On Thursday, December 2, 2021, a police car was stationed in Union Square after the recent robbery in San Francisco. In San Francisco, during the pandemic, homeless tents, open drug abuse, burglaries and dirty streets proliferated. Quality of life crimes and unscrupulous drug dealings by officials make residents feel that the city is declining. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

San Francisco (Associated Press)-Caitlin Foster fell in love with the people and beauty of San Francisco and moved to the city more than a decade ago. But after repeated cleaning of used needles, other drug paraphernalia and human feces outside the bar she manages, as well as multiple contacts with armed personnel in crisis, her feelings for the city faded.

"Living here is a goal, but now I am here, and I think,'Where do I move now?' I'm over," said Foster, who manages Noir Lounge in the fashionable Hayes Valley community.

A series of high-profile crime stories — thugs smashed windows and robbed luxury wallets in the downtown Union Square shopping area, and the daytime shooting in the tourist resort of Haight Ashbury — only exacerbated the general sense of vulnerability. As soon as the residents woke up, they heard the news of Asian American seniors being attacked, restaurant burglaries and the city's once vibrant downtown storefronts being blocked by wooden boards.

San Francisco people are proud of their free political leanings and generously approve tax measures for schools and the homeless. They accept that garbage streets, tent camps and petty crimes are the price of living in an urban wonderland.

But the frustration of Foster, who moved from Seattle to looking for more sunshine, is growing among the residents who are now seeing the decline of the city. There are signs that this city, known for its tolerance, is losing patience.

The pandemic emptied parts of San Francisco and highlighted some of its shortcomings: human and dog excrement on sidewalks, home and vehicle break-in, trash can overflow, and officials' laissez-faire methods for shameless drug dealings. Public schools were closed for most of last year, because the nearby area welcomed children back to the classroom, and parents felt hopeless.

At the same time, residents and tourists hurried through the lawless and dirty scene. A few steps away from the opera house and the symphony hall, drug dealers carry translucent bags full of crystal stones, or stand outside the main branch of the public library, peddling heroin and methamphetamine while flashing large sums of cash.

Patrick Wolff, 53, is a retired professional chess player in the Boston area. He has lived in San Francisco since 2005. He said: “It is generally believed that things in San Francisco have gone wrong. track."

Amidst signs of citizen frustration, the old law book will vote in June to allow the former public health organization elected in 2019 to recall Chesa Boudin, whose critics have expressed the breadth of his crimes. His supporters say that there is no surge in crime and that company wage theft is a more pressing issue than the case where a San Francisco woman was eventually arrested after stealing more than $40,000 from Target in 120 visits. She was released by a judge and arrested again on suspicion of shoplifting because she failed to arrive at the scene to receive the ankle monitor required by the court.

"Where is the progress? If you say you are progressing, then keep the homeless away from the streets and let them get mental health care," said Brian Cassanego, a native of San Francisco. , He owns the lounge where Foster works. Five months ago, he moved to the wine country, tired of seeing drug dealers selling drugs unscrupulously, and worried that his wife would be outside alone at night.

The day before he moved, Casanego went out for a dog walk and saw a man who "looked like a zombie" with his pants dragged all the way to his knees and a syringe inserted in his hip to bleed. A woman nearby exclaimed.

"I went upstairs and I told my wife,'We are leaving now! The city is complete!'" he said.

Reports of shoplifting by individuals or businesses increased by nearly 17% over the same period last year, reaching more than 28,000. They are still lower than the more than 40,000 thefts reported in 2019. Most calls to the city’s service line 311 are for cleaning of dirty streets and sidewalks.

However, overall, the crime rate has been declining for many years. More than 45,000 incidents have been reported so far this year, which is higher than last year when most people were kept indoors, but lower than the approximately 60,000 complaints in previous years.

San Francisco’s well-known issues have become material for conservative media. Former President Donald Trump recently intervened again and issued a statement stating that the National Guard should be sent to San Francisco to prevent smashing and robbery.

Elected officials say they're grappling with deep societal pains common to any large US city.

A large percentage of the estimated 8,000 homeless people in San Francisco are struggling with chronic addiction or severe mental illness, usually both. Some people yelled in the street, were naked, and needed medical help. Last year, 712 people died of drug overdose, while the number of people who died of COVID-19 was 257.

LeAnn Corpus is an administrative assistant who likes figure skating. She avoids the skating rink in the city center and will not take her 8-year-old son there after dark because there are public drugs everywhere. Despite this, the city’s urban ills have spread to her community of Portola, far from the city center.

A homeless man used a bicycle and bed sheets to set up a makeshift tent outside her house and then relieved him on the sidewalk. She called the police, and the police arrived two hours later and cleared him out, but at her aunt’s house, a homeless person camped in the backyard for six months, despite trying to get the authorities to take him away. .

"This city feels different," said Corpus, a third-generation native.

Residents of San Francisco are generally uncomfortable with government surveillance. They have installed security cameras and latches to prevent entry, and they began to stare at outsiders suspiciously.

The other night, Joya Pramanik's husband found someone wearing a ski mask on a warm night in their quiet street. She was worried that the masked person would do bad things-saying that made her very painful, because what she likes about San Francisco is that it can easily accept various types of roles.

Pramanik is a project manager who moved from India to the United States as a teenager. She cheered Trump's re-election campaign but said she realized that it was too late for Democratic activists to hijack her city.

"If I say I want to enforce the law, I am a racist," she said. "I thought,'No, I'm not a racist. I live in San Francisco for a reason.'"

Last year, retired chess player Wolfe helped form a new political organization aimed at electing local officials focused on solving pressing problems. He said that the San Francisco family will elect the Democratic Party, but it is organized outside the city’s powerful Democratic institutions.

Wolf hopes to change the civic mentality that no longer has too much expectations for basic public services.

Jennifer Laska, chairman of the Neighbourhood Association, said, for example, in the fashionable Hayes Valley, business owners were tired of seeing trash scattered all over the place, and the city did not take any measures to solve this problem. They united to rent from a private company. Closed trash can. After the lease expired, the association tried to get the city to agree to purchase and install a new public trash can, with the aim of keeping trash away and thief out.

That was four months ago.

"We are still trying to buy trash cans," Laska said.

In the affluent community of Marina, you can enjoy magnificent views of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Due to the increase in car thefts, dozens of residents have recently hired private security guards.

Lloyd Silverstein, a native of San Francisco and chairman of the Hayes Valley Merchants Association, said that companies are considering hiring security guards and installing high-definition security cameras. He rejects the idea that any city government official should be held responsible for this situation, and he is optimistic that the city will recover.

"We have experienced the Great Earthquake, the Great Depression and many things, but we have a good rebound attitude. We have encountered some problems, but we will solve them," he said. "It may just take some time."

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