The homelessness crisis in San Francisco has gotten markedly worse in recent years, and while some may try to blame the problem on the pandemic, official missteps at the municipal level have seriously exacerbated the crisis, experts say.
San Francisco’s mayor, London Breed, has tried to alleviate the homeless problem in her city with funds obtained through Prop C, which passed in 2018 and which Breed initially opposed. Prop C levied a wealth tax on the richest corporations in the city with a view to generating funds to address homelessness.
The mayor has also been a strong proponent of “transitional housing,” or putting the homeless people in hotels as a temporary measure on the way to finding more permanent arrangements. Many support the mayor’s efforts and recently released preliminary figures show a slight—3.5 percent—decline in the total number of homeless within San Francisco over the last three years, to roughly 7,800 people, in the context of a 9 percent rise in the Bay Area overall….