San Francisco's Golden Gate bridge from above, misty weather. (Photo: Stefano Termanini/Shutterstock)
San Francisco Collapse: More Store Closures, Lawlessness, Drugs, Homeless
‘If anybody believes that crimes are down and San Francisco is safe, I have a bridge in San Francisco to sell to them’
By Katy Grimes, May 11, 2023 7:53 am
“After repeated break-in attempts over the last year, and more broken windows than we can count, we recently made the tough decision to close down the High Road Bike Shop,” reads the message of the electric bike store’s website. “We are currently selling all of our existing inventory at 30%-50% off.”
Another retail outlet closes in San Francisco. And San Francisco’s office vacancy rate is 30%.
“Before High Road Bike Co. opened there, it was Acote. It also closed due to theft,” a San Francisco friend told the Globe Wednesday. Acote was a French clothing store.
“Across the street, consumer tech store B8ta closed indefinitely after staff were robbed at gunpoint in February,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported in 2021.
And now, in the same location, the Hayes Valley bike shop closes after rain and crime, but owner is ‘not giving up on S.F’ the Chronicle reports.
“Months of rain, an overall economic downturn, and repeated break-in attempts ultimately led to the decision to close the shop,” said owner Chris Callaway. There were “more broken windows than we can count” at the store at 597 Hayes St., he said.
“Crime was a factor, but Callaway believes months of storms depressing customer traffic sealed the store’s fate.”
The Globe just reported that T-Mobile’s flagship store at 1 Stockton Street and Williams-Sonoma at 340 Post will be closing soon.
The Globe reported:
Walgreens has closed more and more stores in the city due to the massive amount of crime within its stores. Higher-end stores like Cotopaxi have also cited break-ins and crime as major reasons for leaving. And just within the last two months, all Amazon Go stores, Anthropologie, several high-end Union square stores, and the flagship Whole Foods store have all announced that their doors will be closing, along with multiple non-chain stores throughout the city. Less than a week ago, both Nordstrom and Saks Off 5th announced the closure of 3 main locations in the city.
This is so sad, and so avoidable. And residents want to know why Mayor London Breed, the City Council and County Board of Supervisors are allowing the city to degenerate and collapse. San Francisco is plagued by lawlessness, violent crime, homelessness, open drug use and the police budget was cut more than $120 million in 2020. The Mayor made the announcement that the $120 million would be spent “addressing disparities in the Black community.”
How did that work out? And where exactly did $120 million go?
Our San Francisco friend also reported how homeless have been ripping off Whole Foods:
“I have been shopping at Whole Foods on Franklin and California since the one on Market and 8th closed. I had never seen any homeless in this Pacific Heights Whole Foods before. But, now, whenever I go there, I see homeless people hanging out in the upper parking lot on Franklin and California and also inside the store. Recently, I saw them at the hot food station using their hands to pick up food and walking away with liquors.”
Here someone posted about it on Twitter:
I got a jolt at the Pac Height Whole Foods Sat when a junkie brushed past me, grabbed a bottle of whisky, and breezed out of the store. An employee and security guard were five feet away. “That guy just stole some alcohol!”, I said. “We know”, they said, doing nothing.
I got a jolt at the Pac Height Whole Foods Sat when a junkie brushed past me, grabbed a bottle of whisky, and breezed out of the store. An employee and security guard were five feet away. "That guy just stole some alcohol!", I said. "We know", they said, doing nothing. pic.twitter.com/509RMOHBGX
— Fava Mandies (@FavaMandies) April 18, 2023
The other Whole Foods announced its closure in April. Our friend explained:
“I have been patronizing Whole Foods on Market and 8th street 3-4 times a week since its opening in March 2022 and become well-acquainted with their store staff, security guards, and their regular patrons (the paying ones and the free loaders).
Whenever I was in the store, I always witnessed brazen shoplifting and verbal and physical abuses on the store employees which led the store to cut its operating hours.
One time, I witnessed a drug overdose in the store’s restroom which led the store to require a receipt of proof-of-purchase for their customers to access the restroom.”
“If anybody believes that crimes are down and San Francisco is safe, I have a bridge in San Francisco to sell to them.”
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September 29, 2022 -
All I can add at this point, is the SF elite and the occupier in the White House have the result they wanted for all major cities across this country. It is the globalist BUILD.BACK BETTER plan.
QAnon crazy
In case you weren’t aware these issues have been around since Trump was in office.
well there you go you’re the ultimate example of liberal delusion. blaming Trump for a state run by a corrupt queer. the king of double standards. CA has been fkd up since way before Trump. time for your San andreas to cut you off. even mother nature is sick of your perversion
Cool story no one asked
🤣🤣🤣🤣gotta blame some conservative I see. I’ll bet Whoopi gives you a hard on. or joyless. 🤣🤡💩
It’s not the federal government although, you would think the Congress man Polosi and the local mayor are smart enough to address the issue. Problem is they are democrat in mentality and as such, do nothing until they absolutely have too. They defer the responsibility,
sort of like your post bringing up Trump. These local governments don’t want help they would rather see the citizens suffer.
you mean since Obama was in office
Seek professional help….. before it’s too late
Visit San Francisco , where you can step over a practicing drug addict on the way to your Union Square hotel !
Meet San Francisco’s finest when you make a police report for your stolen luggage and shattered rental car windows…..we like to call the broken automobile glass ‘San Francisco Snow’.
We’ll at least there’s a map to avoid the human crap in the streets! 😂🤣😂😘
A writer I admire suggested many years ago, when writing about the obvious decline of the CA city we both lived in, that “progressive” policymakers would be wise to take a tip from the Seinfeld character George Costanza and consciously do the exact opposite of whatever bad ideas happened to come into their heads. This is would probably also work for San Francisco — if it’s not too late already, that is.
But the methodical obliteration of our cities is no joke, and nothing less than spiritual truths can explain the mystery of the seemingly purposeful destruction by our leaders of the beautiful, iconic City of San Francisco, not to mention California and the United States, too:
“For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”
2 Thessalonians 2: 11-12
Amen ShowandTell!
May God have mercy on this country and it’s citizens.
May the citizens that are asleep, awaken to the destruction of progressive policies that impede on our constitutional rights.
🙂 Cali Girl
Remember what hat Rev. Wright said all those years ago!?
“This is so sad, and so avoidable.”
No, given the voting patterns and ideological proclivities of the residents, it was inevitable.
This is just a guess, but I’d say the fifth bottles of whiskey that are walking out the front doors aren’t the fifteen dollar a bottle brands, they’re the seventy dollar a bottle brands.
In other words, I worked hard my entire life, paid my taxes and have never gotten a parking ticket let alone seen the inside of a jail, yet these cull thieves, the human flotsam and jetsam of society, are living higher on the hog than I could ever afford to because I played by the rules.
Thanks, Dems. For destroying my country and my Father’s once beloved home town. I’m glad he’s not here to see what you’ve done to it.
I was born there. There is nothing there now but filth, drugs and degenerates. Speaking of degenerates they elected one of their own, Scott Wiener. Wiener makes the rest of San Francisco’s degenerates almost look normal.
And why is he a degenerate because he’s gay?
Hey Seaguy, FedUp mentioned nothing about the mayor’s sexual preference yet you, in all your “infinite wisdom” decided to play the gay card. Why? You should maybe go find a permanent safe space where you can stick your head up your ass!
Is there a solution? Or is SF – and other US cities – all about failure & demise?
There are solutions. Look back to NYC in the 1970s. Times Square had open drug markets and hookers working the street. Muggings were so common they became part of the country’s culture – I’m thinking of the Jack Lemmon movie, The Out of Towners, where his character’s endless series of travails begins with a mugging in Central Park. After the city nearly went bankrupt under the corrupt John Lindsey and others along came a tough former prosecuter, Rudy Giuliani. He applied “broken windows” police policy to the streets and lo and behold, crime dropped to levels not seen since the 1950s. After Giuliani fixed the city and made the subways safe Michael Bloomberg continued the tough policing policies and the city was great.
Then along came the communist Bill DeBlasio nee Warren Wilhelm. He forced the police to drop stop and frisk policies and it slowly became another anything goes situation like San Francisco. The subways are unsafe and insane homeless drug addicts rule the streets.
So to answer the question: yes something can be done. It takes common sense policies and the will to carry them forward.
There are solutions. Look back to NYC in the 1970s. Times Square had open drug markets and hookers working the street. Muggings were so common they became part of the country’s culture – I’m thinking of the Jack Lemmon movie, The Out of Towners, where his character’s endless series of travails begins with a mugging in Central Park. After the city nearly went bankrupt under the corrupt John Lindsey and others along came a tough former prosecuter, Rudy Giuliani. He applied “broken windows” police policy to the streets and lo and behold, crime dropped to levels not seen since the 1950s. After Giuliani fixed the city and made the subways safe Michael Bloomberg continued the tough policing policies and the city was great.
Then along came the communist Bill DeBlasio nee Warren Wilhelm. He forced the police to drop stop and frisk policies and it slowly became another anything goes situation like San Francisco. The subways are unsafe and insane homeless drug addicts rule the streets.
So to answer the question: yes something can be done. It takes common sense policies and the will to carry them forward.
Dave S., so glad you brought up Broken Windows Theory. A common sense idea that has been shown to work, and in a dramatic way:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory
Of COURSE there’s a solution, but you don’t want to hear it. You people have been voting Democrat CONSISTENTLY for YEARS. It’s time to try something else, but you simply refuse because you’re brainwashed.
Trying to gain understanding by asking this question but why are democrats to blame for this situation and how can republicans fix it? What can republicans do that dems won’t?
obviously it’s pray and thank the Lord you’re safe. Not get off your ass and actually do something about it. get involved or heaven forbid, give a fuck
The voters and residents of SF, Chicago, Portland, and so many other cities are getting what they voted for and continue to vote for time after time, fostering the decay and corruption of the city and county governments. There are two kinds of stupidity – one from a physical problem in the brain itself and other from ignorance and choosing to stay ignorant. This second type of stupidity is the most dangerous one and it is ruining our nation. Also choosing what is morally wrong vs morally right, choosing evil over good.
Moved out of CA 5 years ago. Folks YOU too can leave CA and once again have some “quality of life”
“If anybody believes that crimes are down and San Francisco is safe, I have a bridge in San Francisco to sell to them.”
Who actually said this? This story reads like your typical lazy journalist; the crime statistics don’t back your narrative so you include an unattributed quote to try to establish an axiom. If the crime statistics lie; why is that? Where’s the evidence to support this? Some talking head from the HF said it so it must be true?
We just had three mass murders in a week in TX; why isn’t TX in a doom loop, facing an existential crisis? Bob Lee’s killing was not a random killing. The ex-SF Commissioner got what he deserved when he pepper sprayed some homeless guy. Not hearing much followup from Fox and friends on either of those stories. Why don’t you write that story, Katy?
Granted SF has plenty of issues but this article reads like a low brow hit job by some uptight suburban housewife from Orange County. Sorry I live in SF and I am frustrated with the City’s policies but this article is written for and by the Fox plebs. Sorry Katy, but you are the swamp.
If conservative policies are so enlightened why are the red states mostly non-entities bringing up the rear in social, economic, cultural and educational achievement. That would be an interesting article for your readers. Why is it people who claim to be libertarians can’t mind their own goddam business? I’m fed up with the woke and entitled lefties but you guys are whistling by the graveyards. Your SF bashing is ideological driven nonsense devoid of facts, reasoning and lacking good faith. It’s manure for the bitter lazy mind.
Give us insight, not propaganda.
You are a f****g idiot. Anybody rational knows that crimes are being under reported because what’s the point many times? Also they have downgraded what is even a crime. You are butt hurt because your precious DNC party is showing the world how degenerate they are. We get more real news from a few rando residents of SF on Twitter than years of SFgate. Also check out the latest California Insider on what it’s like for SFPD…or just stay in your DNC cult.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/emerging-crime-capitals-america-these-cities-have-highest-murders-per-capita
Here’s a source that you wing nutsapparently trust; murder rate in SF is among lower middle of similarly sized cities.
Btw, America’s international prestige was in the toilet during Trump’s presidency. Wrt to which: suspect you are the same crowd that bought Bush’s war hook, line and sinker, in 2003 but soon lost interest in that when the going got tough. Couldn’t find Iraq on a map if you tried and still think the Saudis are our friends despite the vast majority of the 9/11 hijackers coming from there. Note the redacted sections of the 9/11 report is about SA involvement. Trump’s special friends;. The Rs rely on your type being too dumb to ever join the dots; they don’t give a rat’s ass about you. Never have, never will.
But then you jumped on the Trump MAGA bandwagon who ironically lampooned Bush for that war. But you had moved on in from Bush and were so freaked out by the Black president that you were ready to follow. Goebeels if he spoke to your personal insecurities and inadequacies.
Right wingers are more easily manipulated than leftist wokes. The left is full of obnoxious righteous superiority but the right is full of hysteria and bullshit.
Your leaders get you worked about the culture wars as they almost exclusively pursue their donors interests. Read the disclosures in the Dominion case. Fox didn’t believe for a minute that hadn’t Trump lost the election fair and square. How do you possibly reconcile that with a trusted news source. They tell you what you want to hear; just like MSNBC do for the left.
Don’t confuse your lazy cliches with actual independent thought: you’re a sheep.
Wow, it’s impressive how many falsehoods you manage to cram into your paragraphs of noise. Under Trump, our enemies feared us. Under Biden, they openly laugh at us. It’s Biden who embarrasses us on the world stage with his endless gaffs, not to mention farting and shitting himself in public. Everything the left accused Trump of (weak mind, can’t string sentences together, mentally unfit, etc.), Biden exhibits openly for the world to see. Of course, we’re not supposed to believe our lying eyes, but you are welcome to stay in your bubble of denial.
Redefining what a crime is? I suspect it’s the usual wing nut nonsense about prop 47 which raised the cash threshold for felony non-violent property crime to $950. You fail to understand it’s still a misdemeanor criminal offense below $950. It raised the threshold from $500 to $950. Prop 47 was also endorsed by prominent republicans including Newt G. And voted by CA citizens 60-40 to address out of control prison expenditure. People can still be arrested and jailed for non-violent property crimes.
Wrt to non reporting of crimes, we changed our DA to a law and order DA and reported crimes have gone down. According to your logic, assuming the same level of actual crime, reported property crime should have gone up holding all things constant, because of the change in DA, but they went down.
I live in SF and news reporting is BS. Murders in SF are near a 70 year low. You would have believe people aren’t reporting murders because the DA/ police won’t do anything about it. Perhaps you are so stupid you might argue that. Good luck to you. Tool.
Ramon, what an exceptional set of intellectual comments, I particularly like the “Sorry Katy but you are the swamp”…really clever! Can’t wait to read your future comments but we understand that paid trolls are usually too busy on Twitter and TicTok to post here on the California Globe. Don’t be a stranger, even if you actually live in Happy Camp or Amboy, it’s fun to pretend, right?
Dale: did you have a point? Ironically your comments were devoid of any actual substance. Edmund Burke would turn in his grave knowing the brain dead cabal of vacuous unprincipled idiots who proclaim to represent traditional conservative values.
Written like a Newsom staffer with Oval Office stars in his eyes.
You need to sharpen your skills and drop the ridiculous stereotypes, Fox references, and absurd Newsom prez campaign red state put-downs amidst the embarrassing pretense of reasonableness if you want to pass as authentic. Everyone can see right through you.
When all the stores close and there’s nothing left to steal the homeless problem will go somewhere else and then the city can be saved.
“Our overall crime rates are down. Our clearance rate in San Francisco for homicides is at 85%. The rest of the country’s average is at 60%.” -Mayor Breed during a sit down interview with ABC7 April 12, 2023.
What happened to civilized YT people? They talked about the ghetto so long now its hitting their communities harder than any other. God don’t like ugly. Repent for the time of God is at hand. Everyone will be held accountable.
This is total bs . Right wing propaganda written by ill informed authors . We have lived near SF for more than 30 years and NEVER had a problem . Does SF have problems ? Yes . Are the problems any different than any other comparably size City ? No . We have crime , we have homelessness just like New York ( We lived there for 10 years ) just like LA , just like Detroit , Just like Miami .
Stories like this are written by haters .
There are areas one doesn’t go to after dark . There are areas in most cities one should not go to after dark .
SF is a beautiful place to live , work and or visit . Just like ANY PLACE one needs to be aware of their surroundings .
There are 22 cities with a higher murder rate but I don’t see these ill informed authors writing about them .
Don’t fall for this bs . Come see. for yourself . SF is a beautiful city by the bay .
This is total bs. Written by an ill informed hater . We have lived in the bay area for more than 30 years and NEVER had a problem .
Is there crime in SF ? Yes . Is there a homeless problem ? Yes . No different than any other comparably sized city .
Is there crime in New York ? Is there crime in LA ? How about Detroit or Miami or Atlanta or any other major city in this country?
There are 22 other cities that have a higher murder rate than San Francisco .
like all comparably sized cities there are areas one does not go to after dark.
I have never had to step over bodies in the North Beach area or The wharf area or the twin peaks area and multiple other areas of the city. I lived in New York for 10 years and had to step over bodies in just about every single area of the city.
this bashing of San Francisco is not only untrue is unfair. we have our share of problems just like everywhere else but this is a beautiful city and I encourage everyone to come visit.
LOL …’North Beach area’ and the ‘Wharf area’ ?
How about the TenderNob ‘area’?
Spoken like a true Out of State-r.
SF natives, like many of us on this site,
have no problem calling out what we know to be true about San Francisco.
There USED to be a reason we all paid more to live here-
because it was so beautiful and diverse, teeming with creative people.
The murder rate in SF has never been THE issue.
Also, when you are stepping over the fentanyl zombies downtown,
how do you know they are NOT dead ?
The elected officials voted AGAINST increasing the penalties for fentanyl dealers…..why is that?
Is there a powerful lobbyist funded by these same dealers ?
No, it is because this does NOT affect those in charge.
If it did, we would see change overnight.
DEFUND POLITICS !
This is total bs written by ill informed idiots who have probably never even been to San Francisco .
Sorry Patrick – I was born in SF, lived there, owned property in the City, did business in SF for many years, and am a native Californian. And I still live in CA.
Katy it is a waste of your time to reply to a comment left by Internet Troll Patrick. Besides being a waste of our time, reading troll comments like his should bring a smile to your face because the are just silly.
Inspiration and solutions:
Live from the Trump Doral in Miami Beach Fl Thrivetime Show: The ReAwakening versus The Great Reset. On Rumble today 5/12 and tomorrow 5/13.
https://rumble.com/c/ThrivetimeShow
It’s election FRAUD! Most people in their right mind don’t vote for these communists. Except for the haters of America. (other communists) Thank God everything has an ending except our souls. And I hope I live to see the end of California’s attempted destruction.
California is being run by the likes of Goldberg and behar. hollyweird is the order of the day and the drug problem isn’t just on the streets. Newsom is California’s nemesis and they are blind to his and their mental illness. too bad ca is a beautiful state and the ” beautiful” people are letting it go down.
It’s at the point that until it fully collapses nobody believes it can. The reality is smart money is pulling out and there is no replacements coming. Society collapse has been on going for years but just like Jenga the day comes and that is all there is left.
All of you on the far right and the far left forget that there are more of us in the middle that are neither republican or democrat. We didn’t like Trump and we don’t like Biden. Both sides are spinning facts to suit their narrative, but guess what? We’re the ones that determine elections and we don’t like either narrative!
I was there 2 weeks ago, FORCED to go because of work. It’s the most disgusting 3rd world city I’ve ever seen- and I’m forced to go to LA too – so that’s saying something. Open drug use and feces all over the streets is a complete understatement. Cops or private security in hotels and stores and the stench on public transportation is unbearable.
CA is a complete joke in every way. Left wing wackos at every turn and run by clueless communists. And like true left wing fringe democrats, they always try to blame Republicans for their own decisions and problems they create.
Come on all. It’s it possible to talk issues without taking political sides? How about suggesting solutions? I don’t see either party with usable ideas. What has happened to us?
Look at BEAUTIFUL Fisherman’s Wharf.
Famous Restaurants are 3/4 Empty, Closing or already Empty!!
Our beautiful Historical Boats are mostly Gone and the Street Performers are nowhere to be found!!!
It’s a Filthy Hell Hole down there!!!
See right through what, exactly? Ramon was spot on with everything he said, which is why you had to attack his articulation. Seriously, recess much? The only people that should be sounding off about this article, regardless of what side they fall on, are current residents. If you moved then keep your opinions to yourself. Any body reading this one sided, clearly bias, piece of hate mail, that lives here, clearly has an experience that is not parallel to the view point of the reporter, indicated, mostly, by the fact that more people keep moving here and utilizing online methods of getting day to day needs met. Yes, of course there is more we can do, and navigation that shows different results, by when Trump was in office nobody was focused on s.f. because there was a PANDEMIC. So convenient, that now Biden is in office and the right have nothing better to do than focus on what s.f. is doing.
*If you hate it aome much, MOVE, or do something to help. Sitting in the gallery, b**tchin and complaining, is not a good look. Makes your perspective look like weaksauce!
f you with this bullsh article about a great city. it still has a higher gdp than most countries, and a crime rate lower than just about every other city in the country, but you don’t hear about those because the police already have their vice grip on the narrative and the people addicted to more money, you have to facilitate lies and propaganda like this to try to dupe the population. f you I don’t give a sh if the moderator throws this away, I hope at least they take a moment to reconsider why they are facilitating publishing this trash propaganda.
There people graduating from Code Tenderloin Job Readiness program last week.Stop just reporting on negative news.
Look, we need to address the root cause of this collapse of society. Capitalism and robber baron billionaires exploiting people. Also racism and white supremacy.
Oh who the f am I kidding – leftist brain dead Democrat dirtbags caused this.
Yes! please leave CA and don’t let the door hit you on your way out. I love the idea of less people in CA. Good riddance! Enjoy TX, lol
ABSOLUTELY!
Wow, I mean really wow. So this is who we are huh? Hmm casting verbal stones and some how that’s going to fix the broken sink. I understand it’s a insult to all of our intelligence the state where we are all in today. It’s like what wtf?! so as cliché and Kumbaya as it sounds, can we just all get along and try to offer solutions without casting personal stones shattering our windows to life itself.
It’s a blackboard conversation with a definitive logical outcome.
Can we start by ending red this and blue that. We just need very simple logical solutions from intelligent likeminded individuals like yourselves viewing this as a blackboard (another words crossword puzzle) conversation with positive substance solutions. I know I’m not offering any “actual” answers to the concerns and problems of SF, BUT, if we start with the proper approach perhaps we can all get to a more realistic happier outcome.
Whenever I go to Whole Foods on Franklin, I see homeless people hanging out in the upper parking lot on Franklin and California and also inside the store. Recently, I saw them at the hot food station using their hands to pick up food and walking away with liquors.
San Francisco is confronting surging crime, drugs and homelessness. Walgreens has announced the impending closure of five of its San Francisco stores due to retail theft which had risen to unsustainable levels. In San Francisco, overdose deaths hit a new high of 711 during the first year of the pandemic, with those experiencing homelessness facing some of the highest mortality rates.
All I can add at this point, is the SF elite and the occupier in the White House have the result they wanted for all major cities across this country.
The cascading effects of crime, economic downturns, and severe weather have led to a significant number of businesses leaving the city. It’s a stark reflection on how such problems, if unaddressed, can significantly alter the character and livability of a city.