Bill

The tourism industry is finally taking matters into their own hands and trying to shame the city's board of supervisors into taking decisive action about the homeless problem in San Francisco.

http://www.wewantchange.com/

It's been all over the news - and word on the street is that most of the citizens are behind changes supported by Supervisor Gavin Newsom.

Local politics aside, this should mean cleaner streets for visitors (and residents!!).

deb

Bill,

Keep dreaming. SF is and will continue to be a dirty and crime ridden city no matter what anyone tries to do. The politicians are nothing but a buch of screwballs with rose tinted glasses who see everything as being okay. It is best for tourists to keep away from such an esthetically unpleasing city until they get their act together. The smell and sight of human waste on the street has become not only a nuisance, but also a health issue. A gas station restroom is cleaner than the streets of SF.

Stanley

This makes me quite sad to hear of the current condition of S.F. I visited there in the 1960's (honeymoon) and thought it was wonderful. I will always have fond memories. Have politics there become too left wing? What has contributed to the demise of what was once a very nice city? Stan

Matt

What kind of stupid comments are being made by people on here who likely don't live in San Francisco as I do and probably haven't even been there lately. SF is neither dirty nor crime ridden. And if you think our politicians are the only screwballs, might I direct your attention to Washington D.C. or anywhere else for that matter. SF is the top touriest city in the U.S. and on the the top three in the world. People should only talk about what they know about. Jeez.

Bill

Matt - where do you live that it's not a problem, Pacific Heights?

Granted, the tourist areas aren't too bad, but the homeless standing at every intersection with their signs are pretty depressing.

Check out the non-partisan website wewantchange.com for the facts.

San Francisco has suffered from a vocal bleeding-heart minority that has tried to fix this problem by giving away more money to homeless who use that cash for drugs and alcohol.

Care Not Cash is the answer - or at least the beginning of one.

By the way - I live near Buena Vista Park between the Haight and Castro.

Denise

Sometimes we don't see what's going on in our own city since we see the changes so gradually...someone like Stanly would probably have culture shock to see the downfall of S.F. during the past 20 years!

liberal

This is California after all, Stan!

Renee

I was astonished at just how dirty SF has become on my last trip there a few months back. I hadn't visited in over 15 yrs. It looked like a totally different place. I thought Philadelphia was bad until I saw SF.

Old Hippie

The San Francisco idealized in the minds of those who have experienced it only through movies probably never did exist. The beautiful place known to us who have lived there always had its trade-offs, like lack of sunshine in exchange for cooler temperatures. But none can dispute that over the last decade or so the place has gone to the dogs. A huge part of it is well intended (if you feel charitable) or politically motivated (for the more cynical) social engineering that failed. There is a huge homeless problem, and no single intervention will fix it. There is also a population boom that overtaxes the infrastructure. Housing costs are outrageous. They don't even bother to publish schedules for the metro anymore, because they know they never run on time anyway! There are probably lots of other things that could be added to this list, but just
seeing this initiative to address - effectively - the homeless issue is a good start. Seems pretty consistent with the dearly held notion of grass roots activism, too!

funny

The city is getting cleaner. Now public urinating is illegal according to the new law. Mr Brown must be proud of himself. What will he come up with next?