(New York Post) Tourists curious about San Francisco’s “urban decay” of abandoned shops, open-air drug use and homeless encampments can now get a guided tour of the whole thing.
A street-savvy guide fed up with the lack of action by the local government says they will take people on the so called ‘Doom Loop Walking Tour’ to see the worst of the city for themselves.
A tongue-in-cheek ad for the tour claims: “You’ve read the headlines. You’ve seen the Tweets, now get close and personal to the Doom and Squalor of downtown San Francisco.
“How can a city with a $14.6 billion annual budget be a model of urban decay? How can it spend $776.8 million per year on police and have no rule of law to show for it?
“Discover the policy choices that made America’s wealthiest city the nation’s innovative leader of housing crisis, addiction crisis, mental-health crisis and unrepentant crime crisis.”
The unidentified guide claims they are in a great position to give the tour as a “card-carrying City Commissioner,” and “opinionated loudmouth” who works in a municipal department.
The guide promises paying customers will get to see the city’s most blighted and crime-riddled areas — all located in its center — including the Tenderloin, Union Square and the Mid-Market.
Travis Hayes, 65, injects what he says is the synthetic drug fentanyl, across the street from where San Francisco mayor London Breed just held a news conference introducing legislation in curbing the rise of deadly overdoses in the city.REUTERS
Community activists scoffed at the idea.
“Why would someone pay $30 to see something they could get for free?” questioned longtime Tenderloin resident JJ Smith, who helps the area’s drug users and homeless.
“San Francisco is having a rough time right now and something like this won’t help unless you give the proceeds back to the people on the streets who need it.”
The City by the Bay has been beset by rising crime rates and businesses shuttering all over its once-busy downtown.
Roger Boyd, 35, holds a piece of foil containing Fentanyl while spending time on McAllister Street in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, Calif.Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images
Syringes are scattered in the remains of a tent city being cleared by city workers along Division Street in San Francisco.AP
More than 20 businesses, including Nordstrom, Whole Foods and Old Navy have left the area since January 2022.
In a May survey conducted by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, 77% of residents said they believe the city was on the “wrong track,” while only 30% said they felt safe walking around downtown at night.
John Chachas, the CEO of Gumps — a luxury home furnishings store that has been in its Union Square location for 165 years — published an open letter in the San Francisco Chronicle addressed to Gov. Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and the Board of Supervisors imploring for change.
