It’s Sunday afternoon. Only one police officer was at the 16th Street BART Plazas. Vendors sold their wares near the San Francisco Police Department mobile-command unit on the southwest plaza, and all side streets were active, compared to Saturday morning.Â
Around 2:30 p.m., a worker in a dark-green vest hosed down the sidewalk near the southwest plaza bathroom. The SFPD mobile-command unit remained parked, but no police SUVs were in sight. One police officer was on foot patrol, but returned to the mobile unit after about 15 minutes. Â
The conditions at the southwest plaza were fairly clean, with a few pieces of food packaging scattered around. But, just across the street, at the northwest corner of the intersection, about a dozen vendors had set up shop, selling frames, heels and pants out of duffel bags. Around 2:50 p.m., the music was on, and no public works workers or police officers were there to intervene.Â
The northeast plaza was mostly calm, with an elote vendor selling under a green-and-blue umbrella. It got messy near the trash can, where a paper plate with half-eaten food on top and chicken bones were at its base, fermenting in the afternoon sun.Â
At Caledonia and 16th streets, a man was packing his belongings into a pink baby stroller. His clothes were temporarily laid out on the ground, and a friend on a bike stopped to talk with him.Â
About half a dozen people were hanging out on Caledonia Street. One rested on a metal box, and others seemingly went through their belongings in plastic bags. Food wrappers were scattered in the alleyway.Â
Julian Avenue was less trashed than Caledonia Street. On the west side, two groups of people stood next to the Mission National Bank building. On the east side, a couple of people lay on the ground.
Wiese Street was in similar condition: Used paper plates and cups littered the ground. About 10 people chatted with each other near the barricades, hauling shopping carts, suitcases and strollers with their belongings. Same with Capp Street: About eight men gathered on the west side of the street, sitting in the shade.Â
What happened to the ban on vending? It seems now that mission street between 16th and 14th is now a containment zone for this dreck. Not a peep from Jackie Fielder nor anything from Santiago Lerma. What gives?
Fielder is completely MIA on this issue. It is shocking.
It seems that the 16th street plaza is a lost cause even with the police presence and daily cleanup. Please get rid of the drug users and dealers and take back your neighborhoods.
As we hit Day 26 of the street cleaning initiative, a concerning pattern has started to emerge. The team works hard to clean the streets, and for a short while, the area looks much better, with homeless individuals temporarily moved elsewhere. But this change is often only temporary. The same individuals tend to return, and the streets quickly become cluttered again.
While I absolutely sympathize with the struggles that homeless individuals face, I believe that accountability plays a key role in any lasting solution. This ongoing cycle suggests that cleaning efforts, without a larger strategy in place, are just a short-term fix. The streets may look cleaner for a moment, but if we don’t address the deeper causes of homelessness and offer real support, the cycle will continue.
Homelessness is a complex issue that needs more than quick fixes. It demands long-term solutions—things like affordable housing, healthcare, mental health services, and job opportunities. Accountability isn’t just about the individuals on the streets, but also about the systems and policies that have failed them. If we truly want to make a difference, we need to focus on the root causes, not just cleaning up the mess.
In the end, the issue isn’t just about keeping the streets clean—it’s about treating people with dignity and finding a way to help them, in a way that holds everyone accountable for making lasting change.
So basic nothing has changed.
1. Cut the non-profit funding. They are making our streets a mess and costing tax payers more just creating more costs to taxpayers & residents.
2. Police need to Cite All Vendors. Who can change this law???? Cite, fine, confiscate all goods and throw in jail for a wk.
No Jackie Fielder anywhere in sight. No solution, nothing. Utterly Useless.
Thanks for reporting
It should not take this many days to get the area cleaned up with a working proactive plan
The city has 35k employees , billions spent each year.
Divide and conquer.
The city should have a go to person on the street who is responsible to walk the area 24/7 and coordinate and call the teams to help. Police , dpw , services .
Where are the taxpayer funded nonprofits
They are a fail
Homeless is rough but persons must learn that here they are not allowed to rot on the street
Drug addicts the same
They are offered help but most refuse
Their choices have consequences
The majority are selfish and dont want change
They are loitering and a nuisance
They are adults
Those that hang out block sidewalks throw garbage poop and pee take drugs and drink are unable to exist freely in society and need to be removed
This game is getting old
“The city should have a go to person on the street who is responsible to walk the area 24/7 and coordinate and call the teams to help. Police , dpw , services .”
This person is Santiago Lerma– again, silence, Just like Jackie Fielder. Shocking and super disappointing. If she would spend half as much time on street conditions rather blathering on about Sanctuary City this and that (San Francisco has had sanctuary laws in place since 1989. — YES BEFORE SHE WAS BORN), maybe we would be losing businesses in the mission like we are, and we would have clean safe street for our kids and elderly.
Put the vendors all in one location do they have a business license ? Pay taxes?
If so they can rent a space from the city .
Small business .
I’m really pleased that this reporter has been going back each day with updates. It’s not just good for the neighborhood, but it really is a great commentary on how you can’t just drop a bunch of cops in a neighborhood and expect the homeless and drug dealers to just vanish.
My favorite is the “take back your community”, ie: “kick them out so they live in a weaker community”…. which is exactly what happened here, they just moved a few blocks away.
The problem can’t be solved with more cops. Making the life harder for homeless people doesn’t do anything but make their life harder. If they could magically move to a nice apartment and not hang out on the street, they all would.