hi-- Haight St shop owner and resident (Buyer's Best Friend Wholesale & Mercantile, Haight @ Cole, bbfdirect.com), member of the Haight St Merchants Association

hi-- Haight St shop owner and resident (Buyer's Best Friend Wholesale & Mercantile, Haight @ Cole, bbfdirect.com), member of the Haight St Merchants Association, own two other shops around town, happy to answer any questions. Some FAQs: - no, the street kids don't steal or bother us much, but also not especially helpful. They and the shopowners largely keep to themselves. - yeah, the filth is unpleasant and bad for business. - SIT/LIE hasn't been abused much AFAICT-- it's gone into the cops' "tools" for dealing with people who cross the line. Plenty of people sit on the sidewalks still, but now you can get them to move if being polite doesn't work. As with any enforcement tool, I'm sure there's some abuse and I won't defend it. The cops I've met are thoughtful. - we've had to call the cops only a handful of times - not bad for a big city. - cyclical/seasonal business and cost of living are bigger annoyances than the kids. - the Haight Ashbury merchants are as crazy as anybody-- half of them want to kick out the bums, the other half feed them, half want to legalize pot, the other half get more cops. The issues are complex. I second Dewitt's comments btw -- we know each other both from the 'hood and from work.