see.
11
There used to be places for the mentally ill. There used to be places for the poor and unfortunate. These were not bad places, they were places people could be removed from a society that they might harm or that would be harmful to them. Why are we afraid to stop building prisons and instead rebuild work farms, convalescent centers and mental health facilities dedicated to the comprehensive needs of the indigent? Why aren’t we looking at our own past as well as other more enlightened countries to learn how they resolve these issues? It wasn’t that long ago we had these places available and they worked to help people be safe and retain their dignity while preserving family connections, preventing chronic and terminal disease and suicide, crime victims and incarceration. There are plenty of resources to bring back these places and that’s good because simply making “beds” available isn’t nearly good enough. These folks need new lives.
39
I am a candid Canadian who’s been living in NY for 6 years. I am currently on my first visit in San Francisco and am totally shocked by what I have seen on the streets for the last week.
We are talking about the most expensive city to live in in the whole country. The dollars being made every second in surrounding business headquarters clearly aren’t spent on these streets.
What’s the city gonna do about it?!? I’m gonna write them a very kind letter to ask them. And I’m not going to come back.
39
Municipalities simply must not allow anyone to sleep, camp or live on public property. Alternatives which are less pleasant but more appropriate must be provided. The first check by police is for public intoxication - if found, jail. Mental illness should lead to hospitalization. When street folk realize the camping option is gone, many will disperse. Municipalities will deal with those who are neither addicted nor mentally ill but always with the guiding principle that NO ONE is ever allowed to live on public property.
39
@Mary Ann
Good idea, Mary Ann. Are you planning to fund the jails and forced "hospitalization" ? When the street folk "disperse" where do you think they are going to go? They will just disappear?
4
According to republican dogma the way to solve this and all other social/economic problems is to cut taxes, and then cut them again and that will cause a "trickle down" effect that will make this all go away. Of course they also believe Trump is a great leader too.
11
@USMC1954
When I last checked, both the City of San Francisco and the State of California are governed by the Democrats.
15
This dichotomy of street crime and world-changing technology,
That's not a dichotomy. People are relocating to the virtual world, because the real world is becoming unlivable. Most people don't see the world, because their nose is buried in a phone.
Soon, offices will be obsolete. Everybody will work from home (pod) by computer. Buildings will have gyms, lounges, and markets. Every high rise will become its own mini city.
7
@richguy- so very true. NYC the same way. Multi-billion $ skyscrapers with multi-million $ apartments- the street level is mile after empty mile of empty/vacant retail stores. 'Soylent Green' anyone?
4
you want a great suggestion. hire the homeless people who live in that area to clean their street. pay them a wage that makes it worth their while and gives them a sense of mattering. i lived in San Francisco back in the 90's and i always suggested this.
11
I've been to San Fran many times over decades and see it getting worse. A few thoughts:
- I expect many homeless are coming from all over the country because of the good weather and other benefits in living there. I guess Californians are expected to absorb the social and financial costs.
- Many are mentally ill and/or drug addicts who make life dangerous for themselves and those around them by living on the streets. Apparently some commit crimes just for the safety of residing in prison. Why can't we reinvent mental institutions to be livable communities for people who can't survive well in society?
- I've lived in many large and medium cities and San Francisco always felt fragmented and never seemed to be well managed.
39
There are 3% of Chinese population living in poverty, in the USA is close to 10%, income per capita doesn't tell a whole story, USA had 6 time higher in income per capita than China, and life expectancy is ONLY 2 years longer, we have shorter life expectancy than Cuba, that's something we all should think about....
3
I have lived and worked in San Francisco for most of my adult life. I can bear witness to the long, slow decline of this once clean and relatively safe, now filthy and thronged with homeless,yet still glorious city
And I have some thoughts about the
4
Complacency is the main problem.
Those who are mentally ill need to receive treatment and be placed in safer environments.
Those who deal drugs need to be incarcerated.
The addicts need treatment.
The homeless need to be housed.
One hundred million dollars go a long way anywhere in the world.
Start enforcing the law and the city will be livable in a generation.
13
lets not overlook the fact that cities like san francisco los angeles portland and seattle deal with a much larger than usual homeless problem simply because the weather allows a person to survive on the streets without shelter.
also only in america is wealth inequality this great. SF is only a microcosm of a nationwide issue.
36
Same problem in downtown Seattle, Portland, and many other cities in this country. We are being overwhelmed by addiction, greed, and avarice. We ignore the social problems that addiction to drugs, alcohol and cigarettes are doing to our communities, and yet we vote in laws allowing the personal use of yet another drug. Decay starts from the inside, and that is what is happening to this country. My mother grew up in South America and talked about the issues affecting those countries from the top down. She would be appalled and saddened by what has happened to this country in the last fifteen years.
12
This is what the bad side of 'full market economies' give us and shows how little others will care that some people are treated as throw away citizens of the community. The fact that it's literally down the street shows how much we're willing to ignore until it lands on our own front doorstep. This isn't an issue unique to San Francisco it's just that the inequality gap there is so vast that when these problems show themselves they show up in the worst possible way.
Better city planning and rent controls (not the 'must make less than $250K' type). We could also benefit from moving away from the 'preserve everything that looks historic' mentality. Working people need places they can afford and thus contribute to this city or any other.
8
silly that in a majority Democrat city and state all you can do is attack Republicans. the reality is the issue is totally owned by Democrats. other than avoid responsibility what will the Democrat leaders in one of the richest cities in the U.S do to fix the issue?
9
One of my favourite cities but the problem is mirrored to a greater or lesser extent in every North American city (including my own) where skyrocketing housing prices and near-zero vacancy rates make it nearly impossible for the poor to find a place to live. Vancouver's attempts to add new low-cost housing (including new modular "temporary" units thrown up on city property) can't seem to keep up with the growing numbers of homeless, not all of them addicts.
By the way, it seems the reporter didn't talk to any of these people to get their perspective. Perhaps they were unwilling to be interviewed. Where are they from? How did they end up here? How does it feel to be reduced to the point where taking a dump on a city sidewalk is no longer beneath their dignity?
12
Liberals run not only the city, but also the county and state. I'm surprised that policies have not been formulated to battle the problem by creating yet another set of taxes to be used to eliminate the homeless problem.
11
That’s a great idea! Tax all the .com industries in the US and all those companies who’s profits are over 1 billion.
According to the numbers, if a person living in San Francisco makes less than $119,000, they are living in poverty!
Juxtapose that to the national minimum wage. Here in San Francisco we increased our minimum wage to $18 or roughly $37,000 annually.
Taxes work and so does increasing minimum wage for those who are working hard to make ends meet.
3
Our state, Florida, with its conservative legislature, governor, and one senator, hasn't done much better, Dennis. Sarasota has twice the national average homeless rate. My city, Fort Lauderdale, has stopped bulldozing people's possessions , planting cactus in parks, and arresting people who feed the hungry in favor of showers, mailboxes and mental health treatment. We'll see how it goes.
6
its funny isnt it ? a disgruntled discordant society. no really i dont have anything productive to say here. make drugs the legal way , clean exact amounts sold only at drug stores and build housing.
the high tech companies have hundreds of billions of dollars in cash and can invest in anything they want to , and residential housing is often a good investment with sometimes phenomenal returns yet in their home in the bay area they make no such effort. i believe you could build 200,000 units and they would be filled up. what do think ?
3
@bullypulpiteer
Actually homelessness is a national problem. If they built a million affordable units each and every year, there would still be more and more “vulnerable” people making their way to San Francisco, and creating more of a problem. The only way to get a handle on this would be to plan regionally.
7
One additional thought.
Mayor Breed is advocating for “safe injection sites.” While it is true it might get some of the needles off the streets,I don’t think the city should be enabling and encourage this behavior. For better or worse, the use of most drugs is against the law.
The Mayor’s proposal required approval from Sacramento. The fact that Governor Jerry Brown vetoed that approval speaks volumes as to what a horrendous idea this is!
14
I can honestly say that the only recreational drug I have ever used is alcohol, but I am very much in favour of legalizing all drugs and treating addiction as the medical issue that it is. The “war-on-drugs” has taken an appalling toll in lives and has robbed society of billions of dollars in resources. It has fostered crime, degradation and disease. And the result ... total failure. This idiotic war has not hindered the use of a single prohibited drug. It has killed millions over it’s course and has enriched drug lords beyond their wildest dreams. Treating addiction as a medical illness will result in people who are
Think this article is a bit unkind to the neighborhood. I lived at 300 Hyde #32 for 5 years (moved out because SF is too pricey and BART is terrible). The Princess and Fox Markets and all the corner markets are wonderful. The worst thing that happened was someone threw a tennis ball at me.
4
As a Bay Area resident who used to work in San Francisco, I was always appalled by the situation in the Tenderloin. I've lived in a third world country before and the Tenderloin is the most terrifying homelessness scene I've seen because it's so obvious that homelessness here is characterized by drug addiction and mental illness. People simply cannot take good care of themselves because they have destroyed their brains with drugs or have mental illness in the first place.
I believe that about 20-25% of homeless have mental illness like schizophrenia. I find it appalling that we do not provide housing and care for the mentally ill. Mental illness like schizophrenia is a serious neurological disorder that can be debilitating due to hallucinations and paranoia. It's like saying you're going to let a grandparent with alzheimers or dementia live on the street. Of course you would want an alzheimers or dementia patient to be housed, safe and taken care of. But for whatever reason, people with a brain illness like schizophrenia are terribly stigmatized and left to rot in the street. I would happily pay hirer taxes to house mentally ill people, and give them proper supervision and care, because it is a medical condition and I want to live in a society that takes care of our most vulnerable people. And it's not only for their safety but our safety too.
37
@E Even the mentally ill have a right not to be institutionalized against their will. I'm pretty sure the grandparents with alzheimers are not just kidnapped and taken away at someone's request. That's the dilemma. Unless you can prove each person is incapable of making their own decisions and then provide someone who makes the decisions for them, then "for whatever reason" they are allowed to remain outside of institutions.
3
I am looking at the pictures in this article. Not sure if I am crazy but that doesn't seem bad at all. My own neighborhood tends to look a lot worse on some streets and I'm not in a particularly bad area.
3
The pictures don’t do the issue any justice. It’s much, much worse
12
I lived in San Francisco for 18 years, but no longer - thankfully. San Francisco's ambivalence regarding "quality of life" crimes renders much of the city an unpleasant place to live - or even to visit. My daily walk to work South of Market meant daily encounters with multiple aggressive panhandlers. For example: One very big guy blocked my path and threatened to beat me when I declined to give him money - right in front of Starbucks at the Yerba Buena Center. The store management would not allow me to use their phone (!) so I had to find a pay phone to call the police. I physically restrained a panhandler who grabbed my wife outside the Opera House. Just another day in the City.... Yes, San Francisco absolutely needs to develop affordable housing solutions, but the City must simultaneously enforce quality of life crimes. People may have the right to abuse drugs or alcohol or to sleep outside in tents, but - not on my doorstep.
20
We recently walked through the Tenderloin to Sugar Maple for breakfast (ironically to try their specialty “millionaire bacon) before the Rams/Raiders games. Not only is the area dirty, even the police cars at the police station in the area were filthy and looked uncared for. Perhaps instead of spending their time developing apps no one needs and eating in artisanal locally sourced restaurants the plethora of young wealthy tech holes should put their money where their allegedly progressive mouths are and donate money to build more shelters and rehab facilities for the San Francisco natives they have displaced. The City should also require its own police force to set a better example - I have seen more professional looking law enforcement in Mexico City and Manila. It is interesting how I did not see any destitute homeless people living on filthy streets during my recent visit to OKC, the capital of a red state that voted overwhelmingly for Trump where allegedly the residents have no compassion for the disadvantaged, yet in the liberal bastion of San Francisco which voted overwhelmingly for Hillary and where politicians preach about compassion for the disadvantaged and income inequality apparently nothing is really being done to help these people.
15
SF has put millions into developing low income housing; it just isn’t enough. Further, the great number of homeless who are mentally ill or addicted can’t be for forced into asylums like the “good old days.” Reagan’s efforts to cut federal funding for social programs coincided with libertarian’s goal of releasing institutionalized people. Thus we witnessed what became a flood of homeless on the streets. My father was born in SF in the ‘30s when cows still grazed on the hills. I was born and spent much of my youth in SF. I spent much of my adult life working in SF, stepping over panhandlers as I went to my office. Spending my retirement years in SF was out of the question.
12
If the money had followed the mentally ill into the community when deinstitutionalization occurred in the 1970's as was promised, this would not be happening. Not just in SF but in most cities of any size, the promise was not kept. I lived in the bay area before the facilities were closed and came back after a few years to a completely different place. Conservators may be the answer but, in any case, those people need treatment and support.
32
NYC is not this bad. But it's heading in that direction. The area around 34th street, but particularly the pedestrian plazas along Broadway, is like an open air homeless shelter. Homeless people living in the vestibules of buildings throughout midtown where a 1 bdrm averages $5 a month and coops are several million. I grew up in the south Bronx, so I'm no stranger to poverty. I can't imagine spending that much money to live and having to regularly step over homeless people going to and from home and work. And seeing your quality of life decline as the number of homeless grow right along with your cost of living,
People need homes
12
Yes, people do need homes. So when SF real estate developers use the Ellis Act to evict long term residents covered by rent control, the developers should be taxed heavily. Where are the board of supervisors and mayor? Since the majority of residents in SF are renters, it is hard to fathom that something can’t be done to minimize Ellis evictions in SF vs. predatory developers to exploit the law and its loopholes in their favor.
9
Poverty does not always mean the prevalence of homelessness. I have been to many areas in Brooklyn, which are considered poor but have not noticed homelessness there. S. F. is not a poor city. Most people who live in the streets have serious mental health or substance abuse problems. It’s beyond me how a city with so much wealth is not able to provide basic care for these people. Five potties for hundreds of people? Seriously?
12
Let’s not pretend this is limited to one block. San Francisco is a shameful, disgusting place I now hate calling home.
28
Just like Seattle, San Francisco believes its own PR -- how great their liberialness is...oh my...the purest of the pure. So called caretakers of social issues and liberal thinking, both cities are run by thuggish politicians building their own wealth and power. The truth about Seattle and San Francisco is that they are grotesque. Bums, vagabonds and gypsies rule the streets day and night. Need to relieve yourself...no problem just do it! Heroin? Sure, and stop in for fresh needles and we'll even help you shoot up. Meanwhile your "city leaders" appear for photo ops carrying a broom around, while fifty feet away the sidewalk is impassable. Get real.
37
Here’s a concept - move.
8
Sadly, this same article could be written about Seattle (and Portland).
35
I lived in SF for 27 years, and worked in the City. The City is proud to tout, "The City that knows how." Except that it does not, the City Government has an ADD problem. But then the blame is not entirely SF's. The State and the Federal Governments have also abandoned their responsibility since at least Reagan days when he repealed Carter's Mental Health Systems Act and closed Mental institutions: https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/30/science/how-release-of-mental-patient...
We are still talking about this as if its a fairly new problem, its been going on for 35 plus years.
The bedroom communities down the peninsula, the East Bay and the North Bay will not only not create more housing they are dead set against highrises, the most logical and cost effective way of creating more housing, driving rents up. If you talk to the new class of tent city people they are people like us. One day they lose a job and next month they cannot afford rent.
The problem is complex and requires a concerted effort at local, state, and federal levels. This will only happen if we vote and put people in power who will work to solve the problem. This cannot be palmed off to private industry donations in the city or to non profits. The primary driver has to be the Government.
12
Yes, the problems described in the article are real. That said, SF is unique in that its very toughest neighborhood is in the very heart of downtown. This is due to historical and zoning reasons - particularly as it relates to the density of SROs in the Tenderloin. In most major cities, the worst areas are pushed to the outskirts where most people don't see the issues front and center.
While the vast bulk of SF does not suffer from the severity of the Tenderloin's challenges, I'm also glad we don't get to avert our eyes away from the problem.
15
@SanFranMan11
Everyone listen to this man. The most sensible comment here.
2
I lived in San Francisco in the mid 1980s but now live in Santa Monica, another liberal enclave with skyrocketing rents and rampant homelessness.
In both cities, it seems like we could just replace the letter M with the letter P -- hopelessness. Well-meaning people are sickened and saddened by the human misery they see on the sidewalks each day, but are truly at a loss as to what to do about it.
Eradicating homelessness in L.A. County -- the unsheltered capital of the U.S. -- can seem as intractable a problem as solving the Israel-Palestine dispute. Is there a defensible and logical end-game to all this -- beyond the platitudes of Guiliani-like hard-liners or Pollyana-like social utopians? Throw more money at the problem? Or crack down on those who need help but won't accept it?
When confronted by the daily, grimy reality of the unsheltered, most of us turn a blind eye, hold our breath, and move on with our day the best we can, gnawed by denial and a bit of self-loathing.
What does it say that my neighbors are seemingly more concerned about Bird dockless scooters lying on the sidewalk than about the psychotic and/or drug addicted strewn on our streets?
25
Is poor old Mr Leising, who is sooo depressed having to see such ghastly mess, and others wrinkling their noses at the smelly poor people and hosing down the pavements examples of SF liberals? Striking is the expenditure on cleanup taskforces, replacement lampposts and cheap, naff publicity stunts by the Mayor - and the snooty elitist attitude of people appalled by such mucky little homeless people. Where’s the righteous anger? The motivation to impel change? What are they doing to combat & prevent homelessness? Capping rents should be the first thing - stuff the landlords. If the only answer is to scrub the waste of the sidewalks, then these so-called “liberals” are as morally repugnant as any cut-and-horde conservative.
12
“We are the most advanced country in the world,”
Yeah. Let's keep telling ourselves that.
29
It isn't just the Tenderloin. Last year I visited San Francisco and went for an early Sunday morning walk through Union Square and other, supposedly upscale, areas. The stench of urine was oppressive and the sidewalks and streets were covered with trash. San Fran used to be my favorite city, but I won't be going back.
28
I was near Hyde on Saturday to see the musical On Your Feet. The smell of urine on Market Street was almost overwhelming. BART can be just as bad. We were in NYC last month and stayed near Times Square. While there were homeless near the theaters, the difference in the amount and condition of the homeless was striking. I love my City-by-the-Bay - New Yorkers can you give us advice on what we can do?
16
The photo of Mayor London Breed, waking along carrying a perfectly clean, never-used broom, is too ridiculous. The problem isn’t too much dust, London. Good grief.
36
Visit Dallas, Houston, Ft. Worth, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, or any number of other cities in Red states and see if you find the same problem to the same degree. Sure there are homeless people everywhere and illegal drugs, but the culture of a community creates an environment that attracts what it attracts. So long as the culture of the community is one that believes more government is the answer and that more of it will "help" people the problem will get bigger. Houston attracts no nonsense people looking for jobs. San Francisco attracts people who cannot or will not deal with reality. This is what you get.
18
This a sad. I visited this area last year and was devastated to see it for my self. Here in Utah we just spent 67 million to clear up, lock up and clean out our main shelter in SLC so they can built a high rise.Pushing out homeless into 3 areas of the city. Bringing their needles and drugs etc. with them. I see the notion of containment as a better plan. But are the service's nearby for those in need? Not here.
7
How is this any different from South Central LA? Desperately homeless people demand our care.
I am an Episcopalian, we have a task before us, time to go to work.
9
I am atheist and agree wholeheartedly.
So many posts are from critics of "liberals" who feel the homeless need society's help and righteous "red state" folk who are proud of their intolerance & clean streets. This is no time to pit blue & red, left or right.
Most of the chronically homeless have untreated mental health issues and self medicate thru drug or alcohol addiction. Some will never assimilate into any society but some can with help & support. They need to be categorized and solutions tailored to their situation.
8
Maybe I’m turning into a conspiracy theorist, but after living here and paying city taxes for the last 5 years, I have to believe this city’s government is deeply corrupt. Otherwise where is my money going? To repaving all the crosswalks in Russian Hill? We’re not tripping so often that we need resources more than these neighborhoods. Those budgets have got to be reassigned.
40
Welcome to the world of the “war-on drugs”, to the values of Ayn Rand and greed, to the monarchy of the monied and to the abandonment of our fellow humans. We as a Western society have become parsimonious, self-involved and narcissistic. Human suffering is ignored in our trenchantly mad drive to have more and more and share less and less. Politicians rail against taxes and the public now in delight.
10
Serious question: Why do homeless congregate in cities? Why not the desert? The government could provide water, tents, and some scraps of food. It seems like there's enough land out west (I live in NYC). Why do they stay in the city? Handouts? Drugs? Wouldn't it be better to live in a tent in the desert, if you have water, some food, and a latrine?
My guess is some of the lack of sympathy stems from the fact that there SEEMS to be plenty of land surrounding CA cities, but the homeless ant to be downtown.
Here, in NY, it seem snot impossible that all the city's homeless could live on 30 acres in the catskills, if provided by some shelter and water, but the winter is harsh.
Couldn't one of two unused airports become home to the homeless. I don't mean buildings. Just tents and water.
is the problem not enough land, or tht the homeless want to be in the heart of the city. Of course, housing, mental health care, and employment are separate issues.
6
We need to collectively solve this issue, not move it. Nothing like having 4000 SF homeless camped out on public lands on sensitive desert areas that we have put aside for the public good.
6
@Lee Adams
can you solve addiction? i think a lot of intelligent, compassionate people have tried. I think it's intractable. i don't think poverty causes addiction. i think addiction causes poverty. mental illness might lead to addiction, but there's no cure for (severe) mental illness. some treatment might help. some medication might help.
i don't think money will help. money might create shelters and places for people with mental health issues. but i knew a lot of rich people who were addicts. i know trust fund kids who've overdosed.
2
Classic NIMBY attitude
1
SF is one of my all time favorite cities ever, but my my last visit there three years ago was not pleasant. Only went downtown one time and felt like I was in a 3rd world place with so many beggars and homeless all over downtown. I didn’t feel particularly safe at all and was eager to leave to get back to a hotel outside the city where I was staying. It’s changed a lot over the past 30 years and it’s unfortunately not for the better in some ways. But there is almost unmatched beauty around SF with the climate, fog and costal drives- very memorable and even stunning at times. Wish the downtown could match SF’s surrounding natural beauty.
17
Mind your own business, New Yorkers.
12
This IS a NY newspaper. Haven’t you noticed?
13
Many commentators are quick to put down San Francisco and it’s progressive attitude upon reading this report. You only see its difficulties not its spirit. I’m proud of this city. It welcomes everyone, especially those you don’t want in your neighborhoods.
6
New York used to be like that. It was actually considered to be ungovernable. Union Square was the thinly disguised Needle Park of the film. I remember eating at the Odessa on a regular basis, looking across the street and thinking that the chances of being murdered in broad daylight by walking across Tompkins Square was pretty great. Even John Lennon wrote about how harrowingly unsafe New York was at the time.
22
Born and raised in San Francisco. The homeless/mental health issues began with Reagan's mental health policies. Witnessed it first hand.
43
The experiments in Europe were a failure, they closed down the drug amnesty parks. The article alludes to it, many of these cities feel like they should just let certain areas be the amnesty zones...they minimally police the window pane crimes--the problem the zone just gets worse and worse and starts to infect everything else around it.
You simply cannot allow homeless people and drug addicts to congregate, this is the core problem. They enable each other. They cannot be allowed to have encampments have tents and basically live as they will unmolested in hotspot areas. Its simply not safe, not for them, not for the community.
The solution is distribution. Create many smaller service locations and shelters spread throughout a very large geographic area of the city and literally bus these people out to smaller services farther away from the downtown core do not let them group together and keep them residing within smaller communities where they can rebuild their lives away from the dysfunctional influences of their peers and with help fade back into the larger community.
Yes this requires that the suburbs and other nicer communities also do their part to absorb undesurable people, but having a few people within a healthy community that are unhealthy is a much better solution then having a highly visible and unsafe population literally destroying the fabric and reputation of the city.
18
That could be Stuyvesant Town on an day of the week. Bulk garbage is dumped on the service roads all the time, including unwrapped mattresses that are covered in all kinds of stains. How do I know? I live in that dump.
16
Where are the programs and will to handle this sad dilemma? For sure, the city and state government can partner up with all those technology companies for a creative solution to helping the homeless.
1
In major cities all over the world the streets are clean, people are not living on the streets and public areas are welcoming. There are very obvious solutions to these problems that other cities are utilizing. Talk to the city mangers in Singapore, Japan, Italy, Germany and France. Just to name a few. They do not tolerate filth, crime and disorder to overtske their cities.
46
Having lived in San Francisco, Singapore and Tokyo, now a frequent visitor, I agree.
(I stopped going to Waikiki on the way to SF for about 10 years, then they started to invest in the hygiene standards,so my stopovers have resumed, but now it is getting bad again. Dito SF!)
From recent visits to all 3 cities, San Francisco’s current hygiene standards would be unthinkable in either of the other two. Clean public restrooms are everywhere, but San Francisco is more like Mumbai. There’s a total lack of interest in keeping everyday public spaces clean.
The need for humans to require restrooms, is not going away any time soon, as far I know.
11
@Eva Schiess
Americans largely stopped caring about anything "public" in about 1980, when they were sold the ridiculous idea that it's possible to sustain a decent life in the largest and most complex nation-state in human history without adequate taxation. All those places you name have a mutually accepted social compact, but Americans spend all their energy on "culture wars" (the comments on this article are a perfect example)--we fight with one another so much we never get anything significant accomplished anymore that benefits society.
9
The suggestion that the tech sector has caused homelessness is false.
17
The egregious wealth from the tech sector in California has forced people out of their dwellings because rents and real estate costs are out of control. The very least the tech sector could do is spread some of their vast riches around and create a true solution to the problem, one that might be a model for other communities.
12
What about the crazy people elected to run the government? How can they stand by and watch this happen.
3
What people need to realize is that there are really two distinct populations of homeless in our major cities. One group is composed of victims of economic circumstance and the mentally ill. They need enhanced social services.
But the other population is made up of street addicts, and social services are irrelevant to them. They are what is known as "service resistant." They want and need only one thing -- money to buy drugs -- and that is something social services will never provide. So their only recourse is breaking and entering, mugging and assault to get money for drugs to stave off withdrawal.
The sooner we realize that these two different populations require two different solutions -- enhanced services for the innocent homeless, and stronger policing to get addict predators off the streets and into compulsory treatment -- the better off we'll be. We cannot keep treating street addicts naively thinking that more social services can address their (or our) needs.
74
Round them up!
2
Air B&B and other nightly rental companies have also contributed to the destruction of the affordable housing units in many cities, where many of these homeless citizens used to live. Why should a landlord rent a unit for $650 a month when they can turn it into a highly rental and $3000-$4000 a month. Many cities, including San Francisco have begun to regulate these business, but unfortunately it is too late. The damage has been done.
20
I lived in SF for 15 years. Even purchased a house there. I considered the City my forever home. Of the many, myriad things that pushed me out in the mid-1990s, the quantity of human excrement I would encounter in public places — while just going about my daily life — rated high. It t was in the parks, in the entryways of homes and businesses, on stairways, in alleyways and in parking lots. I have a too-vivid memory of a diarrhea-coated shop window in the high-end shopping district downtown, encountered on my mid-day lunch break. Someone who must have been very ill had leaned up against the windo and let go. The torrent of feces was reeking in the hot sun, covered in flies. People walking by seemed to take no notice. I went into a store next door and asked the clerk what was to be done about it, and he said he would call the building manger. It had been there half a day already. I had to get out of that place.
40
I don't think it would hurt to just increase local property taxes to take care of all of this. It would be folded into the cost of living in the city and the market prices of rent and property would decline a little bit which would also help most people.
4
@Christine
Prop 13 makes it very difficult to increase local property taxes.
9
@Abby raising taxes is useless if the correct policies are not in place to curtail crime and clean up the streets. SF has a tremendous amount of money coming in. More money won't help. Direct action to stop illegal, dangerous and unsafe practices is necessary NOW. The sooner they take action to remediate these issues the better.
2
Homeless people and drug users aren’t the Other; they are people and they deserve the same respect and consideration as everyone else. When we make categories and say oh these people are worthless because... well then no wonder nothing gets done because we are justifying our neglect .
We should be ashamed and not angry. The US needs a much stronger public works program to keep people from sliding so far down and the fault is ours for not putting it in place
34
The ultimate end of unbridled liberal hypocrisy, and all the locals do is complain about the inconvenience. Sheesh.
21
And yet, the latest budget for SF (a city encompassing only 49 square miles with a population of under 900,000) is over eleven BILLION dollars. It’s beautifully presented in a detailed document that’s close to 400 pages and says all the right things. Hmmm...
https://sfmayor.org/sites/default/files/CSF_Budget_Book_June_2018_1_Fina...
20
In 1967, an amazing song written by John Phillips (The Mamas & the Papas) drew many to SF. Lyrics were: “If you're going to San Francisco, Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair, If you're going to San Francisco, You're gonna meet some gentle people there.
Now, if you’re going to SF, be sure to wear your latex gloves there, carry travel size Lysol spray, and spare change for the cardboard carriers. Depressing.....
39
The sad truth is we would be a lot better off as a society without both Uber & Twitter, plus have normal rents.
34
Seattle is seeing the same situation. Anyone driving into the city on I-90, through the Mount Baker Tunnel "The Portal to the Pacific" will be greeted by rivers of garbage flowing down from encampments on the hill on the shoulder. There is obviously now on policing these areas and if the average person created this pollution they would be fined. These people need to be cleared out, after they are made to clean this mess up. Toleration does no one any favors.
34
It is clear that the local and state government's efforts alone will never result in a sustainable solution to this multi-pronged epidemic that is decimating the spirit of this city. However, can someone from SF City Hall please respond to this question: While the scores of tech giants and other companies proud to call SF their home cannot alone address or solve the drug or homelessness crisis across ALL of SF's neighborhoods (including the Financial District), is there an organized program in place for these companies to ACTIVELY play a strategic, ongoing role in keeping the city's neighborhoods clean?
Many corporate brands and other entities "adopt" stretches of America's highways to keep them safe and clean - why not explore the same approach for the streets of America's cities, starting with SF? It would be a visible and sustainable way for these companies to support the very neighborhoods in which they operate, grow and profit. Is it their formal responsibility to play such a role? No. But is it an opportunity for them to make an ongoing and significant civic impact within the city and neighborhoods they are proud to call their "home"? Absolutely.
It begins with leadership and a plan. So I respectfully ask San Francisco City Hall: are you working with the Twitters, Salesforces, Schwabs, Blue Shields, Ubers, Pinterests, Yelps and scores of other companies to actively assist in cleaning up SF? If not, why not? San Franciscans and NYT readers eagerly await your reply.
35
Unfortunately, no. None of these companies have a desire to help the community at large.
10
@Jim yes very good Ideas Jim!
3
I, too, live on Hyde Street, about 10 blocks north of the area you surveyed. This used to be a really safe neighborhood but no more.
I have lived in San Francisco almost all of my adult life. My mother grew up here. My parents lived here before I was born. I am a fifth generation Californian. I am heartsick at what has happened to my beloved city.
The implication is always that somehow, San Francisco is responsible for the homelessness here. I do not believe this is entirely accurate. Most locals who get displaced are couch-surfing or staying with a succession of family members. By contrast, many of the mentally ill and drug-addicted have either been shipped here by other states who felt it would be better for San Francisco to spend the money caring for them than for their home towns to be forced to do so or came on their own because they heard there was free food and free housing, removing them from the necessity of supporting themselves. We are also, of course, the victims of our weather. It is difficult to freeze to death here, always an advantage.
When I was a child here, I was allowed to go downtown on my own to do my Christmas shopping, Now, as a senior, I am afraid to go to my local grocery store, only a block away, lest I be murdered by someone who is so far removed from reality s/he may see me as a giant snake and therefore a threat to their own survival.
I have made a number of complaints to the authorities with limited success.
84
Just got back from San Fran last week. Did the whole "touristy" thing until we got into the heart of the city on Hyde Street and later along the Embarcadero (Piers). It was our first visit to Nor Cal as we usually go to So Cal. Should've gone to So Cal instead. Fully expecting to leave my heart in San Fran, I soon realized that I could not do so as the anxious palpitations forced me out of the city proper. Not only were the city streets abhorrent, so too were the highways near the city. In addition to stifling traffic, garbage and litter everywhere. Tires, mattresses, bags, paper, tarps, food. You name it, it was on the side of the roads. Near Pier 1 and upward, there were hundreds of homeless and one must respectfully disagree with the 4,400 total number quoted . Probably closer to 10X that number scattered throughout the metro area. One guy pulling the equivalent of a wheel-less bike frame with all his worldly belongings near Pier 33 and up toward 39 where the Sea Lions gaze. There were needles, tents, feces , urine and the smell was literally breathtaking and not in a good way. Add to that the annual invasion of flies on the way to Alcatraz and the decision to leave, no, correction: FLEE the city was an easy one. A once proud and beautiful city has fallen so far that its easy to see why a recent medical convention was canceled in favor of another city. ONE safer, cleaner and more appealing . My , how the mighty have fallen, never to get up.
55
I believe the 4,000 is just that area in the tenderloin. Other reports that include the areas just south of the Tenderloin in SOMA (near the federal buildings) raise the number to over 7,000. So your estimate of 10,000 city wide is probably accurate.
6
During the past 50 years I have been in SF on multiple occasions for business and pleasure. Most recently I was there about 3 years ago. I will not go back because it is poorly managed.
24
Commentators saying that NYC has been spared this crisis due to Giuliani’s “broken windows” no tolerance policies overlook a basic fact: in NYC, like throughout the northeast, the weather is unbearable without heat or a/c for at least ten months of the year, whereas in SF the climate is gloriously mild and humidity-free. The problem is that if SF treats this as purely a housing problem, and not a public heath crisis in which conservatorship is part of the solution, more people in need will flock there to take advantage of the climate and the relatively generous benefits. This is a USA problem, not a SF one, but conservatorship and anti-public urination/defecation laws are part of the answer.
45
We don’t need more laws for people who need, but do not have, bathrooms. What we need is a comprehensive place where the poor, homeless, addicted and mentally ill can live, heal and be productive members of society.
4
I was in Canada this summer and heard on the news about a city that was giving free permanent homes to the homeless. They had to keep them kept up and maybe some other rules. I googled it and came up with this: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/medicine-hat-homeless-free-update...
With a housing shortage in SF, like in many US cities (affordable housing) I'm not sure how well this would go over with people who have a house but are paying for it. It sounded like a good idea and they had the financial stats to say it was worth a try.
Also, I think Toronto was trying something with mini-portable homes, instead of tents for the homeless. Honestly, coming up with ideas is easy. Its the willingness of politicians to try and fix it that is missing
8
These politicians want to run an entire country but they cannot even a run a city. And they will put them blame on everyone except themselves . .. you see they are unable to fix the problems - -they can only fix the blame.
27
Well if there was ever a modern day, 'Tale of Two Cities', SF would be it. Only millionaires and destitute homeless can exist there today.
This economic dichotomy will soon exist in all cities of the country if things continue they way they are. Or the option is what? Nothing short of a revolution.
19
Thank you, NYT for putting a much-needed national spotlight on this issue. San Francisco has some of the highest taxes in the country, yet thousands of people are on the streets in its small 7x7 radius. To echo another commenter, I recently moved from New York to San Francisco for a job opportunity. Basics including rent and groceries are significantly more expensive here due to city and state taxes. Yet during my decade in New York, I never experienced the amount of clearly mentally ill and addicted homeless. In SF, I would never walk home late from work and I am constantly on high alert even in broad daylight. I have gone from being sad and upset for these people on the sidewalks to angry at City Hall for standing by and being permissive of illegal behavior, including blatant drug use, defecating on the streets and harassing other people. This city needs to reevaluate how its using its tax dollars and implement REAL solutions to get people off the streets and the care they need. Spending millions of dollars to clean human waste of the streets is not a solution. A photo op of the Mayor carrying a broom on a city street does not inspire confidence and frankly is a joke. City residents are desperate for the government to take action and do something. I for one am looking forward to the day when I can return to New York.
87
Living conditions in San Francisco in 2018 may be the single best argument for discrediting liberal arguments everywhere, perhaps more effective than gun violence in Chicago, as SF has been defined for years by those who moved there and is hence the result of a self selecting experiment on a city-wide scale. It is no paradise; it’s a dystopia and to too many, a nightmare.
33
Gun violence in Chicago has much more to do with conservative policies on guns in surrounding states and 60% of murders in Chicago are committed using illegally trafficked firearms from out of state. Another conservative talking point which is false at its core, easily dismissed and yet quickly believed by the willfully ignorant cult members of what was once known as the Republican party.
8
Any city or state run only by liberals with no switch in power or ideology to moderates or conservatives is a dumpster fire. Baltimore/Chicago/SF/Newark just to name a few. A mix is needed. Too much liberal or too much conservative is not good. Switching balances it out. NYC is an example. We have liberal progressives now. Once it starts to resemble SF too much a more conservative will run the place.
6
When I read comment after comment from people who moved to San Francisco only to be horrified, disgusted and disillusioned, it makes me sad, because it was, and in many ways still is, a beautiful city. I have always been proud that I was born here.
That being said, if you don't absolutely love living here- and if you're not willing to make a significant effort to try and make it better- please, do us all a favor and get out. We need your apartment. We need the space and resources.
This city is too small, expensive, and overpopulated to be full of people who don't appreciate it, and all of my friends- people who were making it better- have been priced out so that many of you could pay 4,000 bucks a month to complain.
33
As a transplant, I get what you’re saying, but the gentrification of SF has already happened. You’re wasting your time trying to reverse the effects. It will never go back to what it was when you were growing up, same as NYC and every other city. Places change. Rents rise.
9
San Francisco: Love it or leave it?
3
My own town in Australia, population 28,475, has more public restrooms than San Francisco, population 870,887.
As a stakeholder and frequent visitor to San Francisco, I can attest that there are few public restrooms anywhere, and people have to find restrooms in private buildings. These are definately not welcoming to empoverished people living on the streets! The most common SF ‘welcome’ sign that you see everywhere is: ‘’No Public Restroom.’’
You are obviously expected to use the sidewalks.
San Francisco is not alone. It’s a common problem across the country. Gas stations are expected to provide the restrooms, and you’re out of luck if you’re not buying gas.
The restrooms you do find are usually not in densly populated areas, but out of the way in the parks. As was the case in SF when I lived there in the 80’s, they’re locked at 6pm.
The problem of finding a restroom in SF even extends to paying customers. Next time you get up to the cash register, but before you make a purchase, just ask ‘Where is the restroom ?’ 99% of the time,
you will be told they don’t have one! My response is usually, ‘What do YOU do?’ If I am feeling really annoyed at that moment, I just leave, hoping the Chamber of Commerce gets my message. I don’t shop where I can’t use a restroom.
San Francisco is in denial and needs to join the civilized world. The solution is so obvious. Cities need clean, numerous, well located, serviced public restrooms staffed with full time attendants, as needed.
47
When rent is 4500 minimum city wide, what do you expect? A large majority of people make minimum wage or a little higher. No way you afford to live. But i guess the rich woul rather everyone be pushed, than have affordable housing.
18
I wonder how many of those heroin needles that litter the streets and sidewalks of the city are provided free; in one photo in the article, a person is hunched over and a needle is clearly visible. As well as the StarBucks cup. How strange. A job, any kind of job can help restore a person's dignity and feeling of self worth. And that is the start of recovering from drug use. One has to have an incentive to want to change. But if the state, or in this case the city provides sympathy only and some free socialized medical/mental health care plus needles and little to nothing else, and religious missions and soup kitchens being devoid of state or federal help (separation of church and state), then you have such a problem The homeless and addicted need help and most likely want to change their lives around, but when you lose your dignity and personal sense of pride, you lose everything else. The city has a choice: continue with the failures of social welfare or create some jobs which can pay some pocket money but would really be more of a trade involving labor for a bed and three meals.
7
@old sarge. You surely are aware that a Starbux cup can be plucked out of any trash can, or off the street? And just because a needle is visible does not mean it was a "free/exchange" one. And this is not by any means confined to SF, come to Albany NY and see much the same, people sleeping mid day on cardboard, roaming thru the tunnels ( shops and offices, not service ones that I am aware) under the Empire State Plaza. And while there are HUNDREDS of abandoned and sometimes condemned but possibly fixable houses --- how about we train these people to FIX THEM--- older small houses in the same area, no one seems to have the vision to use the houses to house the homeless and the homeless to fix these places.
4
@judith loebel
My point better expressed. Give these folks some meaning to their lives; let them work for what they receive. A little dignity and pride goes a long way. And I know this is not confined to SF.
As for the StarBucks cup, you are correct. But I saw some irony in the photo.
2
I live fairly close to the area featured in the article. The article is 100% accurate. It amazes me that a city that gets all bent out of shape over plastic straws allows people to use sidewalks and streets as a toilet. You should see all the trash left on the streets. Allowing human beings to set up residency on sidewalks is not compassionate or even progressive.
While there are some truly homeless through no fault of their own, the majority are drug dealers preying on the most vulnerable.
In the vast majority of cases people living on the streets are substances abusers and/or mentally ill. In the surrounding area it is very normal to see people shooting up or smoking hard drugs.
I think law enforcement has been hindered by politicians and judges with misplaced compassion.
Because of the drug epidemic it is common for vehicles of visitors to be broken into it seems police are reluctant to do anything.
Many of the homeless refuse offers of shelter or assistance dealing with their condition.
San Diego and Los Angeles had outbreaks of hepatitis A in the homeless community. Los Angeles is currently dealing with an infestation of flea born typhus in the homeless community.
Walk down the streets around Union Square and you will see 2 to 3 panhandlers per block. They are even so bold to enter businesses begging customers for cash.
San Francisco is paying a high price for the 3rd world conditions in the city by suffering a loss of convention and tourist dollars.
92
This is what a Liberal utopia looks like.
27
According to the Centers for Disease Control, Vermont is the worst state in the nation for opioid-addicted mothers. Second was West Virginia, a bastion of Trump support.
16
Uh yeah because an area hit hardest by an opioid crisis is going to vote for who campaigned on fixing it...
2
@Jesse The Conservative If you put a republican mayor/administration in place there, what would your solution be?
5
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to loose - Janis Joplin
6
@Karl
"Oh, lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz." - Janis Joplin
4
I don't know if this article makes me feel better or worse about the horrible conditions I walk through in downtown Eugene everyday. My boss had a sandwich thrown at him. I've been yelled at. Maybe something can be learned from San Francisco about conservatorship, because the community here has plenty of familiar faces that are well known by all.
11
I read this article along with many of the comments associated. Several commenters are correct in that no one has any suggestions to solve these problems. I've never been to SF, only once to NYC, Philadelphia as a child, and I am a suburban Detroiter, meaning from the burbs and only go downtown on occasion. Detroit also has a reputation of hard living, probably one of the worst reputations around. But I will say this, our city is making an effort in her comeback, she has lovely architecture, a thriving mid-town where years ago I would never have stepped foot. I think our cities need to communicate and compare, what works, what doesn't. This biggest piece of the pie is drugs and mental illness not being addressed. Yes there are services, but a homeless person probably doesn't have the means nor the guidance on where to seek these services. I pray for our country, she is sinking and she doesn't even know it. Billions of educated people in this nation and not one can come up with an answer?? Oh yea, the answer according to social media is "thoughts and prayers"
17
@Lixx K. I have an idea! Most cities like Detroit, Buffalo, Albany have areas of abandoned or condemned houses. Lets revive the old Civilian Conservation Corps format and teach the homeless the skills to FIX these places, and then let them live there as they in turn teach others, and make money as trained carpenters, roofers, plumbers. House condemned? Use what parts you can salvage to fix the other houses, then teach how to demolition the rest. In Albany the Mansions Neighborhood is FILLED with charming old brick houses, well worth preserving, with the Schuyler Sisters childhood home at it's canter. What we lack is WILL and VISION and MONEY. Surely it is cheaper to TEACH and invest in these people than let them rot on the streets.
3
California is a bad role model for the rest of the country. The state has massive problems that most people in this country would find intolerable. For example state, county, & municipal legislators have made it impossible for new housing to be built.This is a Democratic controlled state from top to bottom. Affordable housing has always been one of the cornerstones of our party. This state should be a showcase on how well we can execute this policy. Instead, it's yet another example of our complete intellectually bankruptcy. It's symptomatic of a much bigger problem. The growing divide between some Democrats who want to practice what they preach & fanatical progressives who want to strangle everything. Environmentalists will go to the barricades to stop any housing projects from being built here. Mind you we are talking about affordable housing for working class families. Thanks to their efforts the gateway to middle-class security, has been pushed beyond their reach. The ease with which environmentalists can stop housing developments is a direct result of the numerous local & state laws that favor environmental concerns over affordable homes. The result: millions of people are without access to high-quality low cost housing. Do we really need people in the party who are subverting core American values? If we can't fix affordable housing here then we are a joke. All of us have a stake in solving California’s (and soon, the nation’s) housing-affordability crisis.
18
The majority of these comments are making me sick to my stomach. The primary subjects are the failure of liberal, democratic city government or fpeople's own experience of the filth caused by the homeless & drug addicted. I understand the frustration of those who live or work in the area, but the problem will not be solved by a mayor who walks the street carrying a broom (photo-op) regularly hosing down the sidewalks, and complaining.
These people need HELP. They are our fellow human beings. They deserve compassion, not derision. Use some of the city budget for shelters with sufficient beds that may offer an opportunity to bathe, facilities that provide meals. Install more pot-a-potties. Open centers that provide day treatment for addicts, referrals to detox & long term treatment, AA/NA meetings. Partner with a program focused on street level outreach. Open a community health center who's services include mental health treatment & medical detox & maintenence such as Suboxone. Consider a safe injection facility (SIF) that provides addicts a medically supervised place to get high, possibly OD, and could provide counseling. Vancouver opened an SIF In the early 90's which was so successful that others were opened in many other major cities.
I acknowledge these options will not be 100% successful, but they are a start. They are more compassionate & civil than simply moving the homeless & addicted to another area of the city.
21
i like SF. dont regularly go but all this stuff is going to exist, everywhere n always, like Jesus said, the poor you will always have with you. (Matthew 26:11; Mark 14:7) THE Only thing I've always wondered is where are the religious establishments in the plight to fight this plight? Cause i notice lots of Christian Pastors trying to build big churches, cant they try to build housing for the People their leader says is to be showed the most help? I mean thats what I've always heard from religions, especially the Christian One.
4
Has San Fransisco looked at opening a safe injection site like Vancouver Canada has? It has reduced both street usage, overdoses and those nasty, discarded needles. It's not perfect, there never is a panacea for drug usage in a city, but it may lessen the problem. For more info read here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insite
6
@Jack-The Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, which you cite, is as ugly in its inhumanity as the 300 block of Hyde Street covered in this article.
6
Anyone who grew up in the Bay area in the 1970s, as I did, remembers when Reagan closed most of the state mental hopsitals in order to save money. Somehow he he GOP did not seem to think that depriving the mentally ill of their shelter would be such a big deal. I recall going to classes in the Tenderloin and waiting for my parents to pick me up, watching the drug dealers and addicts operate in the open. The homeless problem has only gotten worse, but it's no longer a state problem. The expense of sheltering these folks has devolved upon local municipalities. Since leaving SF in the mid-90s, I've lived in many other cities. Every large city, regardless of local politics, has a large homeless problem. SF's is just more obvious because the city is small and densely populated. Other big cities that cover more acreage also have many homeless people; they are just scattered over a larger area. Texas is also full of homeless people, and the state is now in the process of foisting off the expense of dealing with them onto the cities, by trying to shut down as many state hospitals as they can. The battle is ongoing. Homelessnesss is not a red or blue state problem, it's just another sign of America's failing capitalist society. We have the resources to house everyone; we just don't have the political will to do so. We prefer complaining, pointing fingers, and expecting someone else to fix our societal and economic problems for us.
49
Respectfully, you have missed the story. This problem began with Ronald Reagan, who closed the state mental hospital facilities in the '70's. That is point one. Point two is that more parolees get released to this neighborhood than ANY other neighborhood in California. Point three is that commercial property owners and giant, multi billion dollar tech companies like Twitter and Uber were given sweet heart deals by Mayor Ed Lee, whose political career was funded by the major private equity investors in those firms, and pay absurdly low taxes relative to other businesses. Point 4 is that "Prop 13" locks in absurdly low real estate taxes for COMMERCIAL properties (not just residences), as a result of a dishonest campaign back in the '70's which - even with a Democratic legislature - we seem to be able to do nothing about. We may be the richest city in the country, but we are also the most selfish. We need facilities for these people - pretty much ALL of whom are suffering from serious mental (and often physical) disabilities. They are self medicating. They are unsafe in shelters and there is no room for them in the jails. Meanwhile, our current mayor (supported by the same real estate and tech investor contributors who told Mayor Lee what to do and not do) pretends that increasing the involuntary 72 hour hold for people who should be patients to five or six days will make a difference. The problem is concentration of wealth and selfishness by the .01%.
47
The picture of SF's mayor walking down the street with a goofy smile on her face and a broom in her hand as she passes a homeless man splayed out on the sidewalk says it all: Those with the money and power to change the situation do not take it seriously. They know their lives are far enough removed from Hyde street that the problem occurring there will never make its way to their front door. So they can pretend to care when it's election time and occasionally clean up a random street for a photo-op, but they'll never tackle the issue head-on with any determination or sincerity. The same goes for the millionaire techies who live there--as long as their lives aren't disrupted then nothing will happen. The reality is that this isn't all that difficult a situation to control. Redirect some of the city's resources into drug-rehablitation programs both in the prisons and on the outside; set up a bunch of halfway houses and open more shelters; give the capable homeless jobs helping to clean up the city (if it's really that dirty); and arrest and remove and jail anyone who is still insisting on sleeping in the streets and abusing drugs in public. The unfortunate immigrants who have to live and work in these neighborhoods are getting the shaft from the politicians who don't have to live there and rich tech population who also doesn't have to deal with it. Spread the shelters and halfway houses throughout the city so everyone begins to see their responsibility in the issue.
6
Recently on NPR they reported the SF City budget for homeless projects is $750 million a year. No matter how much money they throw at this, the political leadership (including former Mayor Gavin Newson) have completely failed at this.
20
I don't even need to read the comment section to imagine the endless supply of criticism from East Coast liberals and conservatives, that the homeless problem on the West Coast is only a local issue with nothing to do with the rest of the nation. If NYC or Boston had 50 degree winters and 70 degree summers, then they'd have the same exact problem. The homeless issue is a National emergency caused by National policies--San Fran, LA, Portland and Seattle did not create homelessness on their own. We need to come together as nation to solve this issue.
67
San Francisco's strong, civic-minded middle class would never have allowed this to happen. But they are gone now.
42
@R. Vasquez
Right you are. The San Francisco middle class had a greater quotient of human compassion for the downtrodden & mentally ill than most places in the country..but there are limits.
6
I've never quite understood this. I lived in SF briefly and just like about everyone else, think very highly of it. I saw this dichotomy of wealth and homelessness. What I don't understand is why if there's all this wealth, creating the likes of Twitter etc, some genius couldnt figure out how to find a way to solve the homeless problem.
5
I grew up near SF. It will always be "The City" to me. But it was always dingy in the Financial District, downtown, Civic Center, most business streets. There is so little greenery. The parks and views from some locations made up for that, and BART was a comfortable way to get to/from SF.
This is all so sad. My only reaction that has not yet been voiced: cities can be hard places to humanize. They can easily become divided into enclaves with no real consensus or heart. My small town has some of these problems but everyone still cares and the police still come when you need them. When my nice neighbors in Oakland started to think that no one would help, they began to move away.
5
I’m glad I got to visit and enjoy SF before all this mess. I did it multiple times and enjoyed the sights and people. So sorry to read over and over again what has happened with the city. Best wishes to the new Mayor getting it back to its clean and inviting atmosphere.
6
I visited San Fran for the first time in 2016. When I returned, I told my friends and family that the streets were full of aggressive homeless people, urine, feces, beds, blankets, and dirty needles. I stayed downtown in the convention district and the street noise every night sounded like something from a prison documentary.
Nobody believed me... I have no desire to go back, ever.
37
Once stumbled into the Tenderloin as our hotel, just off Union Square, was just a 5-minute stroll away. My wife and I felt fortunate to get out alive.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen such amounts of human waste anywhere else in the ‘first world.’
20
Similar situation in Seattle, but the city makes no clean-up efforts. Sadly our mayor and city council allow people to pitch tents anywhere including sidewalks, defecate any where and live in their cars. This is not civilized behavior and should be not condoned by city leaders in the name of liberalism.
18
If there are wild filthy dogs wandering the streets crapping and pizzing all over the sidewalks the logical thing to do is remove them.
In SF you feed them and hire people to clean up after them.
19
SF has turned into a cesspool of the rich and the wretched. A couple of years ago I watched a woman use the sidewalk as a latrine and a dog walker just leave the poop where it was created. I can assure you this only happens in some third world countries. The mayor holding a broom is hilarious, sort of Melania's pith helmet. You would think that even the privileged occasionally venture into the Tenderloin and would want to do something about it. Shameful.
29
@Baboulas
And two Houston neighborhoods were just ranked in the top 25 "most dangerous" in America, so maybe some humility is in order.
2
I'd like to see this article interview people living on the street. For an article nominally about the challenge of maintaining a clean city, that interviews so many people who have local apartments or workplaces, it steers clear of the people living there. what is their perspective? how can understanding their point of view help understand the whole issue?
21
Tech moves in and brings its wealth with and the area that has always been pretty rough is now an issue. In a city that is incredibly unlivable and the divide between wealth is hitting robber baron extremes and with the least amount of subtlety possible, this is hardly a surprise. 10-15 years ago, you were told not to walk down this block... now you just complain about the trash. This article wouldn't even exist if the people annoyed by issues cared enough about what is causing these issues to try and fix the problems instead of finding solutions to symptoms of the problem. Amazed there isn't an app created yet to tell others about the trash issues and exact locations of the moment. There probably will be by the end of the day though. The disconnect of humanity and logic happening in front of our eyes in the service of both humanity and logic is horrifying.
8
This article fails to mention that California passed Prop 47 in 2017- which reduced many of the crimes described in this article from felonies to misdemeanors. This was and is the more humane decision, but also means many, many more people who would be in custody on theft, vandalism, drug offenses are on the street instead. Bring back mental institutions.
36
"Containment Zones". I like that. It's true. I live closer to Fisherman's Wharf and you won't see a single tent pitched. They won't allow it. The homeless are sleeping everywhere down here. There's just not a single tent, and there are no drug-dealers, at least not openly standing on the corners.
The Wharf attracts the tourists, which attract the thieves. They're simply not allowed to camp in Fisherman's Wharf, so they head back to The Tenderloin by night.
I agree there is some subversive allowance in The Tenderloin (The Containment Zone) to keep unwelcome growth out of Fisherman's Wharf.
6
I visited San Francisco this summer after a gap of 20 and was shocked by the homeless situation in the city. It was oppressive and depressing. Many resembled Zombies. I saw a man Union Square with a child in strapped into a pushchair aged about 3 with a sign saying they were homeless and the child had HIV. That was a haunting sight. I was told that the moderate climate of the city attracted many homeless people and it has affected the city for years. What I realised is that addiction and mental illness is an almost impossible challenge for any administration. The real question is to ask why addiction is rampant? What happened in these people's lives. Why does this underclass exist? Is it a failure of families, of schools or a lack of economic opportunities. Surely a multi pronged approach can be set in place that is fair both to the homeless as well as the residents?
24
I lived in Pacific Heights. When I called the Tenderloin the Porkchop a friend of mine was totally non-plussed. There was an "art" photography shop down near Union Square (I am perfectly aware that is not the Tenderloin) that was selling a Jimi Hendrix photo of him smoking a cigarette for $38,000 right next to someone lying on the street. I'm sure someone bought the picture. San Francisco is totally about money. I wasn't impressed. That's why I sold my place and left before there was a Google. It was a beautiful City. Now? It's just like all the rest. Tech hasn't helped it. And the place in Pacific Heights that I sold in 45 minutes for a higher price than I was asking recently went for 1.3 million. Median prices and all that.
14
I've had a love affair with San Francisco since, as a gay teen in the late 1970's, I heard that it was a gay mecca; in fact, I went to college there and lived off and on in SF over the years.
But my last trip through SF was my last, I hate to say. My car was broken into in broad daylight (a "smash and grab") on a weekday on a busy downtown street. Too much to describe here, but the vandalism and theft of irreplaceable personal property was just the beginning of what turned into a huge hassle, expense and inconvenience to me.
The love affair is over, never going back.
27
There are literally hundreds of comments agreeing the situation is bad.
There are very few with suggestions to change it.
There can be only one answer, and that is an unpalatable exercise of authority.
16
I lived in San Francisco from 1985-2015. When I moved to the city, it was gorgeous — clean, safe, friendly and though expensive even then, accessible. But by 2000, things began to change. Petty crimes weren't prosecuted. I lived near Mt. Davidson, and homeless encampments soon made it impossible to hike there because it was simply too dangerous.
Like others here, I too was attacked by homeless people, who were out of their minds on drug or drink, who expected little recourse from the police. Nearly everyone I know has some horror story to tell. I was back in the city in July for a conference, and for the first time ever I felt seriously in danger as I walked up Market Street towards the Civic Center. It's more than a latrine/cesspool; it's an open air cornucopia of drug use and sales, prostitution, and petty crime. It's so incredibly sad.
I don't know what the solution is. In the 30 years I lived in San Francisco, billions of dollars were spent to resolve these issues to absolutely no avail.
Here is what I do know: With every quality of life offense that wasn't addressed, life got a little worse. And worse, and worse.
Today, it's dangerous, gross, appalling and bad for everyone. It can't possibly be good for the homeless person, who is filthy and out of his or her mind, to live in danger and squalor. It can't possibly be humane to enable sick and self destructive behavior in the name of being a liberal city.
It's killing San Francisco. When will enough be enough?
83
You seem to be forgetting 'camp Agnos,' 1987-88 or thereabouts. San Francisco has had a huge homeless population since I moved there in the late 80's.
7
Downtown LA, just blocks from City Hall, looks like a litter and tent strewed refugee camp. Abominable.
In my view, when the city permits the homeless to usurp these areas, it is essentially rezoning the space for the benefit of a small interest group (the homeless and their advocates) and taking it away from the millions of others who previously had the right to enjoy the space but are now, because of health and safety, functionally excluded.
Where is the fairness in that?
22
"For many who live here it’s difficult to reconcile San Francisco’s liberal politics with the misery that surrounds them." Perhaps SF should consider that the far-left liberal politics of their city might have something to do with the mess they find themselves in.
20
I don't understand. Where is law enforcement? It seems like a protocol could be worked out between police, city council, homeless shelters and social services.
It has to start with: "sorry, you can't stay here on the street." Then, physically remove them in handcuffs, for the next stop on the protocol.
San Francisco, what are you waiting for?
22
I understand that there’s really no place to take them. And even when there is, they won’t be kept there for long. And even though many of the people are homeless, the street is still “home” to them. They’ll come right back, because it’s familiar, they may have a place in the pecking order, they know where resources like food and alcohol are, and it’s where their drug dealers find them. It’s not as simple as we’d like to think.
3
After reading this article, it goes to show that the "Tenderloin" area will never improve. Unfortunately, negative energy is just too great there that's why these people are somehow gravitating to this area.
I remember when I worked as a Kitchen Manager for a homeless shelter in the early 2000s. I would leave my house (Oakland) at 5am and drive through Hyde Street to get to my job. Massage parlors whose storefront sign show "open." Big rigs parked on Hyde Street--people getting their "needs" met at that hour.
It broke my heart to see how many people were "awake" standing on street corners while the rest of the world is still trying to get the last minute of their shut-eye.
I'd say the worst part for me was when I recognized a former high school classmate and she was selling Calgon Take-Me Away products on Hyde Street. How ironic and hearbreaking.
8
Many progressive European cities just do not allow this. German cities for example spend liberally to provide for their destitute and addicted -- but they do not tolerate people spoiling their beautiful cities like this. Refusing help is not an option and failure to comply with the rules of receiving help is not tolerated. It's a harsh approach in some regards but people are given a choice: Take care of yourself or the state will impose its own standard of care -- and you probably will not like it.
105
San Francisco has spent more than a billion dollars on this problem over the past decade. Since other states routinly ship us their problems, it doesn’t get better. We are running out of ideas as to how to fix it
7
Shame on the state government not doing enough to clean this beautiful city. SF will loose all the tourists who used to come here. in the past.
7
Gotta love all the comments from the Meth Belt of Trumplandia using the problems on one stretch as an indictment of "lib politics" while Hyde Street could describe most of their state. I've visited SF many times and I'm going back in Nov. and much of the city is safely gentrified there are some problem spots (heroin use next the Civic Center is off the hook and I felt Turk Street was actually more menacing ... and urine smell - try the BART Stations at 16th & 24th in The Mission area; two words: P.U.) Still, it's a great city nevertheless.
16
Thank you, Michael. We are frustrated at our situation but still love our city. Thank you for seeing past its blemishes.
Let’s talk solutions:
1. Identify worst cases who cycle thru system (wasting a ton of taxpayer money) & institutionalize them. Not jail but in mandatory, compassionate & evidence-based treatment centers over a long period of time (at least 6 months, w/release only by doctor’s permission).
2. Combine this w/an aftercare program that eases transition to those re-entering society after treatment. Again evidence-based, long term approach w/clean safe & closely supervised residential facilities supported by health & wellness, regular drug testing, ongoing therapy (as many suffer from mental illness & have experienced significant trauma like rape, sexual & physical abuse, abandonment etc.) job training & placement by partnering w/corporations, local businesses & gov’t employment agencies, assistance w/development of ‘life skills’ (i.e. how to pay bills, open a bank account, get health insurance). Treat them w/respect and dignity, meet them ‘where they are’ in life, provide the structure & services they need to stabilize & become productive members of society.
3. Provide significant clean & safe ‘transitional’ housing stock for families & individuals in immediate danger of homelessness. While living in SF I had long conversation w/a woman who worked in social services for decades. She said most of ‘newer’ homeless were those living paycheck to paycheck & caught one too many bad breaks (laid off, med bills etc.)
Sound crazy? Numerous European nations have proven its effectiveness.
21
Here in Seattle we deal with homelessness on an even greater scale per capita than in SF. Politicians act as though homelessness is an unavoidable phenomenon for which no one is responsible, like a flood. But it isn't an accident that homelessness is exploding in cities that have thriving economies, often driven by tech companies moving in to downtown areas. The influx of highly paid tech workers drives up the price of housing, developers replace lower income rentals with luxury condos targeted at white collars, politicians pave the way for development targeted at the wealthy, lower income residents are displaced, many on to the streets, and cities respond by providing half measures to the chronic homeless. As services for the chronic homeless proliferate, this attracts the homeless-by-choice and the population swells. Salt Lake has made more progress than most cities by committing itself to getting the chronically homeless off the streets and into subsidized housing. Other cities could follow this example by prioritizing temporary and affordable housing over market-driven housing, and severely restricting the use of new construction for short-term rentals like Air BnB. But this requires city "leaders" to stand up to powerful developer and tech lobbies. Seattle city council passed a head-tax targeted at Amazon, but repealed it one week later when they caved to heavy lobbying from Amazon and other tech giants. Still wonder why nothing is done to curb the problem?
15
Homeless people or anyone charged with crimes are given tickets and not arrested- no bail required because it is considered unfair to people who don't have money.
The voters, politicians and political party that have run Calfornia and San Francisco for many years are responsible.
They are literally covered in excrement.
14
I live in SF, not too far from this area. I am so disillusioned living here, was supposed to be a great, artistic city. I’m not in tech, not wealthy.
While I think it’s important to live and let live, it should not be to the point where it encroaches in the personal safety of others. It’s a biohazard here! And regular people with their filthy pet habits are to blame too. They let their dogs pee on everything! Because it doesn’t rain here much of the year, if you see a moist area on the street, it’s urine (human and/or animal) and it’s literally everywhere. Human and animal waste everywhere, engrained in the sidewalk. I live in a decent street but have to play hopscotch around all the piles of smashed poop to get home.
Just to be fair, there are some really lovely parts of town, where there are no homeless and locals care about keeping their neighborhood clean. But the majority of downtown is gross.
So many of the homeless are extremely mentally ill and they need to be in an institution. Setting up free shoot up sites or needle exchange will make things worse. These people are trapped in a world of drugs and they will never take care of themselves or their environment. They are in a very bad way. Institutionalize the mentally ill and give them help, set up methadone clinics, and for those who are not in drugs, have some more affordable housing units. There are two units in my neighborhood and they are extremely peaceful. Some people just need a decent place to live.
27
One problem that has not been mentioned is that SF homeless activists themselves can be quite pushy and aggressive and have effectively intimidated everyone who has dared to stick their head outside of the box. In the unholy alliance with the 'progressivists' they have usurped the dialogue - with the only solution being shoveling ever more money into the streets (free needles! myriads of programs). What SF needs is someone like Mitch Landrieu. If they don;t clean up their act, someone like Rudy Giuliani :)
25
Instead of throwing money down a black hole, why not provide these people with a safe environment...AWAY from urban centers...where they can be housed, fed, clothed, rehabilitated, educated or....failing that...live under supervision for the rest of their lives. Stop giving them cash to spend on drugs and alcohol every month.
There are solutions. Get the enablers out the way and make it happen!
6
Are you really surprised? That happens in all democrat run cities where the virtue signal is Trumps public safety
2
NYC was like this before Rudy got elected
18
@JAG. Stop lying; no, it was not. Not even at Times Square or Tompkins Park. But NYC had it's own problems; lack of bathrooms for ANY public user, even sometimes as a patron. This is inhumane, and of course leads to public health issues. NYC made a HUGE effort with public shaming to keep pet waste off the streets, surely San Fran could put in more public porta potties or actual bathrooms a la Europe, but they seem more likely to complain and do--- nothing. A Ghoul at the helm with his tragic "stop and frisk" and "broken window" programs was not the answer.
Did anyone notice that the mayor is carrying a pristine unused broom? Her associate is carrying a new dustpan. Just a photo op.
15
SF is like that because it is a Democrat run city that "feels" like this or that is the "caring" thing to do. No common sense is allowed to be considered because the ultra-libs will shame and bully anyone that does not follow the party line.
15
No one who lives in Bethlehem Pennsylvania ought cast aspersions on any other city.
14
@Kip
Does Bethlehem have a huge problem with homeless aggressiveness and public defecation? I sincerely did not know that.
1
Wonder where all the drugs are coming from? probably not the same place we saved from a "ruthless dictator"/s Legalized the drugs and control them
5
decades of liberal policies have come to fruition. $70 million on street cleaning, just think how that money could better be used, or better yet used to lower the already high taxes. Well you get what you vote for
15
Worked in this city for five years. Yes, it's beautiful and there is lots to see and much to do. Unfortunately, it's also filled with homeless, mentally ill (I personally was attached three times on my lunch hour), and criminals. The city has become so much of a cesspool that I went as far as to resign my city. Now, I rarely go into the city. It's just a filthy dirty, over-priced everything city. There is no such thing as kindness, compassion, or anything of the sort in this city, and it's not a friendly city by any means. Sad but true.
10
This is what happens when you take the idea of judgement free zones and apply it to a total state. It is now a law free state where anyone can do whatever they want. no prosecution for crimes makes for a hellish landscape we see in San Fran.
12
After living in SF for 20 years I'm moving out. It's become an over priced playground for young tech bro's and squeaky clean wealthy elites. The entry price is too high for artists, musicians or any of the creative class that use to make this city interesting and culturally rich. The draw has gone from being in a creative, exciting, innovative city to being in a place to make money.. Don't get me wrong theres always been the drive to make money here but that seems to be all that's left.. We're left with this and of course the ever present drug addicted and mentally ill homeless population....
For all the same reasons I moved here 20 years ago I'm now moving to Detroit... Crazy? Maybe.. But so was moving to SF 20 years ago.
31
@Jeff - I think moving to Detroit is a great idea and I wish you the best of luck with it. I moved from NYC to Sac three years ago for many of the reasons you state. I think the cities that are perceived as second and third rate actually have a higher quality of life for the average person. I considered moving to Detroit as well but I really don't like the cold. IMO, cities like SF and NYC are overrated. They are quasi-third world living for the average person. My guess is you will be happy you left once you get settled in Detroit.
2
Don't forget that this is the sanctuary city which last year acquitted a multiply-deported felon who randomly murdered a young woman in our main tourist area in broad daylight. There are scores of car break-ins every day but the cops don't arrest anyone because most of the criminals are here illegally or nonwhite - it would be xenophobic and racist to hold them responsible for their crimes. A large proportion of the homeless are mentally ill as well as addicted, but it would be heartless to commit them to mental institutions, which don't exist anyway because no one wants to pay for them.
But, man, do we feel good about ourselves as we sip our lattes in our Teslas while listening to NPR.
42
"Heroin needle." Well, that's a new one. Did the reporter take these needles to a testing facility to determine whether they contained heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine or any other number of injectable drugs? No? Well, then. Why is NYT stating, with presumed authority, that these are "heroin needles?"
This might seem like a minor thing to some folks, but newspapers should be guardians of the language, and inventing terms like "heroin needle" isn't helping things. Pretty soon, we'll be using terms like "reach out" and "have a conversation" and so forth. Oh, wait, we already do use these terms that don't have defined meanings, precisely because folks got careless, and don't get me started on using "murder" when we really mean "homicide." Heroin needle, I predict, will be the next thing to lose any meaning, if, indeed, it had any in the first place. "I hit a porcupine with my car and ended up with a heroin needle in my tire." That's the logical extension, when you think about it.
Come on, New York Times. These mistake are unforgiveable, really, unless you're ready to completely abandon the premise that newspapers should read as if they are created by people with a firm grasp of grammar.
1
We have this fantasy that if a place becomes expensive enough, market forces will push out the riff raff. But this doesn't take into account those who have nothing left to lose. Blame San Francisco's high cost and mild weather, not liberals. The conservatives' solution? Fill up the jails or bus people to the next town. But the jails are full and is no "next town."
10
1) Those who are homeless due to mental illness need the conservatorship. Let's hope it happens.
2) The solution to trash is trash bins. The solution to needles on the pavement is needle exchanges or even a bounty on needles. The solution to urine and feces on the pavement is potties. The six potties mentioned are woefully inadequate for the homeless population in the area and are out of order as often as not.
3) Common sense apparently is not so common, since trash bins and needle exchanges and porta-potties continue to be opposed by the city elite. Yet those are far cheaper than the millions spent on cleaning the street every day...
24
The Tenderloin is in California’s 12th Congressional District. This is the district that Nancy Pelosi represents in the US House of Representatives.
20
Nancy Pelosi represents almost the entire city of San Francisco, not just the TL.
1
I have long said I would never live in San Francisco due to its homeless problem. But Seattle has become just as bad, with approximately 400 illegal encampments around the city. Almost every neighborhood is impacted, with dilapidated RVs, tents, graffiti, trash, needles, feces and crime the norm in areas that were once quiet, safe residential neighborhoods.
Encampments abound in this once-beautiful city's parks and greenspaces, with environmentally sensitive areas - including salmon habitat sites - now littered with needles, trash and human waste.
Property crime has skyrocketed and our police force is severely understaffed. The city has enacted a byzantine set of policies that make the removal of homeless encampments extremely difficult; consequently, they have flourished across the city, along with disorder, public health and safety hazards and crime. Campers who refuse services are just permitted to remain living on the streets.
Seattle's homeless situation is at a crisis point and continues to worsen. It's sad and infuriating that our city "leaders" are allowing the decline to happen.
26
Wefret: Let us be reminded that politicians, especially those of the elephantine ilk, don't care about this stuff. No compassion, empathy, or any other decent feelings about the plight of those on the street because the homeless are not voters to buy ... and for us, in general, because we are unthinking 'sheep' who can be fooled into for them.
1
Homelessness is not unique to SF, just to a higher degree.
We can find the money to house (imprison) immigrant children but not our own homeless. Sad!
4
Question: When did the "homeless" problem explode?
Answer: About the time that society decided to re-label "vagrants" as "homeless."
Question: When did hard drug usage become epidemic?
Answer: About the time that society decided to re-label "junkies" as "victims of the disease of dependency."
I dare anyone to challenge the accuracy of my time-line!
11
The homeless problem began in earnest when Reagan emptied out and closed mental institutions. The goal was to provide community-based care. Unfortunately, that never materialized and many of the mentally ill were left to fend for themselves without their needed medications. Consequently, they turned to illegal drugs to self medicate. Now, public mental hospitals barely exist, so there’s no place for mentally ill people to go once they’ve worn out their welcome from their families and local communities.
3
San Francisco was once one of the most beautiful cities in one of the most beautiful states.
Now San Francisco is s cesspool and the state has the lowest quality of life ranking in the USA.
But the most amazing thing to me is how a lengthy article on the situation in California somehow manages to never mention which political party runs this state and this city.
It took a lot of imagination and craft to avoid that. So I guess, "congrats"
(BTW, if any reader wants to 'alta vista' the information, information you can't read in the NTT, it's the Democratic Party
There. Mystery solved.
15
The bias of this article is apparent in the phrase: "forced to live on the street". Point of fact, nobody is forced to live on the street. Your article fails to mention that the City did a sweep of that area earlier this year and fewer than a dozen people chose to go to a shelter with a a bed - why? Because they can't do drugs in a shelter.
These people have options. They choose to live in their addiction on the street, in their own filth instead of seeking treatment or moving to another city.
38
It is not just a street problem. Public transit in SF is effectively a collection of shelters for disturbed people. I can recall several incidents of encounters with seriously disturbed and potentially dangerous passengers on Muni Buses and Bart trains. It didnt help matters when they closed the public toilets at the Bart stations about two years ago. The trains have now become the alternative. I am familiar with transit systems in New York, London, Washington, Frankfurt and Berlin but do not recall any incidents of the sort I have encountered several times in the same period in SF. I have no explanation except to think that people (including disturbed people as well as other passengers) in these other cities are aware that this sort of behavior is unacceptable and can result in trouble for them. I would have probably reported some of these incidents had they occurred elsewhere but will confess I saw no reason to do so in SF since they are such regular occurrences.
11
The homeless encampments exist all over San Francisco and are not limited to the Tenderloin. I'd be surprised to learn that any district is immune from this phenomena.
We have laws in California that prevent people from living on the streets. If we want to show our humanity, we need to provide housing centers outside of the tourist districts where the homeless, addicts and mentally challenged can live in dignity and receive comprehensive services. We are spending over 300 million dollars a year presently to address this problem and it's not working.
We don't have a high-security prison located within our high-end shopping district of Union Square. Why should we allow the homeless to destroy our city's most revered areas?
Allowing the homeless population to live on the steps of Twitter, SalesForce and our private residences, breaking onto our vehicles and leaving our community an open sewer doesn't work and will ultimately leave our city a disgrace. At some point, tourists, businesses and our current resident taxpayers will no longer be willing to step over homeless on their way out of their hotels, homes and offices. Are we willing to allow the homeless to displace the taxpaying residents and corporations?
Give the homeless two options, either they live in an area provided by the City with facilities and services or the loss of their benefits.
The current system just doesn't work for anyone and is an embarrassment for our City and for our Country.
21
As a downtown resident of San Francisco (nr. Yerba Buena Gardens), within walking distance of the Tenderloin, I can attest to the reality that the homeless problem, and all the related issues discussed in the article, have expanded beyond the Tenderloin.
The tech industry which is partly to blame for the housing shortage and high rents, has done little to solve the problem. Many of these companies recently received a heafty tax break, but I've yet to hear of any it being contributed towards funding homeless programs.
The long dry summers make the streets even more unbearable, especially on warm days and during heatwave.
Finally, an issue that was not mentioned in the article: the number of independent pharmacies concentrated in the Tenderloin. Apparently it's a lucrative business opportunity for both the business owner and many of the customers who sell their meds to someone waiting outside.
5
We need to bring mental wards back. With all the wars, vets with drug abuse and PTSD not to mention the opiate epidemic, people can no longer make rational choices. You have to wean them off and then help them get back into the real world. Preferably in other areas where they will no longer have their triggers. In the end, this would probably be cheaper when you factor in cleanup, arrests, and the prevention of major disease.
16
San Francisco does spend a lot of money on this problem. It's been the major political issue for decades. Every mayoral candidate vows to solve it. All fail.
Commenters are quick to assign blame, but rarely say what their solution is. Maybe they should consider the probability that it's a harder nut than they think.
I don't know what the answer is. I do wonder if the most expensive city in the country, facing a severe housing shortage, is the best place to try to house mentally I'll and drug-addicted people at public expense.
6
Best as I remember, Trump campaigned on the PROMISE to fix the problems of crime and poverty in Chicago, and in neighborhoods like this across the country.
But I guess now the the GOP is running a trillion dollars in annual deficits, there isn't much to be spent after buying really neat weapons and such.
6
I lived nearby in the early nineties and it was almost as bad, only there were no aggressive tweakers like today and rents were affordable). Still broke my heart...
5
One problem San Francisco has is that many of the homeless are not from San Francisco but from other places across the country. You can find examples of this is in the Haight District where roving bands of obnoxious, angry, young homeless people with mean looking dogs tend to congregate. This is part of a West Coast migration of young homeless people who move up and down the coast from Seattle to San Diego.
The point is that besides dealing with their own home grown homeless problems, San Francisco also has to deal with being a magnet for imported homelessness. Not just San Francisco but many communities across the U.S. are not doing enough to deal with the home grown homeless problem.
59
@Joe, These younger ones are the most aggressive panhandlers too. I cross the street when ever I see them congregating somewhere. They're feral packs and I'm not speaking of their dogs.
9
San Francisco spends ~$37,000 per homeless person on services for them (includes money spent on housing people who are off the streets, but would otherwise be "homeless"). California has ~12% of the nations population, but ~25% of its welfare caseload. Basic economics: "Anything you subsidize, you will get more of." The physically benign climate plus the government benefits makes it better to be a struggling person or family in California than elsewhere. San Francisco is more lenient about drug offenses (both selling and using), which attracts people with those interests. SF is also more lenient about people using the "public commons" as an open-air bathroom (BART escalators have severe problems due to human waste deposits, and repairs routinely require wearing haz-mat suits). P.S. SF has had Democrats as mayor since 1964. Detroit has had Democrats as mayor since 1962.
10
Ah, yes. San Francisco. Home to the wealthiest corporations in history; bastion of American-style capitalism at it's finest; a shining example of what income inequality and willfully myopic mis-management can do to the quality of life here in the "greatest nation in the world." I suppose it's nice to think that you are lucky not to live in THAT horrible place...but give it a few years. If we don't change course in this country, it will all be on YOUR doorstep soon.
First Reagan cuts all funding for mental-heath organizations. Then Giulliani "cleans up" NYC by rounding up homeless and either jailing them or putting them on a one-way bus to San Francisco (this really happened). Soon Congress will cut all safety-net funding...no medicare; no social security; etc.
I used to work in the Tenderloin and I've seen it for myself. I've seen skid row in L.A., the underpasses in South Atlanta, Jacksonville, and SLC. And I've taken the NYC subway everyday for years. This problem is everywhere in America. San Francisco is a particularly acute and graphic example because it is a particularly acute example of the extremes we are cultivating here in the USA.
I love America and I still love SF. But keep electing millionaires who can afford to live in far-away gated communities and take private motorcades when they have to travel (God forbid they actually walk on the street, except for the occasional, carefully-curated photo-op)... The Tenderloin. Coming soon to your American neighborhood.
48
@Dylan, You absolutely got it right here.These problems are not part and parcel to SF alone. It is a burgeoning problem everywhere within America.
5
@Dylan
It's happening here and has been for 20 plus yrs .
The lovely city of Sarasota Fl . By the way for all on here that claim this is some problem reserved to only liberal Dem states , you are much mistaken .
Rick Scott is the most corp Republican and so is his entire group of cohorts .Taking federal $$$ at the expense of all of us .The man should have gone to prison for theft of medicare.
1
I lived in San Francisco in the years when Ronald Reagan was governor. This is one of the end results of an assault on the middle class and the safety net that began with the sdvent of Reagan. It's another symptom of the same corporate greed and disregard for others that has also resulted in a now far right Supreme Court. People were convinced to vote against their own interests, and blame any of their misfortunes on immigrants and people of color. Here we are folks. We need to all start looking in the mirror if we want to begin to clean up this mess.
13
As a foreigner who visited San Fran recently it was absolutely shocking to see how filthy the streets of an otherwise beautiful city have become. And not just downtown - everywhere we walked had a general air of disregard. After a day in the city we hightailed it to Muir Woods, to remind ourselves of how beautiful the US can be. I’m not sure how Americans can accept this as the reality of their urban lives - I hope Australian cities are never allowed to become like this.
11
OMG! What is with the snarky political asides? There was a recent NYT article talking about high end restaurants in SF where you walked in, you ordered at a counter and picked up your food when they called your name. It's too expensive for even higher end service workers to live in and around SF. HUD considers low income in SF at $117K. Really? Throw in a mental health problem, low skills, no family fallback, no healthcare or crushing healthcare debt and you have a growing population of people in this one area of one city that are reduced to living this life of inconceivable desperation and squalor. How inconvenient for us! As the cost of living in other major metro areas grows, this problem will increase there too. We are only one good recession away from this problem flooding over into smaller cities and even to more rural areas in warmer climates. We, as a country, have no mechanisms to deal with the underlying issues that make this problem so prevalent. And as grotesquely polarized as we are as a country, don't kid yourself. Sadly, we will never reach any consensus on how to deal with this issue now or in the future. Frankly, we scream and finger point but no one really cares. No one cares enough to put in the work to actually make any changes. We will write our charity checks, watch our partisan TV, scream it's the other political parties fault and Uber around it all. Oh...and one more thing, the US is not 'leading' in anything anymore...
6
The biggest problem in the country is not voting. If we show up on election day, things will improve. little by little.
3
I grew up in the East Bay in the 1990s and 2000s. The Tenderloin has always been a complete mess. This isn’t something new. It’s just that now the wealthy are moving into the area and it’s finally a “problem,” as opposed to it just being the state of the neighborhood.
9
You got that right Mrmoleman. I moved to San Francisco in the mid-80s and I have worked in the TL. There are a lot of comments here about how SF used to be so beautiful, but the tenderloin has been like this for a long long time. Going back to the early 1900s when the neighborhood was full of brothels, gambling dens and speakeasies. It has never been a genteel neighborhood. It seems to have gotten a little worse in the past 10 years, but it hasn’t changed that much in the 30 years I’ve lived here. I walk through the neighborhood a couple times every week.
So for all you haters who like to proclaim that San Francisco is going down the tubes, please don’t come here, There are plenty of people that love SF. Sure we got our problems, but she is still the most beautiful city in America to me.
2
When my alcoholic brother's life fell apart after a hospitalization, we were lucky enough to have a spare bedroom for him to move in right after his hospital release. Our collective lucky stars aligned so that he was able to live with us for two months, before he moved in with our parents.
He held down the fort, and our dog and cats were thrilled to have him there all day - I think that he truly benefited from their no-strings attached adoration! He was strong - lucky, blessed, whatever term you may choose - enough to get better. HE made the right choices. We feel very blessed that he was never homeless.
I can't imagine what it would have been like if he had been addicted to drugs, or hadn't been able to stop drinking. There for the grace of God, goes him, my very understanding husband and I, and our family. It could have destroyed us all.
There is no magic pill, or magic location, or magic at all to getting/helping addicts get clean. From what I've seen, you have to be very lucky in that you want to get clean, AND that your body chemistry allows you to get clean.
9
SFO has replaced NYC as the city out-of-towners are afraid to visit.
9
@YoureWrong
Hmmm. So who are the thousands-upon-thousands of out-of-town visitors--actually, from all over the world--I see in San Francisco all the time, then?
The NYC vs. SF thing has truly gotten ridiculous.
3
@Pete Don't underestimate perception versus reality and its long term impact.
I for one and hesitating going back. It's been about 10 years.
"Sisyphean cycle of cleanup and filth". That's a clever way to put it when addressing the way homeless people go about their lives. You may as well call city officials insane as they do the same thing year after year expecting different results.
4
The causes of San Francisco's homelessness are many, as the comments here attest. For whatever reason, however, San Francisco's leaders have failed to enlist the public and private support required for a bottoms-up response. We have so many vacant large industrial and former military buildings South of Market Street, and in the San Francisco Presidio, that could have been modified for sheltering and treating the most helpless people on the streets. But no: "Not in my neighborhood!" And, year after year, bureaucrats "explaining" why just about any proposal "violates" someone's rights, or the Constitution, or a "regulation," yada yada. Or it's "the City doesn't have the money." Of course it has the money for everything else including lavish pensions for many of its former workers. Though some of the world's highest-value companies are based here or nearby, they're too busy "changing the world."
2
There's lots of blame passed around on the issue of homelessness, typically leveled by conservatives at 'Liberal Policies' that supposedly enable homelessness. I'm not sure what those enabling policies are, but I certainly don't see ANY constructive action or policy from the current conservative majority at either the state or federal level that addresses the current reality of homeless living on our streets. What should be clear is that homelessness is society's shared problem, and nothing but a clear course of (fair, legal, humane, and persistent) treatment will create meaningful change.
2
Were there the will, the problem could be solved at the national level by providing:
1. A guaranteed national subsistence income.
2. Low cost housing that could be paid from the national subsistence income.
3. Medication-based addiction treatment.
16
I used to come out to the SF Bay area on business trips in 83-85, and thought SF was the most unique, picturesque city I had ever seen.
Granted, I didn't spend any time in the "Tenderloin", but walked and drove around and don't remember seeing any of the horrors described here.
This is a tragedy, and one that leaves me so bewildered that I don't know even where to begin to suggest something remotely positive or remedial.
12
1828 billionaires have 7,300,000,000,000 dollars, force them to contribute, how else, 20,000 for each man woman and child of the 47,000,000 people living in poverty in the U.S., plus another 1,000,000,000,000 for housing for these poor wretches to get them off the street. Additionally, the IRS cannot tax the recipients of the 20,000 dollars, a dime, for instance, a family with 6 children and two adults would get 160,000. Big deal? No, Little deal, however, with 160,000 those living in poverty can improve their lives, how they do it however, is not entirely up to them, they will have very humane, very smart and practical ways of spending the money in ways that will be lasting and not just buy five cars and act like idiots. The rich would complain of course, but that's their problem, meanwhile something could actually get done and solve social economic problems long overdue needing positive actions and then we could move on to the next step, saving the planet before we blow our existence due to buying stuff and 85% of the working population sitting all day at a desk. What a useless life, and none demonstrate it better than techies. Who are those people?!!! All Bill Gates did in Lakeside School in Washington state was sit and peck at computer keys. It netted him billions of unearned dollars now he thinks he knows something. He doesn't, he's lame as the come. But there are dozens more, he's just one of many. Why do so few get so much and cause an economic & social catastrophe.
7
@gene1mcnulty Don't you see that giving handouts only makes the problem worse? That's the problem in SF: they're too kind and welcoming and supportive. They make it easy for these people to take advantage of them and their city. The more they do it the worse the problem gets. Your suggestion, though well-intended, would make the problem worse not better.
10
Live in SF right next to Tenderloin. I plan to move. Let’s give the ultra liberal policies the credit they deserve for causing this apocalyptic nightmare.
37
The solution: Vote Yes on Prop C this November
3
The functional people in our society, liberal and conservative, simply don't know what to do about the seemingly growing number of dysfunctional people. For a few moments let's put aside the endless growling at each other that the conservative and liberal people do. and think about how to deal with an addict who will eat, sleep, defecate, and rant and threaten on the streets of your town. Obviously a proper mix of firmness and help is the best we can do. Entrap the heroin and amphetamine dealers, and prosecute them. Make open air drug bazaars understand they are very unwelcome in SF. Create a large, heavily patrolled and monitored sleeping area on the outskirts, gather up people attempting to sleep on the street and take them and their shopping cart to that area every night. Offer basic food and sanitary facilities in that area. Allow and encourage mental health staff and volunteers to meet in that area with those people who want help. Then pay attention to the result and see if it is working. If it is working, continue, if it is not working, modify and try again.
56
Wow! America's most expensive city to live in has a dirty block! National news!
5
Elected San Francisco leaders: this is nuts! A lot of Europeans and others visit SF on vacation. This is about dollars coming into the city. Clean up the place ASAP. Otherwise you risk millions in tourists dollars vanishing!
24
My Dutch friends and their four children of various ages visited this summer were not amused to say the least. They packed up for Napa as fast as their van could take them.
7
Thanks for this article.
The streets are totally and completely out of control. I walk about three miles from home to work some days to work. Every time I do it, I risk stepping on needles (saw one today, and I see at least one most days), human feces and urine (which is on every block), trash (littered everywhere from leftover encampments), or bumping into drug dealers (especially near Civic Center), drifters, and passed out junkies.
There's an app the city has for reporting homeless encampments and other quality of life issues, called 311.
In the month of August ALONE, I reported about 600 encampments. SIX HUNDRED. And on September 1, there was ZERO noticeable difference. I emailed the mayor, my police captain (Gaetano Caltagirone), and my supervisor (Rafael Mandelman). I heard back from Rafael (who is generally very responsive), but not the mayor's office or the police.
I have a wife and son, and I worry every day for their safety.
San Francisco is an open, welcoming place. That's what makes it so great. There were fully naked people outside our house this weekend - good for them! But it's NOT ok that the city has let our streets and sidewalk degrade to the state they're in now, where MILLIONS of needles are handed out each year, and people are literally dying on the street, as others just step over them.
I've seen people take justice into their own hands - through a fist fight against a guy who spat on people or another guy pouring coffee on a homeless man. So sad.
356
@Patrick Erker
Yes, the encampments, rampant in the Mssion district, along the Embarcadero, under the palm trees opposite the Ferry Building, and under the Bay Bridge overpass in SOMA, etc. As soon as they are removed, they are rebuilt because the displaced residents are only provided a temporary instead of a permanent housing solution.
4
@Patrick Erker California is a bad role model for the rest of the country. The state has massive problems that most people in this country would find intolerable. For example state, county, & municipal legislators have made it impossible for new housing to be built.This is a Democratic controlled state from top to bottom. Affordable housing has always been one of the cornerstones of our party. This state should be a showcase on how well we can execute this policy. Instead, it's yet another example of our complete intellectually bankruptcy. It's symptomatic of a much bigger problem. The growing divide between some Democrats who want to practice what they preach & fanatical progressives who want to strangle everything. Environmentalists will go to the barricades to stop any housing projects from being built here. Mind you we are talking about affordable housing for working class families. Thanks to their efforts the gateway to middle-class security, has been pushed beyond their reach. The ease with which environmentalists can stop housing developments is a direct result of the numerous local & state laws that favor environmental concerns over affordable homes. The result: millions of people are without access to high-quality low cost housing. Do we really need people in the party who are subverting core American values? If we can't fix affordable housing here then we are a joke. All of us have a stake in solving California’s (and soon,the nation’s) housing-affordability crisis.
10
@Patrick Erker No excuse, no excuse at all for this to happen and be this way. We live in the richest country in the world. We have the brightest smartest people and yet, we can't solve this homeless, mentally ill and drug addiction problem? Maybe the SF citizens should file a class action lawsuit against the city and STATE claiming nuisance, danger and filth, something would be done. The minute the Govt closed the mental health facilities and kicked everybody out, that's when it spilled out into the neighborhoods. We need group homes for the mentally ill and there's plenty of land where we can build housing for the homeless. If we have to chain the people and march them to the homes, it should be done. Taxpayer money is going to services to clean up and take care of these people. Taxpayers should be incensed and ready to take action.
4
There are hundreds of older cruise ships worldwide that cost about 10 cents on the dollar. Scrapped they are worth 20 bucks a ton The money elite want newbee style ships.
Salesforce Co. used a cruise ship for their Convention at $400 to $1000 a nite when hotels were booked solid.
These homeless ships can dock FREE on the Embarcadero opposite Delancey street, They come with toilets, galleys, meeting rooms .some accommodate 1000 +
Some Navy reserve ships have 5 day reddiness to sail. One accommodated 700 Marines off Africa for 8 months.. The solution is in the hands of bureaucrats that can't fix anything.
Here are the excuses I was given
by Congress and City pols' staff.
1. they will fall overboard.
2. Ships will block the view of downtown condos.
3.there is no security
4.Handicaped can't get on ships.
Abandoned Ships were used for housing in 1849 gold rush .. No motels were here..
!989 Earthquake had a Navy carrier come and housed 1000+ homeless after sailors were given furlough.
I suggested to the tax-eaters that the Marines never left the wounded on the beaches in 225 years. Oakland, Redwood city etc. can replicate this. Two weeks to get it done .. Salesforce took a week.
Not all the homeless ...just about 2/3
Maritime Tradition requires cleanliness of body and your space. and no pets... A first step yes?
13
It isn't a failure of ideas and it isn't a failure of money. San Francisco is a perfect reflection of the ethos of individualism. Enter the homes around the heaps of limbs you see and the world is turned inside out.
What is important to Americans is their portion of earth, not the highways and byways of Mankind. The Bay Area is certainly one of the wealthiest regions of the country; yet, the public sphere is destitute of care, investment, and has a system of trains that smell and feel like offal. The answer to such glaring circumstances as this story depicts neither begins nor ends with the government: it is who we are: the existence of such glaring poverty is is our manifest interpretation of faith, government, and our social contract. We are a nation of scoundrels, and their wives.
12
I lived in San Francisco for 35 years. When I return it is so depressing to see how run down and dirty the city has become. The few days I have been there I have felt threatened by aggressive street people in the middle of downtown without any police to be seen anywhere. What a mess: unless you make $3-5 million a year you can't afford to live in San Francisco and in exchange you get a filthy, dangerous city. City Hall better wake up before they begin to see massive losses in tourist revenue. Everyone I talk to is aware of what a disaster SF has become and no one wants to visit there, much less move there. I loved San Francisco for so many years. It is one of the great cities of the world. How can they let it fall into such a state.
28
It is absolutely true that this is NOT just a Tenderloin problem - it's pervasive throughout the city, including in major tourist and shopping areas. It also isn't exclusively a homeless problem. We live 15 minutes away in the suburbs, but think twice before going into the city for ANYTHING. It's just too much hassle - car break-ins, panhandlers, the stench of urine and marijuana (not mentioned in the article, but now pervasive). We don't feel safe there. And I discourage tourists from coming too. It's a shame. I wish I knew the answer. It will soon bankrupt the city, cause a significant loss in tourism and residents. Who wants to pay that rent to live in such awful conditions?
21
Why not build communities for homeless people, the mentally ill "street people" and drug addicts where all social services can be delivered in one place and neighborhoods for the rest of the population can be maintained properly? I know it sounds like "round 'em up and put 'em in concentration camps," but it doesn't have to be like that. It can be a humane and compassionate response to the inhumane conditions homeless people live in. All depends on who is managing it.
9
Not to fear, our next Governor will bring his extensive experience resolving the homeless problem in the city he governed as Mayor...
Oh wait, he was Mayor of San Francisco.
It's true that liberals did not create this crisis, but neither have they found any solutions for it. They also haven't solved poverty, racism or any of the other problems you keep electing them to fix. And they don't have to, because you will never vote for the other party. There are no consequences for their eternal failure to fix the problems you keep electing them to fix.
10
The U.S. is swamped with a depth of poverty which should shock its conscience but only produces a shrug of hostile indifference.
Though drenched in Christian rhetoric, the U.S. is the country farthest from the actual egalitarian teachings of Christ.
Instead the U.S. has turned into a model of plutocracy and kleptocracy and sadistic cruelty towards the most vulnerable.
39
These people are refugees. The UNHCR knows how to set up refugee camps and deliver 3 squares a day. It’s time for CA to build refugee camps in rural areas to store these people so others can go about their business. Business that creates the money to pay for those refugee camps...
9
The problem is nationwide, with CA and milder climate states getting the majority of homeless. It is ridiculous that people still say "the US is the most advanced nation" - no its not. No healthcare, lousy education, lousy public education, overpriced university and massive student loan debt destroying the young educated peoples early adulthood. The US needs a massive reboot.
80
When I was stationed in Marin County from 1987 to 1995, San Francisco was the most amazing city I have ever seen in my life. When I visited I still saw a vibrant city with a diverse population. It's always cold, but the view from Treasure Island still takes my breath away.
This is minor problem in which Republican posters here go shallow and blame this on liberals. Not doing their due diligence as usual. It's what the rest of us expect. Where are their solutions?
Drug use is a personal choice, but Nancy Reagan's "Say No To Drugs" message was as shallow as they come.
The R's war on drugs has been a massive failure, billions of dollars wasted and only prisons came out on top.
Now which party should you blame?
R's out there...where are your solutions? Sounds like more funding educating our future is the only answer, and we know red states just LOVE underfunding education.
12
This is just a preview of what the rest of the country will look like once the Republicans are finished with their work.
By the way, where are the ultra-wealthy tech titans? Are you telling me they can’t kick in a few more bucks to help the city? Would it hurt them to put one less Ferrari in the garage or one less wing on the mansion and help the homeless instead?
13
I walk through that part of the city every day. If you don't see syringe detritus, it's because you're not looking. One of the BART entrances has been built over and shut down - - they couldn't control the shooting gallery it had turned into. It is normal to see addicts doing the heroin freeze; it's also normal to see them crumpled up and crying uncontrollably. One thing is for sure - - there are a lot southern and midwestern accents. San Francisco is not the source, it's the destination.
68
Ronald Reagan is to blame. California once had a sturdy mental health apparatus, but Reagan dismantled it, and now our streets (and the streets of every other major California city) are home to countless people who cannot help themselves. And have very easy access to drugs.
The solution is not more arrests--they will only cycle through the system and wind up right back where they are. London Breed has the right idea: we need to get the mentally ill people off the streets and in a medical facility.
Also: if you think San Francisco is nasty, GOOD, don't move here, haha
7
@Todd
The California Legislature passed the Lantermann-Petris-Short Act which began the closure of the State Department of Mental Health. This left individual communities to fund local mental health services or not do so at the ballot box.
Once SCOTUS declared the legally mentally incompetent have full civil rights and the ability to make medical decisions for themselves, public funding of mental health services nationwide shrank and populations of incarcerated increased.
I know this well because my aunt spent her entire career with the California Department of Mental Health, with a short break to volunteer in France as a nurse for the Red Cross during WWII. She worked diligently to begin the process of how to move institutionalized clients into community services, including purchasing residential properties that would serve as transition housing for these severely mentally ill. She lamented that a significant portion of her clients would not be able to function in these supervised living arrangements and that only a few would ever become reasonably functional. It is a travesty to see what the non-profit running one of these houses is doing today. Little supervision, few therapy sessions and acceptance of use of recreational mind altering substances on the premises.
14
Your aunt was right. I taught mental health policy in America in social work programs—and my views what your aunt said to you.
The social conservatives wanted, for whatever reason, what we have now—a mess.
4
@Paul Dezendorfbecause it relieves them of all responsibility for others. Care of those beyond their nuclear family is to be avoided at all costs.
Residents find it difficult to reconcile the city's liberal politics with the misery that surrounds them? The misery is the result of the policies and programs that the politics has promoted, namely the laissez-faire attitude toward drug use and petty crime, and the daily hand-outs. Provide it and they will come.
18
Needless to say there is the mythical dream about California as a place for second chances. Liberal, warm and sunny, a cornucopia of abundance in everything. Endless movies, books and songs that end with protagonists driving west into the imagined sunset. A long history of gold rushes that sprout unexpected opportunities. A place where the future always seems to be in the process of being invented.
If you are despairing, curious, grasping for chance or change where else would you go?
4
I wonder - has anyone identified any connection between San Francisco's homelessness problem and its notoriety as a sanctuary city for undocumented/illegal immigrants? Are migrants a significant portion of the homeless population? Do successful migrants contribute to the competition for housing and escalating rents, pushing lower-income locals onto the streets? I don't know, I'm just asking.
8
@PWRMost of the homeless I have observed appear to be from the United States. Most are white.
5
Actually, the truth is the reverse of your comment.
Immigrants have a higher rate of registering patents; lower rate of public service use; and in general raise the American bowling average (to use an old metaphor) by being—are you ready for the shock?—better Americans than the home-grown kind.
We have show ourselves in the foot by restricting immigration. (My comment has nothing to do with illegals from Central America—which, by the way, dump far more money into Social Security and taxes than they receive as benefits!)
A lot of countries hope that we ban immigration; reduce the rule of law and civil society; and back dictatorships around the world—and instead send in the Marines and invade more countries. If China and others can keep Trump in power for ten years, the US is unlikely to ever return to the position that we occupied as leader of the free world.
Welcome to the post-American world.
5
It has NOTHING to to with illegal/legal immigration. There are none of those people on the street. They are too busy working hard!
5
What we need to do is create a "community based" solution. And by "community based" I mean send them to the community where they were born. These people are exported to cities from all over the country where we then have to deal with their issues. If every community were responsible for their kids, they'd invest a lot more in in education and mental health. Why should cities be the only ones to have to deal with the failure of other communities to take care of their own. By sending these people back, there also wouldn't be clusters like this in San Francisco. Just like tech clusters make those companies stronger, homeless clusters make the problem worse.
7
We went to a conference in San Francisco this past Spring and took CalTrain down to San Carlos to have lunch with a relative. We managed to find seats that weren't right next to people who were sleeping and smelled like they hadn't had clean clothes for days, only to be befriended by a fellow who was looking for room in a house, and had a subsidy to pay for it. His pitch to us was, if we knew someone who would rent him a room, and he had a subsidy so the funds were good, he could just buy a trailer and live in a parking lot and split the subsidy with the landlord, who wouldn't really have him living there.
We explained that we were just visiting and didn't have a place or know anyone that did, but it left us thinking that the problems of people living on the streets are more than just no money for housing - it's a mix of skills with no employers, drug and mental behaviors that make steady employment unlikely, and opportunities for scammers.
I hope that the law allowing the 150 or so who chew up 74% of the cities assistance budget, and I'm guessing that's for hospitalizations, frees up funds to help others, but I think more will need to be done. Probably the best thing would be for the Convention Center to suffer vacancies from groups whose members are tired of stepping over bodies every morning on their way to their meetings.
5
My wife and I visited San Francisco about two years ago.
As native New Yorkers, we thought we knew what homelessness was. The conditions we saw there were beyond anything we have ever seen here in NYC, over the last 40+ years.
While the Tenderloin was the worst of what we saw, there were homeless everywhere. In the Haight Ashbury and Golden Gate park area where we stayed, there were streets where we had to walk around makeshift lean-tos with dogs and garbage and waste (canine and human) everywhere. The tourist trap Fisherman's Wharf, had groups of homeless on benches sunning themselves midday with their shopping carts full of who knows what gathered around them. We were stunned and not in a good way. My tough as nails NY wife was actually scared to walk down many of the streets at night.
It is a shame. But for the homeless, SF is a beautiful city. As it is now, we dont see ourselves returning.
37
Given that San Francisco has the greatest income inequality ion the country, much of this is to be expected. It is exacerbated by the lassez faire attitude toward drugs and mental illness and this is what you get. One of the most obvious problems is that the environmental regulations incent developers to build only luxury housing. When you have to put solar panels on the roofs of everything you build, those increased costs mean developers will need to charge a lot more for the housing.
2
No, it’s greedy builders and investment properties, and people making a ridiculous amount of money in tech. It has nothing to do with solar panels, lol.
1
Sacramento County is rapidly deteriorating as well. I am beginning to see entire stretches of streets with boarded, vacant businesses, offices, shopping and strip malls, littered with the "Walking Dead". trash, shopping carts, plywood windows and weeds The streets all over are becoming gravel pits from disrepair. These are not neighborhoods that have always had a difficult time, these are areas that use to be major hubs of commerce, shopping and transportation. The only housing being built in my area of Fair Oaks is high property tax infill spurred by an individual or family that sold a good plot of land in the suburbs where 25 to 400 500K Plus homes can be crammed into for developer profits and county budgets. WHY? I ASK is where is the VISION anymore in this country. Why are we not looking at these areas for redevelopment. Why cant we see the potential for multi-use areas of affordable housing for the average person, seniors, vets, low-income coupled with retail, recreation (parks and green spaces) WHY? Its jobs, its security, its sanity, its happiness for residents. Some days I want to scream, but who even cares. I think about the sheltered cash that corps. have from tax cuts, loopholes( dont think we even know where it is at this point) that should be in communities. SMH. The worse it gets, the more people just shut the doors, ignore it, live with it. Heck, I see that on my own street! I see "the point of no return" very very close. We need REAL leaders STAT.
14
I’m highly aware that the harm reduction approach is controversial, but why can’t we learn from places like Insite, located in one of the most heavily concentrated areas of drug use in Vancouver, BC? The clinic does not supply any drugs, medical staff are present to provide addiction treatment, mental health assistance, and first aid in the event of an overdose or wound. Last year, 2151 overdoses occurred with no fatalities.
In spite of great strides, mental illness continues to be highly stigmatized. Mental illness is an ILLNESS, just as cancer and heart disease are illnesses. One commenter’s solution is to put them into jobs involving manual labor. If only it were that simple. Would you recommend manual labor for patients suffering from debilitating “legitimate” illnesses? Until the mentally ill are seen as unique individuals battling the horrors of a mind that’s betrayed them, requiring the same level of care provided to those with physical diseases, no politician, Democrat or republican, will step forward and risk his or her political capital on this disenfranchised group.
5
Thank you! So far you are the only person who has talked about implementing changes that attempt to help the homeless & drug addicts. For others it is about the failure of Democratic city government & the extreme filth that result of their lifestyle. These people are the walking dead & they must disappear. These people need HELP. They are our fellow human beings & they are suffering. So again, thank you. I hope some will read your comment and have some compassion. I doubt it, but at least you tried.
1
I lived in San Francisco 50 years ago upon returning from Vietnam. I loved it, there was an exciting music scene and culture galore. Living at 47th & Judah I spent my days going to school at the UC Medical Center and UC-Berkeley and nights at museums, restaurants and the various ballrooms. It was fun and mostly safe. Along with a couple of other people I helped start the first Methadone Center at the corner of Hyde & Eddy, a half-block from the gist of this story. We made a huge difference, we had almost a thousand former heroin addicts on our program and we cut the property crime rate in the City by a HUGE amount, a fact attested to in budget hearings by Sheriff Richard Hongisto who recognized the link between crime and ILLEGAL drugs (a rare bit of knowledge from an elected official no matter where they were) and who testified before the SF Board of Supervisors that they would be crazy to cut our budget....but they did. As always, favorite ways to spend money came first with politicians....at every level of office. My point in all of the above IS - until we have an enlightened attitude about the place and legality of drug use in this country WE WILL NEVER effectively deal with the health ravages, social effects and homelessness due to drugs. I urged drug policy change 50 years ago and here we still are mired in the mess we have created for ourselves because of the stupidity and manipulative electoral behavior of our so-called leaders. IT'S REALLY TIME FOR A CHANGE!!
7
I grew up frequently visiting SF and have fond memories of the city. But I was there a year ago and the homelessness and filth problem was so bad that I really have no desire to ever return. I should have just stayed the whole time in Napa. Very sad.
7
SF residents have to thank their elected politicians for this. Every "initiative" has been met with an increased influx of homeless, and progressivist activists have blocked every single attempt at solving the problem. We already know that spending more money is not going to help.
12
I lived in SF off and on since I was a kid. Today I'm 63 and after many years of telling myself SF was a great city to live in last year I sold the house there (for a small fortune) and moved north across the Golden Gate. I just couldn't fool myself anymore that it's a great city. It's a mess. And an expensive one at that.
25
The Tenderloin has always been like this, but it has gotten worse. My first visit in 1999, I saw people shooting up and pimps fighting with a prostitute.
Market Street from 7th until around 10th was only somewhat better - basically part of the Tenderloin - until, under Mayor Ed Lee’s tax breaks and promises to clean it up, Twitter, Uber, Dolby and others moved in and the rent-a-room hovels (and unfortunately a non-profit providing art facilities to the disabled and homeless) moved out. It was a scar across the heart of the city. With the clean-up and push to please the new residents, the additional people seem to have been added into the Tenderloin’s woes.
Homelessness has always been a problem in San Francisco but, as other comments have said, there are many homeless people in every neighborhood now. The city government moves the tent cities and they are soon re-established.
There were rumors of busloads of homeless residents being shipped off to Las Vegas and other cities a few years ago - a policy which NY reportedly inflicted on CA a few years before.
It’s sad to say but you become almost immune to the human misery that surrounds you. It assaults your senses when you first arrive.
There should be something that can be done for these people. Mental illness and drug problems seem to be a common denominator for the majority.
5
Re-visiting San Francisco two year ago with my family, I was actually pleased to walk through the gritty - i.e. "dirty" Tenderloin District and feel like there was still a part of the old San Francisco has not been gentrified and sanitized. I visited San Francisco often in the 1970's and 1980's when much more of the City resembled the Tenderloin District - the whole Market Street comes to mind with the strip joints and XXX theatres. Back then, Boston had its "Combat Zone" and New York City had "Times Square" so I was well acquainted with walking through some of the seedier sections of town.
7
Have we learned nothing during the past 100 years of drug prohibition and mass incarceration? Locking people up for non-violent drug offenses does not stop heroin addiction, nor the societal wreckage it causes. Harm reduction, such as being experimented with in Vancouver, is a more rational approach to the problem. Junkies prefer clean needles, so offer needle exchange locations where they are required to trade a dirty needle with a clean one. That removes the problem of 100,000 needles being thrown away in the streets. Offer prescription heroin, such as they are in Vancouver, to those addicts who fail other treatments. Offer healthcare to lower disease outbreaks. Preventative action is more cost-effective than reactive actions. Why won't we try this in America? Because we are apparently so stupid we are utterly incapable of learning from our own mistakes, and we are at this point too hard-headed to change.
3
San Francisco, long a patronage city, is governed by wolves in sheeps' clothing.
In the name of kindness, SF gives addicts free needles that can be freely discarded on the streets.
In the name of kindness, SFPD looks the other way when driving by passed-out addicts sprawled on the sidewalk, needles protruding from legs, arm, hand, or neck.
In the name of kindness, (or to serve relentlessly inane bureaucratic processes), SFPD did not timely search a "homeless" tent after being shown a video of exchange of a large bag of white powder there.
In the name of kindness, the courts allow addicts back on the streets without rehab.
In the name of kindness, SF and its previous supervisors proposed unaccountable injection centers, burdening over-burdened neighborhoods. When Governor Brown wisely vetoed that kind proposal, kind SF leaders howled, vowing to push another kind injection center bill through the legislature.
In the name of kindness, gubernatorial candidate Newsom cheers them on, expecting we will vote for him.
Is it any wonder that the Democrats fail nationwide, now that they've killed SF with kindness?
15
Born and raised in San Francisco... Lived here most of my life... Disgusted and depressed with what has happened to this great city...
For those who wring their hands that somehow the city government has misplaced priorities, let's talk money. The city spends about $350M annually on various homeless programs. With a total homeless population stuck at 7500, that is $46,667 for each homeless resident!
Oh, and about those 264,000 needles that the city pays to pick up each year, that is a self inflicted wound - the majority are given out by the city!
San Francisco is facing a total failure of governance, which starts with a failure of government leaders to be both honest with the citizens and accountable for the jobs they are hired and/or elected to do.
33
I recently moved to San Francisco from NYC (job transfer) and I miss NYC dearly for all the reasons outlined in the 300+ comments below. What I can't get over is that people actually visit SF for tourism. Last week I ran into a group of Brazilian tourists in my neighborhood and they excitedly asked me for advice on "must see" SF sites. I really drew a blank and gently responded with "have you ever been to NYC?"; I felt bad for them that they unwittingly spent their hard earned money to travel to a city like SF. My neighbor told he likes to send tourist to the Tenderloin since "slum tourism" is a trendy thing now, but I'm morally opposed to this type of tourism be it Mumbai or San Francisco. The reality is SF will never have a turnaround like NYC experienced because the leadership pool on the west coast (mayor, board of supervisors, police, courts, DA, etc.) lack the organization, drive, experience, etc. to deal with big city issues and effect meaningful change. I think they are all great people and want to help, but they are more suited for smaller municipalities - not big city issues that rival the issues of developing nations.
17
@carmennyc
There is nothing in San Francisco for a tourist to see and enjoy? When comments like this are being made, the discussion has gone completely off the rails.
The biggest problem with SF tourism is that people don't see *enough* of the city, and just shuttle among the obvious tourist traps between downtown and Fisherman's Wharf.
Just amazing how an article clearly labeled as being about A SINGLE CITY BLOCK has spun completely out of control, and has of course turned in the thoroughly exhausting, shallow rhetoric that counts for political thought these days. (Not including you, Carmen, in that remark.)
San Francisco is beautiful AND it has problems. Why is it so difficult for people to hold these two thoughts in their head?
3
I lived on the border of Civic Center, SoMa, & Tenderloin for a few years. Having to walk by this on a daily basis was both alarming and disheartening. It really changed my perspective on the city I loved and wanted to call my home. The homeless problem is just as bad if not worse than when I left 6 years ago not to mention the rental/housing market...but that's another issue.
15
In California St. Ronnie is known as the Father of Homelessness. We had several state hospitals where the mentally ill were housed. When new drugs came on the market that alleviated the symptoms the Republicans closed those hospitals to save money. But as soon as those who needed the drugs felt better, they stopped taking the drugs.
There are also the working homeless who can not afford the rents,they live out of their cars or in some cases find a place they can camp, they are not a crime problem, they are the low pay low skill workers that we use every day.
14
@David Underwood
Mental hospitals were closed under Governor Jerry Brown with the approval of the Democratic-controlled legislature, along with lawsuits from liberal organizations and subsequent judicial decisions which made it increasingly difficult to hold persons in hospitals against their will.
2
The best research I have encountered is that homelessness is not a homelessness issue but a community issue. I do not mean civic community but personal community. When a homeless person is drawn into a community that help and support them the main reason for their homelessness diminishes and many finally escape from the streets.
It is easy for us to insist on more housing and more law enforcement and more money will eventually fix the problem. But until we are willing to open our lives and homes to these people we can’t hope for significant gains. And there are some who are doing this, but they mostly come from the same kind of communities; faith based.
When a person knows that they will have a couch or spare room to sleep in if the bottom falls out of their lives, homelessness is undermined. When those with drug addictions or mental health challenges have a caring community that will get them help and support them through treatment and help them thrive post treatment their chances of living contributory community-positive lives increases significantly.
So how do civic, state and federal governments develop policies that increase authentic community, and couch-level care for others? The answer to this question will improve communities for everyone.
4
@phil - My older brother starting drinking when he was 15 and started hard drugs shortly after that. Our home life was basically very calm and peaceful. My other 4 siblings and I all did well. But he went off the deep end. Nothing we or our parents did could reel him back in. We tried again and again, including opening our home to him. But he never seriously tried to break his addictions and rarely held down a secure job. He would often just leave, preferring the company of his fellow addicts living on the streets. He died of a heroin overdose at 40.
16
What a timely piece - just yesterday while pulling out of a parking garage into an alley between Mission and Market, my 10- and 13-year-old daughters and I were treated to a full view of two people fornicating in broad daylight -- nothing left to the imagination, to say the least. I thought we had seen it all in the past between open drug use, people relieving themselves, and thieves running from the Market Street Starbucks. This was certainly a new low for our family visits to the city -- and unfortunately overshadowed the lovely afternoon matinee just two blocks away (not to mention some conversations I hadn't been expecting to have just then). Please do better, San Francisco!
75
Day after day we see The Fed & Trump agencies brag about economic statistics as they ignore the facts on the ground & as the wealth & income gap grows worse & worse. This is an excellent story.
10
For all California..this problem lays squarely on Gavin Newsome. When he was mayor of San Francisco he doubled the amount of homeless. Please do not vote for him. He's just a junior Brown.
12
That is absolutely NOT the truth. He was a great mayor. This goes much further back. Other states exporting their homeless to California via free greyhound buses. No health services and no mental hospitals for the poor. America is a radically bad place for people which poverty is their unfortunate lot. Oh, and by they way Regan didn’t help the situation.
7
The homeless situation here is SF has reached critical proportions -- and I do not believe that more housing is the answer. Most of these people are mentally ill and have addictions issues. But offering free housing is like a mating call to the disenfranchised everywhere -- Hey! San Fran is offering free housing! There's no way the thousands of homeless camping here are local. As rich as the city is, it is overwhelming -- as is the crime, which may or not be due to the homeless but has seemed to go hand-in-hand with it. But there is definitely an air of neglect in SF. I think the city has to round up and send the non-locals to wherever they call home, to family, and spread the problem to less overburdened municipalities. Yes, there would be outcry but the city has reached a breaking point. It's not fair to the residents who pay a fortune to live here and it's not fair to the homeless, who go without help. It's insane that people have to hose away human feces from their stoops in the morning, that needles have to be picked up from playgrounds, that the police do nothing about men masterbating on the sidewalk in broad daylight, that we live waiting for the random physical attack as the crazies get crazier. And that's all happening in the GOOD neighborhood. Yet every candidate has the same solution -- free housing. We passed that point years and thousands of homeless ago. It's time for different measures.
22
Democratic party only rule in California is great or what?!
Please stop with the fawning coverage of Brown, Newsom, etc.
Hold them accountable for high taxes, high home prices, high energy prices, poor performing K-12 schools, disproportionate out of state university enrollments, water supply scarcity, endemic homelessness and illegal immigration, unfunded state employee benefit liabilities.
18
and a booming economy!
2
It would help if people seeking to suck off this area for cash moved away, as they surely will once the economic well dries up. Neoliberal policies and new lame .com's who HAVE to be in this area, spoiler alert: no they don't, is what has caused this.
The new Mayor who barely got in, similar to Trump, wants to conserve homeless people... remind you of anyone? No citizenship no rights, no home, no rights, under the guise of "mental health", which includes "drug addiction", now apparently if you are sick not by choice, or addicted, not by choice, you have no rights. If you are seen lying in the street the local non-emergency line 311, will send SFPD to arrest or harass you - Just look at their twitter @311, and in terms of the flavor of the locals, just look at who tweets @311, ZERO compassion. SF: Us and the other. London Breed just came out against Prop C which would tax corporations which make 50million/revenue a year or more to help build housing/infrastructure to help the homeless, these are companies ALREADY GETTING THE TRUMP TAX BREAK, and she SAID SHE IS AGAINST SUCH A POLICY. A woman who was raised in public housing does not want to tax corporatists, what a time to be alive.
7
The result of liberalism.
11
I live in the heart of San Francisco in an area called the Duboce Triangle. I used to walk everywhere, but because of the filth and crime I now take Muni whenever possible. It's disgusting, degrading and downright depressing. It makes me want to barf!
27
@Linda Goldfine
I know SF residents who stopped taking the Muni because of all the homeless riding on it. One of the reasons--or so I've heard--that Uber is booming.
2
‘Ms. Breed has made unannounced inspections of neighborhoods, sometimes carrying a broom.
On a Saturday morning in September she walked past a woman on Hyde Street slouched on the pavement and preparing to plunge a syringe into her hand. “Put that away,” said a police officer accompanying the mayor.”’
‘Put that away”?!? That tells you everything you need to know right there. The mayor walks by a person injecting illegal drugs while sprawled openly on a city street, needle in hand, and the only response is, “Put that away”? That is truly astounding.
92
@Pde666 U took the words right out of my mouth--I had the EXACT same thought when I read that.
4
To those assigning blame to Reagan for "emptying the mental institutions," I encourage you to read the timeline that Bay Area PBS broadcaster KQED assembled -- clearly there were more factors involved:
https://www.kqed.org/news/11209729/did-the-emptying-of-mental-hospitals-...
8
How did Rudy Giuliani clean up the homeless problem in NYC? He put them all on a bus and sent them to San Francisco.
18
Good article. So true and courageous to make such a report. Cleanup is last resort. Necessary but last. The elephant in all this is the incredible cost of living, the high uncontrolled rents. The greedheads have taken over. No one wants to talk about this. Drugs, whether using or dealing, will always be a symptom until the opportunity to live, defecate, and urinate decently, is implemented.
4
The Tenderloin should be leveled and an American Haussmann appointed to turn this area into what it should be.
Part of the $240 million spent on homeless programs should be spent on turning a ghost town in the Mohave into the shelter for addict and street popper.
Street pooping and sleeping in the stree while intoxicated should be punished by cutting off public assistance, and a one way bus ticket out of town.
Repeat offenders should be forced to clean the streets.
13
San Francisco is totally enabling a self destructive life style that greatly diminishes quality of life for the poor addict and the poor taxpayers that have to live there. The missing ingredient is discipline and the law. Giving homeless people and addicts “rights” is enabling them to sink lower. Bring back loitering laws and arrest people who defecate on the street. Stop sympathetic nonsense and solve the problem or will just get much worse. Make boundaries and stick to them or more unfortunate people will sink to very low places.
61
$70 million spent annually on street cleaning when city infrastructure and public transportation is crumbling. Just ask anyone who commutes on MUNI daily how unreliable and frustrating the city's public transportation is. Like middle-class Americans in national politics, middle-class residents in San Francisco are simply politically neglected. People tout SF's progressiveness, but a "progressive" city would never be complacent with marginalizing its poorest to a 10 by 5 block radius where they live in complete squalor. A "progressive" city would also do more to invest in its outdated infrastructure and public transportation for the benefit of its residents and tourists. Yet, it is seemingly obvious that local politicians only care about your voice when it comes to getting elected.
Sincerely, jaded Bay Area native who has lived in SF for the past 7 years
15
San Francisco is a strange but beautiful city. I was a resident for 11 years due to a job transfer. You have the techies telling granny to be careful when crossing the street because they will not stop for granny because they do not want to spill their lattes.
Then there are the homeless that are practically all downtown living on the sidewalks and pestering passers by for a dollar. It is no longer a quarter.
There are others that does not seem to care. I remember this person and his pooch stopping to get a smell of the beautiful flowers in the pots. The man saw his dog raise a hind legs and simply relieved itself in the beautiful flowers. This happened right around the corner from Macy's.
It is a shame that beautiful San Francisco is looking so run down due to the homeless that move to SF because it is a tolerant place and the weather is one of the best in our country. I hope someday things will improve. I still love SF.
114
@Tonjo, the thing about the dog peeing on the flowers is a universal phenomenon, unfortunately. And I say that as a dog owner. I have seen owners look the other way while their dog lifts a leg in retail stores. My advice is never buy anything displayed lower than about two feet from the floor if the store allows dogs inside! Consider everything in the lower shelves of pet supply stores to be tainted with pee. Especially on the aisle-end diplays.
3
@Tonjo Perfect description: "a strange but beautiful city" -- so eloquently stated.
2
@Tonjo Been there once, stayed a week and will NEVER go back.
1
"For many who live here it’s difficult to reconcile San Francisco’s liberal politics with the misery that surrounds them."
You CAN"T reconcile them - one is the cause of the other! By definition irreconcilable!
9
A little non-cop tough love would go a long way. Example: "needle exchange" (distribution) began in response to an AIDS crisis before the kids melting into the sidewalk were born. Hundreds of thousands of needles passed out. End this practice, and maybe there won't be needles discarded everywhere (really, all over SF).
6
Despite all the problems described in this article, more than 50 major American cities have higher murder rates than San Francisco.
And for those wanting to put a partisan political slant on this, more than a few have GOP administrations and supported Trump in 2016.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate...
4
This is a pretty accurate picture of what it's like to walk in this area. As a forty year resident of SF and the Bay Area I can say this is not a recent phenomenon, but it has gotten worse.
Under Governor Ronald Reagan, California closed all it's mental hospital facilities. Essentially without a "plan B". So now the mentally ill and marginally functional people live on the streets. I don't favor institutionalized custodianship (incarceration) but we (California) have not come up with an alternate solution. You can try and ignore the situation, but this is the result.
7
We have similar issues and discussions in Portland and Seattle, although that area in SF is pretty bad. Our family made the mistake of walking through there on a recent trip and had a face to face homeless guy screaming at us out of nowhere. Luckily no violence but it hasn't left me. So the problem is known. Homeless addicts. Doesn't really matter at this point how they got there. Yes, we need to improve access to mental health, support living wage jobs, make education affordable. But what will happen today, this afternoon that will change the circumstances of the homeless to get them off the streets tonight? Nothing. Empathy and derision do nothing. We have to agree that homelessness is not a valid choice. Some people want to be homeless and some do not. If someone does not want to be homeless then society (government) needs to provide housing, food, addiction services. If they want to stay on the street, society has to be willing to force them into those services. And it needs to be paid for through some sort of tax or public fee. It seems that we know what needs to happen. We just don't have the will to pay for it or to recognize the need. There are long term solutions, short term solutions and urgent care. We are at the point where we need emergency care triage. We wouldn't treat a heart attack victim with a new healthier diet low in fat. We have to treat the injured as they are now, while still trying to change the long term causes.
7
This has been going on for over 30 years.
SF spends $240 million a year on homelessness programs. The problem just gets worse as that number has climbed. Where is the will and imagination to get the junkies out of the city and the mentally ill off the streets?
Where is the resolve to punish and deter street criminals?
Or are all of these problems just excuses to feed a gluttonous political patronage machine?
And BTW:
The last Republican Mayor was elected in 1960.
The last Republican member of the Board of Suprrvisors was elected in 1973.
The San Francisco Democratic Machine owns these debacles.
21
Are 5 portable bathrooms enough? There should be two in every block of Tenderloin. And then enforce the law and make sure that homeless people use it. I'm talking about good old porta potty, not the fancy and the expensive, self-cleaning bathrooms that you have to read instructions to use.
2
I live in West Oakland and work in the Tenderloin. The homelessness is very bad in Oakland. From what I can tell all of these people existed before but they had a cheap place to “live” or squat. These were not glamorous lodgings but they were at least off the street. Most of the crack houses have been upgraded and sold for $800,000. Condos are being built where there used to be warehouses. But the people who used to live in them now live on the street because there is no where from them to go. The Bay Area has always been a haven for “alternative living” but now we have to reconcile the fact that people are moving here for a less alternative life. Tech is here and these are not radical people. Bay Area real estate is scarce and therefore expensive. This is the cause and effect of change.
8
https://www.goodjobsfirst.org/subsidy-tracker
I include this URL -- note the title can be misleading but it is the SUBSIDY TRACKER data at this site which explains a lot about the direction of the US and why/how our taxes are not only paying the bill for extremely wealthy corporations but also how it is at the expense of cities/towns/counties all over this country. If one looks at this website, one can see there is PLENTY of money but it is not going toward health, education, basic services, police, fire, waste management and so on. It's going to banks...tech giants, Amazon, extraction industry, and foreign companies. OUR tax dollars. This is a big reason why cities have pathetically low budgets to help citizens. SUBSIDY is a euphemism for corporate welfare and it is time for this issue to have some high wattage light shone on it.
6
The article should have been more precise. Hyde Street runs north up through Russia Hill, and has some very nice stretches. Like it is the top of the hill for the descent down the floral, colorful Lombard street (and top of the hill for the sharp drop that is Filbert). Those parts are off my running route I follow when visiting San Francisco. Probably the title of the article should have said Hyde in the Tenderloin, or have the body of the article elaborate further, along the lines of calling out Hyde and Eddy/Hyde and Turk.
4
At first blush you can think, well liberals have allowed their streets in Portland, Maine and Oregon, Denver, and San Francisco and other cities to fester. Waste and people occupying the same space. But what has actually happened? 55,000 female veterans are on the street, and thousands of vets from Vietnam Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan and every other conflict, we had, let people slip through social services. They are no longer people. Our perception. Mental institutions have closed. The war on drugs as other wars has been lost. We distance ourselves from the problems at hand.
There is only one way to win any battle, you must provide overwhelming forces. Congress has been underwhelming for years. Failing tribes of politicians.
315
@David J this is what results when common sense is disregarded. Law Enforcement can not allow drug dealing or people living on the streets. The Mentally ill must be taken care of and the lower income individuals must have job training and affordable housing during transition.
If an individual has no where to go and no one in SF to stay with it makes sense for them to move to a city they can afford. Allowing people to live on the streets is a huge threat to public safety and a serious public health issue.
5
@David J
Yes! You're right to call out those who say this highly visible wave of human suffering is caused by "liberal" permissiveness. Recall that Ronald Reagan gutted the state's mental hospital system so the mentally ill "could be cared for in their own communities." But there's insufficient money at every level, including the federal, to provide meaningful help. Just housing the homeless before they become totally hopeless and helpless would be a huge start. We can do better than this!
7
@David J;
Nonsense!!!
55,000 female veterans are living on the street?
Please cite your source.
1
I walked through the Tenderloin last Wednesday night. It was cleaner than I've ever seen it, and so was the Powell Street BART Station.
4
My wife and I recently visited SF - my first trip there in 20 years. I came away from the experience mostly remembering the stench of urine that pervades a large portion or the downtown - also called the Tenderloin where filth and smells accompany the streets where many high cost hotels, restaurants and department stores are located. I came away wondering how a city with so much wealth could ignore the homeless, the very poor and their own pride in the city.
19
Just to clarify for those who don’t know, of the $300 million spent in homelessness, about 240 million pays the rent of people who would otherwise be homeless. 60 million is left for the approximately 7000 on the street.
3
A message to those rubbing their hands in glee at seeing some of the shortcomings/struggles of "liberal" San Francisco; it's still a wonderful, eclectic, vibrant city! A city that many people love and others would love to have the opportunity to experience.
4
Seems they took the problems with NYC's 42nd Street area circa 1970's/80's (see HBO's The Deuce for an whiff of what the area was like back then) and transplanted it to San Francisco. I don't know what the solution for San Francisco might be but I'll bet it will take a certain kind of political and hardhearted ruthlessness to do it.
2
@John
It's much more disgusting than 42nd Street in the 70's and 80's. I saw the comedian Colin Quinn perform at the Strand Theater in SF last December. The Strand is only a few blocks from the TL. (You should see the alley behind the Strand. It is truly horrifying even in the middle of the afternoon.) Colin Quinn spent much of his performance discussing how horrific the streets of SF are even to a hardened New Yorker like himself.
7
Poverty and homelessness are not pretty. But shoveling the homeless to another corner doesn’t solve anything.
@Zejee
The question that needs to be asked is whether the residents of SF have the right not to experience crime, public defecation and rampant drug abuse. Clearly SF supervisors don;t give them that right.
San Francisco is for Everyone.
Living in SF has always demanded fortitude and resolve.
The endemic shabbiness is part of the appeal.
If "sharing" the city with the unwashed masses is challenging, there are tamer options to the south, the north and across the bay.
SF, with all its defects, is a 7mile x 7mile gem on the Pacific, full stop.
4
@RA LA - I gather that "everyone" includes heroin, crack and cocaine addicts dying in the streets.
Have you ever thought about the money involved? "Follow the money."
Every dollar spent by these addicts ends up in the pockets of the the most violent criminal organizations in the world, the central American drug cartels and the Taliban. Those dollars are used to buy guns and ammunition, to kill Afghan schoolgirls who want nothing more than an education, to rape and murder women all across central America, and to bribe and corrupt police and politicians in those same countries.
This is what addicts support when they buy their fix.
Are these the people we should have "fortitude and resolve" to live next to?
I am entirely in favor of massive support to those homeless who are not drug addicts, who are prepared to contribute positively to society and just need a "leg up", a clean place to stay and help finding a job.
But to those who have been funding the Taliban and the cartels, I say they belong incarcerated, forcibly weaned from their addictions.
By the way, I'm an S.F. native, no longer living there.
1
I first moved to San Francisco in 1970, renting a flat in the inner Sunset near Golden Gate Park.
The City was idyllic compared to today's filthy and depressing nightmare.
By 1977 everyone I knew wanted to leave town because the prevailing vibe among residents was a selfish competition with other residents over parking spaces and a me first attitude.
The following years were a steady deterioration after I left that same year.
For a blessedly beautiful city like San Francisco to meet this sad fate is beyond belief and can only spell doom for the future!
6
@michael kittle
Isn't this a bit over-dramatic?
The City as a whole is not a "filthy and depressing nightmare." The Inner Sunset, for example, has probably not changed very much since you lived there.
It ain't Southern France, but hey.
2
@Pete....In 1971 I noticed that the tracks on the N Judah street car line next to my flat were worn unevenly and every time a street car passed we could feel the vibration inside our home.
I called the main phone number of the Municipal Railway for help and was shocked when the phone was answered by the Muni director, James Woods who answered the phone himself.
I explained my concern to Director Woods and he said he would look into it. The next day a work crew showed up, tore up the worn track, and welded in the new rails so they would be seamless and vibration free.
I can't imagine this true story repeating itself in today's San Francisco!
@Pete...reports from the SFChron over the last year consistently describe various parts of the city to be filthy and unsafe including this one in The Times. Witness the photo of the worker in a space suit cleaning the sidewalk.
The article describes a shop keeper hosing human waste from the sidewalk in front of her store before she can open.
Overly dramatic? I think not!
I don't see one political party causing people to develop mental illness and drug addictions. I don't agree with finger pointing while not taking local positive actions to support what we say matters. Anyone, Republican, old, wealthy, atheist, Christian, young, middle class, etc., can take steps to implement solutions giving these people help and hope. To further enjoy our neighborhoods again and by extension our country. Private local citizens can identify solutions and take positive steps. It's our free country. I travel regularly. These problems aren't isolated to urban areas. I'm also shocked by the significant open drug addiction/use in small towns. Republican towns. And the burglaries to support drug habits...ahh, and opioids. Who can we thank for those? If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Let's not demonize each other. Get off the blame game. There's no future there.
1
Unfortunately, the courts have to realize that people lose their right to use public spaces if they behave in ways that make public spaces unusable for everyone else. Vagrancy laws are derided as "criminalizing poverty," but as a practical matter all communities have to set minimum standards of behavior and self-care or else they quickly become unlivable.
66
So where are the homeless supposed to go?
3
Concerning, frightening, AND a public health issue. Note the spread of typhus now in Los Angeles, traced to homeless camps and human waste. If this issue is positioned as what it is - public health emergency - do you think we might finally get some action? Some clear thought? It sure shouldn’t continue to be partisan or political. It’s about health. And these problems don’t remain confined to people sitting on the streets, living in the ravines.
11
Homelessness is a problem in more places than just liberal cities. In the Bay Area, the city of Albany, is a pretty conservative city, considering it borders on Berkeley. Albany had a homeless encampment out near the bay on the site of an old dump. There is nothing else out there and the people living there bothered no one. Albany decided to "clean it up" and expelled everyone, with no housing alternative in place (Conservative policy). Now there are encampments in Albany much closer to neighborhoods, and in the neighboring cities, Berkeley, El Cerrito, and Richmond, where there was previously little to NO encampments and/or aggressive panhandling. Now, they're everywhere, thanks to Albany's Conservative policies.
5
@M how pare for the course: conservatives making a non problem into a real one. What scandals were they trying to hide at the time?
2
For everyone blaming this on liberal policies, know that much of it began when Ronald Reagan was governor and signed the Landerman Petris Short (LPS) Act, making it impossible to institutionalize mentally without their consent. Mentally ill people on the street were a part of life when I was growing up in the San Francisco area. The numbers are greater now; this can has been kicked down the road too many times ..
4
Use the city police to make the homeless continuously move so that shelters and rehab centers are preferable to their life on the street. Ask San Franciscan's to support homeless support centers. The vast majority of homeless are drug addicts or mentally ill. They need structure. Even prison can help a homeless person get their life back into order. By leaving them on the street, no one wins.
3
It seems clear that the City's goal is to contain this cesspool rather than clean it up.There are a large number of mental hospitals all over the state that Ronald Regan gladly closed as governor when the ACLU sued the state for involutarily incarcerating their in habitants.I'm certainly not for for passing/enforcing draconian drug laws and incarcerating addicts in overcrowded prisons, but to possess,sell or use these drugs IS against the law. Could't we reopen these long shuttered mental hospitals (call them Rehabilitation Centers?) and force these addicts to withdraw? Something must be done to cleanup and make our streets clean and aafe again.
8
And then what? Back on the streets?
1
As a graduate of UC Hastings College of the Law, a.k.a. UC Tenderloin, and former resident of its student housing known as Hastings House, I am well acquainted with the neighborhood that is the subject of this story. For both facilities are located within a couple of blocks from 300 Hyde Street. Although I graduated from UC Tenderloin four decades ago, I try to visit the neighborhood whenever I'm in the City on business or otherwise, including for my 40th reunion last year. Therefore I can personally attest that nothing has changed materially in the neighborhood, as described in this story, during those four decades, with the exception of the law school's significant structural expansion across Hyde Street.
Why, one might sensibly ask, would I want to return as often as I have to a neighborhood qua toilet, needle dumping ground, hangout for the unhinged and home of the homeless? Because I learned while living there more than just how to enrich myself legally. I also saw that beneath all that profound poverty, drug abuse, mental illness and prostitution were real human beings, some of whom could be unbelievably kind and thoughtful, while others could be unspeakably mean and selfish. But most of the latter was merely a survival mechanism in what for them is indeed a cold, cruel world.
In any case, I am grateful for the exposure to life in the Tenderloin that my law school years afforded. It helped inform both my law practice and my understanding of the human condition.
19
@Jamie Nichols, University of the Streets or AKA the School of Hard Knocks. An alumni none of us every desire to become.
@Jamie Nichols - About the "unbelievably kind and thoughtful" human beings who use heroin, crack and cocaine -
Every dollar that they spend on their drugs go straight back to the most depraved criminal organizations in the world, the Taliban and the central American drug cartels. Their $$$ pays for the arms and ammunition those criminal gangs use to kill schoolgirls in Afghanistan and to launch campaigns of rape and murder across Central America.
Do I sound harsh? The truth is harsh.
My older brother was one of those homeless heroin addicts. I loved him and he was indeed a sweet guy. But I hated the violence he supported through his addiction. I will never forgive him for it. Unfortunately nothing I or my family could do to stop him. We tried hard.
5
I lived at Gough and Leavenworth for a number of years. This whole area is unlivable and reminiscent of Time Square in the 1970's - 80's.
Get rid of the SRO's (Single Residency Occupancy) already. Repeal their historic status.
Big, sweeping changes are needed. The city is at it's limits for housing and you have this whole major section of the city overrun and unlivable. I consider myself very liberal, but coddling the homeless and drug addicts has gone too far.
10
Coddling? Let’s demolish single room occupancies -to make more homeless. Then let’s tear down tent cities. That will solve the homeless problems.
1
@M.
A goodly number of SROS are mostly financed by local taxpayers to pay rent for the folks who party on the sidewalks. They are a part of the 40,000 plus housing units provided by the SF Department of Housing. It takes only 29 nights to become eligible for San Franciscan status and eligibility for a room. Many are owned (via City grants) and operated by the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Center. There are also federal and state parolee programs operating in some of the SROS, all operated by "non-profits".
2
@M
Gough and Leavenworth are parallel to each other, several blocks apart. You must have had one heck of a trust fund!!!
;-)
I've always wondered if we keep importing 2 million immigrants, (legal and illegal), annually, where do they all go and live? We are not building enough housing anywhere to provide shelter for all who may need it. Certainly not affordable. Not blaming immigrants just pointing out the realities of not enough housing. And no, people are not going to settle in the middle of no where, where there are no jobs and public transportation. Most are staying in the coastal, gateway cities. Where there are also growing needs for medical care, education and transport. How can we continue this excessive growth without addressing these apparent problems? It is going to continue and get worse in the near future. Perhaps SF and other cities should examine their sanctuary city policies. And we wonder why people are anti-immigration? We obviously can't even take care of our own or choose not to.
11
San Francisco has had its ups and downs, just like other cities.
First was the Spanish mission then the gold-mining, '49er boom town. The mines played out and the town became an agricultural transshipment port. There were lost souls back then no doubt about it. The port grew with the Far Eastern trade and finance, interrupted by the great earthquake and fire. World War One was good for business but the city fell on hard times during the Depression like just about every place else.
By the 1960s, San Fran was a kind of glamorous old wreck, done in by suburbia and cars. There have always been derelicts in the city, and in Seattle and LA and Dallas and New York City. The Pacific coast has the weather, nobody freezes to death on the streets. There are tent cities in Honolulu. Maybe not in Singapore or Beijing but there are worse things than destitution.
Before they closed forever, dockyards gave stevedoring work to those able to stand upright for a day, long enough to earn the price of a bottle of cheap whiskey. 'App' companies don't hire casual labor, there are no strawberries or peppers to pick in the countryside, either. The streets are where people go when there is no place else.
The street people are a failure of education; the time to intercept them is before they have begun to fall; when they are defecating and shooting up on the front sidewalk it's too late.
6
To be fair, in the “developing world,” you usually find a different sort of poverty or deprivation. The streets usually have much less if any heroin or other drugs or guns. It’s very different from “inner city” poverty in a “developed” country. And even within poorer countries urban poverty is different from rural poverty.
3
A good start would be to legalize heroin--create safe injection sites, including free heroin (it's pretty cheap, so it wouldn't cost that much), to registered users, then give them places to sleep and shower. I realize that many of these people are mentally ill, and would need deeper and more extensive care, but it would be a good start. It would also offer many of them the option to titrate off the drug over a period of time. Let's say it cuts the street-cleaning bill to $35 million, that leaves $35 million to pay for the program. It might attract more addicts to San Francisco, but this would be offset by other cities offering similar services.
Of course, even with 72 million opioid deaths nationwide this past year, politicians lack the will to do any of this. In 2014, two people in the United States died of Ebola, the country went haywire (in addition, nine people contracted the disease who didn't die). I don't understand it.
2
@Recharger
72,000, you added a few zeros amigo;
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/upshot/opioids-overdose-deaths-rising...
3
Will San Francisco roll up it's collective sleeves and problem solve this because people need help or will loss of tourism/convention revenue be the driver?
Many Americans like Mr. Leising are ignorant of the fact that many other countries in the world have a much much higher living standard than California.
“We are the most advanced country in the world,” Mr. Leising said.
The most advanced country is up for debate. Even in terms of technology, Japan is most likely the current leader. I have yet to see the SF tech companies create something to help the homelessness and drug problem in the city. I don't think an app will do it! Mr. Leising and many Americans need to travel more to see the real standard a city should have. Just go to the Nordic countries or Germany, Switzerland, Japan...to name a few. Then he will see what advanced looks like. SF is the third world compared to the said countries. Maybe if people travel will they then realize that it's worth fighting for a better city, rather than being delusional and content thinking America is the most advanced country.
Up next: California's Horrible Infrastructure...
576
@Edward Rooney I go to Japan all the time, at least once a year. It is a very impressive country. But I wouldn't say San Francisco or California look like third world country in comparison (or in comparison to comparable cities in Japan). That starts to sound like hyperbole. Nor in comparison to other advanced countries, like the UK, France, Ireland. That being said, I don't think the US is the best at every metric for measuring development/standard of living/ infrastructure.
3
@Edward Rooney Lets not pile on Mr. Leising, who is active in trying to improve his neighborhood. I took his comment as more as a figure of speech.
3
@Edward Rooney Agree on US not being "the most advanced country in the world". However, the US is, in aggregate, by far the wealthiest country in the world. The distribution or, better, very uneven distribution of that wealth has a lot to do with our country not being the most advanced in the world.
6
The Tenderloin district was a problem back in the 70's when I lived in San Francisco and nothing was done. It has only gotten worse with more people becoming homeless due to the high costs of rents and basic necessities. Homelessness is a problem across the US. There are 58,000 homeless in Los Angeles county, 12,112 in King County mostly in Seattle on and on across the US. San Diego has helped the homeless by putting up three industrial sized tents with shower facilities, kitchens, etc. San Francisco could try something at this point to help people.
9
San Francisco has become the Kolkata of the US (no offense to Kolkata/Calcutta). It's becoming more untenable to live here by the day, considering the astronomic prices for housing and open filth on the streets.
8
I just came back from SF for a weekend, and my first day walking around was spent dodging homeless and trying not to step in feces. It makes you wonder what services are being provided other than no hassle ownership of 15' sections of sidewalk. On a couple streets they had erected good condition camping tents. Interestingly these tents were in transitions to "clean" neighborhoods. Even the homeless have upper class residents in SF!
6
"Leising told us that the daily glimpses of desperation brought him to the brink of depression."
I say that bicycling through and living around this in the North Mission is "soul sucking."
'“It’s obvious that it’s a containment zone,” Mr. Leising said. “These behaviors are not allowed in other neighborhoods.'
Yep, TL, SOMA and North Mission are the Containment Zone. City officials deny that but the look in the SFPD Captain's eyes when we call him on it tells another story.
I've traveled the global south and seen nothing like it in countries facing abject poverty. The nonprofit industrial complex plies its trade on excusifying this conduct and managing it. I call them poverty maintenance organizations.
There is a measure on the ballot for November to raise $350m/yr from taxing large firms which is great. The money is "programmed" to nonprofits. Were the City to dispense cash grants of $50K per homeless person to the 2/3 who are not terminally substance or mental health challenged, then that would solve the bulk of the problem practically instantly.
Cash grants are what Reagan eliminated a generation ago.
With the low hanging fruit plucked, that would free the existing $300m/yr for use in addressing the tough cases. That would be more than enough.
But in Willie Brown's corrupt world, Breed is his protege, that is never going to happen because government is a revenue source for the connected, not a collective problem solving operation.
11
The causes are poverty, racism, rampant opioid use and closing of mental health facilities. But the politicians continue to call for treating the symptoms. Before one blames either SF or the US in general, take a look at Vancouver, BC. Cities with mild winters attract the homeless from the colder climates. Vancouver's Downtown Eastside is a smaller version of the Tenderloin. As to solutions to the problem, mentoring and conservatism do work, but they are outrageously expensive so it's easier to just corral the unfortunates in a homeless ghetto like the Tenderloin.
5
There is no mention in this article of how the problems of homelessness and drug use are impacting the BART system. Take the BART just one day and you will rampant drug use on trains and platforms, sit in cars that smell like pot or urine, have homeless people approach you for money or even threaten you -- and that's not to mention the murders and stabbings that occurred in the BART system this past summer. The SF government's solution to this is to post more police in stations and have more patrols in BART cars. I'm not sure that will help; the disastrous situation above ground seems magnified below it.
37
The answer is simple-- if you live alone in a four bed room house, you rent three of the rooms to homeless people and the city pays their rent to you. problem solved.
2
@The Tedster - if only the problem were a lack of rooms!
1
I was born and raised in San Francisco and my politics leans quite far to the Left.
Every dollar spent on heroin, crack and cocaine goes straight into the coffers of the most brutal criminal organizations in the world, the central American drug cartels and the Taliban.
The "victims of drug addiction" pay for the Taliban's purchase of guns and ammo, which are then used to kill Afghan schoolgirls. Drug users' $$$ pays for the rape and murder of young women all across central America.
The large majority of homeless participate in this violence through their drug use. In a sane world they would have long ago lost their freedom and been institutionalized, incarcerated, in settings that wean them from their drugs, forcibly if necessary.
The minority of homeless who are not drug addicts and able to contribute positively if given help with housing and jobs, should be given every possible kind of support. The cost of this support will always be less than the long term cost of ignoring their plight.
54
Homelessness in California is a multi-headed beast and the issue is particularly severe in San Francisco (where I live). What is often overlooked in reporting on these issues is that people live outside in California because the climate enables them to. It’s not merely a public policy failure (try to imagine homeless camps in the middle of a Boston winter).
I’m as progressive as anybody else in the Bay Area, but I do notice that SF doesn’t seem to have the visible police force that exists in other cities. In my view, having police officers out and about and participating in the community would make a huge difference and would certainly help with petty crime. If this block is notorious and known to officials, why doesn’t anybody do anything about it? London Breed has been promising her plan to put people in state receivership since she ran for office - when is that actually going to happen? Sometimes I wonder if we even have a police force at all.
The sad fact is that San Francisco is a beautiful city marred by pure human misery. It’s hard to ignore when you step over heroine needles and human feces every day on the way to work. I don’t believe anyone *wants* to live on the street - they need help. Until we take a multi-faceted approach, this problem will never get better
17
@Anne Berglund
Since the 1990s the non-elected SF Police Commission has worked with political operatives to diminish SFPD. This extends to systematic decreases in SFPD and many infrastructure departments budgets by the district elected Board of Supervisors while simultaneously increasing budgets of grants to UCSF for health and for social services. Spending priorities massively shifted when SF voters approved the second experiment in district as opposed to city-wide elections for Supervisors.
It is a unique hybrid as San Francisco operates as both a city with a city charter and as a county as defined in the California constitution.
If this was a Republican controlled city for decades, how would we expect the NYT to cover this tragedy?
Greed, lack of empathy, callousness, not caring. That is exactly what it looks like. It's bad for everybody.
You have to use law enforcement to get rid of the problem for the sake of the citizens.
3
The product of a “live and let-live” culture. Sad.
4
Be careful when you book hotel reservations in San Francisco's Union Square neighborhood. There is a major hotel brand there that advertises its location as Union Square so I booked a room to be near downtown and shopping. Imagine my surprise when at 2.30am I was awakened from my slumber by a very loud fight in the street 12 floors below. Pimps, prostitutes and johns along with punching, screaming and broken glass made me think I was watching a taping of the Jerry Spring Show. Of course, they all scattered when the police showed up. The next morning I told the hotel concierge about my overnight experience. Her suggestion, next time be sure to request a room in the front part of the hotel as that was the Union Square side. The back portion was in the Tenderloin.
14
This is The Democrat Party in Full View at work and the answer is to Vote Every Democrat Politician OUT!
9
@There for the grace of A.I. goes I goes deep again.
1
This public filth is a blight that is tolerated.
A terrible commentary on the city, state, and the US.
6
@R. R.
Only a commentary about San Fran and CA. I hope they enjoy it.
1
I'm sorry to say that Vancouver isn't much, if any, better. Nor is cold, windy Winnipeg. Massive social investment, free healthcare, outreach and harm reduction programs and much else haven't put a dent into a growing problem. High housing costs, no jobs for unskilled and less attractive applicants, laws that prohibit interfering with people in public spaces despite their behaviour, rampant drug addiction and widespread serious mental illness are all part of the mix. We spend more every year, pilot one new initiative after another, and the problem just gets worse. At bottom, we have a society with a large number of seriously damaged people whose lives on the street compound their problems. I think we need to get further upstream and improve early childhood development, the capacity of families to raise normal healthy children, and reduce the number of children and teens starting down the paths of alcohol and drug use. It will take a generation, but may get us somewhere. Short term "fixes" attempting to deal with those already on the streets aren't working and never will.
10
The courts do not want to take away a person’s freedom by involuntarily placing him in a mental institution unless that person is an imminent threat to himself or another. This often leaves the mentally ill person untreated and living on the street. We sometimes hear that the police have killed a mentally ill person. The police cannot know the identity of everyone who is suffering from mental illness. And, even in the cases where they do know, they are not psychiatrists. They do not know what to expect from people who are holding weapons, but are not thinking straight
In trying to protect the civil liberties of the mentally ill, the courts have inadvertently left them untreated and living on the street. The courts have also left them for the police to deal with. This is unfair to the mentally ill, the public, and the police.
47
Recently Governor Brown vetoed a state bill that would have allowed San Francisco to open Safe Injection Sites for drug users. "Brown said in a veto message that “enabling illegal drug use in government sponsored injection centers” with no requirement of treatment is “all carrot and no stick.” "
I think Gov Brown thought through San Francisco's free needle program when first introduced, it was needle exchange to safeguard the public's health. Then it became free needles for everyone who wanted it with no exchange required. Now we have the used needles on park benches, BART, MUNI, city streets as thrown away trash, and San Francisco has had to put up extra money and manpower to clean up the problem.
"A lot of roads are paved with good intentions, but they usually don’t end up anywhere good."
"The more money we spend, the more problems will grow out of the solution of spending more. It never ends."
4
When I was a teenager in the 1960's living in San Francisco, it was a beautiful place to live. Sure there were the hippies in Haight-Asbury espousing pot and free love, and the do gooders had it in for the go-go dancer places in North Beach but this article describes a horror. Fortunately I now live on the east coast which has its own problems. What to do? There's no good answer whether you are a liberal or a conservative. The Giuliani approach did work in NYC in that things improved. Yes, those committing offenses did end up in jail but arguably they also received decent nutrition, medical care and a more sanitary and safe environment. It wasn't a great solution but it was the only practical approach that seemed to work. Instead of worrying about Iraq and Afghanistan and pouring billions of dollars into that sinkhole, maybe all that money could be put to better use at home.
7
@Mike You're advocating the racist stop and frisk policy that Giuliani used to harass and imprison blacks and browns as a solution for egregious income inequality, untreated mental illness and the lack of affordable housing? How about you give up your home and move into a safe jail where you can receive nutrition and medical care and tell us how it works out for you.
2
This is not a new problem for S.F. As long ago as WWII the city was considered dirty but not because of homelessness or drug problems. City government simply ignored the trash build up. The current situation did not happen overnight and is not limited to the tenderloin. The word detritus should be applied to societies human loss not limited to the inanimate refuse left on the street. Many people may have been driven from this city by the price of housing. The principal reason is the refusal, over the past 60 to 70 years, to deal with the euphemism of homelessness.
4
I work for one of the dozen or so large arts organizations that have their homes nearby (think opera, ballet, symphony, professional theater.) The shocking condition of the streetscape in this neighborhood is starting to have a measurable effect on attendance and donations. Recently I had a difficult conversation with a donor who was near tears as she described the scene she had just witnessed outside our venue. “I believe in what you do, so strongly!” she said, “but I don’t know if I can keep coming here.” And she lives a mile away! The people in Palo Alto or Berkeley simply don’t even bother anymore. People have told me parents no longer want their children to come participate in the girls chorus or the youth symphony that rehearse nearby. The conservatory of music is here and parents take one look at the neighborhood and think, no way on earth am I letting my kid go to college here.
The fact that this chaos is caused by our inability to deal with 5,000 troubled people in a city of one million boggles my mind.
83
@Trees22
I terminated my season symphony tickets the second year Davies Hall was in operation in the early 1980s. That was when Muni could not provide reliable service and had to import diesel coaches from Los Angeles in order to keep skeletal service running once all the 1960s purchased vehicles reached end of life and could not be repaired. All energy had been used on Muni Metro, which was in its early disastrous years. The symphony was able to provide a diesel Muni bus to bring patrons 1 1/2 blocks from the Brooks Hall parking garage underneath Civic Center Plaza to Davies Hall in order to have no contact with the street people and vagrants but I could not reliably get to and from work.
2
@Trees22
I grew up in SF and moved too Marin County because we got priced out in 2000. Would go back regularly to eat, go to the museums that my older two grew up enjoying. After my youngest two witnessed people defecating on the sidewalk and a couple shooting up while we were waiting for a light on Division, I stopped romanticizing my former home and stopped bringing them. It's just awful and I don't know what the answer is.
1
'Mr. Leising, who is the founder of the Lower Hyde Street Association, a nonprofit that holds cleanup activities on the street, feels that the city is not cracking down on the drug trade on the block because they don’t want it to spread elsewhere.It’s obvious that it’s a containment zone, Mr. Leising said'
That is 100% true, and not new, but only part of a complex problem. The cops used to round them up and dump them off at the end of the N Judah line, out by the beach. But as that area developed and gentrified, they stopped that. I think the free needle program is a huge mistake. Perhaps it could work if there were strings attached, like in order to get them, you HAVE to be housed in a shelter. A lot of the people causing problems on the street refuse that. Another contingency, you have to shoot up in the facility and dispose of the needles there. I also hope Mayor Breed's Conservatorship plan happens. The streets are MUCH cleaner in Hayes Valley this year compared to last, but the number of mentally ill people on the streets there now seems to be up, or maybe they are just more noticeable.
5
@M
Before BART they were contained in Wine Country. Between Mission and Harrison on the north-south and Third to Beale on the west-east. The Haight miscreants were moved to the end of Judah.
San Jose has more homeless people,as does Oakland. This does not compare to the dirt,noise and congestion that plagues every corner of the Bronx,Manhattan,and Brooklyn! Poverty in NYC,you simply cannot escape it,even if you're a Billionaire! Nobody commutes to NYC to wash dishes for a living! There are harsh realities people have to face living anywhere.
This is a complex problem, one our caliber of politician is not capable of solving without education.
The notion of homeless/drug-addicted/mentally ill people creating a mess, and the mess being expensively cleaned up only for that same mess to return suggests a need for greater understanding of the problem.
The more severely mentally ill my mother got, the less she was aware of her cleanliness/hygiene. I once spent a few hours cleaning up the squalor in her apartment, and in real time I saw her messing up the cleaned areas. It is a difficult issue because these adults are not responsible for themselves. A moral society would figure out the best way to spend its money to feed, clothe and house such people with the (admittedly idealistic) goal of health. One of the many complexities of the problem is that some people choose homelessness because they don't want to abide by conditions placed on getting proper housing and care. This problem alone requires a sophistication that is not seen in today's cadre of politicians.
For my part, I decided to spend the time I wasted with my mom instead caring for my children. They need me more than the adult, my mom, who spent a lifetime disrespecting me. That reality is part of the need for a solution - families emotionally drained by a mentally ill person incapable of relationship must rely on professional, objective care workers. Those workers are out there, and they must be given extensive pay raises, bonuses, buildings and expertise.
18
Thank you for writing this article. However this is not just in the Tenderloin its through out the city.
4
San Francisco is not the only city in the nation that is unable to house or help the homeless. Sky high rents and property values have made it nearly impossible for wage earners to afford a safe place to sleep. Many of those who work in retail either live 100 miles away and drive in everyday or they are what we call working homeless they are legion. We cannot legislate prices and rents. It always blows up our markets, so it is up to the voters to demand that our elected representatives use our taxes wisely . . . I know - what are the odds of that, huh?
4
Liberal utopia at work. The Left thinks that when people have problems, the government can fix their problems. 85% of the time it can't. The problem starts with the Leftist idea that, fundamentally, people are not responsible for who they are. So, if an individual is a drug user, an alcoholic or not motivated to work, it is society's job to help him or her.
Rather, the strong presumption should be that every individual is responsible for who he or she is. If they fail at work or in their personal lives, the failure should fall on their shoulders and the shoulders of their family. (85% of the time --they are extreme situations, such as combat PTSD where government assistance is appropriate) If people know there are real consequences for failure, they will work much harder to be successful and avoid failure.
China has offers very little assistance to people who don't work or who abuse drugs or alcohol. Also, the family is considered primarily responsible for the welfare of all of its members. No surprise that the Tenderloin problems are virtually non-existent in China.
JD
8
I am currently visiting in San Francisco. As this article says, it's obvious that homeless residents can be found living everywhere, not just the Tenderloin area of the city.
I cringe every time that I come here and continue to wonder "what am I missing?" when I hear comments drift toward how wonderful San Francisco is. Obviously, given the right circumstances a lot of money can be made here. But this city is so filthy I think we are going to see more and more people coming here to work -being temporary residents - and then following an approach of "take the money and run". I mean individuals as well as companies.
8
After reading through many thoughtful comments here, I find one sentiment that is lacking. And that is, why oh why can't we stop the heroin trade? This has been going on for probably 100 years. The poppy fields are large, the routes are well-established and the drug lords are not geniuses. Is it too cynical to suppose that our law enforcers are on the drug payroll? Where is our Elliot Ness?
4
How can you have an article about the proliferation of tents and homeless without any discussion of the months long wait lists for shelter? Or the cause: concentration of poverty in the Tenderloin based on the increased pressure on housing stock in the low income parts of SF and the Bay Area? Also, where are the interviews with the homeless themselves? As a public defender in San Francisco I think the issue is much more complicated than presented. The article is a one-sided perspective from neighborhood improvement groups and those wanting more law enforcement. Not to say that this isn’t a crisis, but locking people up in hospitals or jails is not a long term answer.
8
People have used drugs since there were humans on the planet. The financially secure use them at parties in million dollar condos, small bungalows and the homeless out on the street. Without getting into the "Don't use Drugs" argument the reality is that some humans will always use drugs. We have as severe a problem of homelessness here in Seattle and few people want to face the reality, conservative or liberal, that it takes money (tax dollars) and programs that are results driven to help mitigate the problem but we will never eliminate it in its entirety. As to drug use we will never stop it it anymore than prohibition eliminated the use of our common drug, alcohol. The war on drugs has been a decades long failure. There are homeless people who are not part of the drug trade that can be sheltered, fed and assisted in finding employment or better paying employment. Like San Francisco rents are very high here and someone earning minimum wage can't afford to live here without assistance. We have a choice of guaranteeing a living wage or more taxes for public assistance. As to the chronic habitual drug users out on the street there is merit in having a "drug zone" where they can congregate, use and yet be under the watchful eye of police.
3
Just remember that these homeless humans are brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents, sons, daughters, grandchildren who once had hopes and dreams and families just like the rest of us.
They were your former neighbors, co-workers, friends, loves, classmates, parish attendees, teachers and others. They are humans. No one ever says when they are a child, I want to grow up and become a drug addict, mentally ill and homeless. No one.
13
Four decades ago I lived in a large flat with a view of the Bay, and enjoyed the distinctive neighborhoods and cultures of The City every day, all on the modest earnings of a medical house officer. Today at the end of my career I could not begin to afford that apartment, nor would I live there if I could. Still physically beautiful, San Francisco has come to resemble a third world city, and has been culturally homogenized to the point of nearly being destroyed, at least to me. All this is largely the result of the tech economy and the huge economic distortions it has created. It is a high price to pay.
24
This is what happens with massive inequality, corrupt DC leadership, lack of a cohesive national vision for how we maintain a healthy society. Putting this out there: research how many of the drug-addicted and homeless had stellar educations. Not many. There are kids in this equation. An hour away in San Jose, I teach students whose families work hard but cannot afford $2,500 for a basic apt and live in campers. Traveling to other countries, all with similar problems, what strikes me is the national unity and agreement. "Kat, in my country this is how we feel and what we do to help" from Tokyo to Brussels to Costa Rica." Citizens give much thought to these problems and are ready to discuss. Not so much here.
10
San Francisco as a progressive city forgot this one human right: cheap housing for the poor. There needs to be a cap on rental prices, and if anything, a lowering of real estate prices and rentals.
5
@Cicely GilmanDrug addicts and the mentally ill, and mentally ill drug addicts are already refusing FREE housing in shelters. Now what?
3
Gavin Newsom is one of the reasons I personally despise "liberal" politics. "You can be too permissive..." he says.
Yes indeed. Too permissive in allowing a free market economy to run rampant through society. Too permissive in allowing the free flow of investment capital from abroad which pushes up real estate prices in an addictive speculative frenzy. Too permissive in letting wealthy employers cheat employees of a livable wage.
"Liberal" in San Francisco (as on that other coast) has, in one guise or another, always meant self-indulgent rather than socially responsible. I don't cry for San Francisco at all.
5
Land of the free...where we have the ‘right’ to be mentally ill, drug-addicted, alcoholic, and homeless... living, defecating, and dying on the streets of America. And the bloated state and city officials are there to enable the whole mess.
These conditions must NOT be tolerated any longer and our laws should reflect that commitment. Across the country, abandoned military bases should be recommissioned to house the homeless...get them off the streets...by force if necessary... and provide them with the basic necessities of life, a safe environment, work, treatment etc.
Until something is done along these lines, the situation will become progressively worse..
Do we really want to be known as Calcutta on the Pacific.
9
The problem is rampant, unrestricted capitalism. That's it.
6
San Francisco "progressives" have had control of City Hall for twenty years. It is painfully clear that their solutions for reducing homelessness in San Francisco are not working. Blaming taxpayers for not doing enough is at best disingenuous and most accurately described as myopic and self-serving. The City and County of San Francisco currently spends over $300 million per year on, as stated in the news story, only 4.400 people. And if a November ballot measure passes, SF will begin spending $600 million per year or more!!!
Let's face it: SF "progressives" and SF's taxpayer-funded Homeless Support Industry compound SF's homeless problem and often directly benefit from growing, not reducing, the City's homeless population. If they were truly committed to serving humanity, they should look to Mahatma Gandhi as their role model, not Indira Gandhi.
9
@Durga The last progressive mayor was Moscone who was killed in 1978. Art Agnos was the last liberal mayor. All other mayors have been conservative or "moderate," socially liberal and economically conservative.
There was a moment where the Board of Supervisors was progressive in the early 2000s, but that time has passed.
2
@marc salomon
This is not true.
You are conveniently forgetting the miserable Gavin Newsom and leaky Finestine- progressives to the tilt, tax and spend Democrats.
@marc salomon
The idea that elected officials such as Ammiano, Mirkarimi, Mar, Kim, Campos, Avalos, and Daly are 'conservative' or even 'moderate' is perhaps the best indication of why SF won't ever be able to address its homeless situation effectively without major changes in every part of City Hall AND in the electorate. And since SF is a one-party town with ranked choice voting, which makes the political machine even more efficient and effective than any Facebook or Twitter algorithm, 'the times, they ain't gonna be changin'.
Since the 1980s America has been an increasingly ill-housed nation, and little is being done to reverse that trend. San Francisco is, unfortunately, at the cutting edge of this transformation, because of its mild climate, extremely high imbalance of housing supply and demand pushing prices into the stratosphere, liberal “tolerance” of human misery (which Mayor Breed might be trying to change) that also supports a large industry of non-profit povertycrats, and a criminal justice system that is both ill-equipped to deal with this and disdains doing so. But make no mistake, this failure to meet the basic human need for housing will grow worse over all but the least desirable parts of the country.
This failure is national in scope, yet of course the federal government has no apparent intention of relaxing its ideological warfare meant to deny either side a victory over national challenges. And anyway, many conservatives dismiss the unhoused as deserving their fate. If we can, and do, subsidize health care as a human right for the poor, so we should guarantee decent housing to all Americans through regionally- adjusted rent subsidies. This will stimulate more housing construction. As California has begun to do, regions rather than individual cities should be required to reform land use controls to facilitate current population and expected growth.
6
The beast of addiction is like a software code designed to destroy everything in its path on the way to its ultimate goal - to kill the addict. Written into the code is this very sneaky dynamic called codependency. The beast needs others to be complicit (codependent) so that the addiction can advance. In a family with an addict it rips apart the loving compassionate family members. In a city like San Francisco it rips apart the loving compassionate community members.
The reason why San Francisco and many cities are losing ground against this beast is because you’re focused on the wrong thing. You don’t understand the code, and you don’t understand how your operationalized codependency is feeding the beast.
14
@Chris Megison Great analogy, to a sober addict that has been very fortunate.
2
I had squatters across the street in a vacant home. Several neighbors did what we could to get them to leave We locked the gates. Removed the a/c breaker, and got the water shut off. They were using meth, had burglary tools, and kept hopping the fence. Not til the house was bought did they leave.
We all felt that we had to be aggressive because of neighborhood crime and our concern for our property values. I sometimes talked to the squatters. But they were not my friends. They caused harm to my neighbors and my neighborhood. And one home could lead to another. They are very bad neighbors. And who wants very bad neighbors?
10
Years ago, dazzled by SF’s clean and bright beauty, a New Yorker (with memories of the garbage collectors’ strike) moved west to a city that was able to be both cosmopolitan-urban and clean. It also had a sane work culture, with even doctors and trial lawyers leaving work to arrive home for a 6pm dinner.
Enter the dot-com workaholism matched by multi-million and -billionaire (often quite young) new rich, and it seemed all that was distasteful from NYC followed: more workaholism, more vicious competitiveness, more rudeness and even meanness, more celebration of greed, more focus on surface appearances over substance, more snobbery, more division and, yes, much, much more garbage all over the place.
Filthy, dirty streets have resulted from influx of the filthy rich and their dirty greed.
15
I lived and worked in San Francisco for years before moving out to the East Bay to raise a family. Even 12 years ago the homeless situation was one of concern. I've been accosted by more homeless people in the Bay Area--on the street, on BART trains--than I ever was living in New York City. I could walk half the length of Manhattan late at night and not feel threatened, but always chose to take a cab from my office to my apartment (only a 25-minute walk) in SF after dark. This problem is now extending out to other parts of the Bay Area. Just the other day there were posts on our Next Door app that several homeless persons were sleeping out in the trail behind our house with needles and other drug paraphernalia scattered around, a trail where many people jog and walk with their children and pets. I would have to think twice now before going there with my kids.
If you take BART into the city, you will get a view of all the homeless encampments that line the tracks. Some of them are almost the size of a big box store parking lot.
The problem will only get worse with the high cost of living and financial inequality in the Bay Area. It is not surprising that a poll showed 50% of Bay Area residents in the process of or thinking about moving. After living here for almost two decades I am sadly one of them.
16
I’m a native San Franciscan and resident. I’ve watched my beloved city on the decline, the last few years in particular. My personal observation is the wider the gap between the “haves” and “have nots” has become, the worse the homeless and drug problem has gotten. As the article said, the problem is not contained to the Tenderloin. I live in a nice part of the city and the homeless and drug problem has gotten worse here as well, albeit not as bad. I’ve found myself and others, once sympathetic to the plight of these people, becoming more and more frustrated. It’s hard not to be when you see needles and human feces in your neighborhood.
As another commentator pointed out, the city is quickly gaining the reputation as a dirty, unsafe place to visit. I’ve heard this first hand from tourists visiting here. SF recently lost a multi million dollar annual convention because event goers said they no longer felt safe walking near the Moscone Convention center.
San Francisco is such a beautiful city with so much to offer residents and tourists alike. Please city leaders, do something and do it quickly.
56
"For many who live here it’s difficult to reconcile San Francisco’s liberal politics with the misery that surrounds them."
It's difficult for a lot of us that don't live there, too. It's worth remembering that SF and California have been Democrat-controlled for decades. Every decision they've made, no matter how well-meaning, has produced terrible consequences.
Super-powerful public employee unions have produced a bloated, overpaid administrative state.
Generous welfare benefits have produced a permanent underclass.
Rent controls have produced a chronic housing shortage - indeed, a housing crisis.
The road to Hell is always paved with the best of intentions.
18
@Decent Guy - "Every decision they've made, no matter how well-meaning, has produced terrible consequences."
This is a ridiculous over-generalization.
3
SF is a rich city and it has been in control of Democrats since the 1960s yet it is city with human feces everywhere ( not just the tenderloin) and the homeless camping in Union Square and up and down Market Street. How is this possible? It is a lesson to us that Democrats do not have the answers after all, and we can not even blame the Republicans or Trump for the sad state of affairs in SF. And, SF is touted as a sanctuary city, and with that dubious distinction a young woman was murdered at Fisherman's wharf. And a SF jury found the killer and often deported illegal not guilty. SF needs to a wholly new approach to city government and maybe enforcing laws on the books is a good place to start.
13
@Bian - Check out the link to see a list of major cities. You can sort the list by crime rates. Sorted by "violent" crime, San Francisco falls at 31. Among the 30 more violent cities listed several have GOP administrations.
Sorted specifically by murder rate, San Francisco falls to the 53rd spot on the list, below Phoenix (supported Trump over Clinton by 4%), in your home state, and side by side with Tucson.
The data is based on the FBI database, which is also available online, but not so "user friendly" as this Wikipedia page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate...
1
@J Jencks
The article is not about comparative murder rates.
1
@Wine Country Dude - My comment was in response to Bian's comment, regarding Trump, the DEMs and a murder in San Francisco perpetrated by an immigrant in the country illegally.
It is relevant to his comment. Do you have a problem with that?
What is in common to all the people who have contributed to the filth, squalor, corruption, and hopelessness to the once Golden City of San Francisco and, I might add, the Golden State of California?
They all are Democrats, the ilk of the liberal left hooligans we saw recently in Washington. Oh, one of them, Sen. Diane Feinstein was also the Mayor of San Francisco under whose leadership the leaky decline began.
Need I say anymore?
10
@Appu Nair: Oy vez, "the liberal left hooligans we saw recently in Washington.“ You had to insert that in this discussion of homelessness, mental illness, and chemical addiction, didn't you? No mention that those "hooligans" were highlighting the national problem of sexual assault.
Tell me something: Did you react in similar fashion to those "rightwing hooligans" of the tea party persuasion who loved to brandish Obama-lunching-in-effigy posters during their public protests?
Seattle is just as bad. Every city run by Democrats is becoming a dystopian hell-hole of poverty, homelessness, drug-abuse, and crime. One-party rule is terrible for everybody.
15
The wealthy’s solution: don’t address homelessness, just hire people to power-wash the excrement off the sidewalks.
Welcome to the future.
19
We were in this once beautiful city earlier this year. It was dark and shabby. I ventured this at a dinner with native and long-there San Franciscans and they quickly agreed. And these were good liberal types, but it was what they perceived as an insurmountable homeless problem and the failure of government to deal with it. Whatever, our two days in the city were dispiriting.
10
In Los Angeles we have homeless everywhere, including large encampments of garbage, tents, RVs, everything. We have a local homeless man, one man, who moved into an empty house and squatted in it for a year. He piled up dozens of shopping baskets full of debris, boxes, trash, and basically built a fortification around the house until he was evicted.
The freeways are outdoor camp sites for pitched tents along the road. The local parks are full of drug addicts and tents, shopping baskets and rusted out RVs. Traffic is horrendous, because many would rather ride UBER than share trains with homeless.
LA looks like this... in 2018.
The problem is indeed some kind of liberalism because it allows, by law, the taking over of public space for private use, and permitting, whether passively or assertively, the act of sleeping and living on property that does not belong to the user. In addition to homeless, the progressives of Los Angeles now want to encourage sidewalk vending including the selling of food prepared by home cooks who are unlicensed and whose sanitary knowledge is rudimentary.
SF and LA are both mass pandering metropolises who want to advertise their compassion and so-called tolerance which ironically is crueler than the old hard-headed, well-enforced laws.
Nothing will kill progressivism faster than the coddling of criminality, filth, outdoor barbarism, wandering mental illness, sidewalk shooting up, brown feces and yellow urine on restaurant doorsteps.
40
They could build a lot of functional toilets and showers with staffing and security for $70 million dollars year.
The nightmare that is described is multi factorial. But filth and disease from uncleanliness is dangerous for everyone. And the poor deserve human dignity as well. Where is San Francisco's Mother Teresa ?
3
How are you going to write an entire article about homeless people and not talk to a single one? Don’t you think the people you are writing about so disparagingly might have some interesting or necessary perspective on the space they inhabit that might contribute something to this piece?
38
We can all thank Ronald Reagan for this since he closed down mental institutions back in the 80s. Most of these people have severe mental health issues and need to be cared for. There are those who are homeless and are not dealing with mental health problems but they are much fewer in number and are not defecating in the street.
Also, NYT - there are more homeless in temperate climates than in cities where they'll freeze their butts of in winter.
20
Nothing has prevented California or San Francisco of opening their own mental institutions; there’s nothing in the constitution that says they have to be federally owned, and in fact most were not. If that is the right answer, then California should do it forthwith, and stop blaming it all on a decision made 35 years ago.
6
Perfect example of the reality unchecked liberalism.
10
Why is anyone surprised by this?!
It is the logical conclusion of the left-wing "progressive" ideal.
- Crushing and ever-increasing taxation, that is directed toward "entitlement spending" instead of basic services and law enforcement
- Elevation of the rights of the destitute and dangerous, over the law-abiding citizen, in the name of "social justice"
- Antagonistic attitudes toward law enforcement, which ultimately create the cesspool pictured here
Keep it up, San Francisco. You're now Exhibit A in the case for Trump 2020. No other city wants to end up like you.
10
We need more robust street policing in this city to stop this criminal behavior. I live near two large parks here and deluged with thieves breaking into homes, garages, cars and leaving scat and needles in their wake.
Hopefully, with the news that our worthless DA has chosen to "spend more time with his family" and not run for reelection we will elect one who will do their job. The city spends over $30,000 per homeless individual annually and for that investment we should require some level of civilized behavior or an invitation to leave the city.
13
sounds like you know well the squalor of the third world, to find the similarities with hyde st.
People keep talking about the third world. I can't think of anywhere in the world with such a concentration of sick people who are simply overlooked, ignored, or treated like criminals. This is a failure at almost every possible level - local, state & federal. We have no safety net in our society, and so people are landing where they can survive. In some ways I'm so proud to be a native San Franciscan, where residents have the heart and empathy to provide food and emergency services to the very destitute. On the other hand, I'm furious that we are not able to protect our streets and residents from property crime, human excrement and dangerous drugs. I think we need a two pronged approach. We need to crack down on illegal behavior (e.g., camping, drug dealing, property crime) and start moving people off the streets into shelters. Like NY and all the other eastern cities, we should have a bed for everyone who needs it - and do everything possible to get people off the streets and into a safe place.
399
@Michelle Brazil, South Africa, and India have the same, if not worse, problems. I agree with you wholeheartedly, and other places are experiencing the same issues.
1
@Michelle
Most of street homeless in SF do not want help. They are either homeless by choice or are so mentally ill that they can't make any decisions.
The only way to correct their behavior is by force. Drug addicts must be forced into a rehab (or prison if they fail it) and mentally ill have to be put into treatment.
7
@Michelle I lived in SF for several years and know for a fact that there have been shelters for the homeless but the homeless do not want to use them. They claim that the shelters are not adequately staffed and that theft and assault is all too common. I could not walk down any major street without being approached every few feet by panhandlers who were becoming aggressive even then. (1980) I love that city. I miss it to this day but it has become the microcosm of the macrocosm...extreme wealth/extreme poverty.
7
What happened to personal accountability and enforcement of local ordinances? I don't think folks shooting drugs and defecating in public are necessarily the fault or responsibility of average citizens. I'm for public assistance for the mentally ill, but how many of these folks are actually ill? And how many of the 'mentally ill' would willingly accept help (and give up drugs)?
6
@James Couldn't agree more!
Bringing a broom, gesture politics at its finest.
7
I see all sorts of knee-jerk comments about "liberals", "socialism", "democrats", "illegal immigrants" but I'm not seeing any proposed solutions in those comments. Homelessness is on the increase across the US.
Since addiction, a significant cause of homelessness, has greatly increased even places like Ohio and West Virginia have huge problems and neither state is some kind of liberal haven. In the last election, GOP candidates including the current president talked a lot about how something must be done about it, action must be taken, blah, blah blah. What's come of that? Neither political persuasion has come up with anything that's made a significant difference.
So what would many of the complaining commenters here want to do? I'd love to hear it. Do police sweeps and lock all of them up? Put the ones that are mentally ill in institutions? You're going to have to foot the bill for more mental health facilities, jails and prisons and then you'll complain about how taxation is killing you.
9
This appears to be a rampant narcotics abuse problem on the streets of San Francisco.
Drug users don't need or want public housing. They want to be near their drug dealers.
These drug users need to be forcibly removed from the streets and confined to mandatory drug rehab hospices for their own health and safety.
Citizens and visitors have a superseding right to a decent quality of life.
7
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and visit San Francisco regularly. This appalling problem is present in other Bay Area cities too. I began writing articles about this issue, trying to highlight some of the ways our bad "solutions" to this problem simply exacerbate it. One of my articles is about the situation in San Francisco:
https://homelessquandary.wordpress.com/2018/09/23/no-you-cannot-set-a-te...
One of the most serious parts of this problem has recently been addressed at the state level, where it needed to be addressed --- giving legal power to governments in 3 counties (should really have been state-wide) to be conservators for those who can't care for themselves. This is the first baby step on the road back to what is so badly needed -- involuntary institutionalization of the seriously mentally ill and mandatory treatment for those with substance abuse who by living in filth on the streets, demonstrate that they are unable to care for themselves.
I believe the homeless problem is worse in cities which have progressive/liberal politics, as they are inclined to be overtolerant of social nuisance. However, a regional approach is also needed, because homeless are "migrating" to favored locations, burdening some cities.
If city and state leaders continue to be spineless and overtolerant, we can expect this as a result:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF0qqkNQmZ4
8
Academics, social workers, politicians, urban planners have tried for decades to solve the homelessness problem. They have all failed. I have no suggestions.
3
"There but for the grace of God go you and I."
2
Some of the vagrants are chronic petty criminals. If arrested, they never come to court. So a bond is set that they can’t meet. And the liberal media is outraged because the bail is excessive and the vagrants should be given another chance.
12
@michjas
Under Prop 47 there are no trials for what are considered misdemeanors in California. Tickets are issued.
As of last month there is no longer bail in the State of California and the bail bondsmen are going out of business.
2
San Francisco has always been a beacon for those with big dreams that might not turn out the way they plan. Thousands still show up on our doorstep from the narrow minded places they were born and believe the sixties is still in full bloom. Many of the homeless are young people with guitars and pit bulls who believe they are living out some kind of romantic ideal. The point is that they are coming here from somewhere else because that somewhere else was so soulless, so stifling, so bigoted and so Trumpian that they are our city's refugees. The crazy ones, the violent ones, the drug-addled ones, they weren't born and raised here as I and my father were. You red state people have sent them to us and our "liberal" policies are failing them? You failed them in how you raised them, how you treated them and how you educated them. I blame mean conservatism for our homeless problem. You want us to clean up your mess.
18
Obviously, more housing is needed, without restrictions that rule these people out. And more bathrooms.
2
We used to confine the mentally ill in publicly financed rehab centers. The constant cuts in public spending combined with 'the mental ioll have rights too" movement created this mess. There is homeless - in every major city and there is mental illness - connected but not entirely the same. I remember homeless sleeping on subway grates on the Bowery in Manhattan; the thousands of home on the east side of downtown LA; the homeless sleeping under expressway ramps and parking garages in South Florida. Putting these people in jails is stupid; not providing mental health rehab centers is even more stupid.
10
The Tenderloin has always been feral, dirty and crime ridden.
It's just gotten worse over the years. The cities on the west coast have very serious street people/homeless problems. Not in SF alone. Honolulu, Seattle, San Diego, Portland, Tucson and others are also dealing with this.
It's difficult to walk down any main avenue or park areas without panhandlers, hustlers and potential theft as you tip toe around tents, discarded drug paraphernalia, human excrement and passed out (dead?) bodies, trash and other obstacles. It's not a positive experience nor is it civil or humane.
Our cities have become big, public open air asylums.
After becoming homeless many people rapidly decline and bottom out. If you weren't mentally ill before you became homeless, it won't take long until you do. There has to be a better safety net for newly homeless individuals and families.
There are babies and children too. Not to forget elder females.
And I am very afraid it is going to become much, much worse.
13
@MSCorrect. Part of the reason it has become worse is because of the gentrification of low rent buildings around the city. I'm not anti-gentrification, just pointing out that the problem has always existed, but more of it was indoors until recently.
3
Utah's little project a few years ago demonstrates that's what needed is HOUSING. Lots of it. And for cheap.
The mental state of nearly anyone improves greatly when they have decent shelter. Anything else is putting a bandaid on the problem. You can lock people up for vagrancy and put spikes on as many benches as you want, but these homeless aren't going anywhere. There's nowhere for them to go.
Of course, there's no short term money to be made and it's thus completely infeasible politically. Ah, well. A little blight on the streets is worth the gigantic windfall on our SF property investments, I guess.
5
I want to make clear that this is not just an issue for the Tenderloin, which can always be dismissed as the “sketchy” part of town. I’ve lived in the Castro for 20 years and the homeless situation has been established in the last few years and continues to flourish. Take a walk through the residential streets in the morning and you will find people sleeping in doorways, behind bushes and hidden stairways, often leaving behind their refuse and scraps of clothing. There are now panhandlers every day stationed throughout the 2 block business center, and the drug-addled freely urinate and defecate around that area. Even when cleaned, the sidewalks are stained and repulsive throughout the city. I don’t know what the answer is, but what is currently being done is clearly not working, and the result will be a drop in tourist revenue, with businesses and long-time residents moving away. It’s very difficult for a tax-paying resident to maintain empathy and ward off cynicism.
436
@scotharr I agree! I live in the Liberty Hill part of SF which has been a nice upper middle class neighborhood for years but which is becoming unaffordable for many now. However, the homeless problem is creeping into this area as well. About a month ago, I got off the Muni Metro stop near my apartment and there was a raving, naked man walking around. I would guess he was in his mid to late 20's. Last week, as I parked my car near my apartment, another man was yelling and ranting from
across the street and threatening me. And so it goes. I feel sorry for these people but at the same time, I worry about my own safety and the safety of others with these people roaming the streets. I was born in San Francisco and it is a beautiful city, but that is changing. I can only hope that our new mayor will be successful in solving this problem.
7
@scotharr - the answer is simple. Let property rates rise to reasonable levels for commercial properties (i.e., establish "split rolls," retaining Prop 13 only for residential), and start taxing Big Tech (Uber, Google, Twitter, etc.) at the same rates every other business pays rather than the Ed Lee/Ron Conway/London Breed special deal rates. Use the funds to build mental hospitals and supervised work farms. Then put these folks in them where they can get food, shelter, therapy and training. It's simple. It requires only that the wealthy corporations and commercial landlords pay a fair share. If we do not take these measures there is no solution and the poor, old and sick will continue to suffer terribly and die on our streets.
5
@scotharr You are so right. We were there a week ago at a licensed AirBnb in a residential street of Lower Haight between Duboce Park and Alamo Square. Arriving back at 10:30pm to see a fully naked, very skinny man with wild hair, in the doorway of the garage, scratching his back with a long stick. Scared the bejeezus out of me because I didn't see him at first. Detritus left behind when we went out the next morning. We also encountered several very unstable and enraged men with threatening words and gestures, one of whom was swinging a log at passersby. Please SF, if you want tourism, or even residents, don't let this continue. Create beds, fund mental health clinics and drug programs and do not tolerate the behaviors. Police weren't even doing anything about the one guy on Market stalking and yelling at visitors --and this was during the big Dreamforce conference.
6
The relatively mild weather in Northern California plays a part in the problem. Food, clothing and shelter are the necessities. People aren’t compelled by self preservation from the elements to seek help, so we in the Bay Area get to witness a slow spiral downward by other means.
3
Reagan closed mental health facilities in the 80s and our government has disinvested in education, public good, services and health care since then. Society is now reaping the "rewards" of it. Addiction and mental illness are everywhere but many people come here because this is a city that fights hard to decriminalize people with problems. But many of these folks are coming from outside of the city. I am proud of my city for wanting to be compassionate. However, we are bearing the brunt of what the feds and other states are refusing to do.
2
I remember when my state closed many of its mental institutions. They needed major building repairs and there were multiple case of sexual and other abuse and neglect. The mantra became in this era of medications confinement under supervision was no longer needed. In New York City subway Service remains a constant costly problem, yet there was money to lay tracks and create a new subway stop for a $1 million plus apartment new neighborhood. I think the public officials who pursue these policies get elected because in the end we don’t want higher taxes to accomplish what needs to be done. I suppose that’s fair as the middle class would be paying A disproportionate share of the coolest because of tax in equities. So here are we are back at the same problem. The idea of group homes for the mentally challenged with in neighborhoods the smaller facilities to try and stop the abuses that take place within these institutions also ran into a problem, since nobody wants such facilities next-door to them, possibly threatening their children, and certainly lowering real estate values. Maybe the problem is also that we no longer have creative thinkers and just keep using all the responses that don’t work to new situations.
1
I live and work in SF. This is not a homeless problem as often described (like on the upcoming November ballot initiatives here) but a mental health problem. We aren't allowed to talk about it like that though. Until we can address it accurately we are neither caring nor impactful.
15
Not living far from San Francisco, we used to really enjoy visiting the city. But I don't plan to go back, because it is all too horrifying and actually downright scary. It is true, the homeless have become very aggressive, and it is almost impossible to go anywhere in the city and not be accosted. The only way I would ever think of going back to visit, is if I was involved in doing reasearch for a blog post on the the ever-increasing disparities between the rich and the poor in the state of California. That can be seen in full bloom, in the city by the bay. And that is a real shame - because San Francisco is a beautiful city, in a wonderful location, but the place is at some point, going to implode in on itself, what with the sky-rocketing property rates and the increasing issues with the homelessness. And what will rise from the ashes, will be the cadaverous, drug-addled people without homes - everyone else will just leave, move away, because it is all too unbearable.
7
It saddens my heart to see this. This city is filled with beautiful locations and wonderful opportunities. However every time I visit the city I leave almost in panic due to this issue. It is a problem that is being ignored. The amount of garbage in the street is out of control. San Francisco used to be my getaway from home now I feel so turned away from visiting. This city has much potential but the streets just aren't welcoming.
I truly hope they can find a way to better organize and fix the problem at hand. I am praying for San Francisco and it's residents.
2
I see many here blaming liberalism for this problem. They are, of course, ignoring that America's more conservative cities also have homelessness. Moreover, they ignore the fact that any possible solution will require costly treatment and housing assistance - and that means taxes, which the conservatives refuse to pay.
As a liberal, I want to see these people helped, even if it costs me a few bucks. But I'll be honest: I'm also sick of living with it (San Diego has a serious homeless problem). Sick of stepping over bodies on the sidewalk, wondering if they're alive or dead. Sick of trying to enjoy a coffee in a sidewalk cafe, as I did yesterday, while an obviously ill woman wanders in and out of traffic, screaming and hurling her possessions at passers-by.
The first step is taking the most profoundly ill persons off the streets, even if that means confining them and requiring them to accept treatment. This is a public safety issue. Then we have to provide paid housing for the ones who are otherwise able to care for themselves. The rest of us just have to pay for it. Yes, this means that in a few cases, a lazy person will benefit from a tiny fraction of your paycheck. Get over it; life can't always be fair, and there's no other answer.
39
California has set many examples for the rest of the country to follow. Why not cope with the homeless? LA and San Francisco are overwhelmed with the homeless. The state has the strength and resources to start a fix and the rest of the country would benefit too.
1
I’m a San Francisco native, disgusted by the lack of city and recent arrivals to the city have for those who are living on the streets. London Breed only wants to add 1,000 beds, yet will spend $70 million to clean the streets and complain about the mess. $70 million could go towards creating permanent affordable
4
This is what happens when a city forgets who the taxpayers are and are more worried about appeasing the homeless and their advocates. This isn’t a liberal issue but a real political issue nonetheless. It goes to show where the priorities of a city lie when they spend an almost equal amount per homeless person as they do per public school student.
5
Answer: Recycling plants that are aso prisons. The homeless are sentenced to work. They pay their own way, get off drugs, and provide a service to humanity.
3
But the stock market is booming and unemployment is so low! Oh, it must be those coal jobs that would make the difference. If the White House focuses on the coal jobs, then maybe people won’t notice the real problems across the US - not just in San Francisco.
4
I had hoped to retire in SF due to the nice weather and public amenities, but each day feels a bit more unsafe than the last. A small cadre of homeless activists gaslights residents into thinking it's wrong to demand a basic level of civility.
I live in one of SF's residential neighborhoods and have completely stopped going downtown for any reason unless I absolutely HAVE TO, such as for a doctor's appointment. I almost always take my dog with me when I go outside now, and am thinking about buying bear spray or a stun gun.
9
There was a time when children were beaten regularly, often with belts, by their parents. Civilized society recognized that was abhorrent and damaging behavior. But that does not mean the only other alternative is to allow your child to run wild and wreak havoc in your house with no consequences. By the same token, the mentally ill and drug addicts were jailed or placed in brutal, horrifying institutions through the 1960s. We rightly saw that as abhorrent and cruel. But it seems we have swung the other way to an era of malevolent neglect, where mentally ill and drug-addicted individuals are left to fend for themselves, although they are clearly incapable of that. Humane but insistent intervention/conservatorship for these mentally ill and drug addicted people is clearly what is needed. We have gone full circle and are treating these incompetent sad souls as inhumanely as we did back in the 1960s. For shame.
14
San Francisco has been trying to tackle the issue of homelessness for over a decade and has been, in a way, a victim of its own success. There are many (but not nearly enough) supportive housing units for those who are the most mentally and physically ill and these places have a very high retention rate -people stay housed. Since there is low turnover and almost no new housing being built for this population, there is nowhere for the currently homeless to go. I hope the new conservatorship law helps get most severely mentally ill the treatment they deserve but our long term facilities are terminally full- so where do these people go? SF is a destination city for many from around the country who are lost (there is a relative abundance of services, the weather is mild, the people are compassionate for the most part)- so even if the city successfully houses the current homeless, more will continue to arrive.
4
I like to stay at the Clift on Geary but rather than walk directly down to Market on Taylor, the street next to the hotel, we venture over to Powell and deal with all the tourists so as to avoid the blocks that get skethcier as you approach Market. In July we attended the Up Your Alley Festival on Folsom and we had to walk several blocks through the Tenderloin. We love to walk but in the future, we're talking ride shares rather than walking those blocks again.
The problem of the drug addicts points out to another failure of our draconian drug laws.
3
As I read all the comments about whose fault this problem is from Reagan, Brown, politicians, police and everyone in between I never saw a mention of the breakdown of the family unit and their responsibility for their own. Most of these people have or had a mother, father and siblings who if just one of them in each of the 4400 lives on the streets of San Francisco (who are probably from all over the country) recognized the problems early maybe could not erase the mental health or drug issues but could intervene earlier and direct the problems to agencies with the ability to intervene early. I am sure some have tried and just had to give up for their own sanity but society is made of families and that is where the first helping hand must come from.
4
@mnc: As someone with a family member whose severe mental illness was treated in California state mental hospitals in the pre-Reagan era, I can tell you that, without the ability to involuntary commit, family members can only do so much. A person in the grip of severe psychosis, without proper and ongoing medical treatment—which they will not voluntarily seek, can destroy a family over time.
3
I'm work in downtown Portland up here in Oregon, a city that tries its hardest to emulate the excesses of other liberal coastal metropolises like Seattle and San Francisco. Though we aren't as big or as sexy as the Bay Area we boast a homeless and drug addict problem every bit as nasty and endemic, and growing worse practically by the month. Our housing issues are nowhere near as dire as SF's, yet the number of homeless just keeps climbing, the streets get filthier and more dangerous.
Overall I think Portland is in a better state than the other major west coast cities, if barely, and I think the difference is our police force. They haven't been neutered by the city government yet, but lord are they trying. It's a wretched state of affairs when the only thing standing between a city and chaos is the policeman's truncheon, but that's what the liberal jewel of Oregon has been reduced to: a reliance on the very brutes the city despises for its protest containment tactics.
4
Here in Boise, Idaho, we are battling our homelessness problem by 1) banning sleeping on the streets or in the parks, and 2) encouraging the construction and expansion of shelters to house and treat them. But #1 is not humanely enforcable without #2 in place. They cannot be moved off the streets without an alternative. Reopening the mental institutions shuttered by Reagan in the 1980's would help immensely.
6
When is this country going to open the Mental Health facilities back up???? I know they shut down because of abuse, but today there could be proper check ups on these places. What's the difference between paying 70 million in street clean up that's so bad and bothers everyone that lives there, then spending 70 million on a mental health facility that will keep these people in proper containment and maybe assist in them getting better.
5
Homelessness is rampant nationwide. It always strikes me that with our economy being pretty good, there are jobs for people. Many simply don't want them, and many others are suffering from mental illness that isn't being treated. Much of this comes from the widespread abuse of drugs. You can't fix one if you don't take care of the other. We as a nation cannot simply continue throwing money at this, or in San Francisco's Public Works Department's example, pressure washing the streets each day. It is the definition of insanity. We keep doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result. In many instances in big cities, the powers that be are co-dependent with the homeless. In Seattle, for example, they are providing safe places for heroin addicts to shoot up with medical staff available to assist if they overdose. What?! Really? And this helps these folks how? It is simply not the answer. It just perpetuates an already out of control lifestyle. There simply have to be answers to this. I don't have them admittedly, but we have some wonderful organizations and people that do. I do believe we must help and treat the severely mentally ill. Putting them in jails is not where they need to be. If San Francisco and other cities truly want to do something, spend the money on more beds in mental health facilities.
3
Many of the homeless "residents" are people that arrived here because the benefits provided by social services in California are higher than their home state. When I read of people who have been on the street for twenty years after losing their public assisted housing that they left their home town for, so many years ago, a practice that started during the AID's epidemic .And now some , it seems , get stipends ( $1,000 per month) to stay away from where they were born. Homelessness is a national problem, and must be treated that way. States shipping their " problems" out of state must end.
6
I am particularly struck by the statement by Mr. Leising, the activist and resident of this are, that the city is not cracking down on behaviors such as public urination, defaction and shooting up heroin because the city of San Francisco is using his neighborhood as a containment zone. Doing nothing in defined geographical areas seems to be the solution of choice for politicians who loath having to make tough choices. Otherwise, why wouldn't the SFPD does not have a patrol car sitting at every intersection in that area 24/7? Now, we have this problem in smaller, less intense form in our subway trains and stations here in New York. This attitude is dangerous, not least as it boosts the chances of those who are shouting simple-minded, just get tough approaches, i.e. populists from the right (remember Rudy Giuliani's first campaign for mayor?). Unadressed quality of life issues, like the absence of human detritous and not having to worry about used injection needles when walking home, will sway many otherwise progressive or liberal voters to vote for the local mini-Trump. I am all for a caring approach for those unfortunate and in need of housing and services, but not doing anything is neither helping them nor the residents of the Tenderloin district in SF or those of us depending on the subway system to get around here in NYC.
1
Seattle counts its homeless in the cold month of January, when only the truly desperate are living in their tents in parks and along the freeways, in their cars, in shelters, and on sidewalks. This year there were 8,600, which was 71% of the total in the entire county. Many of the homeless are on the street because of their untreated psychiatric problems.
The State of Washington has been paying little attention to mental health. After years of reprimands, the federal government placed our primary psychiatric hospital, Western State, “on probation” 3 years ago, and then this year, simply pulled its funding. The state now has to make up for the loss of the $53 million federal dollars.
Washington State has focused its attention and money on the education, health care, and other services for the undocumented instead of on helping our own citizens who have psychiatric problems.
1
Stick with the status quo. San Fran is what it is because of its basic assumptions. Going back to 60’s, it celebrated human nature in all its contrary and disorderly manifestations and in all its brilliance. It’s democracy on the ragged edge. Some have vaulted to great heights; others have sunk to abject lows. There is also a huge middle that lives uncomfortably between these extremes. Human nature sorts itself out in this way. You can have an enforcer like Giuliani come clean up the mess, move the abject out and put them in institutions, but there is the same inevitable squalor and misery in these places though it’s out of sight out of mind.
The only partial solution to the problem is beyond journalism and contemporary politics. It’s the conservative belief that character and behavior derive from the family. But that train left the station long ago. Progressive cities like San Fran, progressive states like California, progressive parties like Democrats have placed their bets on government, journalistic preaching, individual “empathy” for the downtrodden. Only strong family can fortify, protect and condition it’s offspring to withstand downward spirals when they leave the nest. Of course, if there is no or little nest, the chick falls out of the tree even before it’s fledged. So San Fran seems stuck with the status quo. Progressives need to embrace their fatalistic assumptions.
6
How 'bout getting Trump and his ilk to pay their taxes? Bet those millions and millions could be put to good use in starting to alleviate this pervasive problem.
4
We should be building 200 square foot apartments to house people affordably and decently.
But homeowners oppose the idea of small homes, fearful that it will lead to lower values for the homes already owned.
Many homeless people are incredibly dysfunctional, but many more just need a cheaper place to live.
2
It is clear that the local and state government's efforts alone will never result in a sustainable solution to this multi-pronged epidemic that is decimating the spirit of this city. However, can someone from SF City Hall please respond to this question: While the scores of tech giants and other companies proud to call SF their home cannot alone address or solve the drug or homelessness crisis across ALL of SF's neighborhoods (including the Financial District), is there an organized program in place for these companies to ACTIVELY play a strategic, ongoing role in keeping the city's neighborhoods clean? Many corporate brands and other entities "adopt" stretches of America's highways to keep them safe and clean - why not explore the same approach for the streets of America's cities, starting with SF? It would be a visible and sustainable way for these companies to support the very neighborhoods in which they operate, grow and profit. Is it their formal responsibility to play such a role? No. But is it an opportunity for them to make an ongoing and significant civic impact within the city and neighborhoods they are proud to call their "home"? Absolutely.
It begins with leadership and a plan. So I respectfully ask San Francisco City Hall: are you working with the Twitters, Salesforces, Schwabs, Blue Shields, Ubers, Pinterests, Yelps and scores of other companies to actively assist in cleaning up SF? If not, why not? San Franciscans and NYT readers eagerly await your reply.
4
I was a cop in San Francisco for 29 years. I loved the City and still do. Now at age 73, I look back at how many times the City seemed to be sliding into chaos that would make it unlivable.
But people who care about the City always help to put her back together. She inspires that.
Although like most cops I carry a "glass half empty" outlook after all the misery we get called in to attend, I know that keeping hopes up for her recovery, always kept me from going crazy.
I can promise you there are lots of cops who care about the City and will do their part in putting her back together. Yes, there are folks in every group who give up. But some don't. May they have success...again.
398
@JOCKO ROGERS well, maybe you can answer why the cops in the Tenderloin do nothing? They simply watch in apathetic abandon...
1
@JOCKO ROGERS
Congratulations on the retirement.
I've been in for 12 now, and I can see where you'd like to find a ray of hope.
Unfortunately at the moment, it appears that there is zero will to do what must be done, and in fact we're sliding backwards.
Since you've been gone (I'm guesstimating), drugs have become rampant, "charities" are handing out tents, and the churches have turned into enablers to receive government funding because they no longer have congregations. We have dozens of Glide Memorials now.
Quality of life infractions are dismissed if offenders don't show up to court and NO infraction warrants are issued anymore.
The hoops we have to jump through just to cite someone for illegal lodging on the streets is ridiculous to the point of it being made impossible, when you factor in the insane volume of calls for service we're receiving.
We're overwhelmed as a department, and in reality, it's not a police issue. When you decriminalize things, it stops being a police issue. It's a public health and mental health issue, but no one has the fortitude to deal with it.
It's not the city I grew up in, and 90% of the homeless didn't grow up here at all. I'll be selling my place here soon, because I have no faith in the public here electing anyone other than enablers.
8
@JOCKO ROGERS Please define "success" and if possible, suggest some solutions.
2
One of the many reasons that while growing up in the suburbs of the City I never liked going to the City. Indeed, this is not a problem of liberal politicians. This is a problem that has to do with the lack of jobs and the high price of housing. In addition, the weather is also part of the problem. While San Francisco is not warm, it is also not Denver or Kansas City. It is better to be homeless on a coastal city. There needs to be cheap housing subsidized by the government. Taxes by tech corporations should be used to help pay for the housing because the tech corporations have driven the price of housing.
2
I'll speak up for the thousands of San Franciscans who live in safe, clean neighborhoods. Much of the western part of the city is entirely residential, the houses are plain, bland and the people are neither rich nor poor. We do have homeless on the shopping areas but not in the numbers seen in the Tenderloin. The residential shopping area streets are kept clean.
I grew up in SF during the post WWII years; the Tenderloin was always an area of bars, liquor stores. It was never an area that drew in families. But I never saw people living on the streets until perhaps the 1970's.
There was a period of gentrification as refugees from Viet Nam moved into the Tenderloin; I was hopeful seeing Asian families with children and playgrounds with children on swings, slides, South East Asian restaurants and grocery shops in the Tenderloin. Foodies ventured in to try this new cuisine in town. But the homeless crisis continued and families and restaurants were driven out.
A recent UN human rights report gave the entire US a poor report, with the causes and solutions clearly on the shoulders of our government.
We rank with under developed nations in our extremes of wealth/poverty, our lack of universal health care and expanding homeless population. Our problems are not due to lack of wealth, resources but lack of compassion, humanity in our political choices.
And now we have Trump.
147
@citizen vox Thanks for this. As a fellow resident, I grow tired of The New York Times' constant focus on one square mile of a 50-square-mile city. Yes, the problems in the Tenderloin, Financial District, and parts of SoMa and Civic Center are pretty dire, and we need to solve them together.
But as you say, despite the Times's seeming myopia, most of San Francisco is not Blade Runner, nor is it Beverly Hills. It's pleasant, clean, and peaceful. As you say, "entirely residential, the houses are plain, bland and the people are neither rich nor poor."
2
There is a partial solution to the problem described in the article but it might be too obvious for some and objectionable to others. How about we hold property owners accountable for the conditions in and around their buildings and places of business? They could collectively and fairly inexpensively employ street people themselves to monitor and clean 24 hours.
@Allen Carson Whenever property owners try that, they get sued for violating "human rights." Very few small business owners want to die on that hill.
6
I've been a Bay Area resident for the last decade, working in the mental health system in San Francisco during that time in a variety of capacities. While it's clear that the optics of open-air drug use are hard for most to handle, many of the complainants don't see these folks on the other side - providing services to them. I would encourage any reader to research Kaiser's landmark Adverse Childhood Experiences study to understand how trauma, most notably in childhood, is the greatest predictor of substance use issues. Addiction is not a disease, nor a moral failing; it is an abnormal response to inhumane treatment. There's room for a medical model in this, but we are talking about a social problem.
Many of the recent legislations passed/vetoed by Governor Brown - in specific SB1045, the expanded conservatorship bill, and AB 186, the bill allowing SF to open a safe injection site - signal that the government feels that this is a "quality of life" issue. The quality of life issue at hand is the dignity of people living in poverty on the streets of a city with an income gap that continues to go unaddressed.
There appears to be a desire to use bureaucracy and legislation as a fix that keeps everyone's hands clean, but the solution is just the opposite: the city itself needs to get its hands dirty and invest more in caring for this population. Most all of the non-profits that serve active drug users are sorely underfunded, scrambling for meager resources.
3
It is interesting to read through the comments from people who want to bash SF, and use this article as proof that homelessness is a product of a liberal mindset.
The reason why there are more homeless people in these cities is they actually are trying to have compassion for these people - Cities in Conservative areas just treat these people like they aren't humans, and kick them out with a "not in my back yard" mentality.
The discrepancy of wealth in our society has increased homelessness, and this discrepancy of wealth is largely due to Conservative policies. "Liberal" cities are paying the price for these policies, because they actually care about people. This is obviously a very difficult problem, but it is made much worse by immoral people like the commenters here who will treat homeless people like garbage, and push these people out of their communities and into areas who have more compassion.
17
@S B Thank you. You have articulated the problem spot on. I am shocked and saddened by the tone of so many of the posts around this article. People should not kid themselves.The homeless and destitute, the mentally ill, and those suffering from addiction are everywhere in this country. They are not somehow "spawned" by the liberal atmosphere in California: they are drawn there from the rest of the country. Do we have any data on where people on the streets of SF are actually from? Check out the videos on Youtube under Invisible People if you want have your mind blown open.
1
Having left San Francisco in 1989, I still have to travel there from time to time....and can attest to the fact that one of the most beautifully-situated cities in the world has been reduced to a filthy, over-populated, ridiculously expensive, glorified third-world dump. And I blame the city’s ‘progressive’ politics for that. Sanctuary City indeed...
Great food, though.
23
Does Pelosi ever visit? Take a tour of her district? ... And does anyone really think that Newsome, failure as SF mayor, will do anything effective when he becomes governor? Liberals have a basic philosophical problem. The problems of sloth, filth, addiction are never an issue of personal responsibility; but rather are the fault of a prejudiced uncaring society.
12
Seattle looks a lot worse! Filth, needles and human waste abound. Reports of violent attacks against women (out jogging, walking their dogs, etc. in the middle of the day) perpetrated by homeless men have recently increased. Mentally ill people scream in the streets all night long. Homeless bed down on cardboard around the Gates Foundation complex. Amazon has created private for its workforce to enjoy. Starbucks, Expedia, etc. etc. - where is the tax revenue going? I am moving away in 3 weeks. I cannot take it anymore.
31
Lot's of politics as usual and little in the way of real-world thinking.
Living in downtown SD, I too see the problem every day. Virtually all the homeless that I see are mentally deficient. This is not a moral failing, folks but illness.
Americans, us, have been unwilling to spend the money that will be required to fix things. There is plenty of money for the now useless aircraft carriers across the bay, though.
25
Minneapolis where I live is very liberal when it comes to social policies - if you believed in the "liberal policies cause homelessness and crime" canard, we should be overrun by heroin addicts living on the street.
Big city. Temperate climate. These are the causes of the problems in the Tenderloin, not "socialism".
37
Turgid, I think the weather is a dead giveaway.
1
Plus the fact that red states “the real America “ refuse to take care of their own unfortunates.
4
I was just up in Eureka. Gorgeous historic Old Town. Some new legal industry in cannabis doing pretty well here but to a great extent there are No jobs. There is a county jail which is surrounded by all forms of human decay.
I was doing a press trip. Trying to watch where I walked. It’s like an open sewer around town.
Walking around here at night is like watching the tv show named the walking dead after dark.
Couple with that rampant mental illness and no help. No jobs. No hope.
13
I lived in NYC in the 1970s. It was then that the asylums were closed and the inmates moved to the streets and SROs. Heraldo Rivera made his name by reporting on the horrors of a NY mental institution. The plan was to move these people to community based services, a kinder solution than basically locking them up in huge institutuon. Result, the institutuons were closed but nothing happened to community based sevices. Nothing.
41
I’m sorry this city I love is doing so badly. I used to walk through the TL from time to time in the 90’s; it never seemed that bad. One piece of this article I question: where did you get the 4,400 figure? Seems low, and other sources say 6,500-7,000.
3
I live in a city with the same issues and in all these rants I never hear (or see) one concrete idea to solve the problem from the right or the left.
24
This looks like a good project for Senator Feinstein in what could be her final days in office.
10
This is what ‘progressive liberalism’ means today....which is why I no longer consider myself a liberal progressive.
9
@Shenoa Really? And do tell us what Republicans are doing to alleviate the problem by taking away healthcare coverage, giving huge tax breaks to the rich and destroying the already weak social safety net?
9
San Francisco is the most conservative big city in America. Sure the political label is "liberal", but the conservativism lies in the City's inability to accept any policies or politicians that aren't in line with the far left. The City is sick with excess and selfishness on both ends of the socioeconomic spectrum and has become a pictogram for the right to reference as an example of liberal politics gone bad.
4
The people I see aren’t just homeless. They’re desperately ill. Why they’re not being cared for is because no one cares. They dirty the streets, they ruin the view, they ruined my dinner, they’re embarrassing—meanwhile they’re literally dying in front of us as the rest of the city feasts and frolics. It’s not a matter of politics, it’s a basic lack of values and compassion. All of which ignores the invisible poverty rampant in the bay, not on the street, but equally desperate. Shame.
28
Yes the Tenderloin is dirty. Anyone interested in taking a deeper dive into the history and the people's of the Tenderloin should check out David Boyer's podcast The Intersection (season one). It gets to the heart of what is vital there. Required listening for anyone with a strong opinion on the cleanliness of the TL!
2
There is no political will to do what it takes. even though this issue has plagued the City since the late 80's
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/SF-prosecutors-h...
3
I live in Seattle. A lovely city with a mayor who calls the homeless drug addicted "Our unfortunate neighbors" They build the tiny houses for them and let them use drugs in the free housing. Do NOT send any more of them here. The city council even wants safe injection kiosks for the addicted thinking that it will stop the needles everywhere. Talked to someone, yesterday who said, "What about internment camps?"" Let the addicted just overdose."
"What good are they to society?"
7
I lived a block over form the block described in this article for 4 years. The disgusting way it was kept up, the constant defecation and urination from the homeless having to watch for needles everywhere you went, being scared to walk down the block for fear of being threatened or for fear that someone would jab you with a needle, watching people inject heroin into their neck as you walk by trying to live your life, etc. was enough to make us move out of SF. You would call the police and they would ask you how many needles you saw. Was it at least 50? 50!!!! If it was not, then they wouldn't bother to send someone up to clean up the street. We had to call the police at least 3 times a week as cars were actively being broken into in broad daylight and yet nothing every changed. This is not the SF I remember visiting 15 years ago before we moved there
36
Lots of condemnation for liberal politicians but not one actual suggestion in the scores of comments I read. What do they propose we DO? How would electing a Giuliani change things? Put them all in jail? Out of sight, out of mind? There's a cost to that too.
358
@Barrie Grenell
I agree with you 120 percent. Cincinnati's best dysfunction .solution: give 48-hour warning, force residents to exit, flatten everything, cut down all high growth. Plants gone, people gone, problem solved until homeless relocate, another 48-hour warning initiates an infinite string of hopeless repeats. Over and over and over . . . again and again and gin . . . .
###
1
@Barrie Grenell
A couple solutions:
Support Bernie Sander's bill to penalize companies for paying employees so little they have to be on welfare.
Raise taxes/close loopholes for wealthy so they have to pay their share of infrastructure etc.
Put caps on ceo/upper management pay/bonuses. No one's output is worth 200+ times their employees.
7
@Barrie Grenell
I agree with you completely. Having unfortunately lived under the "kind" stewardship (not) of the Generalissimo Rudolph Giuliani. A man who rode on the coattails of his subordinates (Bratton) ... took credit for the massive hiring of police all secured by Dinkins with funds from Washington; supposedly being successful with the discredited broken windows theory. Basically crime went down because of a demographic change... the number of young males ages 17-25 dropped precipitously during the last year of Dinkin's administration carrying on through the Generalissimo's. That coupled with the cresting and waning of the crack cocaine epidemic, were the two primary factors in the reduction of crime that the so-called "America's Mayor" was responsible for.
5
San Francisco is also the capital of liberal America. I guess they don’t have all the answers either.
10
@Larry Yes, and NYC has no problems whatsoever with income inequality or homelessness, I'm sure.
Let's pick the very worst neighborhood of New York for the next article, OK?
"unsheltered people"
It only contributes to the problem when you disinfect the language. They are homeless.
26
@Charles Becker
The most recent such addition to the language: "shelter free".
3
Who let it get that bad in the first place, Gavin? And he thinks he can run California? We residents should have no patience with people who trash public spaces, nor for those who kill themselves with drugs on our sidewalks and in our parks. They need help in safe institutions. Meanwhile shoplifting and not-so petty thefts have skyrocketed with our new permissive laws, allowing junkies to steal with impunity.
8
President William Howard Taft called San Francisco at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915, "the City that knows how."
Those days are long gone. What is now present is a utopia for the rich & psychopathic vagrants.
7
@Apple Jack
The rich can't be psychopaths? Only the homeless?
“You can be too permissive, and I happen to think we have crossed that threshold in this state — and not just in this city,” Mr. Newsom said.
Haha. Oh Goodness. Now your permissive policies are going to trash the entire state of California. Are your immigration policies permissive? Are your employment policies permissive? Are your homeless problems permissive?
3
Wow, so many comments have the same tenor disturbing against liberals, the same rhythm of phrasing. Always the only solution is to turn back, destroy liberals. Always the only solution is to restore GOPism. Does anyone view these comments with suspicion?
31
<<“We are the most advanced country in the world,” Mr. Leising said. >>
The idea that we are the most advance country in the world is somewhere between absurd and comical.
21
Sad to see that no one connects the dots to liberalism and the pervasive problems of SF. Lived in Bay Area for over 25 years, and I will not go into SF. It's a cesspool, literally. Drug addicts are homeless because they're drug addicts so SF keeps giving them needles and free pot in Berkeley. So would all you liberals be in favor of giving shot glasses to alcoholics? It's the same premise. Wake up (or continue down your self-imposed dump).
12
@3pointer
Alcohol is legal. Anyone, alcoholic or not, can get a shot in any bar or liquor store.
I lived in San Francisco for over 30 years, before moving to New York three years ago. In front of my house in the Lower Haight, I would often find human feces or even someone in the act of defecating a few feet from my front door. Walking to work every morning, I would pass people doing drug deals, or shooting up, or passed out, and every evening on the way home. It finally got to be too much and my partner and I moved to NYC. How is it possible that a much larger city, with supposedly more complex problems, like NYC, can feel cleaner, safer, more sane than my hometown by the Bay? Where is the political and social will to seriously attack the problems that plague San Francisco and seem to be getting worse by the day? I weep for my hometown, but I don't want to live there anymore.
91
@Robert Brenneman
New York gets near or below freezing for a few months. That's how. Nothing freezes in San Fran.
5
The filthy, disgusting world of haves and have-nots, of filthy rich and dirt poor. Countries with more equality, better health care, subsidized housing, child and elder care, don't look like this.
31
@Stephanie Wood
Countries with more equality, better health care, and subsidized housing. child and elder care are also highly homogeneous and have very low birth rates. The Scandinavian countries in particular benefit from extremely low birth rates and North Sea oil.
2
I have been to several cities in Europe and I can say that “Yes, they do.”
2
After being presented with one too many full frontal urination expositions, I moved my family out of the city. It’s an absolute disgrace. But even more disgraceful is this cycle of negative news and inaction.
The mentally ill are not the people walking the streets of the TL, they are the voters of San Francisco who continue to support politicians who give lip service to the problem while we continue to spiral into excrement.
22
@Graham, There is also a significant homeless population within Marin County, in particularly in San Rafael. So you can pack up and run north over the GG Bridge but the problems persist. Maybe not in the same numbers but still there nonetheless.
2
I live in Silicon Valley (30 minutes south of the Tenderloin) where a 3 BR 2 BA house will run you about $2 million. The main road running past Stanford University -- alongside the soccer fields and with a clear view of the icon Hoover Tower -- is lined with ugly broken down RVs. Parked permanently, inhabited by who knows whom. Whose sewage is flowing who knows where. Many neighborhoods of Mountain View (shouting distance to the "Googleplex" and the Apple "spaceship"), same thing.
No one in city government or Stanford administration seems to notice or care.
This is what happens when an entitled class of liberal intellectuals enters a state of complete denial about the realities of the world. They think that, simply by agreeing to pay ridiculously high tax rates on their ridiculously high salaries, that someone else will take care of things. Whilst they think big thoughts and write insanely great software, the real world fades from their view. And things go to hell.
71
@Heather
Very well put. The new "ultra rich" have completely insulated themselves from everyday reality. We're entering a new feudalism.
2
This is what happens when a conservative governor and the patron saint of the Republicans, Ronald Reagan, closes mental hospitals and turns their residents out on the street, and 30 years of Republican and New Democrat rule turns our backs on the poor in favor of the investor class.
1
@Heather
Since "the valley" is overwhelmingly REPUBLICAN, it's not as if they have anything to do with it.
As the article pointed out, the main problem is mental illness and drug addiction. Having been born and raised in the city, it was always a shocking reality, even to a 5 y.o. girl, that has been exacerbated by increased housing costs. Over the past twenty years I’ve been alive, I’ve been grieved by how squalid the city the city has become. We need to provide resources so that these PEOPLE don’t just cycle through the prison(and other) system. There also needs to be affordable housing. It is breaking the back of most Californians and has trapped many people from building up savings or leaving (though I know many who used the fires as an opportunity to move). I love the Bay Area but there has to be a change. Apathy won’t solve anything.
5
I despise Republicans for many reasons, from Citizens United to denial of climate change.
But the apocalyptic vision of SF--the epitome of a Democratic-run city--underscores where the Democrats have also gone wrong.
According to Pew Research, I am a slightly to the left of center Democrat. And only 15% of voters fall into that "moderate category."
It seems like people are either celebrating Kavanaugh or see white men as the cause for every evil in society.
Isn't there some group of people, somewhere, who support gay marriage but not shooting up on the street? Who support encouraging US manufacturing but not banning people from Muslim countries?
I truly feel like everybody is on one end or another of the spectrum these days and those of us in the middle are becoming extinct.
19
I lived in San Francisco over 20 years. I volunteered after retirement at St. Anthonys, homeless assistance, on Golden Gate Ave. The number of homeless is underestimated. The city does corral them in the Tenderloin as best they can, putting “bandaids on shotgun wounds”, offering limited housing assistance and limited rehabilitation options, particularly for the mentally ill. The most shameless crimes of all this are the young, who inhabit the streets, being preyed on, ousted and “aged out” from the foster care programs. SF is one of the most affluent cities in the world, but like the typical rich, only offer enough back to feel good. And so the problem continues. And will until “spare” millions are spent on jobs, education, mental health, and rehab programs.
32
Those spare millions are readily available if only the GOP majority would give back power to the IRS so they could go after tax cheats like the Trump Syndicate and those like them.
3
If someone spends $1,500-$2,000 per month on heroin, they are certainly not going to have enough left over for housing, utilities and other living costs. And no relative or friend would allow them to share their living space, due to their propensity for theft to feed their drug habit. Finally, most opiate addicts do not want/are not ready to quit, and you cannot force sobriety on them. Rather than try and come up with a solution to this portion of the homeless problem (the others are untreated mental illness & poverty), San Francisco has chosen the "harm reduction" solution (basically, do nothing except provide Narcan and outreach), which has resulted in the conditions described in the article. Hasn't worked out that well...
12
@Tastes Better than the Truth
They don't. Heroin is CHEAP. $10 per day, that's only $300 per month.
Lots of liberal bashing here, but have any of you ever been to San Francisco? I work two blocks away from this street and the reason it’s such a problem is that no one actually lives in the Tenderloin. We all commute into Civic Center for our federal or city jobs, but then no one is left to advocate for the neighborhood. It’s also a containment strategy; heaven forbid a needle makes its way into SOMA or Union Square where all the European tourists ride the cable car.
9
The military complex takes up 45% of our federal spending. Can you imagine what we could do if we just took a small percentage of that money to deal with these never ending social issues, surrounding the lack of affordable housing and homelessness in general? Trump gets a military spending increase of over 700 billion and American's remain silent. If Obama were to try to address the needs of the poor and powerless such as what we see in San Francisco, a large portion of the voting electorate would lose their minds!
17
@Terpmaniac
Nope. Defense spending is 15%, not 45%. See
https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/graphic...
2
Conservatorship is 100% necessary and long overdue. Cracking down on bad street behavior is a necessary part of any approach. You can have compassion for drug users, but where’s the compassion for the working poor, recent immigrants, the elderly, and the children who have to live and work on the worst streets?
74
Fiscal anti-tax conservatives argue that problems of homelessness, drug abuse, and the mentally ill on streets should be addressed by the "private sector."
They want lower taxes and have an imaginary plan where churches, charities, and volunteers work on this.
Income inequality and the greed are leading to third world conditions across the country.
6
If it is a 'homeless' problem, we can solve it quickly. There are hundreds of abandoned military bases and factories in California alone. Equip those with partitions and showers/toilets. Transport the homeless there and they will have shelter, food and medical care. They won't be homeless and have to live on the streets any longer.
Unless the real problem is mental illness and drug addiction. 50% of the people in prison have mental problems.
We changed the mental hospitals of the 1960s into the sordid streets and overflowing prisons.
Perhaps we should bring back proper care for those who cannot care for themselves.
44
Our city is dealing with similar issues as well. It is beyond our means to deal with a state and national problem that is beyond epidemic proportions. Time for some leaders and communities to make some hard budget decisions and take conservatorship of the folks who are suffering the most.
5
I am a Progressive. But, these ultra-liberal policies and politicians only have themselves to blame for the current situation in San Francisco.
11
I live three hours from SF, and I used to like going there to visit museums, restaurants, and stroll around, but lately, the garbage, homelessness, and traffic are a turn-off. I have been approached by aggressive drunks and dug addicts, and no longer feel comfortable walking around what was once a very walk-able city. Although the situation is heartbreaking, and who likes a completely sanitized city, SF is a mess. Thank you for this article and for calling this to attention. I don't know what can be done about the great economic disparity in the city with its wealthy techies and those who grew up there and can barely afford the outrageous rents. My understanding is that the new wealth is not generating philanthropy toward civic improvement, which is deeply regrettable, because this is one of the things that once made San Francisco so great.
30
Since the "politicians" cannot solve this horrific problem, take it away from the politicians.
Perhaps a Citizen's Commission should "crowd source" the issue to the non political world.
Let everyday ordinary citizens come up with solutions offering awards of up to $1-5 million for the ideas that are selected and implemented.
If we cannot take care of our Planet Earth, we have no business spending money trying to discover life on other planets.
9
We lived in the Marina District 20 years ago. What a clean pedestrian-friendly neighborhood it was then. On a return visit several years ago, we were amazed at the amount of trash and garbage blowing about the district on a week day. Very sad.
4
Correlation is not causation.
There are many comments here that the bad conditions in my city are completely the fault of liberal and progressive politics, but I haven't seen many attempts to identify specific causes. Most studies suggest that the problem is the opposite of what you would normal consider liberal and progressive policies -- instead, at issue are restrictive zoning laws, Proposition 13, a very successful creative economy, and economic upheaval all across the country. Social safety nets are a small bulwark against these larger forces, but hardly the cause.
Come on people, let's think. Problems don't get solved with name calling and useless generalizations. The comments here are like me saying that Texas has hurricanes because it's anti-abortion.
470
@David Johnson Problems don't get solved by name calling but it seems that civil discourse has been forgotten by many Americans of all political persuasions. Democrats have been in charge of SF for many years so, yes, Democrats are responsible for the causes and solutions of this problem. Perhaps if there were stronger opposition in SF, Democrats would be forced to find solutions more quickly than their current pace. But, given the current climate in CA, I doubt that voters will give Republicans a chance.
3
The people of San Francisco are not fools. Why would they want to give Republicans a chance.
@David Johnson I actually see a lot of smart comments here. Sometimes the best answer is the one sitting right in front of our eyes. Rather than your somewhat complicated reasons, I'd suggest:
1. Our city has a relatively mild climate.
2. We offer free food, free needles, and it's fairly easy to use SNAP or EBT cards to swap for alcohol.
3. It is very difficult to get arrested, and impossible to get institutionalized.
That is precisely why we have a zillion homeless defecating on the streets and injecting drugs. I'm also not a fan of blaming liberals, but let's not over-complicate this.
8
All the conservatives are lapping this up as a case study of what wrong with social progressivism.
To be clear - letting the mentally ill run rampant in a city center has nothing to do with social progressivism.
Treating them vs jailing them maybe does.
It’s true, SF is inept at dealing with this problem.
It’s true, the money is there, but is not being used properly
It’s true, that “freedom” and “passiveness” for the mentally ill leads to a spiral of disfunction
But I see nothing in any political party ideology that fixes it vs the blocking and tackling of intense mental health treatment ( and yes sometimes against the will of someone so out of control )
273
@DMI just spent two weeks in Japan traveling through five cities. I did not see one piece of litter anywhere and not one homeless person or drug addict anywhere. I don’t know where they are or if they exist but what are they doing that we could copy? Japan is the most spotless country I’ve ever been in in my life. Also, the people are the most polite. We could take lessons from the Japanese.
12
@DMB.
California's political ineptitude is also evident in its mismanagement of the state's ample water supplies and its incomprehensible support for an open southern border and thus the facilitation of drug smuggling.
This is a failure of leadership and lack of common sense on the part of the voters who put them in office.
Of course, the southern border drug flow is directly linked to the state's homelessness/addiction problem, yet Californians want to do away with border controls.
Powerful private interests control California's water, even export it to China. Your state's precious water is not n short supply, you just aren't able to benefit from it because of POLICY.
Some of these problems (drugs, homelessness, water mismanagement) have been going on so long, it is hard not to conclude that Sacramento is not putting the citizens' interests first.
2
@DMB
Good luck with that when at least 50% of the eligible le voting population cant be bothered ( or are prevented from) voting. Then 40% of your population support basically a Party that doesnt belive in looking after the less fortunate, certainly dont want to pay for it, ( except when it comes to their own preexisting condtions) couldnt care less about minorities which constitute much of the homelessness, untreated memtal illness, joblessness or working poverty, homeless vets ( your country only seems to like the male buff healthy ones) , women ( as long as they stay quiet and do their reproductive duty when called upon ( and stop wining when a man gropes you) ...
so helping homeless dirty crazy people ( it must be their fault).... forget it.
2
The filth described in the article, and the human despair, are an immediate problem for the residents and homeless who frequent the Tenderloin. But the repercussions and underlying causes are regional. SF draws millions of tourists who travel to neighboring counties, such as Marin and Sonoma and Napa, yet those numbers have dwindled in recent years and that is sharply impacting the celebrated food and wine businesses for which the North Bay region is known. The lack of affordable housing is a longstanding problem throughout the nine-county Bay Area region, yet those counties historically have resisted cooperation and several, including Marin, have failed to meet affordable housing goals set by the Association of Bay Area Governments. It's time for the governor's office and the state legislature to step up their game and to encourage--or mandate--cooperation in meeting affordable housing goals, as well as emergency poverty and drug treatment programs. And, frankly, sometimes law enforcement is the answer. Many addicts have been helped only by encountering drug treatment and other support programs in jail. We can wring our hands all we want, but we need to roll up our sleeves and work together to find solutions.
7
I was last in San Francisco in July and travel there regularly to my second home city. Between October of last year and July of this year I was dumbfounded at how much worse the situation had become in such a short time. Yes, the city is broken and yes "progressive" socialism is to blame. What was interesting was a point made by the fellow who drove me to the airport (not UBER), himself a native San Franciscan. His view was that there is too much money in homelessness and that the city doesn't really want to fix the issue/problem. If the problem is fixed, all the grant money/public funding would no longer be needed and too many folks who make their "living" off this problem (some of them very well paid) would cease to exist. GLIDE seems to be the only truly effective outpost (although limited) and has been for a long time. I mourn the little village of a city I came to love as a second home when my father moved out there 40 years ago and where I lived and worked for many years.
10
My wife and I attended graduate school in San Francisco in the seventies. We lived in the Outer Sunset in a very nice flat that was affordable with our limited incomes. That is no longer the case. Today we live in a city where the homeless problem is as unresolvable as it is in San Francisco. Seattle hasn't found any solution other than to move encampments along to just make a garbage dump of a new location. In an economy that has unemployment low and near full employment, it seems that the issue can best be resolved with demand that those on the street be placed in jobs. Those that have mental problems be placed in care facilities. Those with chronic drug and alcohol issues be placed in treatment. The status quo is not working and will not work. There comes a point when compassion must meet practicality , or San Francisco and Seattle and many other cities will slowly be taken over by garbage dumps and tent cities in our midst.
51
I was born and raised in San Francisco, although I have chosen to live elsewhere in later life. As a child in the late 1940's, I remember seeing homeless people begging on downtown streets. The problem of homelessness is not new, but has grown in magnitude, as has the proliferation of drugs and drug use. During the Reagan era (Governor, that is) mental institutions were vacated, throwing many helpless and hopeless to fend for themselves on the streets. Addressing this social issue needs to be one of the first efforts in solving the bigger problem of homelessness.
33
My first visit to SF was in 1977. I remember being told to avoid the Tenderloin as it was dangerous. Nothing changes, nothing changes.
11
If they aggressively went after the drug dealers and the people who were taking a dump on the streets, it would stop. But the low life making this place a cesspool know there is no penalty to continue to do what they do. So they just get bolder. And the liberals who enabled this are getting exactly what they deserve.
63
As someone who lives outside a blighted city, I can say there are probably a few parallels. There is plenty of money to help fix this, it's just not going where it needs to. Never underestimate liberal politicians looking to line their own pockets. Maybe true here, maybe not, but the government in Cali is a monster - taxes are sky high, regulations are legion, plenty of cash coming in, but the government consumes it all to prop itself up. I read once that Cali writes 400 new laws every year on average(?!?). Gotta justify that state congressional job. Taxes well spent I'm sure. Liberalism run amok. Keep going with all the social programs, too - sanctuary, food stamps until the end of time, and needle exchanges. I'm sure things will turn around soon.
44
Ugh. Cali? That’s a city in Columbia. I’ve no idea where you are from, but our state is never called that. Like calling Minnesota Minnie, New York Newy. Please don’t do that to us.
15
@Jonesy
Never underestimate who? You regressives have it all wrong every time.
@Pat Roy...look right next to my name, Detroit, also called The Motor City, Motown, Rock City, Hockeytown, "The D". And a city full of empty, abandoned, rotting neighborhoods with drugs and gang violence. But slowly on its way back.
A lot of people here know exactly where you are talking when you say "Cali". Must be a flyover thing. We also use People's Republic of Kalifornia too....is that any better?
The reason SFO is now so disgusting is due to the reversal of the public defecation/urination law by the previous mayor. The mayor of DEN just did the same thing last year. The reason defecating on public streets was against the law and shooting up on the streets as well, was for public healt and sanitation. Large cities used to have problems with Cholera and many other diseases. The liberal desire to feel sorry for everyone but the tax payer and embrace third world culture has lead to third world problem. Congratulations, it’s only a matter of time before SFO & DEN have a major disease outbreak. Read your history, sanitation laws went in place in the 1800’s to stop disease. Every city run by Dems has serious problems, NYC was saved by Giuliani ( who doesn’t get credit). I lived in NYC in the late 70’s and it was a mess, your liberal mayor is slowly undoing all the gains made by Giuliani in the name of Social Justice. Look at DTW and Chicago all messes, when are inner city voters going to come off the Democratic plantation? Their new answer is Socalism, take a look at Venezuela or ask the millions murdered by socialist if that works for you. SFO needs a Giuliani before it implodes, stop electing liberals..get a clue.
121
OK, so you arrest someone for defecating on the sidewalk - what does that accomplish? They have no place else to put their shtuff.
This is not a liberal/conservative issue, don't make it one.
4
@US Where do you expect people without homes to go to the bathroom? Passing laws making it illegal to defecate or urinate in public doesn't fix the essential fact that there are people with nowhere to live; it just makes it easier to punish them.
The answer to is to find solutions to homelessness and create safety nets for people on the brink, not to penalize those who are already in dire straights.
8
@US
The liberal desire to feel sorry for everyone but the tax payer and embrace third world culture has lead to third world problem.
Now that's a mouthful.
No liberal wants to see or defend OR rationalize public defecation.
Regressives see taxes as a penalty. That's the problem. You're fine with having no money to pay for things.
3
Call it what it is....a drug infested human pigsty. Or as Democrats would call it, San Francisco.
36
Until the residents of San Francisco decide to stop the madness by the people they CONTINUE to vote into office, the degradation of this once beautiful city will continue. It is much like NYC was prior to voting in Mayor Guiliani. You could see the urine flowing in the streets, and smell the stench when you left Grand Central Station.
Every city controlled by the Democrats and their liberal policies is a hell hole. Detroit, LA, SF, Seattle, Portland Or, , etc. Not one is safe and definitely not pleasant anymore. We have a clear and resounding choice in a few weeks. Make the right one.
77
@Fineartlover it was ed koch that gave people a right to shelter ..rudy just happened to be in office 20 years after abortion was legalized and a large percentage of unwanted children were not born
1
The conditions in SF are a direct results of the Progressive Socialism that governs the city. The city spends 47,000 dollars per homeless person and yet fails to hold the myriad of nonprofits or government programs accountable for their lack of results. The city has gutted enforcement of the basic laws that keep society operating resulting in rampant drug use, theft, and assaults. The streets are filthy with irons and feces. It is only a matter of time before a large scale hepatitis or typhus outbreak occurs and threatens all residents.
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The liberals in San Francisco are reaping the rewards of their acceptance of this behavior. Do we really care about our fellow Americans if we allow them to live on the streets like animals?
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Meanwhile in NYC homeless are permitted to live in the subways and now kids can smoke weed in public around other kids with no repercussions.
To me, camping in a subway car that people need to get to work is just selfish, anti-social behavior and should be dealt with by policing as the last straw (along with policies that give homeless a chance to stay in a shelter a while and find some work).
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"For many who live here it’s difficult to reconcile San Francisco’s liberal politics with the misery that surrounds them."
Hmmm...Seems pretty obvious to me!
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Remember the Doonesbury cartoon: He’s on the phone talking to a friend, saying “I know you’re depressed and considering suicide but I am on my way to a demonstration to save the world”.
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I lived in San Francisco for three years. I remember "Camp Agnos," where the mayor allowed the horrific despoliation of the Civic Center because "we should be reminded of the homeless." That at least was a contained area away from most residences. I feel for the people who are trying to make a life amidst SF's extortionate rents and the filth and chaos allowed by their government.
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What a laugh! Mr. Liesing says 'we live in the most advanced country in the world..' ha! You know what's wrong with that? The delusion. There is one country that everyone knows suffers open defecation, India. But to think SF would now join its dubious ranks. What a joke.
China has long overtaken America as most advanced. It seems that in America's great race to be the best, it now also wants to outperform India? How revolting.
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Wait, we thought San Francisco was the center of enlightened Democrat politics and social practices. Can it be that a "live and let live" mindset actually produces this type of mess? What do the Democrats who control San Francisco and the state house in Sacramento plan to do about the disgusting human conditions there and also in Los Angeles in the district of loudmouth Maxine Waters? Rudy Giuliani solved this same problem in New York City with tough measures. Apparently liberal California politicians just don't have the guts to do the same.
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Cleaning the streets is not that hard. You send teams of sanitation workers out and clean the streets, block by block.
Keeping them clean is the tricky part.
That said, I was in SF. Homeless all over the place. How about a jobs program,,,,, like hiring some of the homeless to clean the streets and keep their assigned areas clean? The tricky part here is to keep them off booze and cigarettes.
I'm not that sympathetic to the beggars that I encounter here in NYC when I see bottles of booze sticking out of their pockets while a $15-a-pack cigarette hangs out of their mouths.
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You should get a government policy job. How worth shaking hire jobless people to keep the streets clean exclamation point! But that might mean somebody might lose a politically appointed job that allows them to work on campaigns In election season.
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The great irony is that the institutions responsible for the colossal drug addiction and homelessness, i.e. liberals in government, are tasked with fixing the problem. They can't. They don't have the skill sets to do it. So it just gets worse. How about this idea; don't give out ANY free needles. None! Then there will be far fewer to clean up. Duh. So some addicts get infected and die. They will anyway. How about no subsidies; no money, food stamps, housing vouchers, healthcare, transit, or anything paid for by the taxpayers. Drastic? Perhaps, but we know that nothing else liberals are doing works. It never does.
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just drove into the City yesterday for a three day business trip.... billboard for an investment bank by the freeway just west of the nay bridge:
"they say millennial are lazy..... retire early and prove them right"
pretty much sums up the town these days. let the devil take the hindmost.....
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I take it Tony Bennett long ago retrieved his heart from here.
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This is the manifest of liberal utopia where a few dozen elites control all the wealth while thousands live addicted, downtrodden, and in squalor. It is realization of modern day "Elysium" except there are no heroes in this horrific "Nightmare on Elm Street" and every other passageway.
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