A series of headline-grabbing stories exacerbates a general feeling of vulnerability.
SAN FRANCISCO — Politically liberal San Franciscans are used to living cheek by jowl with open drug use, feces-infested streets and petty crime. But a surge in home break-ins and brazen shoplifting has some residents feeling that the city they fell in love with is in decline. Caitlin Foster is among San Francisco shopkeepers who have repeatedly had to clear away used needles and other drug paraphernalia outside the bar she manages. And after too many encounters with armed people in crisis, the Seattle transplant’s affection for her adopted city has soured. “It was a goal to live here, but now I’m here and I’m like, ‘Where am I going to move to now?’ I’m over it,” said Foster, who manages Noir Lounge in the trendy Hayes Valley neighborhood. A series of headline-grabbing crime stories – mobs of people smashing windows and grabbing luxury purses in the downtown Union Square shopping district and daytime shootings in the touristy Haight-Ashbury – has only exacerbated a general feeling of vulnerability. Residents wake up to news of attacks on older Asian Americans, burglarized restaurants, and boarded-up storefronts in the city’s once-vibrant downtown. The pandemic emptied parts of San Francisco and highlighted some of its drawbacks, including a laissez-faire approach by officials to open drug dealing just steps from the Opera House and Symphony Hall. Parents despaired as public schools stayed closed for most of last year as nearby districts welcomed children back to the classroom. “There’s a widespread sense that things are on the wrong track in San Francisco,” said Patrick Wolff,53, a retired professional chess player from the Boston area who has lived in the city since 2005. San Franciscans will vote in June on whether to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin, a former public defender elected in 2019 whose critics say he’s too lenient on crime.
