San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
San Francisco’s problems can be found everywhere
San Francisco’s openness and liberal politics have made it a target for conservative attacks. So many people, including Californians, have bought into the lie.
I travel enough around the country to see what’s happening elsewhere. Two years ago I drove from San Francisco to Monterrey, Mexico. What did I see? Homelessness and drug issues in Phoenix, Albuquerque, Dallas, Oklahoma City and Austin, Texas.
I was in Miami, where the problems were terrible. New York City, actually a bit better than most, still had plenty of problems. Every single city has problems with homelessness, shoplifting and drugs.
It’s the Big Lie that somehow San Francisco is “bad” or “dangerous” (and so easy to look up the true statistics). We are a compact city, so it’s easy to walk from neighborhood to neighborhood and go from the best to the worst to the best again.
San Francisco has problems. We do need to fix them. But, we are not alone in our plight by any means. Every city has the same problems in one way or another. Perspective is everything.
Ken Shaw, San Francisco
Prioritize safety
San Francisco leaders make a choice every time a crash happens and they don’t act.
A press conference is not sufficient.
It’s unconscionable that in a
city known for progressiveness, pedestrians are risking their lives daily to cross the street, let alone wait for the bus.
My family chose San Francisco as home so we could be a car-last family.
We walk to school, bike for
groceries and to the park, and recently granted our fourthgrader permission to ride Muni independently.
Yet, our sidewalks, bike paths and now, bus stops, are danger zones, violating the social contract of public safety.
While the city’s Vision Zero goal to eliminate traffic fatalities is commendable, the impact has been marginal.
We deserve better and must refuse the status quo.
Let’s make San Francisco a city where walking isn’t a risk but a joyous part of urban life.
Thao course corrects
Regarding “Four unsolicited tips for new Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell” (Open Forum, SFChronicle.com, March 27): Kudos to your Open Forum writer Justin Berton for his enlightening column.
Berton accurately points out how Mayor Sheng Thao, while on the City Council, “authored legislation to cut police funding and voted in 2021 to cut police academies,” but has now “done a 180 turn in support of law enforcement.”
Two old sayings come to mind: Better late than never, and be careful what you wish for because you may get it. Thao wanted a weakened police department; she got it.
It would be nice if Mayor Thao apologized to the people of Oakland for her disastrous misjudgments.