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That article is incredible. I'm almost waiting for a "Onion"-esque quote of "Families with no homes and no opportunity are inconvenience to bikers." "Man, I us

That article is incredible. I'm almost waiting for a "Onion"-esque quote of "Families with no homes and no opportunity are inconvenience to bikers." "Man, I used to really enjoy my morning bike ride, and it was nice the way the highway gave gave me cover from the elements when it rains - but with all these poor people seeking shelter here is a really downer. Not a great way to start of the morning. Can't we make them move into the field or out of the way or something? It's kinda selfish of them to set up right here in my bike lane. My tax dollars paid for this highway - I bet they don't even pay taxes... And what if someone runs into one of them and gets hurt? You can't sue them for the bike repairs, they don't even have any money. They're like someone driving without car insurance, totally irresponsible! The city needs to do something about this." While clearly satire, It's amazing how much the focus really seems to be on the perception of people being homeless, or the chance of a biker being hurt, rather than actually on any of the people living there.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
closeparen 9y ago
I don't think we're morally obligated to let the city's infrastructure and public space become completely unusable out of sympathy for the people making it so. There can be no bike path, or public transit, or public park anywhere in San Francisco until poverty is eradicated globally? That's equally absurd. Homeless shelters, mental health services, and bike paths are all responsibilities of local government.
- convolvatron 9y ago
  ok yes. i see a lot of homeless encampments in sf. by my home, right next to my shop, and all the way in-between (down chavez, the strip written about in this article). at least 50 people in that 1 mile stretch. homelessness has been an issue in sf for quite a while. but i think there has been a qualitative turn. the homeless used to try to find a place out of the way, where they could stay unmolested as long as possible. camps got bigger, were busted up, and everyone moved on. today, they are going out of their way to put themselves front and center. yesterday, when trying to chase away three tents that suddenly appeared on the sidewalk right outside my front door, i was told that this was public property, and that i can call the police all i want. which of course i did to no effect. suddenly the encampment down the block, with the concomitant human waste, snaring dogs, asphalt fires, and all manner of detritus needs to be crossed to get into my shop and there is apparently nothing to be done about it. public works comes out a couple times a week to collect trash and spray down the street. i was already used to dealing with hugo, whose been living on the our street for a couple years - passed out in the doorway from huffing paint. he's really an ok guy. he steals power from us and sells bikes assembled from stolen parts. and old crazy bill that parks in front of the shop and yells and threatens people. all the tweaked out scrappers. that used to be what you put up with for light industrial space. but it was stable. today, its pretty hard to even drive down the street with all the tents and dogs and stolen bikes lying around. there are easily 3 acres underneath the highway where people can live, and have for decades. but now its some kind of occupation, a ticketless burning man. a giant middle finger to anyone that can afford to have a home.
curioussavage 9y ago
Your caricature is way off. What people are really afraid of is being stabbed. These aren't 'poor families' with no homes, these are filthy crazy people. My morning walk to work is up Powell street, tons of them hang out there because of all the tourists. Every morning I walk up a river of piss as all the businesses wash off the human excrement. The range of sanity seems to go from 'has a screw loose' to 'totally gone'. Meanwhile back home in the east bay my wife can't take the baby for a stroll without being harassed by these people at the parks and paths around the city. I roll my eyes every time somebody self righteously points out that 'we should all feel really bad for these poor people'. Enough is enough. I refuse to talk to them anymore, I will never give money to a panhandler again. I'm going to carry pepper spray for when(not if) I have an altercation with one. I know many people who have. Don't know the solution to this but the typical progressive answers "universal basic income" and "free housing" are laughably naive in this context. Who is going to volunteer to have the apartment complex full of babbling lunatic druggies in their neighborhood?

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

closeparen 9y ago

I don't think we're morally obligated to let the city's infrastructure and public space become completely unusable out of sympathy for the people making it so. There can be no bike path, or public transit, or public park anywhere in San Francisco until poverty is eradicated globally? That's equally absurd. Homeless shelters, mental health services, and bike paths are all responsibilities of local government.

convolvatron 9y ago
ok yes. i see a lot of homeless encampments in sf. by my home, right next to my shop, and all the way in-between (down chavez, the strip written about in this article). at least 50 people in that 1 mile stretch. homelessness has been an issue in sf for quite a while. but i think there has been a qualitative turn. the homeless used to try to find a place out of the way, where they could stay unmolested as long as possible. camps got bigger, were busted up, and everyone moved on. today, they are going out of their way to put themselves front and center. yesterday, when trying to chase away three tents that suddenly appeared on the sidewalk right outside my front door, i was told that this was public property, and that i can call the police all i want. which of course i did to no effect. suddenly the encampment down the block, with the concomitant human waste, snaring dogs, asphalt fires, and all manner of detritus needs to be crossed to get into my shop and there is apparently nothing to be done about it. public works comes out a couple times a week to collect trash and spray down the street. i was already used to dealing with hugo, whose been living on the our street for a couple years - passed out in the doorway from huffing paint. he's really an ok guy. he steals power from us and sells bikes assembled from stolen parts. and old crazy bill that parks in front of the shop and yells and threatens people. all the tweaked out scrappers. that used to be what you put up with for light industrial space. but it was stable. today, its pretty hard to even drive down the street with all the tents and dogs and stolen bikes lying around. there are easily 3 acres underneath the highway where people can live, and have for decades. but now its some kind of occupation, a ticketless burning man. a giant middle finger to anyone that can afford to have a home.

curioussavage 9y ago

Your caricature is way off. What people are really afraid of is being stabbed. These aren't 'poor families' with no homes, these are filthy crazy people. My morning walk to work is up Powell street, tons of them hang out there because of all the tourists. Every morning I walk up a river of piss as all the businesses wash off the human excrement. The range of sanity seems to go from 'has a screw loose' to 'totally gone'. Meanwhile back home in the east bay my wife can't take the baby for a stroll without being harassed by these people at the parks and paths around the city. I roll my eyes every time somebody self righteously points out that 'we should all feel really bad for these poor people'. Enough is enough. I refuse to talk to them anymore, I will never give money to a panhandler again. I'm going to carry pepper spray for when(not if) I have an altercation with one. I know many people who have. Don't know the solution to this but the typical progressive answers "universal basic income" and "free housing" are laughably naive in this context. Who is going to volunteer to have the apartment complex full of babbling lunatic druggies in their neighborhood?