A security guard stands in front of a building entrance labeled "1950" next to a red-tiled wall with a "No Smoking" sign. He is holding a drink bottle.
6:43 p.m 7/13, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez


You can see all the 16th Street posts here.

City workers, police and outreach crews appeared Wednesday to be adjusting their work schedules to stay on site into the evening hours at 16th and Mission streets. A private security guard has also been added at La Fénix, an affordable housing site on Mission Street.

Adrienne Bechelli, who started overseeing the Department of Emergency Management’s neighborhood street teams two weeks ago, said in an interview Monday that the deployment of the last two weeks is a stronger “sequencing of resources.” 

The coordination, said Bechelli, was a way to better understand and address the needs on the ground, “and then to hold the space for as long as possible.”

The Ahsing outreach workers have been on site until 8 p.m. since starting at 16th Street on July 5, but police and DPW workers also appear to be staying later.

The impact on the ground is noticeable. In addition to DPW, police, and the Ahsing crews, the Mission street team also includes workers from the Department of Public Health and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.  

Earlier Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m., some vendors gathered on the east side of Mission Street near the Muni stop. One vendor selling bottles of Downy detergent attracted a small crowd. Five minutes later, DPW workers in bright reflective vests appeared. Let’s get moving, they urged. And to a woman slumped in a stupor: “Ma’am, you’ve got to go.”

By 2:10 p.m., the vendors and buyers were mostly gone. 

When we returned to Mission Street close to 7 p.m., police officers accompanied DPW workers as they again patrolled the east side of Mission Street, urging a small group of unpermitted vendors to move on. 

While the side streets, except for Capp Street, were clear in the early afternoon, Wiese, Caledonia and Capp streets had a fair number of people in the evening.  

The west side of Mission Street between 15th and 16th was clear Wednesday afternoon and into the evening as it has been regularly for more than a week.  At least four Ahsing outreach workers patrolled the west side.

In addition, a new private security guard is now posted on the sidewalk in front of La Fénix, where unpermitted vending and open-air drug use had been a persistent problem.

Near 7 p.m. on Wednesday, a few vendors moved to the north side of 15th Street, but officers and DPW workers soon arrived. One DPW worker started filling a plastic bag with the tennis shoes and clothes a vendor had set out for sale. The vendor objected and the DPW worker stepped away.

“How do we know you are not just going to move to another block?” the DPW worker asked. 

“I’m going home,” the vendor said as he packed up his merchandise.  

Another DPW worker said he felt that the streets were much better, but added, “It’s not yet where we want it to be. The goal is to not let anyone set up.”

Southwest Plaza and west side of Mission Street

  • A group of people sit and gather on a sidewalk in front of a building and metal gate; one man in a cap and tattoos is in the foreground holding a red lighter and pipe.
    2:02 p.m. 7/16, Mission street west side. Photo by Jose A. Velazquez.
  • An elderly person with a walker stands on a city sidewalk near a building with black tiles, metal barriers, and reflective windows.
    2:03 p.m. 7/16, Misison Street west side. Photo by Jose A. Velazquez.
  • A large white police mobile command unit is parked on a city street near a bus stop, with a few people and pigeons nearby.
    2:07 p.m. 7/16, south west 16th St. Plaza. Photo by Jose A. Velazquez.
  • A busy city intersection with pedestrians, buildings, power lines, and a large white vehicle parked near the corner under a cloudy sky.
    6:39 p.m. 7/16 southwest plaza, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • A city sidewalk lined with parked cars, palm trees, and modern buildings; one person walks away from the camera in the center.
    6:43 p.m 7/13, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • Two security guards stand near a building with red tiles on a city sidewalk; cars are parked along the street and palm trees line the road.
    6:43 p.m 7/13, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • Three people, including two in high-visibility jackets, stand on a city sidewalk near laid-out clothes and belongings in front of a building with glass windows.
    6:43 p.m 7/13, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • City workers and police stand near a pile of belongings on a city sidewalk beside a building, with palm trees and parked cars visible nearby.
    6:43 p.m 7/13, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • People walk along a city sidewalk lined with trees and parked cars; a red trash bag lies on the ground near a utility box.
    6:50 p.m 7/13, west side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez

Northeast Plaza and east side of Mission Street

  • A person wearing a star-spangled hat pushes a shopping cart filled with bags in an urban outdoor setting, with people and palm trees in the background.
    1:59 p.m. 7/16, north east 16th Street Plaza. Photo by Jose A. Velazquez.
  • People gather on a city sidewalk with bags and belongings, near a colorful graffiti wall. Clothes and a Corn Flakes box are on the ground; a dog is in the foreground.
    2:00 p.m. 7/16, east side Misison Street. Photo by Jose A. Velazquez.
  • Several people gather on a sidewalk beside a mural-covered wall, with personal belongings and a dog resting nearby. One man sits shirtless in the foreground.
    2:00 p.m. 7/16, east side Misison Street. Photo by Jose A. Velazquez.
  • A group of people, some sitting and some standing, gather on a graffiti-covered urban street with scattered belongings and a dog in the foreground.
    2:00 p.m. 7/16, east side Misison Street. Photo by Jose A. Velazquez.
  • People wearing safety vests interact with others on a city sidewalk near a colorful mural and a parked bus under a clear sky.
    2:05 p.m. 7/16, east side Misison Street. Photo by
  • Two workers in safety vests stand near several seated people on a city sidewalk beside a colorful mural and graffiti-covered wall.
    2:05 p.m. 7/16, east side Misison Street. Photo by
  • People stand and sit in line on a city sidewalk near a colorful building, some with bags and carts, in an urban outdoor setting.
    6:39 p.m. 7/16 southwest plaza, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • A group of people gather and stand around a busy urban sidewalk, some with carts and bags, near a colorful mural and vendor stands under a cloudy sky.
    6:39 p.m. 7/16 southwest plaza, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • Police officers and city workers walk along a sidewalk lined with colorful graffiti murals in an urban area.
    6:40 p.m 7/13, east side of Mission Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez

Caledonia Street

  • A narrow urban alley with a beige building on the left and a graffiti-covered fence on the right, under a clear blue sky.
    2:10 p.m. 7/16, Caledonia Street. Photo by Jose A. Velazquez.
  • A cracked urban alleyway with graffiti on the right wall and a few people gathered at the far end near benches and trees.
    6:52 p.m 7/13, Caledonia Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez

Julian Avenue

  • A red car and several other vehicles are parked along a city street lined with multi-story buildings under a clear blue sky.
    2:09 p.m. 7/16, Julian Avenue west side. Photo by Jose A. Velazquez.
  • A black trash bin sits in the middle of a sunny city sidewalk lined with parked cars and buildings.
    2:09 p.m. 7/16, Julian Avenue east. Photo by Jose A. Velazquez.
  • A man searches through a trash bin on a city sidewalk next to parked cars, with a cart and bags beside him. The Kailash Hotel sign is visible in the background.
    6:51 p.m 7/13, Julian Avenue, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • A person rides a bicycle on a city sidewalk beside parked cars and apartment buildings on an overcast day.
    6:51 p.m 7/13, Julian Avenue, Photo by Lydia Chávez

Wiese Street

  • A narrow urban alleyway with metal barricades along both sides, yellow and green painted buildings, and a "No Parking Any Time" sign on the left.
    2:09 p.m. 7/16, Weise Street. Photo by Jose A. Velazquez.
  • People are gathered and sitting on benches along a graffiti-marked alleyway, with fencing and buildings on either side. A few individuals walk or stand further down the street.
    6:51 p.m 7/13, Wiese Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez

Capp Street

  • People stand and sit on a city sidewalk near a mural-covered wall. Cars and a yellow taxi are parked on the street under a sunny, clear sky.
    1:59 p.m. 7/16, Capp Street. Photo by Jose A. Velazquez
  • A city street corner with a crosswalk button on a pole, parked cars, graffiti on a building, and a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk.
    6:38 p.m.. 7/16, Capp Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • Two people sit on the sidewalk near a building, with a black car parked on the street and apartments visible in the background.
    6:38 p.m.. 7/16, Capp Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez
  • Urban sidewalk with parked cars, graffiti-covered wall, scattered litter, and several people gathered in the distance.
    6:38 p.m.. 7/16, Capp Street, Photo by Lydia Chávez

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Founder/Executive Editor. 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.

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.

Reporting from Bayview-Hunters Point. I grew up on 24th and York Street and attended Buena Vista Elementary. As a teenager, I moved to Hunters Point and went to school in Potrero Hill. I'm currently a student at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. I've developed a toxic relationship with golf.

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5 Comments

  1. Since Ahsing has come into the game and Mission Housing has been policing 1950 Mission, addicts have been displaced to around Marshall Elementary, with people passed out on Capp, including one in the gutter of the street Adair by Capp.

    Mission Housing is desperate to prove that they can secure Head Start and 1950 Mission housing as they seek approval to put a drug and psych treatment center next to an elementary school that serves many at risk students.

    As soon as they get what they want, the Potemkin Village all goes away.

    Addicts on the sidewalks, addicts in the nonprofit developer offices, the algebra of addiction is identical in both species–do whatever you need to in order to get the next fix no matter how debasing or degrading.

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  2. Born in the bay area and I became an adult in New Mexico state penitentiary since my release I’ve returned to the bay and I’m there (16th&mission)frequently but from the point of view of the vendor there’s definitely problems and things need to shape up but DSW Are just t thugs in disguise and the people ran out are the community. There’s no easy answer but what’s being ruined is what made the place special and different and it’s a shame with every solution damaging what is /was attractive about the area it looks like it’s season has past and what’s to come isn’t going to be what it was or what you expect

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  3. No more low income housing in the Mission, & no more non-profit funding ie. Ahsung – just get law & order Police out there and start arresting people already.
    Fully agree with the poster above, the non-profits are the addicts for sure. What a waste of tax payers money, and all Mission residents suffer from the street conditions that the non-profits need to maintain so they can ‘stay in business’. Don’t trust them.

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  4. Thanks for reporting
    Glad to see responding there ; however, it is further evidence the city is discrimatory by not providing the same response in other out of control area s.

    Tenderloin and Lower Polk are totally ignored and full of idiots , zombies , vagrants and waste products who are ingesting illegal poisons all day and night

    They and the city allow this and have destroyed this city .

    SF is a shit hole .
    No one except addicts and dealers will come here .

    Very sad

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  5. It really just depends on the moment that you choose to look at the street. I walked Mission between 15th & 16th yesterday around 5pm and while the west side was clear with Ahsing guards standing watch, staring over at the east side crowded with drug users and vendors.

    And again, when the loiterers disperse, where do they go? Do we really imagine that they walk away and become better people?

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