Took a trip to San Francisco.. what happened to this place?

[Boothroyd]

I have traveled there since the early 1990's. Fact is, it is a lot worse than it has ever been, over a wider area, with more aggressive homeless--whatever the cause. Affects the shopping, conventioneer and tourist areas. A real shame.

[Jster]

SF is a pit and it’s not going to get better anytime soon. I know exactly the reasons why but it’s against forum rules to discuss.

[bayerische]

The city is beutiful IMO, and has a lot to offer. Visited about a year ago.

But homeless junkies are everywhere. I guess it used to be the Tenderloin, but now it’s everywhere.

First night we walked from the wharf to Washington square park. And a few meters from the sidewalk a gang of junkies where shooting up. Got really stunned how open and in your face it is.

[rolehex]

Originally Posted by DLRIDES

I could answer your question with one word, but several head explosions and my potential banning would soon follow. In fifteen more years, the comparison differential will be worse.

Yep.

[Watch This]

The hotel owners in Union Square are losing business and losing their minds. Housekeeping carts are being raided for soap, shampoo, TP, towels, etc. I was there 6 months ago. It is BAD and in areas, unsafe. Not to mention insanely expensive. Shame.

[bayerische]

Never felt unsafe, but downtown in the Tenderloin, it’s wise to avoid some streets.

Shame really. You got billionaires row on one side and a shanty-town on the other.

[Fat_ninja]

Originally Posted by pickettt

nyc doesn’t have it under control. Nyc’s winter has it under control.

+1

[Sperry]

In 2003 I bicycled San Fran. Forgot where we were staying but it was a decent area. Great small eateries everywhere. A few blocks away it seemed dicey, but overall it was Bay To Breakers weekend and one big party.

About that same time I spent three days in Sacramento. Bicycled everywhere. Lovely town.

[gettocard]

And the best part is you still need to make shitload of money to live there..

[Maybelline]

Without getting too political, it’s all political.

[rolexinfl]

Shame.

I've heard of these issues but didnt think it was THAT bad. I chalked it up to anti-california propoganda....but to hear it on this forum is pretty eye opening.

Last I was there was in 2014 for a conference. Guess I won't be going back!

Straight to NAPA!

[cjohns]

Hey that’s the TV Full House ! That actress just got canned for buying her kids way into college !

[tudorbaja27]

Originally Posted by pickettt

NYC doesn’t have it under control. NYC’s WINTER has it under control.

[GoingPlaces]

Originally Posted by Maybelline

Without getting too political, it’s all political.

Without getting political it's all political. 100%.

[Fat_ninja]

Originally Posted by cjohns

Hey that’s the TV Full House ! That actress just got canned for buying her kids way into college !

Note to self.... dont spend money on kids college

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by Etschell

Without getting to political it is a well know fact this is going on in silicon valley. Shocked you didnt use google before your trip...

Technically San Francisco is not the Silicon Valley which is down farther south in the Santa Clara Valley. When the computer industry started basically from Stanford in Palo Alto the various companies were looking for land for their "campuses" and the Valley was mainly agricultural.

The computer industry basically annexed the entire area including sleepy San Jose. Only quite recently has San Francisco been a place where some computer hipsters wanted to live but in most cases they have to commute down to the Valley to work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley

[Dr. Robert]

It is sad.....I’ve lived in the Bay Area off and on since 1966, lived in the Los Angeles area for a long time.....my state is run by clowns. My family is here, they & the weather are the only things keeping me here.

[SMD]

Originally Posted by pickettt

NYC doesn’t have it under control. NYC’s WINTER has it under control.

Nope. Just move down to the subway and live on the trains.

[droptopman]

Great city, we saw similar. It is very sad. I travel for work a lot in CA and most metro areas have this issue. Cannot really express my opinion as it violates the rules, but most of us know why this problem exists.

Sadly even when "free" behavioral health and psychosocial services are offered, folks do not access them. Did a consulting gig in a nearby city and they had a bunch of really good resources for homeless folks and even with outreach workers could not get people to take advantage of the services.

[pickettt]

Originally Posted by SMD

Nope. Just move down to the subway and live on the trains.

.....hence, not on the streets.

[pickettt]

Whenever I see homeless, I don’t feel spite. I feel blessed.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by droptopman

Great city, we saw similar. It is very sad. I travel for work a lot in CA and most metro areas have this issue. Cannot really express my opinion as it violates the rules, but most of us know why this problem exists.

Sadly even when "free" behavioral health and psychosocial services are offered, folks do not access them. Did a consulting gig in a nearby city and they had a bunch of really good resources for homeless folks and even with outreach workers could not get people to take advantage of the services.

The homeless are generally drug addicted and or have mental problems. They are not people who just got lazy and decided to live a wonderful life on the street one day.

A lot of homeless in California are people from colder states that came here so they wouldn't freeze to death and in some cases they were provided bus tickets from social services in other states to come here. In SF due to an influx of computer types in the last few years low income housing dried up and high rent condos took their place.

It's a tough problem and unless there are places to lock them up, which is basically illegal and there are no facilities to even do that, I'm missing the political aspect of this that everyone is hinting at.

Does California ship everyone homeless person from the Mid-West back to where they came from? Do we lock them up? Do we hire more cops to ferry them back and forth to jail every day? Do we shoot them?

Just wondering.

[locutus49]

The homeless in La Jolla wear gold Rolexes and are constantly on their iPhones checking stock quotations or their twitter feed. I am not kidding.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by locutus49

The homeless in La Jolla wear gold Rolexes and are constantly on their iPhones checking stock quotations or their twitter feed. I am not kidding.

With all due respect. Seriously?

Maybe you're confusing people getting a tan with the homeless.

[locutus49]

I heard the same complaint 15 years ago. People have an idealized version of SF in their heads that they compare current conditions to. 15 years from now people will look upon current conditions with nostalgia. Human nature.

[droptopman]

Originally Posted by Blansky

The homeless are generally drug addicted and or have mental problems. They are not people who just got lazy and decided to live a wonderful life on the street one day.

A lot of homeless in California are people from colder states that came here so they wouldn't freeze to death and in some cases they were provided bus tickets from social services in other states to come here. In SF due to an influx of computer types in the last few years low income housing dried up and high rent condos took their place.

It's a tough problem and unless there are places to lock them up, which is basically illegal and there are no facilities to even do that, I'm missing the political aspect of this that everyone is hinting at.

Does California ship everyone homeless person from the Mid-West back to where they came from? Do we lock them up? Do we hire more cops to ferry them back and forth to jail every day? Do we shoot them?

Just wondering.

I think you misunderstood me. I have worked in Behavioral Health for 25 years. No judgement from me. Just the opposite. I agree most have SUD and or MH problems. The real issue is even when services are available we cannot get people to access them. There are integrated systems in many places that address medical, dental, BH, and housing, that are not accessed by those who need it.

[pickettt]

Originally Posted by Blansky

Does California ship everyone homeless person from the Mid-West back to where they came from? Do we lock them up? Do we hire more cops to ferry them back and forth to jail every day? Do we shoot them?

Just wondering.

It’s interesting, for sure. In Anaheim, California, along the Santa Ana river there had been a HUGH homeless encampment for about 5 years or so. It looked like the pictures we see of third world shantytowns. A little less than two years ago, they started moving them out of there. Now they’re all gone.....no idea where all of those people could have gone.

[pickettt]

Originally Posted by droptopman

The real issue is even when services are available we cannot get people to access them. There are integrated systems in many places that address medical, dental, BH, and housing, that are not accessed by those who need it.

Can we expect people with mental health problems to make mentally stable decisions for themselves? I don’t know the answer, but that’s a problem we should’ve expected when coming up with viable solutions.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by droptopman

I think you misunderstood me. I have worked in Behavioral Health for 25 years. No judgement from me. Just the opposite. I agree most have SUD and or MH problems. The real issue is even when services are available we cannot get people to access them. There are integrated systems in many places that address medical, dental, BH, and housing, that are not accessed by those who need it.

Yeah, tough one. I've read the ones that need the meds won't stay on them because of the side affects, and the addicts are maybe beyond rehabilitation. I'm guessing they've been in the system many times.

When people state the hush hush political stuff here, I'm wondering what their solution is though.

When I lived in LA in the 80s Reagan was blamed for the homeless issue nationwide because he cut funding to places that helped them. ( I was new in the US so I can't say if that was accurate or not). But places like Venice Beach became a Mecca for them arriving by the day from other places in the US.

The only recourse I can see is strip away their civil rights and forcibly clean them up, which is not possible. As for people that lost their housing, there has to be affordable clean housing.

But wait, due to automation and corporate culture making employees a liability instead of an asset, in the next 20 years, things are gonna get real ugly.

[wesdaniel]

Originally Posted by Blansky

The homeless are generally drug addicted and or have mental problems. They are not people who just got lazy and decided to live a wonderful life on the street one day.

What's sad is that a lot of folks develop those addictions and/or have deteriorating mental conditions as a result of living on the street.

The longer a person is on the street, the farther they sink into addiction and mental illness. It's almost impossible not to. And, the longer they're on the street, the less likely they will ever successfully be rehoused.

Rapid Rehousing programs are showing a lot of promise in helping to curb the growth of homelessness - the faster someone can be rehoused after losing their housing, the less likely that they will end up back on the street.

Homelessness seems almost similar to prison in that, over time, people become "institutionalized" and reintroduction to society is less and less likely.