[HN Gopher] SF Declared Dead, Full of Drugs and Homeless, Multip...
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       SF Declared Dead, Full of Drugs and Homeless, Multiple Times in
       Last 50 Years
        
       Author : sundaeofshock
       Score  : 17 points
       Date   : 2023-07-07 21:25 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (sfist.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (sfist.com)
        
       | anm89 wrote:
       | You know things are going well when you have to yell at the
       | internet that your not dead.
        
       | UniverseHacker wrote:
       | Things have really changed in downtown SF in a way that is
       | totally different than in the past. Walking ~3 blocks in broad
       | daylight I saw people openly injecting themselves with drugs,
       | people having sex right on the sidewalk, numerous people passed
       | out (or dead?) laying flat across the sidewalk with other people
       | ignoring them and stepping around them, hundreds of piles of
       | human feces, and a lot of mentally ill people aggressively
       | confronting strangers. I was in the area near the recently shut
       | down Whole foods, and couldn't find a place to use a restroom
       | even as a paying customer- nearly all of the businesses were shut
       | down or boarded up. I finally found a public library with
       | restrooms, and there were guards posted inside every restroom in
       | attempt to curb drug use.
       | 
       | The situation is dehumanizing and terrifying, and nothing like
       | when I visited the same area 20 years ago.
        
       | amadeuspagel wrote:
       | Fun article, but note that there is such a thing as a long term
       | trend. The fact that people have been pointing out a trend for a
       | long time doesn't mean it's not real.
        
         | JohnFen wrote:
         | True.
         | 
         | I've been having to travel to SF at various times for 30 years
         | or so, and it's always been one of my least favorite cities for
         | the reasons stated in the article.
         | 
         | And I've watched it gradually and consistently get worse over
         | the decades -- but once the SV crowd really took over, that
         | gradual trend greatly increased in velocity. It's not gradual
         | anymore.
        
           | guestbest wrote:
           | It seemed like a pretty safe and fun town when I visited in
           | the late 1990's
        
           | mc32 wrote:
           | I've heard that when manufacturing left town in the 70s and
           | 80s it was pretty bad. But probably in significant ways, not
           | as bad as it is today. What was bad then was the RE market
           | --it just tanked, and there was crime too (hence Dirty
           | Harry), but not as pernicious as today and not the faeces,
           | nor as much hard drugs nor as many people with severe
           | psychological problems.
           | 
           | Willie Brown tried but he too got sick and tired of the
           | homeless situation and threw his hands up.
        
           | thatfrenchguy wrote:
           | I have no clue how SF can be your least favorite city, do you
           | just not have (even a book?) guide? Or do you just not walk?
           | Or not go outside of downtown?
        
             | JohnFen wrote:
             | It's not my least favorite. There are cities I dislike
             | more. It's just one of my least favorites.
             | 
             | And yes, I do and have done all of those things. I didn't
             | say that there's no good aspects to it! But the good stuff
             | doesn't balance out the bad for me, and the same sort of
             | good stuff can also be had in other cities that are
             | generally more pleasant.
        
       | [deleted]
        
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       (page generated 2023-07-07 23:01 UTC)