"The streets at or around the intersection of 16th and Mission were fairly clear all Sunday, until the evening, and then the east side of Mission Street became a crowded knot of vendors, adventurers, and open drug users. But elsewhere, when I went out at 8 a.m., 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., few drug users or homeless residents could be found."
"On some days when I'm out photographing the streets, different songs go through my head. For weeks, it was Billy Joel's lyrics from Goodnight Saigon: the cat and mouse game played between American soldiers and the Vietcong. That, sometimes, is what the dynamic can feel like on the street as city workers and police try to help, scatter or move the homeless, vendors and addicts."
"But for most of today, the song going through my head was Where Have All the Flowers Gone. There weren't many of the homeless, addicted or vendors out - and the crowds have been absent for weeks. Still, it's hard to know where the dozens I saw three months ago have disappeared to. I went up to 24th Street to check, as last weekend the plaza at 24th was packed with vendors while 16th Street remained clear."
The intersection of 16th and Mission remained fairly clear through most of the day, but the east side of Mission Street filled in the evening with vendors and open drug users. Checks at multiple times found few drug users or homeless residents. Street dynamics resemble a cat-and-mouse routine as city workers and police scatter or move homeless people, vendors, and addicts; they depart during heavy official presence yet return after dark. Nearby 24th Street was clear at 4 p.m. with an SFPD SUV on the plaza. On Julian Avenue, groups gathered; Mumblz sat with drug paraphernalia and said she had been on the concrete 13 years.
Read at Mission Local
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