Urban street scene with crosswalk, graffiti-covered walls, palm trees, and a few people walking. Overcast sky and various street signs present.
3/16/25 NE 16th Street Plaza, 9:10 a.m. Photo by Lydia Chávez

The massive mobile unit on the southwest plaza continues to do its job; the plaza is free of vendors, and more or less clean. But, with its back to the northeast plaza, the officers inside miss some early morning vending going on across the street on the northeast Plaza.

But what’s most revealing on the northeast plaza? There are no trash cans. Not one. Where are the denizens of the plaza supposed to put their trash? They can cross over Mission Street and find two near that plaza, one near the bus stop and the other near the washing station. It’s clear on Julian and other side streets that trash cans would be helpful. Maybe some that are placed in other troubled areas of the city like the one I’ve included below that is downtown.

Trash Can, on Market Street, August 21, 2021
A bin on Market Street, August 21, 2021. Maybe a few bins like this would help. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
Urban street with parked cars, people walking, and a group gathered near a building. Trash is scattered on the sidewalk, and colorful buildings line the street.
3/16/25 Julian Avenue, west side. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
A street with scattered litter, parked cars on the left, and a beige brick building on the right. A hotel sign is visible in the background.
3/16/25 Julian Avenue, east side. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
Urban street scene with scattered belongings and a yellow sleeping bag on the sidewalk. Cars are parked on the street, and pedestrians are in the distance near shopfronts.
3/16/25 16th Street toward Wiese. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
Two people in an alley with graffiti, one wearing a yellow jacket. They are near a cart with belongings. Fencing lines the alley. Debris is scattered on the ground.
3/16/25 Wiese Street. 9:09 a.m. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
People gathered in a graffiti-lined urban alley, some sitting, others standing. A bicycle and shopping bags are visible. Urban buildings and "No Parking" signs are in the background.
3/16/25 Wiese St. Around 5 p.m. Photo by Mark Salomon.
A person walks by a subway entrance in an urban plaza lined with palm trees and streetlights on a cloudy day.
3/16/25 SW Plaza. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
A mobile command center truck and a police car are parked in an urban plaza area surrounded by buildings.
3/16/25 SW Plaza, 9:10 a.m. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
Urban street scene with palm trees, a tiled walkway, and a stone planter. Litter is visible on the ground. Buildings and streetlights are in the background. Overcast sky.
3/16/25 SW Plaza. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
Urban street scene with crosswalk, graffiti-covered walls, palm trees, and a few people walking. Overcast sky and various street signs present.
3/16/25 NE 16th Plaza.. Photo by Lydia Chávez.

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I’ve been a Mission resident since 1998 and a professor emeritus at Berkeley’s J-school since 2019. I got my start in newspapers at the Albuquerque Tribune in the city where I was born and raised. Like many local news outlets, The Tribune no longer exists. I left daily newspapers after working at The New York Times for the business, foreign and city desks. Lucky for all of us, it is still here.

As an old friend once pointed out, local has long been in my bones. My Master’s Project at Columbia, later published in New York Magazine, was on New York City’s experiment in community boards.

As founder/executive editor at ML, I've been trying to figure out how to make my interest in local news sustainable. If Mission Local is a model, the answer might be that you - the readers - reward steady and smart content. As a thank you for that support we work every day to make our content even better.

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