Many city dwellers have a lot to complain about these days: sky-high rents and home prices, housing for the few, sketchy roommates, skimpy parking, hellish traffic, clutter, litter — you name it. And then there’s homelessness. The numbers of San Franciscans living on the streets are increasing, right?
Well, actually, no.
The numbers are relatively unchanged, but what’s happening is there are more tents and the unhoused population is more visible. Thanks to redevelopment, there are fewer alleys, parking lots and cheap rooms that are far from foot traffic where people can stake out a place to live. (KALW/Crosscurrents).
The rental scene, however, is still a landscape of diminished expectations and high costs. Renters of all ages are shelling out big bucks for tiny places and many roommates. (The Mercury News). But hey, living in someone’s backyard is an option: granny flats or in-law units, converted basements or garages are all in the mix. (The Mercury News).
The housing crisis has many culprits and Airbnb has been blamed for helping exacerbate it. But the company has had its wings clipped, thanks to a city law that forces Airbnb to purge thousands of illegal short-term rental listings from its website (only short-term rentals registered with the city pass muster). (San Francisco Examiner). The listings have plummeted by half. (San Francisco Chronicle).
But there are still optimists who have ideas on improving city life, like, for example, hatching a plan to halt auto break-ins. (Mission Local). Or, if it’s all just too much, city folks can always line up to buy legal weed and then take a toke or two or three … (BuzzFeed News)
Let’s Talk Politics
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In the wake of the resurgence of right-wing hate groups, appears the anti-fascist left, or antifa. Who the heck are these folks and how is that darn word pronounced? Read all about the movement in “Antifa Unmasked.” (Reveal).
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Still the oasis of anti-Trump resistance, California is flexing itself to protect the state from the president’s executive order rolling back the Clean Water Act. “California Is Preparing to Defend Its Waters From Trump Order” (Reveal).
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And it’s anyone’s guess who the next mayor of San Francisco will be. “The Field’s Set for the 2018 Mayor’s Race: So Who’s Going to Win?” (San Francisco magazine).
A New Topic in S.F. School Curricula
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Mandatory health education in city schools now includes information on sex trafficking. The sexuality education curriculum, called Be Real. Be Ready., and built with the assistance of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, was introduced across district high schools. “San Francisco Public Schools Include Human Trafficking in Health Curriculum” (The Chronicle of Social Change).
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Trafficking and other forms of sexual abuse continue to be almost-intractable problems. A major janitorial company is again facing allegations that it ignores sexual abuse in the workplace, years after settling such cases and agreeing to change how it handles them. “Nation’s Largest Janitorial Company Faces New Allegations of Rape” (Reveal).
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For an in-depth investigation of human trafficking, read the Spring 2012 Public Press Special Report, “Force, Fraud, Coercion: Human Trafficking in the Bay Area.”