San Francisco Image Problem: $60-million budget allocated for homelessness programs

World
Europe

03:22

San Francisco is one of America's most popular cities for tourists. But many residents fear that status is being threatened by social ills like homelessness and unsafe streets. CGTN's Mark Niu has more on the city's image problem and its fight to keep it clean.

Tourists love San Francisco's views, but there are some things they'd rather not see.

KHAWLA AL-SHAYJI KUWAITI TOURIST "We notice the smell of urine, my kids notice that."

TANYA LEABEATER AUSTRALIAN TOURIST "We had heard about the homeless problem in San Francisco. It is still a little bit confronting when you first arrive."

The city's largest business organization, San Francisco Travel Association, says even though its surveys show 96-percent of tourists want to come back, they're studying the ones who don't.

CASSANDRA COSTELLO, SR. V.P PUBLIC POLICY, SAN FRANCISCO TRAVEL "There's a small amount of people who are saying I'm not gonna come back to San Francisco and here are the reasons why. And at the top of that list are some of these social issues that are kind of showing themselves on our street. We are a very dense city. So our visitors are experiencing all of these issues that are challenging."

Challenging enough for a major medical group from Chicago to recently cancel its conference in San Francisco.

KEVIN CARROLL, EXEC. DIRECTOR HOTEL COUNCIL OF SAN FRANCISCO "People really want to come to San Francisco but it does impact our business when someone comes to the city, has a great experience but then experiences something they don't like and they start talking about it, so they might be influencing someone else."

Carroll says his organization is pushing for help for those on the street – who are growing increasingly aggressive.

MARK NIU SAN FRANCISCO "Recent reports have compared pockets of San Francisco to the slums of impoverished countries around the world. The smell of urine, feces, and you can often find --- (Mark asks Mario)—What's that?"

MARIO VOLUNTEER "This is a heroin needle. It's a dirty needle and no telling what this needle is contaminated with."

Mark asks: "How many of these are you picking up?"

Mario says: "Between 40 and 50 needles a day."

Mario's been on and off the streets for decades and says he's volunteering to clean things up and protect children.

MARIO "I myself used heroin for 50 years. I still dibble and dabble, but I kind of feel like a part of the solution instead of part of the pollution. I kind of feel proud of myself."

San Francisco isn't alone in facing an opioid crisis, but it could soon become the only U.S. city to offer safe injection sites that aim to prevent overdoses and reduce syringes on the street. The idea is backed by the city's new mayor London Breed, who on this day is unveiling newly-renovated low-income housing in one of the city's most impoverished districts known as the Tenderloin.

"I know what it feels like to live with the mold, with broken elevators, with the roaches."

Breed grew up in public housing herself, and recently signed a budget that allocates 60-million in new funding for homelessness programs.

LONDON BREED SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR "We have been out on a regular basis talking to folks who sadly are living on the street and trying to get them into our navigation centers, our shelter system. Getting them support. And it is not an easy task. There are people who sometimes cycle in and out of our shelter systems."

Also added to the budget, 725-thousand dollars for fix-it teams that focus on cleaning up the city. And as this janitor outside San Francisco public library indicated to me, they could certainly use all the help they can get. Mark Niu, CGTN, San Francisco.