A group of people stand and talk on a city sidewalk next to a brick wall and trees, some wearing green jackets and casual clothing.
9:24 a.m. 6/05, Julian Avenue. The Mission Street Team meeting before it goes out. Photo by Lydia Chávez

All of the 16th Street posts can be found here.

Staffers from the Department of Public Works, Public Health and elsewhere walked and worked in the 16th Street area this morning, and much of the area west of Mission Street looked cleaner.

“You will soon be seeing a difference on the weekend,” said Santiago Lerma, the captain of the Mission Street Team, who met this morning with 15 of his colleagues at Julian Avenue and 15th Street.

Many of the nearby neighbors are upset about the unpermitted vending on weekends on the west side of Mission Street from the middle of 14th to 16th streets. At some point during Saturday and Sunday afternoons, the commercial corridor transforms from unpermitted vending to a drug corridor that bleeds over into the side streets.

Lerma called it “an ecosystem that feeds on itself.”

He said they are working on a strategy, but cautioned that the SFPD and DPW do not have the manpower required to keep vending near 16th and Mission under control.

The west side of Mission Street looked better today. A few active drug users remained on the east side of Mission Street, but it was quiet this morning. As we reported earlier this week, there are limits to what can be done quickly when someone is openly using drugs.

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

  • Street intersection with cars, buses, and pedestrians, surrounded by buildings, palm trees, overhead cables, and a cloudy sky.
    9:14 a.m 6/05, southwest 16th Street BART Plaza. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • City sidewalk with scattered litter, buildings on the left, trees lining the street, and people walking in the distance under a partly cloudy sky.
    9:09 a.m. 6/05, west side of Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • A city sidewalk with patterned blue and red tiles, bordered by gray concrete buildings, parked cars, and a palm tree in the background.
    9:09 a.m. 6/05, west side of Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • A city worker in an orange vest pushes a cart on a sidewalk, while a woman walks nearby. Parked cars, trees, and a mural-covered wall are visible in the background.
    9:09 a.m. 6/05, west side of Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.

Northeast 16th Street Plaza and east side of Mission Street

  • A woman sits on a folding chair beside a cart with coolers in a plaza, while pedestrians walk by and colorful murals cover the buildings in the background.
    9:14 a.m. 6/05, northeast 16th Street BART Plaza. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • People are sitting and standing in an urban plaza with graffiti on the walls, trees, and blue lamp posts on a cloudy day.
    9:14 a.m. 6/05, northeast 16th Street BART Plaza. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • A man rides a scooter on a city sidewalk while another person with a shopping cart appears to be looking through belongings near a storefront. Cars are parked along the street.
    9:12 a.m 6/05, east side of Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • Two people sit on a sidewalk; one holds a polka-dot umbrella. Backpacks and a crate are nearby. A bicycle wheel and blue-red patterned tiles are visible.
    9:20 a.m 6/05, east side of Mission Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.

Caledonia Street

  • A narrow urban alleyway with graffiti-covered walls on the right, a beige building on the left, and a tree and street sign visible in the distance.
    9:07 a.m. 6/05, Caledonia Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • A narrow alley with a beige building on the left, a fence with graffiti on the right, and a few people standing in the distance.
    10:00 a.m. 6/05, Caledonia Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.

Julian Avenue

  • A person walks a dog on a wide, empty sidewalk beside parked cars and apartment buildings on an overcast day.
    9:07 a.m. 6/05, Julian Avenue. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • A city sidewalk lined with parked cars on the left and a building with tiled walls and storefront windows on the right; street extends into the distance.
    9:08 a.m. 6/05, Julian Avenue. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • A pile of black trash bags and loose garbage sits on a city sidewalk near a crosswalk; two people walk nearby and cars are parked along the street.
    9:07 a.m. 6/05, Corner of Julian Avenue and 16th street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.

Wiese Street

A narrow urban alley is lined with metal barricades and graffiti-covered walls, leading to a distant figure; a yellow building is on the left.
9:08 a.m 6/05, Wiese Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.

Capp Street and 15th Street

  • A person in a red jacket crosses a city intersection with buildings, street art, and parked cars visible under a partly cloudy sky.
    9:15 a.m. 6/05, Capp Street. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • A city intersection with yellow crosswalk lines, a white van on the right, a silver SUV on the left, and buildings in the background under a cloudy sky.
    9:15 a.m. 6/05, Capp StreetStreet. Photo by Lydia Chávez.
  • A USPS mail truck is parked on a city street next to a sidewalk with a mural on the building wall and trees lining the roadway.
    9:15 a.m. 6/05, 15th StreetStreet. 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.

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4 Comments

  1. Reply

  2. Perhaps Lerma and his 15 associates jobs can be cut, and we can fund changes to the laws so that we can have more police to get the job of cleaning up the Mission done.
    All vending and drug users fined & jailed. Clean up the Mission already, residents and those trying to get to Bart are so sick of this.

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  3. “You will soon be seeing a difference on the weekend,”

    What does that mean? Did he offer any explanation? Did you ask?

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  4. Good news

    Still waiting for the same response by the city for the Lower Polk/Larkin.

    Not understanding the ongoing neglect and inequality .

    Lower Polk has been a drug den for seven years and is getting worse .

    The neighborhood remained destroyed .

    Maybe it is just to unsafe for city workers , nonprofits and police to even address that area .

    Oh well , people continue to overdose and commit crimes on Lower Polk /Larkin and no one in this wonderful city where we are told people care is happening .

    The idea that people care is delusional.
    This news organization will not
    cover the harm going on on Lower Polk/ Larkin

    Bizarre

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