An electric scooter is tipped over, leaning against a trash bin on a city sidewalk in daylight; litter and people are visible in the background.
9:37 a.m. 6/04, A full trash can at northeast plaza. This and another can on the northeast plaza were installed on Day 10 of the cleanup after ML pointed out that the plaza had no trash bins. Photo by Lydia Chávez

You can see all 16th Street posts here.

The equation would seem simple here. If a huge number of people descend on a major commercial corridor, a fair amount of trash will be left behind. Minus trash bins, it will land on the sidewalk. 

That is what happens on the weekend — but, really, weekdays too — along the Mission Street corridor. That’s especially so on the west side from 14th to 16th streets, where more than three dozen unpermitted vendors often sell their wares on Saturday and Sunday. Nevertheless, only 1950 Mission St., the housing development La Fenix, has a dumpster in front of it.

Otherwise, there are no trash cans, private or public, on the west side of the street. Adding to the pain of local businesses and nonprofits, San Francisco Public Works does not send street sweepers to that location on Sunday nights or Monday mornings. 

“So, all the mess is on us,” said Paul O’Driscoll, who owns the apartment building at 15th and Mission streets and has had an office in the area for 22 years. 

It was so bad this Monday that his wife decided to send a video of the trash to Public Works. While taking the video, she was mugged.

In fairness, O’Driscoll said, Public Works subsequently came out to clean. But, generally, its sweepers are not there on Mondays. That’s problematic because of heavy vendor activity in the area on Sunday nights. 

Mayor Daniel Lurie, O’Driscoll said, dropped by his block last week, but O’Driscoll never got to ask the question that’s been eating at him: “Why does DPW not work on Mondays? At least you can get out here on Sunday night.” 

We are trying to get an answer. Rachel Gordon, communications director for the Department of Public Works, said the sweepers do work on Mondays. It’s unclear why so much trash remains on the street on Monday mornings after a big vending scene on Sunday.

Sam Moss, the executive director of Mission Housing, which developed La Fenix, adds, “We don’t control the state of the street. We have no jurisdiction on public ground. We’ve been begging, and we are getting help, but there is a long way to go.”

Would trash cans help? Possibly:  But there is not one city trash can on the block from the northwest corner of 15th to 16th street, around to Julian Avenue and back to 16th Street. Not one. 

Oddly, when we first started doing these posts, one bin sat on that northwest corner near the 16th Street BART Station. It’s no longer there. Gordon from the Department of Public Works said that can was removed “because it was regularly abused: Illegal dumping, unbolted, etc.”

At the time, we pointed out there were no trash cans at the northeast 16th Street Plaza, and Public Works then added two.

In other news from 16th Street: Three BART staffers worked on the northeast plaza today to clean out furniture and other detritus, including what appeared to be a large reclining chair that had been deposited there over the last 24 hours.

And, on Julian Avenue, three outreach workers from the Gubbio Project were out talking to anyone on the street, reminding people of Gubbio’s Good Neighbor Policy, which calls for people to not overtly use drugs.

And it appears that the city may be trying a new strategy to discourage weekend vending. By this morning, DPW, at the request of the SFPD, had set up barriers along the west side of Mission Street south of 15th Street. 

Northeast plaza and east side of Mission Street

  • People are gathered and sitting on a sidewalk in an urban area with graffiti on the wall, some debris on the ground, and buildings and palm trees in the background.
    9:23 a.m. 6/04, east side of Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • Urban plaza with wet pavement, scattered street art on background walls, metal benches, blue lamp posts, trees, and a payphone. Sunlight reflects off the ground.
    9:23 a.m. 6/04, northeast 16th Street BART Plaza. Photo by Lydia Chávez.

Southwest 16th Street BART Plaza and west side of Mission Street

  • A city intersection with police cars, a large white truck, and people standing on the sidewalks under a clear sky. Traffic lights and overhead wires are visible.
    9:37 a.m. 6/04, southwest 16th Street BART Plaza. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • A city sidewalk with wet pavement, soap suds, yellow caution signs, dumpsters covered in graffiti, and parked cars along the street.
    9:08 a.m. 6/04, Dumpster in front of La Fenix. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • Metal barricades line a city sidewalk with palm trees; trash bags are piled against a nearby wall, and parked cars are visible on the street.
    9:08 a.m 6/4 Barriers on west side of Mission south of 15th Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • A city sidewalk with utility covers, a streetlight, and a building with graffiti; the street runs parallel with red transit lanes and distant pedestrians visible.
    9:23 a.m. 6/04, west side of Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.

Caledonia Street

  • Narrow urban alley with graffiti-covered walls, a person sitting on a bench at the far end, and chain-link fencing on the right side.
    9:04 a.m. 6/04, Caledonia Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • A worker in a safety vest loads shovels onto a Public Works truck parked in an alley with colorful graffiti on the walls.
    9:15 a.m. 6/04, north end of Caledonia Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.

Julian Avenue

  • A city sidewalk with tire marks, parked cars on the right, and buildings lining both sides. A few people are visible in the distance near a tree.
    9:04 a.m. 6/04, Julian Avenue. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • A city sidewalk with parked cars on the left, a person walking away in the distance, and buildings lining the right side of the street.
    9:04 a.m. 6/04, Julian Avenue. Photo by Lydia Chávez.

Wiese Street

A narrow urban alley lined with metal barricades on both sides, graffiti on the walls, and a single person visible in the distance.
9:05 a.m. 6/04, Wiese Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.

Capp Street

  • A city sidewalk with graffiti on a building, parked cars, a crosswalk button, and a mix of commercial and residential buildings in the background.
    9:35 a.m. 6/04, Capp Street looking north. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • Street intersection in an urban area with a white utility truck, parked cars, crosswalk, buildings, and a large mural on the wall. Power lines and streetlights are visible.
    9:36 a.m. 6/04, Capp Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.

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 and an 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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5 Comments

  1. I actually agree with DPW on this one regarding the trash cans. There were two on a corner I pass by daily just a couple of blocks from 16th and Mission. They were a daily site of illegal dumping, graffiti and vandalism. When they were removed the block was noticeably cleaner and has stayed that way. It would appear from this experience that having a public trash can doesn’t mean it will be used for its intended purpose. In fact, it was more often used for what some may have considered a reasonable place to dump unwanted items that clearly don’t fit in the cans, and too often I’d see people drop litter that does fit, on the street and sidewalk, just steps away from the trash can.

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  2. You look at the crowd that assembles these days, you think even one of them would get up and take that empty Doritos bag or whatever to the receptacle on the corner? Right. Though – obviously? – the trash situation is only a sideshow. What needs fixing first and foremost and right now is the open drug market on the stretch. Which has grown to unseen-before scale. (Not mentioned in this piece for some reason). If that gets moved out, I guarantee you, you’d be pleased with the results.

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  3. Thanks for mentioning the lack of trash cans. Always frustrating when DPW cites illegal dumping as a reason to remove a trash can.

    Can we use some Recology overcharge settlement funds to help pay for cleaning up illegal dumping?

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  4. Even with trash cans , they are overfilled , and the city remains a garbage dump

    Until the behaviors of persons here is changed , selfish entitled persons just continue to dump garbage everywere .

    There should be garbage “police” immediately fining idiots who throw garbage all over .

    Why are persons still throwing garbage from garbage bins all over ?

    Also dpw and recology may be trying but they need to improve or get on it

    How about a public “clean up “ the city campaign?

    Every citizen get out there and pickup garbage and wash the sidewalks

    If people respect themselves they will then respect the city environment and otherw

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