12 ms·
To be fair, most of San Francisco is not like this.
by 8sfrealist 9y ago
To be fair, most of San Francisco is not like this.
- subwayclub 9y agoThat only makes the dynamic even more exaggerated when you travel from a reasonably clean, streetcar-suburb neighborhood like West Portal or the Outer Richmond to the city core and are abruptly surrounded by a mass of bodies failed by society.
- Ygg2 9y agoIsn't that same for every city? Even London has its Peckham (well not anymore it's been gentrified).
- gggdvnkhmbgjvbn 9y agoI just came back to sf after a 3 month trip and I have no clue how I ever got used to it. I took my parents to a cafe that sold $4 nitro cold brew and we couldn't sit outside because the smell of homeless people's shit from across the street was too strong. This author's article points out the unique aspect: you can see the expensive restaurants and the homeless inches away from one another. that's what makes it not just unjust but so aesthetically absurd as to be dystopian.
- smikhanov 9y agoNo other city has such a stark contrast between the areas. In London, the poorest neighborhood is Canning Town, and even in its grimiest pockets, immediately south of Newham Way, it’s not as bad as parts of Tenderloin.
- RestlessMind 9y ago> No other city... I would urge you to travel to Asia if you think so. Mumbai would be a fine place to start. SF is not "racing ahead" to a dystopian future; its merely becoming a regular city where very rich and very poor cohabit. This egalitarianism is merely a passing phenomenon, which lasted for ~50 years, and is now shrunk to Western/Northern Europe and a few other small countries.
- smikhanov 9y agoI, of course, should’ve said “no other city in a first-world country”, but if you think that Mumbai is a fine goal for Californians to aspire to, so be it.
- Mithaldu 9y agoI've seen Hamburg, Hannover, Berlin. You have to pay attention REALLY well to spot the handful of homeless there.
- TomMarius 9y agoI've seen Bangkok, Mumbai and more. You have to close your eyes REALLY DAMN hard to not spot the homeless.
- afpx 9y agoTrue. But, on the other hand, over half of the properties on my street in NoPa are owned by trusts, and several don’t even look occupied. So, sort of the opposite side of the coin.
- liberte82 9y agoThe ultra rich are taking over the real estate industry and destroying the American dream of owning your own home. Left unchecked they'll eventually buy up all the homes and we'll all be renters.
- OrwellianChild 9y agoRich people will buy all the homes, and we'll all be renters? How does this work, exactly?
- TomMarius 9y agoAre you familiar with how much free space there is in the USA?