
‘Gut-wrenching’ videos of SF bike route populated by homeless spur debate - asadlambdatest
http://www.sfexaminer.com/gut-wrenching-videos-sf-bike-route-populated-homeless-spur-debate/
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afpx
I have been traveling to San Francisco for work for probably 15 years, maybe
more. But, over the last year, I've seen things I've never seen before. And, I
used to regularly hang out in NYC in the 80s and 90s, when crime was at its
peak, so that's something.

Some highlights:

\- I've had to call the police about people who appeared to be dead sprawled
out on the sidewalk of Market.

\- When stopping at an intersection, a homeless woman laid on the hood of my
car until I gave her $10.

\- My wife had 'sticky stuff' thrown at the back of her head as she walked
near the Tenderloin.

\- I saw a family chased by a homeless guy with his pants down laughing, and
yelling, "your kids ever see one of these?"

\- I've seen several people defecating on the street, with really no shame or
attempt to hide it.

\- Both of my kids have been physically touched and yelled at (like, in their
face) by homeless.

\- I've lost count of the number of people I've seen shooting up or smoking
crack.

I unfortunately know very little about homelessness. I donate money to
shelters and programs because ... I don't know what else to do. I've tried
talking to them to learn more, but everyone has been incomprehensible.

All that I know is that it makes me very sad to travel here. This city, which
used to be one of my favorites, is in a sick state and at war with itself.

------
danjoc
The article starts off sounding compassionate for the homeless, then quickly
pivots to characterize them as cyclist hazards. Odd how SF has so many people
living on the streets and yet so many vacant homes,

[https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/01/30/18767847.php](https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2015/01/30/18767847.php)

It's like the system is broken and nobody there has the humanity to bother
trying to fix it.

~~~
GhostVII
I think they are trying to fix it, they spent over $200 million on the
homeless last year, but it is a difficult problem to solve.

~~~
rhapsodic
_> I think they are trying to fix it, they spent over $200 million on the
homeless last year, but it is a difficult problem to solve._

Perhaps the $200 million spent on the homeless attracts more homeless people
to San Francisco.

It was stated in 2015[1] that there were 6686 homeless people in San
Francisco. That seems low, but if it's even in the ballpark that means there
is a _lot_ of money spent per capita on the homeless there. It's no wonder
there are so many of them.

[1] [http://projects.sfchronicle.com/sf-
homeless/numbers/](http://projects.sfchronicle.com/sf-homeless/numbers/)

~~~
davewongillies
> Perhaps the $200 million spent on the homeless attracts more homeless people
> to San Francisco.

From [1]:

> The most recent homeless count, conducted in January 2015, found 6,686
> homeless people in the city. Seventy-one percent of people reported living
> in San Francisco when they became homeless, up from 61 percent in 2013. Just
> 10 percent said they were living outside California when they became
> homeless, and the remaining 19 percent were living in the state but not in
> the city.

[1] [http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/What-San-
Franciscans-k...](http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/What-San-Franciscans-
know-about-homeless-isn-t-7224018.php)

~~~
scarmig
That's not a very useful statistic. It refers to whether the person was living
in San Francisco when they most recently became homeless. But plenty of
scenarios are captured in it that don't at all line up with the impression
that the statistic is intended to give.

E.g. a homeless man comes to San Francisco and lives on the streets. He gets
temporary assistive housing but is kicked out for criminal activities after a
month, and is back on the streets. Do you think that statistic captures him as
an outsider homeless, or an insider?

There's a big continuum here, but it's rare for someone to have been living
here and paying their bills for a couple years and then become homeless
because they're kicked out by an evil landlord or whatever. And even when it
happens, San Francisco is pretty dang effective at getting and keeping them
off the streets.

That's sort of all besides the point, because the actual homeless people that
people get angry at--that homeless woman setting up a tent to block my fire
escape, and that homeless man who punched me in the head in broad daylight on
Market Street--don't respond differently to interventions regardless of
whether they are an insider or an outsider.

~~~
convolvatron
not much of that 200M is of direct benefit to the homeless.

i dont belive the numbers either, but since san francisco was a place you came
to just get by and have a good time for many decades. there are a lot of
people who used to live on couches or had a squalid rent control from the 80s
that got gentrified onto the street. or who got out of prison and everything
they knew was gone. there are still leftovers kicking around that used to do
odd jobs at the shipyard - i think that closed in the 60s.

but i can also guarantee you that the huge rows of busted up beige trailers
with cardboard in the windows aren't locals. and they aren't here because they
are getting handouts, but because there is a kind of under-economy of
trash/scrap handling, prostitution, meth dealing, heroin, and barter on those
sidewalks.

------
BoiledCabbage
That article is incredible. I'm almost waiting for a "Onion"-esque quote of
"Families with no homes and no opportunity are inconvenience to bikers."

"Man, I used to really enjoy my morning bike ride, and it was nice the way the
highway gave gave me cover from the elements when it rains - but with all
these poor people seeking shelter here is a really downer. Not a great way to
start of the morning. Can't we make them move into the field or out of the way
or something? It's kinda selfish of them to set up right here in my bike lane.
My tax dollars paid for this highway - I bet they don't even pay taxes... And
what if someone runs into one of them and gets hurt? You can't sue them for
the bike repairs, they don't even have any money. They're like someone driving
without car insurance, totally irresponsible! The city needs to do something
about this."

While clearly satire, It's amazing how much the focus really seems to be on
the perception of people being homeless, or the chance of a biker being hurt,
rather than actually on any of the people living there.

~~~
closeparen
I don't think we're morally obligated to let the city's infrastructure and
public space become completely unusable out of sympathy for the people making
it so.

There can be no bike path, or public transit, or public park anywhere in San
Francisco until poverty is eradicated globally? That's equally absurd.

Homeless shelters, mental health services, and bike paths are _all_
responsibilities of local government.

~~~
convolvatron
ok yes.

i see a lot of homeless encampments in sf. by my home, right next to my shop,
and all the way in-between (down chavez, the strip written about in this
article). at least 50 people in that 1 mile stretch.

homelessness has been an issue in sf for quite a while. but i think there has
been a qualitative turn. the homeless used to try to find a place out of the
way, where they could stay unmolested as long as possible. camps got bigger,
were busted up, and everyone moved on.

today, they are going out of their way to put themselves front and center.
yesterday, when trying to chase away three tents that suddenly appeared on the
sidewalk right outside my front door, i was told that this was public
property, and that i can call the police all i want. which of course i did to
no effect.

suddenly the encampment down the block, with the concomitant human waste,
snaring dogs, asphalt fires, and all manner of detritus needs to be crossed to
get into my shop and there is apparently nothing to be done about it. public
works comes out a couple times a week to collect trash and spray down the
street.

i was already used to dealing with hugo, whose been living on the our street
for a couple years - passed out in the doorway from huffing paint. he's really
an ok guy. he steals power from us and sells bikes assembled from stolen
parts. and old crazy bill that parks in front of the shop and yells and
threatens people. all the tweaked out scrappers. that used to be what you put
up with for light industrial space. but it was stable.

today, its pretty hard to even drive down the street with all the tents and
dogs and stolen bikes lying around.

there are easily 3 acres underneath the highway where people can live, and
have for decades. but now its some kind of occupation, a ticketless burning
man. a giant middle finger to anyone that can afford to have a home.

