It has been over 200 days since the Lurie Administration made cleaning up the area around 16th and Mission Streets a primary focus. On March 12, Mayor Daniel Lurie expressed his commitment to making the area safer and more orderly.
On that day, the San Francisco Police Department deployed a “mobile command unit” to the southwest BART Plaza, signaling a determined effort to combat issues of unpermitted vending, drug use, and drug dealing in the area.
Lurie vowed to be ‘relentless’ in these efforts, targeting Mission Street and its alleyways specifically. Although improvements have been noted, many challenges remain as the campaign has unfolded.
By Day 100 of the initiative, the area still grappled with rampant drug use and vending on Mission Street between 15th and 16th streets. But, as another 100 days have come and gone, the city has ramped up resources and begun to wrestle with the challenges more effectively.
While some areas have seen clearer streets, the situation often fluctuates dramatically according to the time of day and the presence of city workers.
For instance, the west side of Mission Street, once bustling with vendors, has remained relatively clear since early July, thanks to the efforts of newly introduced initiatives.
Conversely, the east side of Mission Street, particularly near the Muni stop, remains a site of contention where unpermitted vendors and open drug use often resurge after 5 p.m.
An area resident highlighted these ongoing challenges, recounting that her husband has had to physically navigate around individuals struggling with drug use while picking up debris strewn across the streets.
The local community, however, began to see some consistent improvements after July 5, when Ahsing Solutions introduced a team of ambassadors to help maintain cleanliness and order.
Staffed by individuals who have previously experienced homelessness or incarceration, these ambassadors patrol the west side of Mission Street between 15th and 16th along with surrounding alleyways from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Santiago Lerma, who leads the Mission’s street team, coordinates a multifaceted approach by consolidating resources such as homelessness outreach, psychiatric assistance, and street cleaning under one leadership structure.
While the reorganization of street teams has streamlined efforts, Lerma also recognized the necessity of increasing manpower. This advocacy led to the inclusion of Ahsing ambassadors in the cleanup effort.
Business owners and residents have attested to the positive impact these ambassadors are making. Bryan Tublin, the owner of Kitava, a healthy foods restaurant, mentioned that the Ahsing ambassadors have effectively intervened during incidents, providing timely responses to disruptive situations.
Tublin expressed confidence in their performance, stating, ‘I’ll come back in 10 minutes and I’ll see them interacting with the folks that are there. And then I’ll come back in 30 minutes and the area is completely cleared.’
Moreover, the city has achieved greater control over street vending, which has long exacerbated issues of drug use in the area.
Once an unregulated flea market atmosphere prevailed on Mission Street, with vendors spilling onto the streets, these conditions began shifting after July, especially as unpermitted vending began to be tackled more vigorously.
Despite the 2018 state law that decriminalized vending, it was the pandemic that saw a significant uptick in its prevalence on Mission Street and in BART plazas.
Now, the SFPD along with the Department of Public Works is focused on addressing unpermitted vending. Lerma emphasized that regulating vending practices is critical to combating drug activity: ‘If people don’t have access to quick cash, the drug dealers won’t come to the area.’
Residents have noted tangible improvements, with one individual observing, ‘The whole sidewalk on Mission was just completely full of sidewalk vendors for a long time, and now it seems to have been fixed.’
Further support appears to be forthcoming, as state legislators have recently amended the 2018 vending law, empowering police officers to penalize those selling commonly stolen items.
Despite these advancements, it is clear that the underlying challenges have not been eradicated. The numbers still show a significant presence of drug users and vendors, albeit less concentrated than in previous months.
Some individuals have simply relocated to different blocks that remain less monitored by authorities.
For example, in the wake of the Mission Cabins’ closure for redevelopment, Capp Street north of 16th Street experienced a resurgence in problematic behavior.
One local parent, Naomi Fox, expressed her disappointment at the lack of security since the closure, noting that recently, a drug user was sitting on the stairs at Marshall Elementary School, and her attempt to address the situation went unheeded.
This resurgence of activity on formerly cleared streets illustrates the challenges of maintaining public spaces without a consistent presence of security personnel and outreach workers.
Business owners close to Caledonia Street have also reported increased occurrences of drug use and disturbances from individuals exhibiting signs of mental illness or seeking to steal.
Mission Local has observed clusters of individuals huddled in badly affected alleys during evenings, particularly after the Gubbio Project, which provides indoor resting space for individuals, closes for the night.
In exploring the surrounding streets, such as Minna and Capp Streets, reports of drug use, debris, and unsightly conditions have continued to surface. Residents observed discarded clothing and people using the sidewalk as a makeshift sleeping area, further contributing to public health concerns.
One local resident bemoaned, ‘The conditions that we’ve lived in are not okay by many, many standards,’ pointing to the growing anxieties among local business employees about their safety.
Arleen and Mike Luong, who oversee Ahsing Solutions, have flagged Capp Street as highly challenging to keep clear.
They often find it necessary to involve police and public works personnel for assistance in clearing encampments. However, even after their interventions, issues often persist. As Mike pointed out, ‘When we come back in an hour, you’ll probably see 10, 15 people all piled up again.’
In an effort to counteract this recurring issue, the Ahsing team has recently stationed an ambassador between 16th and 17th on Capp Street to discourage loitering.
On a recent visit to Capp Street, it was observed that the block was clear; however, just around the corner, individuals were consuming drugs openly on the south side of 16th Street.
Reflecting on the efforts of the last 200 days, it is evident that while improvement has been made under the initiative to enhance ‘decency and security’ in the Mission, many questions remain about the effectiveness of these strategies.
Where have all the vendors and homeless residents gone?
This remains an open query. In May, District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder raised a crucial point, calling for assessment metrics to determine whether the street teams are successfully connecting individuals to drug treatment and permanent housing, or merely shifting the problem elsewhere.
Despite the city’s push for better data collection, the outcome of these efforts remains uncertain at this point.
What is evident is that each morning, outreach teams quickly fill available shelter spots, though it is unclear whether individuals staying in these shelters eventually transition into permanent housing or return to the streets.
Lerma observed that some individuals manage to secure shelter for nighttime use but still gravitate back to the streets during the daytime. He noted, ‘People still need to exist outside of the times that they’re sleeping in their shelter.’
Indeed, it appears that some individuals continue to decline the help that the city offers, preferring instead to remain on the streets and use drugs.
Regardless of these ongoing challenges, Lerma maintains a hopeful outlook, emphasizing that sustained attention towards the issues in the Mission will lead to meaningful change.
He highlighted the need to shift the perception that the Mission is a place where one can engage in troubling behavior without consequence.
Changes require the community’s cooperation, particularly concerning the influx of outsiders drawn to the area due to its reputation.
‘If we get to like our baseline of people who live in the neighborhood hanging out out there, we can deal with that,’ he concluded, emphasizing the need for a holistic and community-driven approach to safety and order in the Mission.
image source from：missionlocal
