4

Does the homeless population & their proximity to tourist attractions take away from the SF experience?

flag
1 
 welcome maxfan!!! nice question too – ashbury♦ Mar 10 at 16:36
1 
 +1 maxfan, great question! Make sure you sign up to earn your reputation points! – sftrek Mar 10 at 19:42
1 
 Sorry your "experience" of SF is tarnished by those darned homeless. With so many types of people living on the streets for so many reasons and SF weather being so fair (in the grand scheme) why don't you ask "how can I help the homeless situation in SF?" – ShaneO Mar 17 at 3:07
1 
 @ShaneO - I'm homeless. – maxfan Mar 17 at 12:21

2 Answers

5

It all depends on who you ask. If your asking a tourist in the Fisherman's Wharf, then yes. As most tourists are not accustomed to the fairness of San Francisco, the tolerance SF has for the homeless, ie: to sleep on the streets/parks. Laws might change which will not allow people to sleep/squat on the street between 7pm-11pm, a article here.

This city is expensive, and some cannot afford the high housing cost, so they live around the city in parks, or on the streets (Haight, Ashbury area), which I think is hard to do as it's really cold at night.

Does the homeless population & their proximity to tourist attractions take away from the SF experience? To some YES, to me NO- this is what SF is all about - the people!

The Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco (COH)

link|flag
Yeah, and I'm sure nowadays, thanks to the banksters, there's more homeless than ever. Thanks. – maxfan Mar 17 at 23:44
4

I would have to agree with ashbury. It really depends who you are, and who you are talking with, but I do feel it affects the image of our city. People come from all over the world to visit beautiful San Francisco, and when they arrive in the Embarcadero or any other famous spot, they see a bum peeing in the middle of Market St. Do we really need that in our city? We need more public restrooms for our homeless population!

link|flag
3 
 There are public restrooms, but it's non-trivial to get homeless people to use them consistently. – Sharon♦ Mar 10 at 22:28
I remember years ago the city council out there was considering making the tax payers pay for a shopping cart for every homeless person. Really! That's a bit ass-backwards imo. Thanks guys. – maxfan Mar 17 at 23:40

Your Answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.