Here's the deal. We had a great time in San Francisco. But it feels a little hypocrite to go on and on about all the great buildings and fun stuff we did, without addressing a more serious and pressing issue. Although the vibe in San Francisco is pretty much just what you'd expect - happy, laidback, relaxed - the hippies' legacy still slightly palpable, there's also a darker, sadder side to San Francisco. A side that's always present, always visible.
I read about the homeless before we went. All the travel sites and guides tell you about it: there are a lot of homeless people in San Francisco, but they are harmless and not allowed to ask for money. I heard stories, I knew what to expect. Or so I thought.
The actual amount of homeless people we came across quite frankly baffled me. Although I knew there would be a lot of them, it shocked me nonetheless. To say there are a lot of them is probably a bit of an understatement. They are everywhere.
It's the first thing we saw when we arrived in the city. Arriving at our subway stop late in the evening, I didn't notice them immediately, but there they were. About twenty people, sleeping against the glass railings of the escalators. It was the saddest thing ever, all those people huddled up, taking shelter in a subway station.
They're on the streets, on benches, on planters. They're at the Civic Center in front of City Hall, where a bride and groom are taking their wedding pictures. They're across the Embarcadero. They're at the Fisherman's Wharf. They're in front of closed shop entrances. They're in a Starbucks. Some of them have nothing, some of them have an old couch to sit on. Some of them have a car to sleep in on a Safeway parking lot. Some of them are alone, some of them gather around as if they have their own little communities on the street.
Every day you look into their eyes, and you can just feel their desperation. Walking around, carefully carrying all their belongings with them in carts and suitcases.
There's also a difference to be made when it comes to the homeless. There are the harmless ones. Then there are those who obviously have mental health issues (I assume those *crazies* are homeless as well). We took the bus a couple of times, and one time it was a particularly long ride. We were sitting pretty much in the back of the bus, and in the hour we were sitting there I think there were 10 different people with a whole lotta crazy. One lady went in and just screamed, screeched at the top of her lungs. Everyone looked petrified for a second, but quickly went on as if nothing happened. The dude sitting next to us rolled his eyes and sighed 'Crrrazy', then started talking to us/himself about cats, how he loved cats and how the lady in front of us looked like a cat person because she was wearing a zebra shirt or something (thank you?? she said) and then he yelled at someone in the front of the bus, who pretended not to hear him. The guy started getting angry, yelling things like 'YEAHHHH PRETEND LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW ME', while the other guy looked horrified.
Even though there are moments when you start to feel slightly scared (when they start yelling, or following you, or when they get angry at you for no reason), most of all I felt bad for them. On a human level, I felt so compassionate. These people need help. Medical attention and psychological help. All those homeless people need help. They are all human beings after all and Goddamnit, why should they live like this? Even as a tourist I felt so bad. I kept thinking 'I wish there was a way to help these people'.
I read about the homeless before we went. All the travel sites and guides tell you about it: there are a lot of homeless people in San Francisco, but they are harmless and not allowed to ask for money. I heard stories, I knew what to expect. Or so I thought.
The actual amount of homeless people we came across quite frankly baffled me. Although I knew there would be a lot of them, it shocked me nonetheless. To say there are a lot of them is probably a bit of an understatement. They are everywhere.
It's the first thing we saw when we arrived in the city. Arriving at our subway stop late in the evening, I didn't notice them immediately, but there they were. About twenty people, sleeping against the glass railings of the escalators. It was the saddest thing ever, all those people huddled up, taking shelter in a subway station.
They're on the streets, on benches, on planters. They're at the Civic Center in front of City Hall, where a bride and groom are taking their wedding pictures. They're across the Embarcadero. They're at the Fisherman's Wharf. They're in front of closed shop entrances. They're in a Starbucks. Some of them have nothing, some of them have an old couch to sit on. Some of them have a car to sleep in on a Safeway parking lot. Some of them are alone, some of them gather around as if they have their own little communities on the street.
Every day you look into their eyes, and you can just feel their desperation. Walking around, carefully carrying all their belongings with them in carts and suitcases.
There's also a difference to be made when it comes to the homeless. There are the harmless ones. Then there are those who obviously have mental health issues (I assume those *crazies* are homeless as well). We took the bus a couple of times, and one time it was a particularly long ride. We were sitting pretty much in the back of the bus, and in the hour we were sitting there I think there were 10 different people with a whole lotta crazy. One lady went in and just screamed, screeched at the top of her lungs. Everyone looked petrified for a second, but quickly went on as if nothing happened. The dude sitting next to us rolled his eyes and sighed 'Crrrazy', then started talking to us/himself about cats, how he loved cats and how the lady in front of us looked like a cat person because she was wearing a zebra shirt or something (thank you?? she said) and then he yelled at someone in the front of the bus, who pretended not to hear him. The guy started getting angry, yelling things like 'YEAHHHH PRETEND LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW ME', while the other guy looked horrified.
Even though there are moments when you start to feel slightly scared (when they start yelling, or following you, or when they get angry at you for no reason), most of all I felt bad for them. On a human level, I felt so compassionate. These people need help. Medical attention and psychological help. All those homeless people need help. They are all human beings after all and Goddamnit, why should they live like this? Even as a tourist I felt so bad. I kept thinking 'I wish there was a way to help these people'.
There are a lot of theories going around as to why there are so many homeless people in SF. I read that it's got something to do with the hippie mentality, live and let live. People have the right to be homeless, so nobody bothers the homeless like in other cities. I read that it's because the weather's always reasonably good. I read that most of the homeless come from other cities, thinking homeless life in SF is somehow more bearable. I read that over half of all the homeless are actually former San Franciscans. I read that a large part of the group actually want to be homeless, and don't want to live in shelters or any housing - government funded or otherwise. I read that San Francisco actually invests a lot of money in taking care of their homeless. I read that most homeless people are traumatized veterans. Veterans who don't get taken care of properly after their return. I read that there are homeless people who have mental health issues, but refuse help and end up on the street because of that.
I don't know. Maybe all those theories are true. There probably isn't just one reason you can trace homelessness back to. But I hope there will be a solution one day. In San Francisco it just seems to be a much bigger problem than any other city I've ever been to, or at least the homeless are so much more visible than in other cities.
Here in the Netherlands, homelessness is not such a big issue. I rarely see people sleeping on the streets, rarely have crazies approaching me, rarely have people asking for money. And that's a good thing. Nobody deserves to sleep on the street.
I don't know. Maybe all those theories are true. There probably isn't just one reason you can trace homelessness back to. But I hope there will be a solution one day. In San Francisco it just seems to be a much bigger problem than any other city I've ever been to, or at least the homeless are so much more visible than in other cities.
Here in the Netherlands, homelessness is not such a big issue. I rarely see people sleeping on the streets, rarely have crazies approaching me, rarely have people asking for money. And that's a good thing. Nobody deserves to sleep on the street.