Tolerant SF Citizens Growing Intolerant of Street People

The city of San Francisco has come full circle, from embracing the hippie street scene in the 60's to prosecuting the street people in 2007 (from Special Report):

That noted liberal haven San Francisco is said to be undergoing a transformation on the subject of homeless people. The San Francisco Chronicle reports residents are fed up with aggressive panhandlers, street squatters and drug users.

Local market researcher David Latterman says — "People have realized they can hate George Bush but still not want people crapping in their doorway... For the first time, even the left is saying they've had enough."

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has instituted a program of issuing citations to vagrants on sidewalks and streets that has led to an economic boom in the city's South of Market area — and 90 percent support for his program in one poll.

The executive director of the city's human services agency says it's a quality of life issue — not a conservative or liberal thing. Trent Rhorer says — "Maybe you just need a guy with a badge standing over them and saying, 'You can't stay there anymore.'"

When I was in San Francisco 10 days ago I didn't see any street people or panhandlers in the Union Square or Pier 39 areas. Since those areas are so heavily populated by tourists I imagine the local cops keep it pretty clean. Although there was a noticable difference between SF and New York. In NY I saw cops everywhere. In SF, they were rarely seen.