Take a walk through the neighborhood surrounding Market and Powell Streets and note the number of homeless individuals staggering like zombies throughout the area. That number is growing quickly despite $1 billion being spent by Gavin Newsom to alleviate this serious problem. In the midst of a declining economy, money is being driven away from downtown merchants whose customers are afraid to spend money in areas they deem as unsafe.
It is estimated that there are approximately 13,500 homeless men and women living on the streets of San Francisco at the moment. The city has already spent $150 million on social services and health care for the city’s homeless population while trying to figure out how to deal with the growing crisis. Since 2004, the city has spent an additional $176 million for long-term housing meant to reduce the number of homeless people on the streets. As their numbers rise, there appears to be no solution in hand, only promises of a population reduction in the near future. The economics of dealing with the homeless have turned into a financial black hole and are quickly swallowing up the city’s already meager social services funding.
Mayor Newsom touted his “Care Not Cash” plan as having been successful, taking 12,000 homeless individuals off the streets since the program’s inception. According to studies from the mayor’s office, the homeless population has dropped by 6,500 in the last 12 months. However, with an influx of new homeless men and women arriving in the city each day and those numbers growing quickly, the problem is getting worse not better.
While everyone can agree that no one wants to be homeless and those who live on the streets suffer from serious mental or physical problems, the aggressiveness of panhandlers has become a serious safety concern to many. One of the biggest complaints heard by Joe D’Alessandro, head of the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau, is that tourists get accosted as soon as they leave the safety of their hotels, and it’s not just the tourists who are being harassed.
One of the worst areas in the downtown district has historically been the 6th and 7th Street corridors. The area has traditionally been the home of pawn shops, adult book stores and single room occupancy hotels. From the 1970s through the late 1990s, the area had become a magnet for drug dealers and prostitutes. Over the last few years, legitimate businesses have come into the area, reclaiming vacant stores in an effort to change the neighborhood. The revitalization of the area looked as if it would change an otherwise bad neighborhood. However, the area’s homeless population has been so aggressive and often violent, that many area businesses are seriously considering pulling up stakes for greener pastures. This would leave the neighborhood back where it started.
There are always two sides to any argument, and outreach groups that aid the homeless feel that the supposed services that the mayor has touted have been cut back drastically as the numbers of homeless men and women increase. Jennifer Friedenback, director of the Coalition on Homelessness, states that since the start of the current recession, there has been a 50-percent increase in single adults seeking shelter. To get them off of the streets, they need to go into permanent housing. Mayor Newsom agrees, saying that, while costly, the only solution is to get people off the streets using long-term housing to solve the problem. So, does city government simply earmark more funds to solve the problem and if so, how much is needed to resolve the issue?
It’s all a matter of dollars and cents. The economy is so bad at the moment that the majority of small businesses in San Francisco are struggling to stay alive. Aggressive panhandlers, who sometimes assault consumers trying to enter those businesses, keep small businesses from making money. The problem is not isolated to a few incidents, but is widespread and is putting a financial stranglehold on local businesses. Aggressive and often violent panhandlers affect property values as well. Does anyone want to buy a home is an area known for violent incidents involving homeless men and women? No, and in a precarious real estate market this spells trouble for those people trying to sell their homes.
Then there’s the cost associated with police involvement in dealing with aggressive panhandlers. Tens of millions of dollars are spent each year as homeless men and women are put through the legal system. While most homeless people receive tickets for everything from open alcohol containers to vagrancy issues, few make court appearances, which leads to warrants being issued for their arrest. The jails become clogged with the homeless. Court costs mount and more taxpayer money is spent.
Lastly, there is the overall health of men and women who live on the streets. Even the simplest ailments, such the flu or an infected tooth, become major medical emergencies as the flu leads to pneumonia and an infected tooth leads to a life-threatening abscess. The homeless simply don’t have the wherewithal to seek medical attention. The few that do seek medical help end up at San Francisco General Hospital where waiting times of up to 8 hours discourage even the sickest individuals. Hundreds of millions of dollars are poured into the health needs of the homeless and that number is expected to rise.
You cannot use a piece of political duct tape to fix a problem that is enormous in scope. With homeless numbers sharply rising, the city may wake up one morning and find itself in the middle of what appears to be a bad zombie movie. No Mayor Newsom, those aren’t zombies, just hordes of homeless people looking for a little spare change. The problem needs to be completely dealt with, not patched up and left for the next administration.
Comments
Well written article, thank you. I was born and raised in SF and it's heartbreaking (and an embarrassment) to see the homeless overrun our streets.
Please help End Homelessness. We don't want to see Kids ten years from now struggling on the streets because they were either foster kids, grew up in abusive homes, etc. You have young People going to College who are Homeless, so. No one can say that Homeless youth do nothing with they're life.
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Learn to spell before you make preposterous statements.
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and taking away benefits from the people who work for the San Franciscans is not going to work it will make us all worst.
Homelessness is a bad thing that can happen to anybody. I say police the areas most affected, open a soup kitchen nearby, or post notices of where to direct the homeless. The point here is to get the homeless people to the care established for their support and free up the streets from the threat of beggars. Being as beggar may not necessarily always be attributed to being homeless. Some people make a living panhandling. That is a problem.
when i read and heard that beggars made between $80.00 and $120 a day i decided to give food but not cash. ted stoffel tried begging to see if people did make the amounts stated. he disguised himself and dressed plain (poor???) but clean. he sprawled himself on the sidewalk, hat on ground...said nothing. 8 hours later he had collected $l28.00. (not completely sure of the amount but around that.) there is always a job somewhere and if they are mentally deficient then put them in an institution where they will get the help and medicine they need.
Hi, Seth is what I'm call. My Mother and I were listening to the homeless problem in S.F.. She ask me to say the Idea I had, so Here it is. If we can have dog parks,why can't we have homeless parks, its all about were to go,when you dont know,right. They will be in a controled area,if you want it that way. Grants? hmm. Keep it simple s....d lol
It's obvious, isn't it? Why do these people flood into SF in the first place? - Because you're a soft touch.
Close down every facility for the homeless, stop handing out vouchers and the word'll get around soon enough.
You aren't your brothers keepers. Or at least nobody else but yourself. Spend your own money by all means, just don't use other peoples'.
We just returned from San Francisco. Third time we've been and we will never go again. It's not at all safe - and the streets smell like urine!
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