Manfully restraining himself from an all-caps “I TOLD YOU SO,” the Chronicle’s C.W. Nevius reports that “after the cheery PR” about a turnaround on SF’s notoriously grubby 6th Street, the new businesses that relocated there at the behest of organizations like San Francisco Redevelopment Agency “are finding they are part of a bait and switch,” as 6th St remains shitty and crime-ridden.
And Nevius should know — the Chronicle, located at 5th and Mission, is only one block away from the stretch of 6th Street that reporters for less local publications refer to as the Gourmet Ghetto. On a recent trip I took to the Chron at nigh noon, no less, took me past a guy just off 6th at Natoma crapping as he ate from a box of takeout. Gourmet ghetto, indeed! (And before you ask, no, the man in question did not appear to be a Chronicle employee, at least, not one I recognized. Then again, who knows, I hear they are hiring a lot of new ad sales people!) But don’t take my word for it: Bluoz’s pulled several comments from the article that they say are from people familiar with the area, check them out here.
Nevius notes that “street craziness” has driven away patrons from well-reviewed Passion Cafe, and tells the tale on an optometrist whose business is “touch and go” after a relocation to the area brought him lost clients and multiple assaults.
As opposed to getting better, as Redevelopment promised, crime appears to be getting worse in the area, with even that organization admitting that there’s been “a surge in crime” and SFPD saying “There’s kind of a more edgy crowd now, a group of individuals who are intimidating people when they come by.”
SFPD’s planning a new substation in the area that’s expected to cost the city an additional $2,900/mo, but Nevius notes that it isn’t expected to open until 2011.
Photo: Bluoz
