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People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

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Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#51

Post by ineedasername »

It looks like the homeless population has remained fairly steady over the same period of time that reported poop incidents has quintupled. That leads to two likely conclusions: Either people are reporting it more often than before (Has it become easier to report such incidents?) or more homeless are deciding (as much as it can be called a decision) to poop publicly, maybe a further symbol of spite for a society that has left them behind?

I suppose there's also the possibility that homeless have been under counted, but to do so by to such a degree seems unlikely.

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#52

Post by qwerty456127 »

Just build the damn public toilets everywhere, make them free and clean and almost nobody but a small number of the craziest people will poop at the streets.

If we had to choose just a single thing a state should solve this is it - the most fundamental and unconditional yet simple need everybody has - a way to defecate comfortably whenever and wherever and in a city they are, regardless to how much money they have. The only need for every human that is more basic is breathing. It's ridiculous it still isn't done in a well-developed country in the 21-st century.

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#53

Post by darkpuma »

anbop wrote: post #39
swasheck wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if SF employed a few of the homeless to clean them? I’d like to see public money spent invested in people than more unusable/inaccessible utilities. Certainly not a get rich quick scheme, but it’s just a quick thought.

Why should someone with a job cleaning toilets be homeless?

Why should there be homeless if there are toilet cleaning jobs available?

(Of course it's not so simple.)

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#54

Post by ineedasername »

mc32 wrote: post #35

That chart tells the tale. It's quite astounding how it's climbed from ~5,500 incidents in 2011 to ~28,000 in 2018. Keep in mind this is _reported_ incidents. It's like it's been normalized. No joke. In a residential (western) neighborhood (i.e. not SOMA) within a month I saw evidence of human feces twice [it's not like I'm out and about all day long]. Once on a set of steps, the other someone squatting behind some b…

The strange thing is that the number of homeless has not increased that dramatically in the same period of time. There's something going on here besides the number of homeless people that need to poop

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#55

Post by x3n0ph3n3 »

How has no one mentioned the plastic bag bans of 2012 (for SF) and 2017 (for CA)? The homeless use to defecate in plastic bags and throw them away. Now that option is entire unavailable to them. Additionally, I read that diseases like Hepatitis are on the rise, partly due to the increased exposure to other peoples' poop.

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#56

Post by IWeldMelons »

The problem is partially in the way American cities structured. They are either too urban (San Francisco, NYC) or suburban (perhaps Chicago is the right balance, with its alleys where someone can quietly poop). Many soviet and European cities are structured in different way - spots of high and very high density separated by greenery, where a homeless person can safely poop, without creating problems for the neighborhood's dwellers.

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#57

Post by Para2016 »

kaycebasques wrote: post #38

I have a general theory related to this this article. Disenfranchised people do not take care of the society around them. Rightfully so. If my society doesn't seem to give a shit about me, why should I give a shit about it? If this theory holds true, then graffiti, vandalism, pooping on the streets, and so on, are all symptoms of disenfranchisement. Conversely, go to a neighborhood of homeowners, and look at how well…

So you want to give the homeowners houses to the homeless people and your "disenfranchised" problem will be solved. Great theory, you should definitely pursue it.

Re: People are pooping more than ever on the streets of San Francisco

#58

Post by wwweston »

This challenge is more or less equivalent to the problem of how to make public restrooms broadly available that are either difficult to abuse or that people don't abuse.

Even people who are on the fringes of society because they're difficult or mentally ill or just get a kick out of making things a little bit worse where they can as a fuck you to people for whom things are going better.

It'd be a benefit to everyone, especially people who are on the fringes for other reasons, but really anyone who's ever needed a place to do their business if you can figure this out and really want a change-the-world challenge.

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