How San Francisco's Homeless and the City Are Paying Dearly for Superbowl 50

[inanna]

'They're Herding Us Like Cattle'


By Evelyn Nieves / AlterNet
January 28, 2016

The first official signs of Super Bowl 50—six-foot-tall, 1,600-pound, solar-powered number 50s, each with its own Super Bowl-themed design—started popping up at photogenic landmarks around San Francisco two weeks ago.

The first unofficial signs—rows of tents and tarps lining a major thoroughfare under the I-80 freeway to the Bay Bridge—started popping up two months ago.

That’s when Oscar McKinney, a 49-year-old hearse driver, pitched a tent on the sidewalk across from a Best Buy parking lot. McKinney moved there after being ousted from an encampment near the downtown staging area for Super Bowl City.

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Within weeks, McKinney’s “neighborhood” has grown from a couple of dozen sporadic encampments to San Francisco’s most visible tent city. At least 100 tents stretch over a dozen blocks, side streets and alleys. Many tents, even the popup pup tents, house two people and at least one dog. Even jaded San Franciscans are stunned by the sight.

cont'd...

Link: http://www.alternet.org/economy/theyre-herding-us-cattle-how-san-franciscos-homeless-and-city-are-paying-dearly-superbowl-50

[kimbutgar]

1. As a lifelong native Of San Francisco, our current mayor is the worst in my lifetime

He is selling off city off to the highest bidder. He gave all these tax breaks to tech companies land when the bubble bursts us tax payers are going to get screwed. The funky parts of SF are no longer affordable to anyone earning under $100,000 a year. His agencies approves projects that are ruining SF. There was no one electable running against him so he got re elected easily. He is destroying my city and it makes me sick.

The homeless are moving into the residential areas and people are losing patience.