The sun came out and so did the activity around the 16th St. Plaza on Sunday afternoon.
At 2:30 p.m., men sat on the stone steps of the northeast BART station. A crowd milled about the police’s mobile command unit as if it were a prop on a set. It has been 19 days since its arrival, so perhaps it is.
Even more people stood around the southwest plaza, where two women sang into microphones. A vendor sold cans of pop.
On Hoff Street, a flock of pigeons pecked at the loose pet food someone had strewn on the sidewalk.
Groups of people congregated at the 15th Street ends of Weise and Caledonia Streets.
It was especially difficult to avoid stepping in piles of feces on the sidewalk on 15th Street. Many of the human turds had toothpicks with American flags stuck into them.
Meanwhile, a line of individuals lay, mostly unconscious, on the sunny side of Julian Avenue, warmed despite the wind.
The difference a block makes: On Valencia Street, couples walked hand in hand, women coming out of Everlane carried shopping bags and iced lattes, and one person wore a shirt that read “Tax the Rich.”
Please, no more poverty porn. We get enough of that from the Chronicle and right-wing bloggers.
It isn’t poverty porn, it’s what the residents on these streets confront every single day and worse at night. Other parts of the city aren’t permitted to look like this, not even other parts of the mission look like this. The city needs to stop using certain areas as containment zones for the problems they can’t solve. And it’s way past time for the west side to step up and do it’s share with housing and rehabilitation.
I deeply appreciate the attention Mission Local has paid to these issues.
Yeah? Is it news? What did you learn today?
Campers,
My dog and I worked 3 hours this morning and 4 hours yesterday cleaning up this neighborhood’ gem (the Armory – we got the scaffolding removed too with Lurie’s help) and 3 hours today.
We regularly fill a half dozen trash bags daily and drag abandoned items from furniture to car seats and, once, a safe … put stuff where DPW can have room for their truck to stop w/out messing up traffic unless it’s like a couch or refrigerator in the middle of the day and then it’s a different truck and crew and you need an exact address but I’ve gotten to see the kids I taught in Special Ed all grown up and strung out … not really but I did teach in this hood …
Thing I’ve begun to realize is that these Tent Encampments form their own society with rules and leaders and scouts and they work together to claim pieces of sidewalk by making it disgusting for Voters to walk through.
Bottom line is that they have nowhere to go.
Fastest way to provide a thousand units of housing is to built the first of 4 SF RV/Tent Campgrounds next to VA’s Fort Miley Medical Complex for Vets.
Build a high quality place like those along the highways of America and after UBI gives all poor the option of living indoors we can use the Camp Grounds as a City Assets like the Airport or Port Authority.
go Niners !!
h.
Absolutely disgusting.
Cathy,
This morning my dog, Skippy and I were driven into and inset door area of the Armory by a driving rains and on one side was a slope in a corner of the front floor was about at least an inch of urine coming back for about a foot.
How does one deal with that ?
Ignoring the fact that AJ Partners the billionaires who own the place should do this but DPW Will Not write a Citation for them as Planning did on the Scaffoldin.
Well, I carry two plastic jars (pint capacity) full of litter and I poured both of those into the Lake Armory and they actually shrunk the outer edges quite a bit but I didn’t have that third and fourth jar until gods of Simulation gave me Coincidence.
As the rain stopped and Skippy and I started down the ram there was what looked like a small sand bag but when I noticed there was a break and it was heavy …
Powdered Cocoa …
Poured it on the Lake Armory and whole thing took on a mud consistency which I can scoop out tomorrow.
You with me ?
Volunteer and do it yourself.
It is spotless out my window for the two blocks I can see up and down 14th from Guerrero to Mission.
Cause me and Skippy make it thataway.
And, you never got so much love in your life as you get from DPW workers and tenants.
go Niners !!
h.
Thank you for doing this.