SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Caitlin Foster fell in love with San Francisco’s people and beauty and moved to the city a dozen years ago. But after repeatedly clearing used needles, other drug paraphernalia, and human feces outside of the bar she manages, and having many encounters with armed people in crisis, her affection for the city has been tainted.

“It was a goal to live here, but now I’m here thinking, ‘Where should I move now?’ I’m over it, ‘”said Foster, who runs the Noir Lounge in the hip Hayes Valley neighborhood.

A series of headline-grabbing crime stories – crowds breaking windows and snatching luxury purses in downtown Union Square, and daytime shootings in touristy Haight-Ashbury – only added to the feeling of vulnerability. Residents wake up to the news of attacks on Asian-American seniors, broken-in restaurants and boarded-up shop fronts in the city’s once-vibrant downtown area.

San Francisco Chronicle photographer robbed at gunpoint

The San Franciscans pride themselves on their liberal political leanings and generously approve tax measures for schools and the homeless. They accept that garbage roads, tent camps and petty crime are the price one has to pay to live in an urban wonderland.

But the frustration of Foster, who moved from Seattle in search of more sunshine, is growing among residents who are now seeing a city in decline. There are signs that the city, famous for its tolerance, is losing patience.

The pandemic has emptied parts of San Francisco, highlighting some of its drawbacks: human and dog droppings smeared on sidewalks, break-ins into homes and vehicles, overcrowded bins, and a laissez-faire approach by officials to brazen drug trafficking. Parents were desperate as public schools remained closed for most of last year as nearby counties welcomed the children back into the classroom.

Meanwhile, residents and visitors scurry past scenes of lawlessness and misery. Just steps from the Opera House and Symphony Hall, drug dealers carry translucent bags with crystal-like stones or stand outside the main branch of the public library while haggling on heroin and methamphetamine.

“There is a widespread feeling in San Francisco that things are going the wrong way,” said Patrick Wolff, 53, a retired professional chess player from the Boston area who has lived in the city since 2005.

As a sign of civic frustration, the San Franciscans will vote in June on whether to remove District Attorney Chesa Boudin, a former public defender who was elected in 2019 and whose critics say he is too lenient about crime. Its supporters say there is no spike in crime and that corporate wage theft is a more pressing issue than cases like that of a San Francisco woman who was eventually arrested after stealing more than $ 40,000 in goods from a target in 120 visits had. She was released by a judge and arrested again on suspicion of shoplifting after failing to show up to retrieve her court-ordered ankle monitor.

“Where is the progress? If you say you’re progressive, let’s get the homeless off the streets and get them mental health care, ”said Brian Cassanego, a native of San Francisco who owns the lounge where Foster works. He moved to Wine Country five months ago because he was tired of seeing dealers selling drugs with impunity and worrying that his wife would be out alone at night.

The day before his move, Cassanego came out to take his dogs for a walk and saw a man who “looked like a zombie” with pants up to his knees and bleeding from a syringe in his hip. Nearby, a woman screamed in shock.

“I went upstairs and said to my wife, ‘We’re going now! This town is ready! ‘”He said.

Theft reports – shoplifting from a person or a company – increased by almost 17% to more than 28,000 compared to the same period last year. Inquiries about cleaning dirty streets and sidewalks are most calls to 311, the city’s service number.

Overall, however, crime has been falling for years. More than 45,000 incidents have been reported so far this year, compared to the previous year when most people were locked in closed rooms, but fewer than the roughly 60,000 complaints in previous years.

San Francisco’s well-publicized problems have served as fodder for the conservative media. Former President Donald Trump recently stepped in again, releasing a statement saying the National Guard should be sent to San Francisco to prevent robberies.

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Elected officials say they are grappling with deep societal problems that are common in every major US city.

A high percentage of an estimated 8,000 homeless people in San Francisco are struggling with chronic addiction or severe mental illness, usually both. Some people are romping on the streets, naked and in need of medical help. Last year, 712 people died from drug overdoses, compared to 257 people who died from COVID-19.

LeAnn Corpus, an administrative assistant who enjoys figure skating, eschews the downtown ice rinks and won’t bring her 8-year-old son there after dark because of his overt drug use. Still, the city’s urban problems have crept into its Portola neighborhood far from downtown.

A homeless man used a bicycle and a sheet to pitch a makeshift tent in front of her house and relieved himself on the sidewalk. She called the police, who came two hours later and cleared him out, but a homeless man camped in the back yard of her aunt’s house for six months after trying to get the authorities to remove him.

“This town just doesn’t feel like it anymore,” said Corpus, a third generation local.

San Francisco residents, who are generally uncomfortable with government surveillance, have installed security cameras and bolts to prevent break-ins and have begun to suspect outsiders.

Last night, on an otherwise warm evening, Joya Pramanik’s husband saw someone wearing a ski mask on their quiet street. She worried that the masked man was up to no good – and it pains her to say that because what she loves about San Francisco is the easy hug of all kinds of characters.

Pramanik, a project manager who moved to the US from India as a teenager, applauds Trump’s failed re-election but says she realized too late that democratic activists had kidnapped her city.

“If I say I want law enforcement, I’m racist,” she said. “I say, ‘No, I’m not a racist. There’s a reason I live in San Francisco. ‘”

Last year Wolff, the retired chess player, helped start a new political organization that aims to elect local officials who focus on solving urgent problems. Families for San Francisco will vote Democrats, but it will be organized outside of the city’s powerful Democratic Party’s establishment, he said.

Wolff hopes to change a bourgeois way of thinking that no longer expects much from basic services.

Thieves break in, throw a party at the San Francisco restaurant before the opening

In hip Hayes Valley, for example, business owners who are fed up with trash lying around and the city is doing nothing to address the problem have come together to lease closed trash cans from a private company, said Jennifer Laska, president of the neighborhood association. After the lease expired, the association managed to get the city to buy and install new public garbage cans designed to keep rubbish in and thieves out.

That was four months ago.

“We’re still struggling to actually buy the trash cans,” Laska said.

In the Marina, an affluent neighborhood with breathtaking views of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge, dozens of residents recently hired private security after an increase in car break-ins.

Lloyd Silverstein, a native of San Francisco and president of the Hayes Valley Merchants Association, said companies are considering hiring security guards and installing high-resolution security cameras. He rejects the idea that a single city official is to blame for the situation and is optimistic that the city will recover.

“We’ve been through big earthquakes and depression and a lot of other things, but we have a pretty good attitude about recovering. We have some problems but we will solve them, ”he said. “It can only take a while.”

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The post San Francisco residents communicate out about metropolis’s decline appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

The grim economic signs of life in San Francisco over the past six months strongly suggest residents will be abandoned amid record job losses, remote work anchoring, and a coronavirus pandemic that shows no sign of an end.

It is still unclear how many people are left, but moving trucks and middle posts tell the story of ongoing migration. The weakness of the rental market and the practically constant online spending while on-site accommodation shows that residents not only stay at home but also leave, experts say. The city’s ability to attract new residents or lure old ones to return will be critical to avoiding a huge hole in a local budget that has swelled to nearly $ 14 billion.

In an increasingly virtual economy, where everyday goods are delivered not out of convenience but out of pandemic necessity, all you have to do is count the Amazon boxes.

Todd Trumbull / The Chronicle

Between April and June, the nine counties in the Bay Area saw a sharp drop in brick and mortar sales taxes as home stay orders went into effect, from a 17% decrease in Santa Clara County to a decrease of 53% in San Francisco. compared to the previous year. But eight of the counties – anywhere but San Francisco – saw huge leaps in online sales taxes, up to 36% for Contra Costa County.

In San Francisco, the tax on online sales only increased 1%. That number was by far the worst not only in the region, but among California’s 20 largest counties. Los Angeles County saw online sales taxes increase 31%, San Diego County increased 38%, and Sacramento County increased 32%.

“That’s a sign to me that people aren’t here,” said Ted Egan, chief economist for San Francisco.

The empty streets are a reminder of the aftermath of the dotcom bankruptcy in the early 2000s, said Noni Richen, president of Small Property Owners of San Francisco.

Its members have ex-tenants who left town because they saw no reason to stay after losing their jobs or moving classes online.

“The utilization is declining,” said Richen. “They’re moving home to mom and dad or cheaper somewhere else.”

Real estate data firm Zumper reported a 20% decline in average one-bedroom rents per year in San Francisco this month, the largest decline among major cities. The inventory of homes and condos for sale hit a 15-year high amid a flurry of new listings, although prices for single-family homes are still rising, according to realtor Compass.

An empty Market Street during the second week of Shelter-in-Place in March. Economic indicators over the past six months suggest residents are leaving San Francisco amid record jobs and the rise of remote work.

Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

One difference to the dotcom days is that tech titans like Google and Facebook, who have large offices in both San Francisco and Silicon Valley, haven’t cut jobs. Richen said she was encouraged that companies haven’t scaled back, despite allowing workers to stay away until next summer.

“I think San Francisco will recover,” said Richen. “I think they will recover.”

Between February and August, the workforce in the greater San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco area declined 4.5%, higher than the 4.1% decline for the state and 2.3% nationally. It agrees with evidence that urban areas are harder hit than the rest of the country and could indicate people are moving away from San Francisco, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Chris Thornberg, founding partner of research firm Beacon Economics, said talk of San Francisco’s downfall and decline was exaggerated.

“Once the virus is under control, the economy will recover like it’s nobody’s business,” he said, predicting a recovery in San Francisco by next spring. “I don’t think you need a vaccine.”

He said excessive restrictions on reopening businesses were unnecessary and ineffective. “I don’t think there is any way to eradicate this disease by shutting down the economy,” he said.

But San Francisco officials remain cautious. There is still no schedule for when non-essential office workers can return. Tech companies – now dominating the ranks of San Francisco’s largest private employers – are increasingly turning to remote work, for extended periods of time, or in some cases, indefinitely.

“That begs a big question: when are they coming back? Are you coming back? “Said Egan.

Online sales tax collections in the Bay Area and other major California counties showed a sharp rise during the pandemic – except in San Francisco, where they were practically flat.

Source: San Francisco Office of the Controller

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Roland Li is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: roland.li @ .com Twitter: @rolandlisf

The post Sure, individuals are leaving San Francisco. After many years of development, is town on the decline? appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – As San Francisco tries to recover from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, crime and homelessness are now top concerns of local residents, many considering moving, according to a new poll.

The poll was published by the SF Chamber of Commerce and is based on feedback from more than 500 San Francisco residents who are registered to vote.

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It turns out that more than 40 percent plan to move out of town in the next few years.

Lindsay Stevens just moved out on the weekend.

“There’s nothing worse than seeing such a beautiful place in such a mess and I really thought I was going to be sad when the moving companies loaded the last container on Saturday and I’ve never been so relieved,” said Stevens.

After living in San Francisco for more than 12 years, Stevens recently sold her apartment and moved to the Palm Springs area.

“I honestly believe we have seen a massive decline in the quality of life over the past three years and that has only been improved by COVID,” she said. “Homelessness is a serious problem, people don’t feel safe walking their dogs … the number of break-ins seems to be increasing all the time.”

Their feelings are reflected in the results of the chamber’s survey.

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80% of residents say that crime has worsened in recent years, 70% think that the quality of life has decreased and 88% say that homelessness has worsened.

76% also believe that increasing the number of police officers in high-crime neighborhoods should be a high priority.

“I think security is a big concern, even two years ago when I originally came back to the city, I never considered certain neighborhoods to be necessarily unsafe,” said Minku Lee of San Francisco.

The 24-year-old resident himself became a victim last Friday. He said he was out with his friends at happy hour on 3rd Street near Oracle Park when he was racially and physically assaulted by a homeless person.

“He also said an insult, violently knocked me over, the slash tripped me, really scared of the incident,” said Lee.

An overwhelming 82% of respondents said they would like to see more social workers on the street to help people with mental illness and drug problems.

Almost 75% supported more makeshift housing for the homeless.

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Earlier this month, Mayor London Breed announced a $ 1 billion investment to fix the problem over the next 2 years. This also includes funding for housing and psychiatric services.

The post San Francisco Residents Think about Relocating As Crime Worsens, High quality Of Life In A Decline – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – As San Francisco tries to recover from the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, crime and homelessness are now top concerns of local residents, many considering moving, according to a new poll.

The poll was published by the SF Chamber of Commerce and is based on feedback from more than 500 San Francisco residents who are registered to vote.

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It turns out that more than 40 percent plan to move out of the city in the next few years.

Lindsay Stevens just moved out on the weekend.

“There’s nothing worse than seeing such a beautiful place in such a mess and I really thought I was going to be sad when the moving companies loaded the last container on Saturday and I’ve never been so relieved,” said Stevens.

After living in San Francisco for more than 12 years, Stevens recently sold her apartment and moved to the Palm Springs area.

“I honestly believe that we have seen a massive decline in the quality of life over the past three years and that has only been improved by COVID,” she said. “Homelessness is a serious problem, people don’t feel safe walking their dogs … the number of break-ins seems to be increasing all the time.”

Their feelings are reflected in the results of the chamber’s survey.

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80% of residents say that crime has worsened in recent years, 70% think that the quality of life has decreased and 88% say that homelessness has worsened.

76% also believe that increasing the number of police officers in high-crime neighborhoods should be a high priority.

“I think safety is a big concern. Even two years ago when I originally returned to the city, I never considered certain neighborhoods to be necessarily unsafe, ”said Minku Lee from San Francisco.

The 24-year-old resident himself became a victim last Friday. He said he was out with his friends at happy hour on 3rd Street near Oracle Park when he was racially and physically assaulted by a homeless person.

“He also said an insult, knocked me over forcibly, the slash tripped me, really scared of the incident,” said Lee.

An overwhelming 82% of respondents said they would like to see more social workers on the street to help people with mental illness and drug problems.

Almost 75% supported more makeshift housing for the homeless.

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Earlier this month, Mayor London Breed announced a $ 1 billion investment to fix the problem over the next 2 years. This also includes funding for housing and psychiatric services.

The post San Francisco Residents Take into account Relocating As Crime Worsens, High quality Of Life In A Decline – CBS San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.