The number of people sleeping outdoors in San Francisco dropped to under 3,000 in January, the lowest the city has recorded in a decade, according to a federal count.

The number of people sleeping outdoors dropped to under 3,000 in January, the lowest the city has recorded in a decade, according to a federal count.

And that figure has likely dropped even lower since Mayor London Breed — a Democrat in a difficult reelection fight this November — started ramping up enforcement of anti-camping laws in August following a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Homelessness in no way has gone away, and in fact grew 7%, to 8,300 in January, according to the same federal count.

But the problem is now notably out of the public eye, raising the question of where people have gone and whether the change marks a turning point in a crisis long associated with San Francisco.

    • InverseParallax@lemmy.worldEnglish
      25·
      15 hours ago

      How DARE people not respect others’ right to live in hell without resources of any kind!

      Leaving them to play fortnite in ditches isn’t better than actually trying to do anything, you just think it is because then they aren’t your responsibility.

      Do you have any idea how many homeless die daily in those encampments? No clean water, no medical care, violence.

      And while 90-95% are just trying to survive, the last 5-10% are often violent, and brutalize the others.

      If you want to designate zones and have some form of law enforcement around to deal with the bad ones, great, but your argument is to put them in a big pot, with some truly violent ones, and just pretend everything is OK.

      Where is your pity? Oh, it’s not your problem, you’re blessing them with their freedom to suffer out of your sight.