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An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

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Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#61

Post by pkaler »

outside1234 wrote: post #57
dclowd9901 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Local law enforcement has told us that, off the books, many East coast cities have actually paid to fly their homeless out of their areas into other parts of the country, California (namely San Francisco) because of their homeless-friendliness. People wonder what happened to all the crime and homeless in NYC? They were flown out west.

i can't believe that. it fails the conspiracy secrecy test - there would have had to have been a bunch of people involved and eventually there would have been a scandal. my bet is that we have mild winters in California that are much less Darwinian.

Alberta offered bus tickets to welfare recipients to leave the province. A lot of them ended up in Vancouver and in the Downtown Eastside.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_Canada#Cuts_to_...

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#62

Post by w1ntermute »

namank wrote: post #21
akaru wrote: post #3

I've been homeless. No one in SF is hungry. In a span of a few blocks a person could eat for free 5 or 6 times a day. Money is used for drugs or McDonald's. My advice: don't give anyone money or food. If you want to help, give your time.

In a span of a few blocks a person could eat for free 5 or 6 times a day. Care to expand?

He's probably referring to the preponderance of foodbanks.

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#63

Post by charonn0 »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #52
djmdjm wrote: post #30

What's remarkable about this is how the poster finds these casual encounters with homelessness "unremarkable". No other western city that I have visited has the massive, in-your-face homelessness as SF. I don't know enough about the causes of this phenomenon in SF to suggest what can be done about it; I'm sure they are complex, multi-factorial and politically fraught, but the level of homelessness in SF and (almost)…

Local law enforcement has told us that, off the books, many East coast cities have actually paid to fly their homeless out of their areas into other parts of the country, California (namely San Francisco) because of their homeless-friendliness. People wonder what happened to all the crime and homeless in NYC? They were flown out west.

San Francisco does the same thing, only with bus tickets. http://www.sfhsa.org/79.htm

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#64

Post by chao- »

sbov wrote: post #48
djmdjm wrote: post #30

What's remarkable about this is how the poster finds these casual encounters with homelessness "unremarkable". No other western city that I have visited has the massive, in-your-face homelessness as SF. I don't know enough about the causes of this phenomenon in SF to suggest what can be done about it; I'm sure they are complex, multi-factorial and politically fraught, but the level of homelessness in SF and (almost)…

Some cities in the US just make it illegal to be homeless. Problem solved.

Or you can be a bit more subtle about it, Suburban Texas Style™, and simply design the homeless away:

1. No public transportation.

2. Unreasonable distances between gathering places (e.g. grocery stores) and often long stretches of no sidewalks.

3. Public park curfews with police sweeps of said parks at night.

No way to get in, no way to get food, no way to stay. When I realized, as a teenager, that this was why I was not used to homeless people, I was a little perturbed.

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#65

Post by cantbecool »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #52
djmdjm wrote: post #30

What's remarkable about this is how the poster finds these casual encounters with homelessness "unremarkable". No other western city that I have visited has the massive, in-your-face homelessness as SF. I don't know enough about the causes of this phenomenon in SF to suggest what can be done about it; I'm sure they are complex, multi-factorial and politically fraught, but the level of homelessness in SF and (almost)…

Local law enforcement has told us that, off the books, many East coast cities have actually paid to fly their homeless out of their areas into other parts of the country, California (namely San Francisco) because of their homeless-friendliness. People wonder what happened to all the crime and homeless in NYC? They were flown out west.

Citation definitely needed. I don't see how cities would pay thousands of dollars to fly the homeless out of town. Most of the time they are mentally ill, and simply don't have the financial resources to get better. I'm not of perfect mental health, but I have the resources and the support network to make myself normal, where as the less fortunate do not. I know this is completely off topic, but everyone has I just don't give a shit any more point and say fuck it I'll live on the streets.

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#66

Post by cpeterso »

twakefield wrote: post #22

I'm relatively new to San Francisco and to a newcomer, the contrast between neighborhoods is shocking. I came from New York so I was used to micro-neighborhoods but SF takes it to a different level. It seems that SF has decided to herd all of the criminal activity and destitute people into certain neighborhoods and just contain it versus solution based approaches. I have no idea if this is the actual strategy but it…

You are correct. The SFPD effectively herds the "problem people" into the Tenderloin. Something like "Escape from New York."

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#67

Post by chao- »

geebee wrote: post #54
djmdjm wrote: post #30

What's remarkable about this is how the poster finds these casual encounters with homelessness "unremarkable". No other western city that I have visited has the massive, in-your-face homelessness as SF. I don't know enough about the causes of this phenomenon in SF to suggest what can be done about it; I'm sure they are complex, multi-factorial and politically fraught, but the level of homelessness in SF and (almost)…

In the mid-90s, when I lived in New York, panhandlers would follow me several blocks while negotiating for change (you got tokens? I take subway tokens!). In Paris in the mid 80s, the same thing happened constantly in the metro station. Panhandlers would also come up to you while you were stuck in traffic, ask you to roll down your window, and try to bum money off you. It was constant. I was punched by a bum in Dubli…

though someone did try the old trick of pretending to "find" a ring, ask if it belonged to my wife, insist on handing it to her, and then asking for money

I don't understand this, and if someone did that to me, I would be utterly confused. What's the basis for giving someone a ring that they would know isn't theirs?

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#68

Post by swalberg »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #42
CamperBob2 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see a lot of people in this thread who don't seem to have heard that many, if not most, of these people are scammers. I also see a lot of people who don't seem to understand that you get more of what you subsidize, whether you want it or not. Just putting that out here.

What does it mean for a panhandler to be a 'scammer'? They're not really homeless at all, they actually live in a mansion in Beverly Hills with a two car garage, and manage to pay for it all by asking for change on the street all day pretending to be homeless?

Yes, there was a case in Toronto where a TV crew followed a successful beggar back to her car and then to her house. http://www.torontosun.com/2013/02/14/infamous-sticker-lady-m...

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#69

Post by deathchill »

djmdjm wrote: post #30

What's remarkable about this is how the poster finds these casual encounters with homelessness "unremarkable". No other western city that I have visited has the massive, in-your-face homelessness as SF. I don't know enough about the causes of this phenomenon in SF to suggest what can be done about it; I'm sure they are complex, multi-factorial and politically fraught, but the level of homelessness in SF and (almost)…

I didn't notice the homelessness to be nearly as bad as Vancouver when I visited SF in 2011. Maybe we missed it, but we stayed in a hostel on Mason Street and walked around a fair bit.

Here's a picture from East Hastings Street in Vancouver: http://jamesdanderfer.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Ea...

This is what that spot looks like every day, except the lines of homeless stretch much further then the picture shows. After that section of the street you get corners filled with hookers and junkies.

Re: An Unremarkable Event in the Tenderloin

#70

Post by kingnothing »

outside1234 wrote: post #57
dclowd9901 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Local law enforcement has told us that, off the books, many East coast cities have actually paid to fly their homeless out of their areas into other parts of the country, California (namely San Francisco) because of their homeless-friendliness. People wonder what happened to all the crime and homeless in NYC? They were flown out west.

i can't believe that. it fails the conspiracy secrecy test - there would have had to have been a bunch of people involved and eventually there would have been a scandal. my bet is that we have mild winters in California that are much less Darwinian.

"New York has found a novel, if expensive, way of dealing with its overcrowded shelters – buying one-way tickets for homeless families to leave the city."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/29/new-york-homeles...

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