SF ranks 9th Dirtiest US City (San Francisco: homeless, area, cities)

[Natural510]

I’d like to see the split between the eastern and western halves of the city. The Richmond, Sunset, Twin Peaks, Marina etc is a completely different city from the grimyness north and south of Market Street.

[tstieber]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Went out for dinner on my recent visit to Hayes Valley, homeless sleeping in the prk and on the way back a homeless person pulling his pants down right in front of us in front of a fancy macaron place. It happens everywhere.

I actually agree with you. It does happen everywhere. But it happens in all the other cities too, and in some cases, obviously worse. From what I read in the past year, the highest number of homeless people by far are in New York City, followed by LA, then San Diego, then San Francisco. They aren't the only reason for filth and grime, but they are part of the reason.

And it is truly horrendous everywhere. I haven't been to New York in years, but parts of LA are absolutely disgusting. We finally explored Silver Lake last year, and it was one of the most filthy places I've seen. There were also homeless encampments under Bridges so dense that no person could or would dare walk through them. We've had visitors from the Bay Area to San Diego who didn't want to go into parts of downtown or East Village because the homeless people are everywhere. So yes, it's really really bad in San Francisco, but the study just shows that it's not even the worst of the worst. Being number 9 in the entire nation doesn't mean that San Francisco is clean. It may just be shocking to some people that some places could be even worse.

[dragontales]

I walk from the SF Bestbuy area to 10th and Market to go to work daily Monday-Friday. And yes the streets are pretty filthy. Seeing dog/human poo is normal. There's tons of needles and homeless tent cities are everywhere.

[bmw335xi]

Originally Posted by tstieber

I actually agree with you. It does happen everywhere. But it happens in all the other cities too, and in some cases, obviously worse. From what I read in the past year, the highest number of homeless people by far are in New York City, followed by LA, then San Diego, then San Francisco. They aren't the only reason for filth and grime, but they are part of the reason.

And it is truly horrendous everywhere. I haven't been to New York in years, but parts of LA are absolutely disgusting. We finally explored Silver Lake last year, and it was one of the most filthy places I've seen. There were also homeless encampments under Bridges so dense that no person could or would dare walk through them. We've had visitors from the Bay Area to San Diego who didn't want to go into parts of downtown or East Village because the homeless people are everywhere. So yes, it's really really bad in San Francisco, but the study just shows that it's not even the worst of the worst. Being number 9 in the entire nation doesn't mean that San Francisco is clean. It may just be shocking to some people that some places could be even worse.

I think this is the difference in San Francisco...

I don't have a problem with homeless people, I think most people feel this way. In most cities with homeless, they are simply homeless, if you talk to them, they are normal human beings. However, the homeless in San Francisco for some reason seem to be addicted to hardcore drugs, liquor, notorious for having mental problems etc. I go to NYC quite often and I've never seen homeless people screaming obscenities at nothing, I've never seen one pull down the pants in front of me etc. This is the difference in San Francisco. The city tolerates this kind of behavior. In other cities if a homeless person is publicly drunk or drugged, usually police will be called and they will be arrested, but not in San Francisco.

[KenFresno]

I have spent a lot of time in SF, Seattle, Boston, LA, and Chicago. Of the 5 SF is the dirtiest by far. In Chicago the bad parts of town like Garfield Park or Englewood are littered with trash but those areas are far away from the Loop or any other part of Chicago were a visitor would go. You have to seek them out to finding them. In SF the worst part of town in smack in the middle of town. Also in SF you find homeless, trash and feces in parts of town that would be deemed upscale or expensive. Something you don't often see in other cities. The sad part is SF has such amazing scenic beauty around it, if only the city could clean itself up more.

[49erfan916]

To be fair, they ranked Phoenix ahead of SF and that's a bunch of Bull..... I cannot take this list seriously.

[SavannahLife]

trash and litter in any city is sad. There are waste baskets in basically every city I'd think, and NO excuse not to use them-- unless you are homeless -and- mentally disabled (which many unfortunately are, and this could be a proxy indication how many homeless people there are in a city). Some cities, the people just care less though, it is cultural. For example in Savannah, many people are just nasty and trash up everywhere even beautiful parks, throwing fast food crap in to rivers and on the ground, it's crazy. Then we have to pay an army of workers to clean it literally every day. What a waste.

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by SavannahLife

trash and litter in any city is sad. There are waste baskets in basically every city I'd think, and NO excuse not to use them-- unless you are homeless -and- mentally disabled (which many unfortunately are, and this could be a proxy indication how many homeless people there are in a city). Some cities, the people just care less though, it is cultural. For example in Savannah, many people are just nasty and trash up everywhere even beautiful parks, throwing fast food crap in to rivers and on the ground, it's crazy. Then we have to pay an army of workers to clean it literally every day. What a waste.

I visited Savannah last summer, and the bolded above differs quite a bit from my experience. Perhaps I just hit a 'lucky period'.

[SavannahLife]

Originally Posted by RMESMH

I visited Savannah last summer, and the bolded above differs quite a bit from my experience. Perhaps I just hit a 'lucky period'.

where did you visit?

[JC101]

1. Trash can design. The entire city needs receptacles that can’t be tipped over, can’t overflow, and can’t be accessed for recycling stuff for money.
2. The practice of sifting through other’s Recology bins for valuable recyclables should be prevented. So much of the trash on the sidewalks comes from scavengers, often at night, digging through bins looking for recyclable items and also who knows what. Putting out bins overnight to be picked up in the morning doesn’t work in this town. What else can we do? Move to a system where we all get motivational benefits for correctly recycling our own waste, and not let it get to a stage of vulnerability to end up on the sidewalk.
3. Many San Franciscans carelessly throw their trash on the ground instead of waiting to find a trash can. This is a cultural assimilation problem, a parenting problem, and should be a city wide social engineering effort, starting in our schools, to teach our otherwise mentally healthy citizens not to litter.
4. There’s a cultural problem with men urinating at night on the streets after going out to bars. Not homeless and/or mentally challenged people, but the tech bros and hipsters that are too cool to hunt for a bathroom to use and just whip it out at their convenience. Women learn to either limit their liquid consumption or know in advance if there is a bathroom to use, because we generally don’t have the option of easily standing against a wall and relieving ourselves. It’s not only the homeless that contribute to the stench of urine on our streets.
5. Hoarding. Have you seen the show Hoarders? It’s terrifying how humans can willingly live in such disgusting conditions. Homeless people have a high prevalence of hoarding behaviors, brought on by stress and profound loss, and this contributes to the chaos of some of our neighborhoods. The tent encampments exhibit a lot of hoarding behavior. Items piled up, disorganized, broken, useless stuff. What would you do if you lived with a hoarder?