Homeless shelters are unevenly massed in San Francisco’s eastern neighborhoods, and two supervisors representing the Tenderloin and Bayview intend to change that.
District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood and District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton proposed new legislation this week requiring each city district to approve a new shelter or behavioral health facility by June 2026.
The law, which already has the support of six supervisors, would also prevent the approval of any new facility within 1,000 feet of an existing one without a board hearing and waiver process.
At present, the city’s shelters and behavioral health facilities are located almost exclusively in the Tenderloin, SoMa, Mission and Bayview-Hunters Point.
Data provided by the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing to Mission Local following a public records request indicates that Districts 4, 7 and 8 have no shelters. According to Mahmood’s office, there are also no emergency shelters in Districts 1 and 11.
A recent report from the city controller pointed out the same disparity. Excluding shelters for minors, “There are no shelters on the western half of the city,” the report reads.
The proposed law is meant to increase geographic equity and Walton, for his part, has criticized the density of homeless shelters in his district, which he referred to as “inequitable” and “unfair.” Prior Tenderloin supervisors, such as Jane Kim and Matt Haney, also criticized the density of such services in the neighborhood, which is de facto the city’s “containment zone” for homeless services.
The proposed 1,000 feet buffer would change that by virtually excluding new facilities from most of the Tenderloin, SoMa and parts of the Mission District. To open a new shelter within that buffer zone, the city would need approval from the Board of Supervisors, which can grant it “if doing so would serve the broader public interest,” according to Mahmood’s office.
Addiction-treatment facilities are also clustered in eastern neighborhoods, namely SoMa. And, while some say that services are close to those who need them, others argue that cost, and less pushback from residents, are also determinants.
Moreover, they said, clustering services and shelters is hard for those trying to recover from drugs or alcohol. The city controller’s report made such a reference: “The reputation of the Tenderloin and experience living there may discourage people who may otherwise be interested in shelter, and may make it more difficult for clients in recovery.”
“This concentration has delayed recovery for unhoused residents in underserved neighborhoods and created growing fatigue in those that have carried the heaviest load,” wrote Mahmood, in a press release. “The time is now for a fairer, citywide approach.”
“Everyone across the city should play a role in addressing the crisis,” added Walton.
Expand into my neighborhood and it might be time for me to move…
Im not saying this as an elitist or a wealthy white person (I’m black, I work 45-50 hours a week in the service industry, and I’ve lived in the same apartment for over 20 years). I’m saying this as a person who lives in a relatively safe neighborhood that has fortunately been spared open air drug usage, rampant burglaries and car break ins, and stepping over addicts sleeping in our entrance or aggressive behavioral problems that surround these places…
All I read here is idealism not reality. People with addiction will not drop their addiction or get serious about ending it (especially something as powerful as fentanyl and meth) until they are forced to do so or have no choice. Moving the problem to a new neighborhood isn’t going to miraculously create success stories. It’s simply going to spread the drug dealing into neighborhoods that have more stuff to steal for more money to buy more drugs. Which in turn will bring more drug dealers. Which in turn will bring more homeless drug addicts, ruining more and more of San Francisco…
And we wonder why we keep getting bad press over this kind of stuff already, and our answer is to make it worse??
Great news!
Will see if San Francisco residents really are concerned and passionate about others .
It is telling that the homeless and addicts , shelters etc are all concentrated in the Tenderloin, Lower Polk, SOMA.
There is no reason to push all these people into one area .
I ask how many of them are able to get jobs?
Where are the jobs in the Tenderloin?
Why are the majority of drug dealers in the Tenderloin and Lower Polk Street Area?
Because the city intentionally has neglected and pushed this behavior and tolerated crime in these areas .
Not very mature or appropriate .
Hopefully , everyone can get help and shelters and services will be distributed equally .
Rather than solving the homeless crisis where the homeless population are still increasing, the shelter is still a temporary solution to assist the homeless until they get a permanent housing for them. However there’s another issue- mental instability that most homeless people are experiencing. They might have prior drug and alcohol addiction that seems to be an ongoing or rather, a permanent issue regarding to their mental health struggles. And the other thing, most of them don’t have money to survive or support themselves as they often rely on handouts which often don’t help them as much as medical treatment they seem to be receiving until they are dumped back into the streets where they were first exposed to, in the first place. There’s no real improvement with the system to treat these people as if they don’t seem to exist. All is left is for them to cruelly subject them to suffer as if they are less than humans compared to the other people who are just hoarding themselves around excessive money..We need to stop the repeat of this destructive cycle of abandonment and to get the homeless the help they rightly deserve. We need to bring Mayor Lurie’s attention to the problem that seems to get worse every time rather than to see it go away on its own accord.
The entire downtown area including SOMA should be off limits. The city needs to be realistic and keep shelters far away from tourist areas and in remote areas where it is easier to curb drug dealing.
Nice idea, and I wish this dream could come true but this will NEVER happen in SF.
How about min. 5,000 feet apart?
What is 1000 feet in blocks: In SF, Block lengths can vary, but generally around 300 feet north of Market, and 800 feet south of Market, this would mean roughly 2-3 blocks apart apart. Huh!?
And start shutting down the existing ones that are too close together.
The street conditions are now so bad in S.F., worse than anything I’ve seen in 25yrs. 16/Mission, 6/Mision and the whole of the Tenderloin are shocking. How can we call ourselves a world class city?
Much of it is attributed to City funding with no results. We consistently enable open drug use & dealing with no consequences.
City tax payers are directly funding the cartels. We need judges that prosecute and SFPD making arrests.
Walton & Bilal try aiming for 5000’
Convert half of our two Golf Courses into SF RV/Tent Campgrounds !!
Notice how I often used two exclamation points for effect ?
That’s when I think I have a very new and original idea.
And, valuable and right on.
It takes 62 acres to build slots for 1,000 RV and Tent camp spots.
One at end of Lincoln Park that adjoins VA Medical Center.
Probably enough Homeless Vets to fill the thousand spaces.
One at end of MSB controlled Harding Golf Course.
Use both their parking lots for RV’s.
Ask the National Guard or FEMA or both to do initial tents inside of a month I bet.
All it takes is the will, Mr. Mayor.
Go Niners !!
h.
Hey I’m trying to get a job and a homeless shelter in Covington Kentucky across the river from Cincinnati. It’s called the emergency shelter it used to be called the cold shelter because it gets cold here. These attempts to make homelessness a crime are disgusting. In Louisville Kentucky I hear the established a homeless Court don’t look at me.