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I went out to SF for a vacation and to check out if it made sense to move out there for job prospects, but the homelessness absolutely ruined it for me. Nobody

by bpchaps 10y ago

I went out to SF for a vacation and to check out if it made sense to move out there for job prospects, but the homelessness absolutely ruined it for me. Nobody ever seems to talk about it on HN for some reason, but it was the absolute most glaring part about SF. Within walking distance of some pretty big named companies, I felt less safe than I do walking in Chicago. To make things even odder, it was in an area with fancy restaurants and folks in suits/dresses walking around. It was truly surreal. How can people have such strong blinders to those things?

chrischen 10y ago
It's hard to talk abot homelessness wihtout getting lampooned. Most people choose to ignore it, thinking it's doing the homeless a favor. In reality SF is actually very generous to the homeless, which is why they are here. Many, if not most, beg for money and can make quite a bit which is used to buy drugs (food is not hard to find in SF, for free). I walk down a part of the civic center area almost daily and the drug dealer on one of the streets (who is there every day, same guy) is always doing business with the local homeless.
- wahern 10y ago
  The vast majority of residents in SF want something done about the homeless situation, and they don't mind if the gloves come off. A couple of months ago _all_ the city's major newspapers coordinated a campaign to discuss and highlight the issue because they felt city officials weren't putting enough effort into devising solutions. The root of the problem is IMO 1) a small minority of people who actively try to defend the homeless' "right" to live on the streets, and 2) who have concocted a ridiculous narrative about the homeless problem being caused by the so-called housing crisis. Because of #2, any effort by moderate politicians to enforce laws related to vagrancy and generally force homeless off the street and into assistance programs is cast by critics as being anti-housing. If you want things to change, don't vote for politicians like Jane Kim, Aaron Peskin, and other figures who [usually opportunistically] perpetuate this braindead narrative. Donate as much money as you can to more moderate candidates. For example, when Mayor Ed Lee wanted to break up an enormous homeless encampment, Jane Kim claimed the mayor was rousting homeless children, with the implication that their families had been kicked out of their apartments and rather than trying to re-house them the mayor was punishing them. It was totally opportunistic--Kim was just trying to get free airtime to improve her name recognition for her Senate bid. It was also 100% BS.
BurningFrog 10y ago
To paraphrase The Onion, ‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only City Where This Regularly Happens

by bpchaps 10y ago

chrischen 10y ago

It's hard to talk abot homelessness wihtout getting lampooned. Most people choose to ignore it, thinking it's doing the homeless a favor. In reality SF is actually very generous to the homeless, which is why they are here. Many, if not most, beg for money and can make quite a bit which is used to buy drugs (food is not hard to find in SF, for free). I walk down a part of the civic center area almost daily and the drug dealer on one of the streets (who is there every day, same guy) is always doing business with the local homeless.

wahern 10y ago
The vast majority of residents in SF want something done about the homeless situation, and they don't mind if the gloves come off. A couple of months ago _all_ the city's major newspapers coordinated a campaign to discuss and highlight the issue because they felt city officials weren't putting enough effort into devising solutions. The root of the problem is IMO 1) a small minority of people who actively try to defend the homeless' "right" to live on the streets, and 2) who have concocted a ridiculous narrative about the homeless problem being caused by the so-called housing crisis. Because of #2, any effort by moderate politicians to enforce laws related to vagrancy and generally force homeless off the street and into assistance programs is cast by critics as being anti-housing. If you want things to change, don't vote for politicians like Jane Kim, Aaron Peskin, and other figures who [usually opportunistically] perpetuate this braindead narrative. Donate as much money as you can to more moderate candidates. For example, when Mayor Ed Lee wanted to break up an enormous homeless encampment, Jane Kim claimed the mayor was rousting homeless children, with the implication that their families had been kicked out of their apartments and rather than trying to re-house them the mayor was punishing them. It was totally opportunistic--Kim was just trying to get free airtime to improve her name recognition for her Senate bid. It was also 100% BS.

BurningFrog 10y ago

To paraphrase The Onion, ‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only City Where This Regularly Happens