Graffiti is San Francisco's most annoying problem and hardest to solve...

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by indigenous

Yes I will. I wonder how much artwork I've seen is approved.

I'm curious to know too because there are some beautiful pieces of work.

[Natural510]

They're not gang members, just teenagers and young adults who like to see their name up around the city. And most of the graffiti piecers (muralists) started out as taggers who got better with practice.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

I honestly don't think it's the most difficult problem to solve.

I agree.

Wealth disparity is probably the top problem and a root cause of several other issues.

A hollowed out middle class is not conducive to long term community "health. "

[JennStar]

Yes I see graffiti a lot more. I see them on busses, trucks, walls, mail boxes, etc. It is an eyesore, but not San Francisco's worst problem. The worst is the crime and the homeless. We have more crime now, which used to be mostly in the bad neigborhoods, but has spread to other areas. The homeless are bussed here from other towns, as they don't to do anything about it, or because SF has homeless facilities. I see homeless people almost everywhere I go now.
They are getting bolder also. One time, i was out with my mother eating at Osha at the Embarcadero. We sat by the window. While eating, a man who looked to be in his 30's, dressed in jeans and a sweater, a stubbly beard was watching us. My mother gave him a small wave. I told her not to do that. He came into the restaurant and asked us for some food! I was appalled. There was no wait staff or hostess nearby, and we were in the front of the restaurant. We said sorry but we were not comfortable with his bold move to ask for food and asked him to leave. I waved down the waitress and asked her where the hostess was. She didn't know. When the hostess returned, i told her that while she was away, a homeless guy wandered in and asked us for food, and asked her if someone was supposed to be watching the front to greet guests while when she left her podium. She started speaking, apologizing and so on. I think that she missed the point, that when we patronize a restaurant, our enjoyment and not being harassed by anyone should be important to them.

[Mack Knife]

Originally Posted by JennStar

Yes I see graffiti a lot more. I see them on busses, trucks, walls, mail boxes, etc. It is an eyesore, but not San Francisco's worst problem. The worst is the crime and the homeless. We have more crime now, which used to be mostly in the bad neigborhoods, but has spread to other areas. The homeless are bussed here from other towns, as they don't to do anything about it, or because SF has homeless facilities. I see homeless people almost everywhere I go now.
They are getting bolder also. One time, i was out with my mother eating at Osha at the Embarcadero. We sat by the window. While eating, a man who looked to be in his 30's, dressed in jeans and a sweater, a stubbly beard was watching us. My mother gave him a small wave. I told her not to do that. He came into the restaurant and asked us for some food! I was appalled. There was no wait staff or hostess nearby, and we were in the front of the restaurant. We said sorry but we were not comfortable with his bold move to ask for food and asked him to leave. I waved down the waitress and asked her where the hostess was. She didn't know. When the hostess returned, i told her that while she was away, a homeless guy wandered in and asked us for food, and asked her if someone was supposed to be watching the front to greet guests while when she left her podium. She started speaking, apologizing and so on. I think that she missed the point, that when we patronize a restaurant, our enjoyment and not being harassed by anyone should be important to them.

Begging in SF is an entitlement these days. It is a pain to visit there, you are bombarded with the homeless asking and often demanding money.

You'd think they were homeless through no fault of their own until you see stories about how much they are hauling in everyday.

No one stands on a street median every day because they aren't making money doing it. All tax free. Ask one of them how much they make, some have no problem boasting about it and it comes to the hundreds of dollars per day. Again, tax free, pure cash. Add to that the benefits the city gives to them while taxing and creating new fees for everything in sight.

To visit SF these days you need to get a drive from point to point and venue to venue or wade through the sea of beggars, drug addicts and grifters. That city is a far cry from what it once was. The people that live there are isolated to their apartments or specific locations that they go to for enjoyment. The idea of just walking around to enjoy the sites and things like that are now more of a look straight ahead, don't engage anyone kind of thing. A shame.

[Welfare Queen]

Mehhhh...

Oakland's Biggest Problem = Police who take 10 hours to respond to a home invasion.
SF Biggest Problem = Graffiti...?

As to the OP, what will solve it? Continued gentrification and market forces bidding up the price of housing/services/food/etc.

Currently young, single transient SF'ers who rent are getting displaced by upwardly mobile families who buy, many times with cash. Nice thing about families is they do not hesitate in calling the cops to harass neighborhood goons. And if cops are unresponsive, families often coalesce into neighborhood organizations who can fight back through private security, monitoring with video cameras, etc. As violent crime continues to fall and constant public surveillance becomes the norm, expect more of this.

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by Welfare Queen

Currently young, single transient SF'ers who rent are getting displaced by upwardly mobile families who buy, many times with cash. Nice thing about families is they do not hesitate in calling the cops to harass neighborhood goons. And if cops are unresponsive, families often coalesce into neighborhood organizations who can fight back through private security, monitoring with video cameras, etc. As violent crime continues to fall and constant public surveillance becomes the norm, expect more of this.

Families are moving into SF?

[twins4lynn]

It becomes an issue when it's your building getting graffiti across the entire front, month after month after month. You paint over it, they graffiti it again, the city sends their letter with a warning to paint or be fined, you paint it again, then they graffiti it again....on and on an on. Totally sucks.

[alliance]

Originally Posted by twins4lynn

It becomes an issue when it's your building getting graffiti across the entire front, month after month after month. You paint over it, they graffiti it again, the city sends their letter with a warning to paint or be fined, you paint it again, then they graffiti it again....on and on an on. Totally sucks.

Exactly. Pis* on the building owners.