Speaking as someone that lived in van in SF for 6 month before I left for immigration reasons:
1. I’m not from SF, I came there to live with my partner who was in school there but we couldn’t afford a place to rent.
2. I’ve never been homeless anywhere else and I wouldn’t have been homeless in SF if rent was fair.
3. I’ve never pan handled, but I didn’t need to. Dumpster diving is easy, there is plenty of free food options (including free farm stand with organic vegetables; I also cooked for food not bombs but that was more for the fun then the food).
4. Didn’t get any free phones, paid for my own bus fairs (or just jumped the muni).
5. Police never hassled me too much. Only one time when I parked near Dolores Park too see if they had their porta potties open all night (they didn’t). Police advised us to stay out of this neighborhood. We did and moved back to a friendlier neighborhood in the lower mission.
6. Showering is impossible for the homeless. I could really only shower and shave once a week. I had to wait in a line for a ticket at a charity and then wait there for an hour or two at a cramped space for my turn. Sometimes I would sneak at my the campus of my partner’s school and steal a shower.
Speaking from experience the only thing that is creating the homelessness in SF is lack of reasonable, affordable, and accessible housing options.
1. I’m not from SF, I came there to live with my partner who was in school there but we couldn’t afford a place to rent.
2. I’ve never been homeless anywhere else and I wouldn’t have been homeless in SF if rent was fair.
3. I’ve never pan handled, but I didn’t need to. Dumpster diving is easy, there is plenty of free food options (including free farm stand with organic vegetables; I also cooked for food not bombs but that was more for the fun then the food).
4. Didn’t get any free phones, paid for my own bus fairs (or just jumped the muni).
5. Police never hassled me too much. Only one time when I parked near Dolores Park too see if they had their porta potties open all night (they didn’t). Police advised us to stay out of this neighborhood. We did and moved back to a friendlier neighborhood in the lower mission.
6. Showering is impossible for the homeless. I could really only shower and shave once a week. I had to wait in a line for a ticket at a charity and then wait there for an hour or two at a cramped space for my turn. Sometimes I would sneak at my the campus of my partner’s school and steal a shower.
Speaking from experience the only thing that is creating the homelessness in SF is lack of reasonable, affordable, and accessible housing options.