San Francisco homeless issue is being exaggerated in the media (crimes, neighborhood)

[skygazer1]

Attached is a heat map of homeless-related 311 issues reported in SF over the most recent 2 months. This data comes from the public information maintained and made available on the internet by the government of the City of San Francisco.

Contrary to the sensationalist reports of a massive homeless problem throughout SF, the problems are in fact almost all confined to a very limited area around the civic center and tenderloin. The anecdotal reports of a homeless crisis is an exaggeration. The vast majority of the city has little or no homeless issues.

Hopefully, people can look at the actual facts of homelessness in SF, and see for themselves, the city is by and large a wonderful and safe place to visit.

Note: I am not associated with the City of San Francisco in any official capacity, rather I am a long-time city resident who is appalled and saddened by the negative media characterization.

[USDefault]

Originally Posted by skygazer1

Attached is a heat map of homeless-related 311 issues reported in SF over the most recent 2 months.

Reduce it to two weeks; using this flawed yardstick, San Francisco's massive homeless problem will disappear. Or, residents could confront the truth. Broken windows policing is the only solution to lazy and drug-addled purposefully homeless abusing the welfare state.

[skygazer1]

Originally Posted by USDefault

Reduce it to two weeks; using this flawed yardstick, San Francisco's massive homeless problem will disappear. Or, residents could confront the truth. Broken windows policing is the only solution to lazy and drug-addled purposefully homeless abusing the welfare state.

The time span makes no difference. Attached is the latest 2 week data, shows the same general ratio and distributions by location in the city.

[Vic Romano]

What about the unreported homeless issues? If it's not reported it's not an issue?

[samsara510]

Oh please, those of us who have been acquainted with this city for over 20 years can see it with our own eyes. The majority of issues are not being reported on 311.

[skygazer1]

Originally Posted by samsara510

Oh please, those of us who have been acquainted with this city for over 20 years can see it with our own eyes. The majority of issues are not being reported on 311.

How can you characterize unreported issues? I doubt that, even if the unreported issues were somehow miraculously reported, it would in any way change the distribution ratios of the homeless problem area near tenderloin/inner Mission.

[Matadora]

It's clear the OP is not familiar with the current SF of today.

[Dapper Zoom]

Originally Posted by skygazer1

Attached is a heat map of homeless-related 311 issues reported in SF over the most recent 2 months. This data comes from the public information maintained and made available on the internet by the government of the City of San Francisco.

Contrary to the sensationalist reports of a massive homeless problem throughout SF, the problems are in fact almost all confined to a very limited area around the civic center and tenderloin. The anecdotal reports of a homeless crisis is an exaggeration. The vast majority of the city has little or no homeless issues.

Hopefully, people can look at the actual facts of homelessness in SF, and see for themselves, the city is by and large a wonderful and safe place to visit.

Note: I am not associated with the City of San Francisco in any official capacity, rather I am a long-time city resident who is appalled and saddened by the negative media characterization.

Nothing you've provided does anything to support any of your claims. What does the heat map show other than the relative frequency of 311 reported issues? Any heat map of anywhere on any issue whatsoever is going to have different colored areas....that's what a heat maps is. You could put together a heat map of crimes in yemen and get the same effect! And besides, who calls 311 to report a homeless issue in SF? Most people are both so used to it and understand the futility of making a report. I had a run-in with a homeless guy in the Castro a few weeks ago but certainly didn't report it. I've been here for 20 years, and have sort of gotten used to it. I don't think about it too much until I have someone from out of town visit and see how striking they find it. Also, I'm a pretty big guy, so probably feel a lot less threatened by a ranting lunatic mincingly shouting at people than a smaller guy or (heaven help them) a woman.

I don't really spend too much time on the mainstream media, so I'm not too sure what is being reported and how accurate it is. Almost everything in the so-called traditional media these days is sensationalized, so that is sort of built in to how most people interpret it. Calling it a "homeless crisis" or "homeless problem" isn't really quantifiable anyways.

But you suggestion that homeless problems are almost all confined to a very limited area around the civic center and tenderloin is laughably off the mark. What about Haight Street (upper and lower), the Mission, the design center, Union Square, SOMA, Hayes Valley, etc?

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Never heard of 311.

[Matadora]

Originally Posted by Dapper Zoom

But you suggestion that homeless problems are almost all confined to a very limited area around the civic center and tenderloin is laughably off the mark. What about Haight Street (upper and lower), the Mission, the design center, Union Square, SOMA, Hayes Valley, etc?

Your entire post is spot on but I wanted to focus on this part that was taken from the link in an earlier post.

USDefault posted a link and in it you can find the following that support exactly what both you and me, as well as what other posters and the media are reporting.

• The city's logged more than 24,300 requests last year for human waste cleanup and 9,500 for needle pick-up. This year, there already have been more than 8,300 requests to pick up waste and 3,700 for needles.
  
• Near the city's cable car turnaround by Union Square, tour guide Joseph Amster said he has seen more public defecation and more encounters with violent people who need medical help
  
• Adam Mesnick, who lives in the South of Market neighborhood and owns two deli shops there, said San Francisco is "finally kind of melting down" and that leaders have routinely ignored dangerous street behavior for years. "I cannot have my family down here, I can't have visitors. I can, but I don't choose to, have my nieces come here," he said. "It's horrifying for my family to walk down the street here."
  
• Many of the problems are in the city's downtown shopping and South of Market corridors, but elected officials say complaints have rolled in from across the city of 850,000 residents.