Daniel Lurie, the newly elected mayor of San Francisco, ran on a platform to clean up the City, focusing on the homeless population and crime. Is he living up to his promises?

Statistics Are Showing Some Success

Tent encampments have decreased 62% in just a year and now 222 tents have been counted (back in June). Vehicle dwellings have fallen by around 31% and the latest count was down to 549.

So visible homelessness has fallen, but where are the homeless going?

Smoke and Mirrors?

It’s very hard to find information on what is happening with these homeless people. Some apparently have been bused out of San Francisco (which helps the City but doesn’t address the underlying issue) and some have been placed in temporary shelters. Mayor Lurie promised to create shelter 1500 beds, of which 400 have been created so far. It’s a good start after only 6 months on the job but San Francisco has more than 8000 homeless people. Without addressing and fixing the underlying causes of homelessness (drug addiction, paucity of affordable housing, lack of social and educational support programs), it’s a battle that can’t be won by only trying to solve the homeless side of the equation.

This sounds familiar…

Ever since the Grants Pass v. Johnson case, large cities have been boasting decreases in their homeless population. But when all it takes to get people off the streets is fines and criminal penalties (especially when they already don’t have enough money to support themselves), is it really something to brag about?