The problem of feces covering San Francisco’s streets is getting worse even as the city has spent millions of dollars on public restrooms.
According to a report by The Chronicle of San Francisco, Complaints about poop on city streets are on the rise, a trend that the public says is creating “fodder” for the city’s conservative critics:
During the pandemic, stool-related calls decreased as people stayed home and the city moved unhoused people indoors. But a Chronicle analysis of data found that the number of stool-related calls has surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Calls are approximately 17% higher than in 2020 and approximately 7% higher than in 2019. The data, extracted from 311 reports, does not distinguish between human and animal feces and only reflects reports of feces or requests for street cleaning of feces.
The increase comes even as San Francisco invests in public restrooms, conducts more frequent street cleaning and gets more homeless people off the streets. The vast majority of San Francisco’s more than 280 public restrooms are located in parks, community centers, libraries, fire stations and other cities. buildings. There are also standalone staffed restrooms operated by two different city departments and standalone unstaffed restrooms operated by a private company in partnership with the city.
Last November, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis highlighted the severity of the problem by displaying a “poop map” during his debate with California Governor Gavin Newsom.
“This is a map of San Francisco,” DeSantis said at the time, showing a map of the city with brown markings on it. “There are a lot of storylines about it. You may be wondering, “What is this conspiracy?” Well, this is an app where they track human feces found on the streets of San Francisco.
“And see how almost everything is covered? Because that’s what happened in one of the greatest cities this country has ever had.”
Ron DeSantis just showed off a feces map of San Francisco to show where people tag homeless feces all over public streets. My goodness. Literally. pic.twitter.com/atGEMZ8o6w
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) December 1, 2023
Poop isn’t the only problem facing San Francisco, which is widely considered the most progressive city in the United States. Homelessness remains a major problem, with many of those living on the streets suffering from a crippling addiction to fentanyl and other hard drugs.
Shoplifting levels have also skyrocketed, leading many businesses to withdraw from the city after suffering unsustainable losses as the city refuses to prosecute and imprison repeat offenders.