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Is this the Bay Area population of HN expressing their frustration that there are many homeless people in SF? These posts come up from time to time. I was ther

by kubb 3y ago

Is this the Bay Area population of HN expressing their frustration that there are many homeless people in SF? These posts come up from time to time. I was there some 4 years ago, and I met some homeless folks for sure, but the city was nice.

ciabattabread 3y ago
Most of this site still believes Bob Lee of Cash was killed by a homeless guy.
- mcculley 3y ago
  Did you run a poll? How did you arrive at this conclusion?
losvedir 3y ago
I can never tell if these things are SF residents expressing frustration, or people outside of SF expressing a sort of wishful spite. I sort of learned my lesson in taking these things at face value with that evolving story of the tech exec who was stabbed. That said, what did strike me as a little odd were a lot of comments on the Vision Pro threads about where if you walk around with it on outside, you'll be instantly mugged. That's just... not the case where I live in my Indiana suburb. I leave my front door unlocked, and have had no issues leaving my laptop visible on the seat of my locked car when I'm out and about. People here seem to take for granted some amount of low level violence and theft as normal, which shocks me. I don't know if comments like those come from Bay Area residents, but I sort of assumed so because I've thought that's where the user base here skews.
- rsynnott 3y ago
  > That said, what did strike me as a little odd were a lot of comments on the Vision Pro threads about where if you walk around with it on outside, you'll be instantly mugged. I mean, as someone who visits San Francisco for work from time to time... I'm fairly sure that's not actually true? It's never felt particularly unsafe; it's just a normal largish city (albeit with an awful lot of homelessness).
  - coolhand2120 3y ago
    SF is pretty famous for car break ins. The attitude of the police and the population at large is if you left ANYTHING in your car it’s your fault for baiting the car. The police do nothing when it happens, and it happens many, many times a day. Source: I fly in to my company’s SF HQ frequently and this is both what the locals say and it’s also my experience there. SF is on a whole different level when it comes to car break ins.
    - rsynnott 3y ago
      > The attitude of the police and the population at large is if you left ANYTHING in your car it’s your fault for baiting the car. ... Is that not the attitude of the police _everywhere_, though? I've never heard of the police anywhere taking much of an interest in items stolen from cars; it's not like they really have a realistic way to pursue that even if they wanted to.
      - rst4455 3y ago
        Police is one thing, but it's just sad when the general consensus of the population is to pin the blame on the victim, even in muggings or knife assaults "It's your fault for wearing/carrying [x]".
- nemo44x 3y ago
  Yeah it’s a sad state of affairs. It’s the stripping of freedom that I can’t believe people live with. If you can’t leave your home without considering you might be the target of a crime, you’re not free. The mentality I don’t understand is the whole it’s “part and parcel” for living in a city. That it’s normal for crime to creep around, for litter and feces to be spread, and for drugged out people to be laying in the streets. That’s not normal and it’s considered unacceptable in many places. Places for free than SF nowadays.
bryceneal 3y ago
I lived there for around 8 years, and specifically near City hall for around 6 of those. My neighborhood near City Hall became increasingly unsafe over time, and after witnessing a couple of incidents such as an unarmed robbery which resulted in a physical altercation with an employee at my local Walgreens, an accidental fire started in the encampment outside of my building which partially set fire to the building and broke my neighbor's window, and the realization that the leaders of the city were not in any hurry to make any improvements here, I decided I no longer felt safe or comfortable in this area and moved. In my opinion it's not so much homelessness that is the issue, but rampant heavy drug use (methamphetamine and fentanyl). I think the term homeless is a misnomer. It's the debilitating drug use and the consequences of what that does to people's behavior that causes downstream issues to public safety. Working class people who are trying to do everything right (like the Walgreens worker) are the ones most impacted, and that to me is the most frustrating part.
- kubb 3y ago
  The drugs are a nation wide issue though? I've seen videos of parts of Philadelphia full of people on fentanyl.
  - fundad 3y ago
    People also move from all cities to the suburbs all the time and have done so for generations. The complainers feels it's because their freedom is being taken away rather than just living where they're most comfortable.
fundad 3y ago
Major US cities are mentioned almost daily in right wing media especially cable news. So there's a knee jerk reaction to repeat those talking points among people who want to be VCs or law enforcement.

by kubb 3y ago

ciabattabread 3y ago

Most of this site still believes Bob Lee of Cash was killed by a homeless guy.

mcculley 3y ago
Did you run a poll? How did you arrive at this conclusion?

losvedir 3y ago

I can never tell if these things are SF residents expressing frustration, or people outside of SF expressing a sort of wishful spite. I sort of learned my lesson in taking these things at face value with that evolving story of the tech exec who was stabbed. That said, what did strike me as a little odd were a lot of comments on the Vision Pro threads about where if you walk around with it on outside, you'll be instantly mugged. That's just... not the case where I live in my Indiana suburb. I leave my front door unlocked, and have had no issues leaving my laptop visible on the seat of my locked car when I'm out and about. People here seem to take for granted some amount of low level violence and theft as normal, which shocks me. I don't know if comments like those come from Bay Area residents, but I sort of assumed so because I've thought that's where the user base here skews.

rsynnott 3y ago
> That said, what did strike me as a little odd were a lot of comments on the Vision Pro threads about where if you walk around with it on outside, you'll be instantly mugged. I mean, as someone who visits San Francisco for work from time to time... I'm fairly sure that's not actually true? It's never felt particularly unsafe; it's just a normal largish city (albeit with an awful lot of homelessness).
- coolhand2120 3y ago
  SF is pretty famous for car break ins. The attitude of the police and the population at large is if you left ANYTHING in your car it’s your fault for baiting the car. The police do nothing when it happens, and it happens many, many times a day. Source: I fly in to my company’s SF HQ frequently and this is both what the locals say and it’s also my experience there. SF is on a whole different level when it comes to car break ins.
  - rsynnott 3y ago
    > The attitude of the police and the population at large is if you left ANYTHING in your car it’s your fault for baiting the car. ... Is that not the attitude of the police _everywhere_, though? I've never heard of the police anywhere taking much of an interest in items stolen from cars; it's not like they really have a realistic way to pursue that even if they wanted to.
    - rst4455 3y ago
      Police is one thing, but it's just sad when the general consensus of the population is to pin the blame on the victim, even in muggings or knife assaults "It's your fault for wearing/carrying [x]".
nemo44x 3y ago
Yeah it’s a sad state of affairs. It’s the stripping of freedom that I can’t believe people live with. If you can’t leave your home without considering you might be the target of a crime, you’re not free. The mentality I don’t understand is the whole it’s “part and parcel” for living in a city. That it’s normal for crime to creep around, for litter and feces to be spread, and for drugged out people to be laying in the streets. That’s not normal and it’s considered unacceptable in many places. Places for free than SF nowadays.

bryceneal 3y ago

I lived there for around 8 years, and specifically near City hall for around 6 of those. My neighborhood near City Hall became increasingly unsafe over time, and after witnessing a couple of incidents such as an unarmed robbery which resulted in a physical altercation with an employee at my local Walgreens, an accidental fire started in the encampment outside of my building which partially set fire to the building and broke my neighbor's window, and the realization that the leaders of the city were not in any hurry to make any improvements here, I decided I no longer felt safe or comfortable in this area and moved. In my opinion it's not so much homelessness that is the issue, but rampant heavy drug use (methamphetamine and fentanyl). I think the term homeless is a misnomer. It's the debilitating drug use and the consequences of what that does to people's behavior that causes downstream issues to public safety. Working class people who are trying to do everything right (like the Walgreens worker) are the ones most impacted, and that to me is the most frustrating part.

kubb 3y ago
The drugs are a nation wide issue though? I've seen videos of parts of Philadelphia full of people on fentanyl.
- fundad 3y ago
  People also move from all cities to the suburbs all the time and have done so for generations. The complainers feels it's because their freedom is being taken away rather than just living where they're most comfortable.

fundad 3y ago

Major US cities are mentioned almost daily in right wing media especially cable news. So there's a knee jerk reaction to repeat those talking points among people who want to be VCs or law enforcement.