Quote:
Originally Posted by craigs
The reason SF's homeless seem to be such a problem is that the vast, vast majority of them are completely unsheltered--literally living on the streets--whereas most other US cities' homeless are mostly sheltered. Anyway, I ate outdoors whenever possible before COVID-19, and as soon as I feel safe, I'll do it again, even in my hometown of SF.
|
The reasons so many of SF's homeless are "unsheltered" are endlessly debated and too complicated to debate in this thread but it isn't because the city doesn't spend money and put an effort into trying to "shelter" them. And COVID has made homeless shelters death traps. Any city still using mass shelters as opposed to individual rooms is asking for catastrophe.
Quote:
To balance the budget, [Mayor] Breed is counting on voters approving a business tax reform measure on the Nov. 3 ballot that would unlock tax revenues tied up in litigation over two voter-approved initiatives from 2018 that aimed to help the homeless and mentally ill.
The measure would also infuse about $300 million into the general fund.
Funding from November’s $487.5 million “Health and Recovery” bond would also contribute to Breed’s efforts around homelessness and mental health.
“We need housing. Lots of housing,” Breed said. “That’s why this budget funds 1,500 new units of supportive housing, which is part of our Homeless Recovery Plan to move 4,500 people from hotels, shelters and the street into housing in the next two years.”
The funding will also help The City make progress toward implementing Mental Health SF, a reform of San Francisco’s behavioral health system that was approved last year by the Board of Supervisors.
The plan includes adding more mental health beds as well as expanding staffing and services at The City’s Behavioral Health Access Center, where people are connected to programs. The budget also would fund piloting special teams of paramedics, clinicians and behavioral health peers to respond to non-emergency 911 or 311 calls.
|
https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/bree...san-francisco/
More mental health beds will also help with the homeless problem because so many of them are mentally ill.
Finally, the city recently settled a lawsuit brought by, among others, UC's Hastings School of the Law which sits on the fringe of the Tenderloin surrounded by the worst of the tent cities and drug bazaars. The city agreed to move 70% of those in the Tenderloininto hotel rooms and from my observation seems to have done so or at least there seems a big improvement in the affected area (though with some aggravation of it in nearby areas). Now other neighbrohoods are looking into their own suits.
This is an ongoing and never-ending fact of San Francisco life. Meanwhile, it does affect the viability of outdoor dining, no question. And so does the fact that SF is a city that often has little or no actual summer weather. Today in early August, in early afternoon, it's 70 degrees F and the "marine layer" (aka fog) has yet to lift.