apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Cool! I just hope the homeless don't take over, like they took over Golden Gate Park.

Yeah, screw the homeless! Out of sight, out of mind, thank god.

I hope more people take note of this a create more green spaces. Not only in unused lots but in their own yards.

N.

http://badhuman.wordpress.com

the name makes me think of overgrown pubic hair

The Luggage Store has a photo gallery showing the area back to when it was an alley full of garbage in 1989.

http://www.luggagestoregallery.org/index.php?set_albumName=album05&option=com_gallery&Itemid=53&include=view_album.php&page=1

I'm with MirandaJ;
Screw the homeless. Especially in an Urban area. I mean, really! Find a good doorway to sleep in already! Or better yet. Go away!

On a different note: This is soooo great. And I love the humor! And the Tenderloin could use some green. :)
I'm forwarding this to my best bud in the City. He can point it out to some of his cooler fares. (Cab driver)

Wow, all this animosity toward the homeless is sad.

This little alley would be very cool to stumble upon!

Alice, you just don't know what it's like. First they want SHELTER next they'll be wanting FOOD and MEDICAL CARE. GAWD! These people can't afford 30 dollar candles and monogrammed bath towels so who CARES about them, they are like, barely even human. They probably don't even like, KNOW what DWR stands for. I bet they think it stands for something like "drunk, wandering and rashes".

Can you imagine them loitering in a PUBLIC park!? Ewwww. Public spaces are for like, attractive white people with expensive dogs who jog and drive BMWs. For real.

Ta for now, I have to go spend thousands of dollars on brand new things that are like, "green" because caring about the environment and being like, socially aware is totally HOT right now. Only if it looks good though. And Alice, duh, homeless people are NOT hot.

Good for you MirandaJay. The rest ought to be ashamed.

"Screw the Homeless"? Who do you think you are? You would be in their shoes but for the grace of god / fate / your parents bank account.

Disgusting.

Hillarious! Come on guys and gals... we are not talking about one poor unfortunate homeless person. We are talking about a dozen of them taking over the alley and urinating/defecating in it until you won't want to set foot into it. No, don't screw the homeless. If they suffer from mental health or alcohol/drug issues give them the care they deserve. But we should not give up our public spaces to them. We have a fantastic park (Golden Gate) and too many pockets of the park have been colonized by large groups of homeless encampments. At the end of the day homelessness is a national issue. Thanks to Reagan's 1980's policies, mental health hospitals were shut down and those poor people were forced to find other places to live and treat their conditions. Unfortunately, too many ended up homeless. Most of San Francisco's homeless are not even from here, we bear a disproportionate burden because of our perfect weather and high social tolerance. No don't screw the homeless, but don't ignore them either and don't give up your public spaces.

what an awesome idea!

"The forest isn't open all the time, but if one of the gardeners is on site then the gates will be open and you're free to roam around about. A destination, sure. But well worth it."

I think they had already planned for the homeless issue.

It's not being mean, it's just being practical. If you don't put a lock on your house it may get robbed. If you don't guard the garden it may be used as a toilet.

God forbid the reality of poverty ruins your precious snooty picnics.

The homeless live in the park because there's no place else to go. They have no place else to go because they're, on the whole, mentally ill and we don't warehouse mentally ill people in institutions anymore. We warehouse them in the park now.

If you don't like it, don't open a shelter, open a hospital. Oh, wait...healthcare crisis.

It's overwhelming, all of the cynicism surrounding the issue of homelessness.

I find it hard to believe that everyone thinks public parks are actually appropriate homes for homeless people. That seems too simple in my opinion.

Besides, most of the "homeless" people in Golden Gate Park are probably homeless by choice but not necessarily poor. Although, I'm not sure why that's still such a popular lifestyle since the Dead stopped touring? I guess drug addicts can substitute one excuse for another.

I guess if you're the type of person who thinks dropping several hundred dollars on sheets and bath towels and vacuums and waste money on cut flowers and 30 dollar candles is a necessity then you probably don't understand what it's like to live hand to mouth and how close a lot of people are to poverty.

I could understand someone being able to afford these things.

I can also understand that same someone being able to afford to give to the homeless out of the kindness of their heart.

Everyone can give something, that something is relative.

The more money you make, the more taxes you pay. So indirectly, someone who makes more money who pays more taxes is contributing towards programs for the homeless. In addition, that same person may voluntarily contributed towards programs for the homeless.

On a larger scale, we have had Presidents that have worked hard to find a solution to the homeless situation. Imagine what one wealthy President could do compared to the individual who may only be able to afford $10.00 per year? That doesn't mean the individual is any less of a caring person. For instance, aspirin will help alleviate a portion of the pain. But if it's cancer, it's going to take more money to get closer to a cure.

I could pay for a book, Oprah could pay for the school.

...and Oprah's sheets, towels and vacuums cost a lot more than a few hundred dollars.

MirandaJay-

I think you're not being open to what AlexPDL is saying. There is a difference between being frustrated with the homeless and having no humanity towards them. I'm going out of on a limb by saying that you probably don't live in San Francisco. I have always been very sympathetic to homeless-while growing up in Seattle I volunteered for food banks and other support services. Unfortunately, when you live in San Francisco (which, I'm pretty sure has the highest homelessness rate in the country), your empathy is tested. The streets are unsanitary. The businesses around my old apartment (in a pretty nice neighborhood, with $2000/month rent) oftentimes had feces in their vestibules after being slept in the night before. It becomes exhausting being yelled at constantly by schizophrenics who should be in mental hospitals instead on riding the buses that you take to work everyday. And it is incredibly frustrating when you see our parks, which are beautiful and paid for by all of our hard work, become unusable because of sanitary or safety concerns.

"Public spaces are for like, attractive white people with expensive dogs who jog and drive BMWs. For real."

Public spaces are the fabrics that make people living in proximity a community. Families and all people should feel comfortable using them. Because of the homeless population, a great number of our public spaces in many neighborhoods are not welcoming. And not just to white people in their BMWs but to the people of the community.

"I guess if you're the type of person who thinks dropping several hundred dollars on sheets and bath towels and vacuums and waste money on cut flowers and 30 dollar candles is a necessity then you probably don't understand what it's like to live hand to mouth and how close a lot of people are to poverty."

I find this comment particularly offensive because, a) why would you frequent a site if this is what you thought of their readers and, b) assuming that anyone who cares about aesthetics has never had to face hardships and lacks sympathy towards those who have is narrow-minded and insulting.

Even if there were enough mental health facilities in the country, many mentally ill homeless wouldn't opt to commit themselves. Sometimes they refuse on a rational basis (mental hospitals are hardly Club Med) and sometimes they refuse because their mental illness makes it impossible to act rationally.

Fortunately for civil liberties and unfortunately for the cleanliness of public spaces, we no longer forcibly commit people who are not a danger to themselves or others.

In other words, the homeless problem is hardly a black-and-white issue.

I do think that, if the homeless are going to camp out in public anyway, the city might as well set aside specific areas for that purpose and make it clear that anyone camping out in other public areas will be subject to arrest.

Eowes,

Thank you. I couldn't have said it better myself.

AlexPDL

I started my day off by getting kicked out of a Public Library foyer waiting for a Public Bus in 30 degree weather with 3-4" of snow on the ground and a fine mist of icy snow blowing horizontally.

The library has a completely seperate foyer, with benches directly in front of the bus stop.

I watched other people go inside and get kicked out. After I saw the security woman walk back and inside laughing I told them to put the "NO LOITERING" sign that was inside the foyer on the side walls on the exterior door of the library so as not to set a trap that seems to be providing her morning entertainment.

The security guard told me to talk to the librarian.