Out-of-Control Homelessness in San Diego, California The following is an opinion piece by Damon Zwicker which was published in the San Diego Union-Tribune on 5 August 2024. Zwicker was horrified by the apocalyptic conditions in downtown San Diego near where the famous Comic Con event was being held. He doesn't pull any punches. His words might anger you, or not. Either way, as a San Diegan who daily navigates the streets of downtown San Diego, I believe it is important to re-post Damon's piece: "Profound disappointment and outrage are the only words I can think of to describe the deplorable conditions in the Gaslamp Quarter, particularly around Fourth Avenue and E Street. As a visitor to San Diego as an employee of an event company tasked with installing experiential marketing events for Comic-Con San Diego, I was shocked, astonished and horrified by what I witnessed during my recent visit. The streets are plagued by individuals evidently intoxicated, littered with glass pipes and needles. Sidewalks are covered in feces and urine, trash is strewn everywhere, and orange-vested city workers are reduced to pressure washing the streets and mopping the sidewalks in a futile attempt to maintain some semblance of cleanliness. Adding to the horror, zombie-like people wander the streets in a drug-filled haze or stand doubled over at the waist, “nodding” for extended periods, completely oblivious to their surroundings. Is this the image of a world-class city? These dangerous and unsanitary conditions are a disgrace, posing serious risks to both residents and tourists. The lack of effective, systemic problem-solving to address these issues is a glaring failure of leadership and governance. The city’s reputation is tarnished by the evident inability to manage and mitigate the rampant drug use and associated squalor that has taken over what should be a vibrant and welcoming area. To any and all visitors, I strongly advise staying away from the San Diego Gaslamp District for your own safety. Mayor Todd Gloria and the people of San Diego should be ashamed of allowing such conditions to persist. It is clear that there is severe neglect in addressing the root causes of these problems and implementing sustainable solutions. The sight of people with substance use disorders openly using drugs and the pervasive filth on the streets speaks volumes about the city’s priorities and the effectiveness of its public health and safety strategies. These issues are not only a blight on the city’s image but also a significant public health crisis that demands immediate and robust intervention. Police officers in patrol cars and on foot were either unable or unwilling to intervene in the open drug use happening along Fourth Avenue and continuing down E Street. The complete lack of response from law enforcement not only endangers the lives of those directly affected by the drug trade but also puts law-abiding citizens at significant risk. This neglect erodes the community’s trust in the Police Department’s ability to maintain public safety. It’s disheartening to think that those who are tasked with ensuring the safety and well-being of the area’s residents and visitors have become so desensitized to these conditions that they no longer recognize them as abnormal or urgent. Adding to my dismay, when I asked a security guard doorman, “What’s up with all the open drug use and filth on the streets?” he responded with a resigned, “Welcome to San Diego! This is how it is now.” This response underscores a disturbing acceptance of these dire conditions, reflecting a community and city leadership that have either become desensitized to the decay and danger surrounding them or simply do not care. The fact that such conditions are met with resignation rather than urgency speaks volumes about the systemic neglect and apathy that has allowed this situation to deteriorate to its current state. I will actively discourage anyone I know from visiting this city until there is a significant and tangible improvement in these conditions. San Diego deserves better. Its residents and visitors deserve to walk through the streets without fear or disgust. It’s time for the city’s leadership to take real, meaningful action to restore the Gaslamp Quarter to a place of pride, not a source of shame. This means investing in comprehensive drug rehabilitation programs, increasing the presence and effectiveness of law enforcement, and ensuring that public spaces are kept clean and safe for everyone. Only through dedicated and sustained efforts can San Diego hope to reclaim its reputation and ensure a better quality of life for all its inhabitants and visitors."

This building was formerly part of the drive-in movie theater in National City, California. The grounds are still used for a swap meet, but overall a pretty decrepit place. My Spidey senses were tingling. #nationalcity #california

Tis the season for monsoonal San Diego. And with it comes the mugginess. And with that comes a little voice in the back of my head telling me not to go for a run 🥵

San Diego’s public transport wing MTS have been cutting back hard on bus service. Pictured is an example of the new 20 minute wait times for one bus that goes through the heart of the metropolitan area. Twenty f**king minutes?!!! MTS desperately wants to onboard new ridership, but have undermined their effort with service cutbacks. No one with a car is going to wait that long. People of lesser means will suffer extra. They have no choice. #sandiego #sdmts #mts #publictransit #toddgloria

Good news for rational San Diegans: the City Council approved high-density zoning changes for some neighborhoods yesterday. Bad news for our local NIMBYS (and there are plenty): cities are always in motion. To think your neighborhood must NEVER change, and must ALWAYS remain exclusionary to most, is unrealistic dreaming.

San Diego city council approved Blueprint SD yesterday. It is an affirmation of the city’s commitment to density and vision of a transit-based future. But there is no money or political will to improve San Diego’s transit system. There are no express trains getting people to work centers from the suburbs, no metro efficiently letting people quickly navigate the city, and no high-speed train services to Los Angeles (it’s actually faster to drive). Don’t get me wrong. I desperately wish we had all that. I support what the city council is trying to do, too. But our current transit system is too slow and inconvenient. #sandiego

San Diego’s mayor really pushing for the city to finance what would be the largest homeless shelter in the USA to the tune of ~$30M a year. There are thousands of chronic homeless people in downtown San Diego. The shelter could definitely provide just the help so many need. But… …$30M annually? Even a city report pooh-poohed the idea, much to the mayor’s chagrin.

Just listened to Vicky Farewell’s song ‘Are We Okay?’ for the umpteenth time. ❤️ #vickyfarewell #vickynguyen

California’s “Junk Fee” law went into effect yesterday. It included prohibiting restaurants from charging surcharges. What a good thing for consumers. But (yes, there’s a “but”), the law was modified just hours before going into effect excluding restaurants from charging hidden junk fee charges like surcharges. In other words, various Californian restaurant associations paid off the right politicians to change it. You see, restauranteurs that use surcharges are making a killing off it = earning money for no added service or menu value. Said restauranteurs will argue the surcharge helps pay employees’ health care, or subsidizes tips. I don’t believe that bullsh*t. And im sad to see our politicians fail us yet again. #gavinnewsome #junkfeelaw #surcharge #california

San Diego is the USA’s 7th or 8th largest city, and on the border with massive Tijuana, Mexico. Yet the transit system is, for the most part, not up to the task. Most ideas to pay for new transit, real transit, are stymied by NYMBYs who are often able to pressure local politicians to nix transit improvements and enlarging. Freeways. It’s all we can build, seemingly. Promise to build people a freeway that will fill up with cars every day and they will be happy. They will be “free”. True freedom is having the choice to drive or ride transit. But continually underfunding transit disincentivizes people from using it. Where’s the freeway?

San Diego’s transit system is going through turbulence. City politicians are arguing about fare-skippers on the trolley (light rail) system. It turns out 95% of fare payments are never checked, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. And on the rare chance that someone is checked for proof of payment, there is no heavy fine or light fine to pay for fare-skipping. The guilty simply must purchase a face value ticket at the time of control. It’s been so since 2020 when Wokeism and Social Equity movements were at fever pitch in this city. The result is simple: There is no incentive to buy a fare. Ever. Some city leaders say fines must be imposed, while others say poor people can’t afford the $2.50 (valid for two hours with transfers if using the local transit card/app). Here’s the deal. Make the entire system free for everyone or don’t. There’s no practical way for police staff to determine who can and cannot afford to pay. The politicians who want to continue subsidizing the system for poor people are guilty, in my opinion, of reverse economic classism. #joelacava #sandiego #jennifercampbell #stephenwhitburn #henryfoster #marbivonwilpert #kentlee #raulcampillo #vivianmoreno #seanelorivera

Any opinions on “hostile architecture”? Plenty of it to be found in San Diego’s urban neighborhoods. Critics say it is a cruel way to treat chronically homeless people, many of whom have nowhere to go. They lament that hostile architecture is used to dissuade encampments alongside buildings. Where are the chronically homeless to go, after all? But it’s never just encampments. It’s about safety for everyone including tax paying citizens. Maybe hostile architecture keeps some chronically homeless from defecating in the nooks and crannies of the exterior of the building where you live. Raw feces pose a danger to everyone. It can carry all kinds of nasty things like hepatitis and other diseases. Hostile architecture might keep a chronically homeless person from using drugs there; from acting out on severe mental health issues; from not using the area to change clothes during which they completely expose themselves to you and your children as you walk by. Yes, the chronically homeless issue is complex. I’m all for trying to find solutions. But. But I also live the reality of being in close proximity to this city’s chronic homeless problem. Hostile architecture works to keep everyone safer. Period.

Consistently late public transit is self-defeating during a time when American transit agencies try to lure more riders. I ride transit several times a week. Usually here in San Diego, the bus is often a little bit late. But sometimes you get those real bad days…

The city of San Diego lately has adopted new rules for community planning. One of the newer ones is allowing alternative planning groups to challenge the existing one. The city believes many of the old guard community planning groups aggressively oppose almost all density projects and public transit enhancements to the chagrin of many. It is argued that the old guard community planning groups membership is inclusive to land-owning elite, and off limits to the broader neighborhood population. The logic follows that renters, minorities and density-minded people, who make up a larger percentage of neighborhood population than the elite, have little to no say in how their neighborhood should grow. I am no fan of much of what the government in San Diego does, but maybe they’re barking up the right tree with this newer policy.

San Diego city has a budget deficit for the next fiscal year, which I believe starts 1 July. One immediate cut they’ve made is to bus service. For example the airport bus converts to a 1/2 hour schedule after 7pm. Some weekend buses are also 1/2 hour waits now all day. FREQUENCY is one of the pillars of having a robust transit system. People who have a choice of driving or using the bus will choose the former. No one who has a choice will want to wait 1/2 hour. …and if the bus is late, which is common, then 1/2 hour becomes 35-40 minute frequency. #SDMTS #sandiego #transit