# More Crappy News From SF



## WalnutBaron (Aug 31, 2018)

By now, most of us have read or witnessed the truly alarming situation in San Francisco, where homeless people are literally turning parts of the city into a poopfest.

Now The Points Guy is reporting that taxi drivers are pooping and urinating in one of SFO's parking lots and creating a public health hazard. It is implied in the article that this is being done as a form of protest against Uber and Lyft, both of which are headquartered in San Francisco.

Already, at least one major convention has been canceled because of San Francisco's inability to effectively deal with this problem. Whether because of lack of political will or because of some other problem is debatable. 

What is _*not *_debatable is that this is a gross and despicable problem and the city needs to handle it before its reputation for being one of the most beautiful cities in the world goes right down the toilet.


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## clifffaith (Aug 31, 2018)

Last week the 10-2 shift on one of our Los Angeles talk radio stations was discussing the $70K jobs being offered in SF for scoopers of human poop. With benefits the compensation more than doubled. Conversation surrounded how much money the hosts and the various engineers and producers who were chiming in would need to scoop poop all day. General consensus was that $70-80K was a good number, except that they couldn't afford to live where they worked due to home and rental values in the  Bay Area.


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## WinniWoman (Aug 31, 2018)

I keep hearing about this on the radio. Just awful. I was telling my son about it, as he travels there sometimes for work and he says he hasn't seen any of this. Must be in certain areas of the city that he just hasn't been to I suppose.


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## WalnutBaron (Aug 31, 2018)

mpumilia said:


> I keep hearing about this on the radio. Just awful. I was telling my son about it, as he travels there sometimes for work and he says he hasn't seen any of this. Must be in certain areas of the city that he just hasn't been to I suppose.


I have not noticed the problem in the Financial District or in the Presidio area. However, it's a huge problem at Union Square (a major tourist area) and the surrounding area as well as the Haight District and South Of Market district.


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## clifffaith (Aug 31, 2018)

South of Market was where the radio folk were talking about. The Worldmark timeshare in SF is in a location near Chinatown that has a street running below it. We were last there three years ago and Cliff was wondering why it had been ten years since the previous visit. All I had to do was wrinkle my nose and make a face before responding and he remembered -- never again will we walk down those stairs to the street below. The stairwell was being used as a toilet, and that was 13 years ago.


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## davidvel (Aug 31, 2018)

clifffaith said:


> Last week the 10-2 shift on one of our Los Angeles talk radio stations was discussing the $70K jobs being offered in SF for scoopers of human poop. With benefits the compensation more than doubled. Conversation surrounded how much money the hosts and the various engineers and producers who were chiming in would need to scoop poop all day. General consensus was that $70-80K was a good number, except that they couldn't afford to live where they worked due to home and rental values in the  Bay Area.


The California way. Use other people's money to clean other people's poop.

This place is nutty but the weather's great!


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## billymach4 (Aug 31, 2018)

Eeewww


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## bbodb1 (Aug 31, 2018)

_....California........tumbles into the sea......
....That'll be the day I go back to Annandale...._


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## Luanne (Sep 1, 2018)

Our younger dd isin San Francisco right now, staying on Union Square.  She said the streets are quite clean.


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## DavidnRobin (Sep 1, 2018)

Interesting that it seems okay to bash SF and Calif. -
Yet... if similar stuff was said about other cities/states there would be an outcry.

Want some examples?
There are 100s


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## klpca (Sep 1, 2018)

DavidnRobin said:


> Interesting that it seems okay to bash SF and Calif. -
> Yet... if similar stuff was said about other cities/states there would be an outcry.
> 
> Want some examples?
> ...


It gets tiring sometimes. After all, this is our *home*. I would never bash the place where someone else has chosen to live. That said, I have to say that this situation is pretty awful.


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## itchyfeet (Sep 1, 2018)

Most big cities have a homeless problem.  It is up to us as citizens to help solve it!


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## Panina (Sep 1, 2018)

klpca said:


> It gets tiring sometimes. After all, this is our *home*. I would never bash the place where someone else has chosen to live. That said, I have to say that this situation is pretty awful.


I know the feeling.  Years ago when I lived full time in NYC we had the same problem.  Then we got a new mayor ( didn’t name him as I don’t want anyone to say I made this political) and the city was revitalized and cleaned up.   Now I am beginning to see the problem starting again. Sometimes the smells are horrible.  I can’t understand how wonderful cities allow this to happen.


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## billymach4 (Sep 1, 2018)

It's sad. Particularly subway stations reek from urinating in NYC.

I have seen some human fecal matter. However not to the degree described about the problem in SF.


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## billymach4 (Sep 1, 2018)

Sometiimes a homeless person enters a subway car and the malodorous stench is so repulsive everyone abandons the car. Then you get a nasty surprise at the next stop at rush hour. You think that it's a miracle when you can get a seat in an air conditioning car. But NO.... You fall over from the putrid smell.


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## billymach4 (Sep 1, 2018)

Here's another one for NYC Subway. Use to work in Midtown a few stops norrth of Penn Station to catch the LIRR.

Just like I described above get on the train to the few stops south to Penn. The odor was so bad and too late to escape before the doors closed. Of course it was a packed car standing room only. The only relief from the odor was to open  front door between the cars and catch the breeze from the passing air. It was terrible.


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## x3 skier (Sep 1, 2018)

itchyfeet said:


> Most big cities have a homeless problem.  It is up to us as citizens to help solve it!



Unless Citizens demand the elected leadership solve the problem or elect persons who will solve it, there’s little Citizens can do. It can be done as Panina noted. 



Panina said:


> I know the feeling.  Years ago when I lived full time in NYC we had the same problem.  Then we got a new mayor ( didn’t name him as I don’t want anyone to say I made this political) and the city was revitalized and cleaned up.   Now I am beginning to see the problem starting again. Sometimes the smells are horrible.  I can’t understand how wonderful cities allow this to happen.



Cheers


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## billymach4 (Sep 1, 2018)

Another plug for NYC..

So NY has a bottle deposit on soda cans and bottles. Nickel each. You can take your used bottles, cans back and get your nickels. 

I have occasionally collected my used beverage containers to get my deposit back.

When you go to the recycling machine there are people there with shopping carts with filled with bags saddlled with used containers that have been collected from scouring the neighborhood for miles. No joke. You can see this in all areas of the metro area. These poor folks are scraping by on nickels collected from beer and soda cans.


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## billymach4 (Sep 1, 2018)

And my friends and family want to know why I want to move out of NY.


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## WalnutBaron (Sep 2, 2018)

DavidnRobin said:


> Interesting that it seems okay to bash SF and Calif. -
> Yet... if similar stuff was said about other cities/states there would be an outcry.
> 
> Want some examples?
> ...


I guess you're accusing me of doing the "bashing". Personally, I love San Francisco, and include its iconic Golden Gate Bridge as my avatar here on TUG. I have many fond memories of times spent with our kids, my bride of 38 years, and as a kid myself. (My dad took me to my first SF Giants game when I was 5 and I got to see Willie Mays hit two home runs that day.)

I'm also a 4th generation native Californian, so this is my home as well as yours. My family has a long history here, and I'm grateful for the legacy and for the wonderful climate and matchless soils and natural resources that God placed in this beautiful state of ours which allows me, my brothers, and now one of our sons to make our livelihoods by living close to the land.

So no--I'm not "bashing". 

But when a beautiful city is managed in such a way that it tolerates the conditions which lead to the situation I _am _criticizing, it's no time to put one's head in the sand and wish it wasn't happening. We had friends from Georgia come visit us last month, and one of their dreams was to spend a few days in San Francisco. I didn't tell them about the reports I'd heard related to this subject, because I hoped they'd do the usual tourist-y things and just enjoy themselves. Unfortunately, they observed--on multiple episodes in multiple locations in the city--exactly the kind of thing I called out in this post. So this is not something that's being overblown by social media or those who just wish to "bash" San Francisco and California.

It's a real issue, a real problem, a real public health hazard, and a real shame. And those who manage the city that I love should be ashamed, because this kind of thing is entirely avoidable.


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## davidvel (Sep 2, 2018)

And it's  also true that non homeless people are defecating on rental bikes because they don't  like them. All part of an emerging belief system  that if someone says or does something you you don't  like, you have the right to shut them up and destroy property to stop them.


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## VacationForever (Sep 2, 2018)

The last time we were in NYC was 18 months ago and it was smelly and dirty and we decided not to return.  It is unfortunate because that experience was different from the 2 times when we were there previously.  We have not been back to San Francisco for about 10 years and have no desire to return.  We still have good memories of San Francisco from before.

I believe the only way to address the homeless problem is to go back to the old days of having mental institutions where they stay and get treatment.  Many of the homeless folks have mental health issues and leaving them live out in the society creates a problem for all.  They are not able to work and they don't have the money to pay for lodging and food.


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## billymach4 (Sep 2, 2018)

After 55 yrs born and raised in NYC.... Yes I am getting down on this place.  Time has come and I am in the process of moving on.


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## DavidnRobin (Sep 2, 2018)

Nope - just a general observation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## WalnutBaron (Oct 11, 2018)

In spite of the fact that some don't like these kinds of posts, the crappy news out of San Francisco just keeps coming. This article from The New York Times describes a pretty horrific situation. And while the article focuses on the city's Tenderloin District, the reader comments attached to the article emphasise that the issue persists in other sections of the city, including the Civic Center area which is the heart of the city's government offices, the Castro District, and even the well-heeled Marina District.






I'll re-state that I am not a "basher" of San Francisco. It's a beautiful city. But there is no excuse for this situation to persist in one of the wealthiest cities in the world. It's disgusting. It has already led to cancellations of some business conventions. 

San Francisco's tolerance for everything--including drug dealers who prey on addicts who then urinate and defecate and leave dirty needles on streets and sidewalks--is backfiring. The problem is out of control, and demands a solution.


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## WinniWoman (Oct 13, 2018)

Wow. Just wow.


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## chapjim (Oct 14, 2018)

DavidnRobin said:


> Interesting that it seems okay to bash SF and Calif. -
> Yet... if similar stuff was said about other cities/states there would be an outcry.
> 
> Want some examples?
> ...



Maybe it is because SF and CA are so bash-worthy.  Not to say other cities and states are not but [redacted].

[You've been around here long enough to know that political comments like this are not permitted here.[/i]]


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## chapjim (Oct 15, 2018)

chapjim said:


> Maybe it is because SF and CA are so bash-worthy.  Not to say other cities and states are not but [redacted].
> 
> [You've been around here long enough to know that political comments like this are not permitted here.[/i]]



Moderator:  In what way was my comment so much more objectionable than say, the last line in Post #25?  Just curious and I don't expect a response.  I'll (try to) be good.


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## geist1223 (Oct 15, 2018)

This has become a major problem in many cities including Portland Oregon.


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## skimble (Oct 16, 2018)

Info about the city is real. 
The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit surveyed 153 blocks of downtown San Francisco in search of trash, needles, and feces. The investigation revealed trash littered across every block. The survey also found *41* blocks dotted with needles and *96* blocks sullied with piles of feces. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Diseased-Streets-472430013.html
The city is working with the homeless and addicts.  They've deployed a human feces cleanup team, and they're assisting addicts with drug injections as a service. 
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/ar...on-sites-expected-to-be-first-in-12553616.php


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## chapjim (Oct 17, 2018)

skimble said:


> Info about the city is real.
> The NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit surveyed 153 blocks of downtown San Francisco in search of trash, needles, and feces. The investigation revealed trash littered across every block. The survey also found *41* blocks dotted with needles and *96* blocks sullied with piles of feces. https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/Diseased-Streets-472430013.html
> The city is working with the homeless and addicts.  They've deployed a human feces cleanup team, and they're assisting addicts with drug injections as a service.
> https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/ar...on-sites-expected-to-be-first-in-12553616.php



Assisting addicts with injections -- should reduce the number of needles found around town but increase the number of addicts and the amount of poop.


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## Caligirlfrtx (Dec 21, 2018)

We’re here now and first thing we saw when we arrived was a guy pooping on the side of the street. He was not homeless he had two friends in a car attempting to block him with the hazard lights on on the car. He had a box of tissue with him. This is just plain disgusting and rebellion in the most horrible manner. They should lock them up for this.  We stayed at Suites at Fishermans Wharf and everything on this side of town was fine. We had a wonderful trip.


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## chapjim (Dec 21, 2018)

Caligirlfrtx said:


> We’re here now and first thing we saw when we arrived was a guy pooping on the side of the street. He was not homeless he had two friends in a car attempting to block him with the hazard lights on on the car. He had a box of tissue with him. This is just plain disgusting and rebellion in the most horrible manner. They should lock them up for this.  We stayed at Suites at Fishermans Wharf and everything on this side of town was fine. We had a wonderful trip.



Weird!  Not only did the "friends" not take him to a filling station (McDonald's, etc.) to poop, they put on the flashers to call everyone's attention to what they were trying to block.


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## bbodb1 (Dec 21, 2018)

Rock salt could solve this problem - properly delivered.


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## TravelTime (Dec 22, 2018)

A couple years ago we went to see Hamilton in San Francisco. It happened to be the day of a very famous festival in San Francisco. So we wandered through. You had to go through a metal detector for security to get in. I saw a couple of naked men sitting and talking. I was in shock. Then as we wandered, I saw more naked men, and several topless women. There were many police there too. The policemen were standing next to the naked men and chatting as if this is a normal everyday occurrence for them. One naked man had the name of a well known politician (the one who lives in a big White House) on his bottom side. I could go into more detail but I do not want to get X rated. Now I imagine those naked men sitting on the dirty benches where a homeless person probably urinated. And we wonder how certain diseases seem to emanate out of San Francisco. Just so I do not sound like I am bashing...I live in California too. I lived in San Francisco for 4 years in the 1990s. The city has really gone downhill. Trash is everywhere. Back then, it was not safe in the Tenderloin and South of Market was undeveloped and seedy too. I lived in Telegraph Hill and mainly stayed on my side of San Francisco so I never saw this side of San Francisco when I lived there. It is not such a beautiful city anymore, or maybe it never was and I did not see it back then.


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## TravelTime (Dec 22, 2018)

I had to look this subject up online because I was rather shocked to hear about pooping and urinating on the streets. This article is interesting: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/09/04/san-francisco-turns-to-simple-street-solutions/

The article says this:
Napkins, straws, and bags are available upon request,” reads a footnote on the menu of the Sentinel, a walk-up sandwich shop in the city’s thriving financial district. “You can still get needles for free though. Welcome to SF.”

https://www.npr.org/2018/08/01/6346...ets-strewn-with-trash-needles-and-human-feces

This article says:
San Francisco's streets are so filthy that at least one infectious disease expert has compared the city to some of the dirtiest slums in the world.

The filth in the street is raising alarms among medical experts. The biggest concern: the spread of disease.


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## Snazzylass (Dec 22, 2018)

TravelTime said:


> I
> This article says:
> San Francisco's streets are so filthy that at least one infectious disease expert has compared the city to some of the dirtiest slums in the world.
> 
> The filth in the street is raising alarms among medical experts. The biggest concern: the spread of disease.



Well, the rain helps. I was there this past weekend, taking the bus, lots of walking: the gingerbread house in the Fairmont, Union Square, the Asian Art Museum, Hayes Valley, Haight, the Golden Gate Park, and along Fillmore - granted some of the nicer areas. We only got as far north as Chinatown. Things looked a little sketchy at the edge of the Tenderloin but we enjoyed a fabulous rooftop bar. The only note-worthy thing I saw was a rather large coyote in Buena Vista Park.

A friend was there, too. She reported two naked men wearing nothing but Santa hats on Haight on Saturday afternoon.


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## TravelTime (Dec 23, 2018)

Snazzylass said:


> Well, the rain helps. I was there this past weekend, taking the bus, lots of walking: the gingerbread house in the Fairmont, Union Square, the Asian Art Museum, Hayes Valley, Haight, the Golden Gate Park, and along Fillmore - granted some of the nicer areas. We only got as far north as Chinatown. Things looked a little sketchy at the edge of the Tenderloin but we enjoyed a fabulous rooftop bar. The only note-worthy thing I saw was a rather large coyote in Buena Vista Park.
> 
> A friend was there, too. She reported two naked men wearing nothing but Santa hats on Haight on Saturday afternoon.



That is funny! I thought the naked men only came out for the festival. I guess they are an everyday part of life in San Francisco.


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## WalnutBaron (Dec 23, 2018)

On top of everything else, San Francisco has been declared the poop capital of the U.S., with a much higher rate of poop complaints per square mile than Chicago or New York. Not only that, but the new mayor's efforts to clean up this despicable problem appear to be failing, as the number of poop complaints in 2018 will likely exceed those of 2017. Disgusting.


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## Caligirlfrtx (Dec 24, 2018)

chapjim said:


> Weird!  Not only did the "friends" not take him to a filling station (McDonald's, etc.) to poop, they put on the flashers to call everyone's attention to what they were trying to block.


We arrived very late, nothing was open. It was very weird though.


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## Caligirlfrtx (Dec 24, 2018)

Snazzylass said:


> Well, the rain helps. I was there this past weekend, taking the bus, lots of walking: the gingerbread house in the Fairmont, Union Square, the Asian Art Museum, Hayes Valley, Haight, the Golden Gate Park, and along Fillmore - granted some of the nicer areas. We only got as far north as Chinatown. Things looked a little sketchy at the edge of the Tenderloin but we enjoyed a fabulous rooftop bar. The only note-worthy thing I saw was a rather large coyote in Buena Vista Park.
> 
> A friend was there, too. She reported two naked men wearing nothing but Santa hats on Haight on Saturday afternoon.


We saw what looked like a drug deal in Haight. People were going in and out of one of those brown travel campers. I’m from a big city so it wasn’t too startling just sad.


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Dec 24, 2018)

WalnutBaron said:


> On top of everything else, San Francisco has been declared the poop capital of the U.S., with a much higher rate of poop complaints per square mile than Chicago or New York. Not only that, but the new mayor's efforts to clean up this despicable problem appear to be failing, as the number of poop complaints in 2018 will likely exceed those of 2017. Disgusting.


Is that runoff from pressure washing being contained or treated in some way.  Or is the City just flushing all of that waste in San Francisco Bay?


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## fillde (Dec 24, 2018)

I believe buying and selling drugs is legal. Needles are free also.


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## WalnutBaron (Apr 17, 2019)

The crappy news out of San Francisco is not getting better, despite the efforts of the city's new mayor. In fact, according to the city's own Department of Public Works, the situation got a lot worse in 2018. Here is a chart illustrating the magnitude and trajectory of the problem.






Pretty stunning.

Beyond that, the issue is not confined only to the poorer parts of the city. According to the report, 72% of the incidents recorded since 2011 have occurred in 10 neighborhoods. And while the Tenderloin ranked #1 for incidents, some of the tonier areas like Lower Nob Hill, Union Square, North Beach, and the Financial District made the Top 10 list.

The situation in San Francisco is getting worse for any number of reasons which I will not get into here. But it will most certainly require an act of courageous political will on the part of the city's leaders to get on top of this problem--and sending more money to hire more workers in the now infamous "Poop Patrol" contingent does not go the core of the problem, nor does it even mitigate the problem. It merely accommodates a filthy disgrace in one of America's most beautiful cities.


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## WinniWoman (Apr 18, 2019)

This is such a disgrace.


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## geist1223 (Apr 18, 2019)

Why doesn't the City just buy all those folks bus tickets to Las Vegas or LA.


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## VacationForever (Apr 18, 2019)

San Francisco politicians welcome homeless, drug addicts and illegal immigrants to stay in their city.   Why would they send these folks away?


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## TUGBrian (Apr 18, 2019)

well alrighty then...closed


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