I returned to San Francisco on Wednesday, eager to get a feel for the efforts on 16th Street.
Oddly, someone at the BART station was vacuuming near the steps leading up to the street. The sound of good housekeeping, I thought.
Indeed, the southwest plaza, where the mobile command unit is parked, looked good; the nearby alleyways were also clean. Mission Street between 16th and 15th streets, however, was crowded with people hanging out, and filled with trash. Still, readers have commented that visiting the area once a day fails to convey the full story of whether conditions are improving. Fair enough.
I returned at 8:30 p.m. the same day. Again, many of the side streets we at Mission Local have been photographing regularly — Caledonia Street, Julian Avenue and Wiese Street — looked empty and clean.
Mission Street between 16th and 15th streets, however, was trashed. And, despite a vending ban, the east side of Mission Street was blocked by more than a dozen vendors. Somehow, the sphere of influence of the mobile command unit on the southwest plaza had not reached the northeast plaza.
The west side of Mission Street was largely vacant at the south end, but no one had been by to clean up the trash. At the north end, a number of street people huddled together.
This morning, just after 8 a.m., some people remained on the west side of Mission Street, but much of the trash had been cleared away.
Raul, who works in maintenance on the west side of the street, said the Department of Public Works sweeps up there earlier in the morning. He tries to maintain what they’ve started and he does a good job.
But this morning, parents, some carrying their children protectively as they made their way into the oasis of the early childhood school run by the Mission Neighborhoods Center, had to pass a bizarre pair of men, slumped in a stupor near a large stuffed monkey that had seen better days.
Across Mission Street, vendors were already setting up for the day. “Five, ten, five ten,” one of the vendors chanted in Spanish as he tried to entice me to buy. Centavos? I asked. He laughed. “Dollars. Cinco, diez, cinco diez.”
So, is it getting better? Not on Mission Street. Not by a long shot.
By 6 p.m. today, the east side of Mission Street had been cleared of vendors. The west side had little vending, but plenty of people hanging out. A police car moved up Caledonia, and officers, plus DPW workers, were also out in force, caught here on Julian Avenue.
4 p.m. 5/28 west side, Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
8:28 p.m. west side, Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
8:30 p.m 5/28 west side, Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
8:17 a.m. 5/29, west side, Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
8:30 a.m. 5/29 west side, Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
6:06 p.m. 5/29 west side, Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
6:06 p.m. 5/29 west side, Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
8:30 p.m. 5/28, east side, Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
8:30 p.m. 5/28, east side, Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
8:30 p.m. 5/28, northeast 16th Street BART plaza. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
8:38 a.m. 5/29, northeast side of Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
8:39 a.m. 5/29, northeast side of Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
6:05 p.m. 5/29 west side of Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
5 p.m. 5/28 west side of Julian Avenue. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
5 p.m. 5/28 east side of Julian Avenue. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
8:26 p.m. 5/28, west side of Julian Avenue. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
8:26 p.m. 5/28, east side of Julian Avenue. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
8: 15 a.m. 5/29 west side of Julian Avenue. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
8:15 a.m. 5/29 east side of Julian Avenue. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
6:09 p.m. 5/29 west side of Julian Avenue. Photo by Lydia Chávez. 
6:08 p.m. 5/29 east side of Julian Avenue. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
No doubt the ‘crackdown ‘ on the BART plazas has made the rest of the neighborhood, especially the stretch between 16th and 15th on Mission worse than ever. Moved to this section in 2021 and it’s worse than even the tail end of the pandemic.
It really is day to day hour to hour different there. I used to live by 16th, now by 24th, and I’d say it is better in some ways than 2 years ago but that change started happening before. Less vendors and more drugs now. Recently its made the concentrations worse like on Wiese St. Seems like the city pushed all the people from the tenderloin to the mission making it bad again. I really don’t mind the vendors, especially because theres less now, but the open drug markets have to go. Kids and Adults shouldn’t have to dodge needles, folded people, and poop when they are just trying to get to work or school.
I prefer not to drive my custom Cybertruck in that area.
I’ve been following this story for a bit now. I moved from N. Hollywood to S.F. in 1964. I was 9 yrs old, the eldest of 4 with a working single mom.( not very common then). The culture shock wasn’t prolonged, but immediate & lasting.We were ” latch key kids. We lived on Adair Alley, closer to Mission than S Van Ness.
BART wasn’t there yet so we had a good size grocery & the Bon Ami drug & variety store kitty corner. Mission in those days was lined with bars, bodegas, barber & beauty salons along with wholesale outlets & movie theaters.
It was a long walk, 4 kids going to the movie on Saturday; drunks & bums passed out in doorways, hookers making their way home from the alleyways. In those days the City had streetsweepers, actual men with brooms, shovels, & bins on a cart so the litter wasn’t overwhelming, but the stench remained unabated.
Our initial fear quickly resolved into observant caution: no one was intent on causing us harm & dodging the stumble bums wasn’t difficult, we had no spare change. The worst I ever saw was a graphicly exposed,unconscious woman in a doorway on 15th, half a block off Mission & saw the police arrive.
I’ve lived in numerous cities & states since then (I’m 70 now) & all of them have a “wrong side of town”, a skid row, a slum, even an old shanty town. Populated by the poor, the hopeless & helpless, the addicted & worse. Exiles from society, dismissed & mostly ignored if they kept in place.
S.F. in the 60’s & 70’s was vibrant, exciting…a place to ‘do your own thing’ & 2nd only to New York for tourism. Exclusion zones were the Mission, the Fillmore, Hunters Point & the Tenderloin late at night. Even cabbies would refuse fares to or from.
But you could still live & work in S.F. back then, even at minimum wage. There were possibilities to improve your lot. I still have friends who work damn good jobs, one nearing retirement from the Cable Cars, but he can’t afford to live in the City, & hasn’t for years.
When Tech came in the natives were priced out: exiled to slums or a commutable distance in the East Bay.
I passed through the Mission summer of 2009 on a motorcycle. The changes were a jolt to our memories, some good like the variety of restaurants & small businesses, but no streetsweepers & the stench remains exactly as remembered.
A police presence isn’t the answer. Possibilities, however humble, will kindle hope for better, & better can instill a growing pride. The Mission will always be a segregated neighborhood, but it doesn’t have to be a slum. There used to be flowerpots on stoops, businesses swept their sidewalks every morning, we knew our neighbors. The denizens of the night, whatever their sins, gave way in the daylight.
Safe, affordable housing & employment that only requires dependable responsibility & basic abilities…such as streetsweepers, park caretakers, crossing guards….
Police used to walk a beat, knew who & what & how so they could provide protection or penalties, & directions to places & opportunities.
I apologize for the length of this rant. Things could improve but the power & money would rather see it crumble & die.
I appreciate all the reporting that has been done here!
It would be interesting to see some reporting about the types of patrols that are being done. Do the cops patrol a reasonable radius around the station, or do they mostly just stay in the plaza with the command center? The effect of their intervention seems to be extremely localized and maybe more intended for PR than having a real impact.
I’d be interested to hear what the police think. Do they believe they are being effective? Do they care? Do they have better ideas for improving policing? Is there something or someone holding them back?
Agreed. We are trying to get a sense of that and every time we see officers or DPW we mention it in the pieces. But we will try to get more information. The only 24-hour presence comes from the officers who are inside the command center. Others- and sheriffs – arrive during the day, but you can often go out and see no city workers. At other times, there are several. As to Alex’s questions – these are all good questions and we are trying to get answers.
I feel like the ethics of taking pictures of people on the street like this is somewhat is questionable. Yes, this is part of San Francisco and yes, changes need to be made to help people and communities but photographing people with their pants half way off to publish online? I don’t know.
Yes, it gave me pause as well. I decided to publish because I thought this is what kids see, maybe readers should see it as well. But, I hear you, and I’m not completely certain I was right.
The thing about the uncertainty is that the young reporters are looking for solid direction on what is and is not ethical. If JJ Smith is doing the same, then there’s your answer.
I appreciated the one reporter who did get a glimpse into a day in the life of an addict surviving on the street. Props to Gustavo Hernandez for his Day 71 reporting.
https://missionlocal.org/2025/05/day-71-of-the-16th-st-plaza-crackdown-pee/
LOL people on the streets have their pants around their ankles and you think the problem is documenting that with photography?
All very sad, I’ve seen a big increase in people doing drugs on the street in the alleys between 15th and 16th and Mission and Valencia in the past while. Also, it’s increased between South Van Ness and Mission and 14th and 15th. I live in the area and I’m trying to figure some routes to avoid it, but there basically aren’t any anymore. There used to be problems, but it wasn’t as prevalent and you could reduce the amount you were exposed to it.
I imagine they’re just being shooed away from somewhere else and landing here. It will only get worse with reducing medicaid and food stamps. So, expect more…sad for everyone.
I grew up in the Mission, Woodward Street. My mom would walk the Mission from 14th to 22nd to shop. We were always with her. NO vendors, just one handicap man with his dog that pushed his scooter. It’s was the best time fir me and my family!
I come to Mission and 16th early morning between six and 630. The area has improved, but it’s still rough. I see the guys hitting the mission for assistance right around the street. I also every so often run into the kid who is so strung out. It’s all I can do to stand could be better, but I’ve seen worse.
SFPD rotten where rubber meets road,
The Mobile Command RV is up on blocks so the tires won’t dry out and crack.
Like the 100 cops who cycle through this intersection daily it goes no further.
I presented a Foot Patrol Map for the area bordered by Capp and Valencia streets on East and West sides and 17th Street to 14th Street on respective South and North boundaries …
Centering at the BART exits at 16th and Mission.
Presented it to the Police Commission before Lurie was even a twinkle in the Voters eye and they laughed at the idea that a Solitary Cop would be brave enough to spend an entire shift walking and meeting people on their own Beat.
At 3 cops a shift that’s 9 cops getting to know people on the sidewalks.
Just like their grandpas did.
Feinstein did it.
go Niners !!
h.
Well yeah!, we love San Francisco. But it looks like our friends at missionlocal love it more! Keep up the fantastic work. Keeping our surroundings clean requires teamwork and positivity, and you guys are doing it. Thank you so much.
Thank you!