The homelessness rate in San Francisco has risen by 7 percent since 2022, despite the city seeing a decrease in the number of people living on the streets, recently released data show.
Unsheltered homeless people are defined as those sleeping in public spaces, cars, tents, or on the streets. HSH counted 4,355 unsheltered people across the city on Jan. 30, a 1 percent decline from 4,397 in 2022.
The department counted 2,913 people living in tents or on the streets, a 13 percent decline since 2022, marking “the lowest it has been in 10 years,” according to the data. Meanwhile, the number of people living in vehicles spiked by 37 percent, going from 1,049 to 1,442.
HSH identified 437 homeless families in San Francisco on Jan. 30, up by 94 percent since 2022. Of these, 143 families were unsheltered, and the majority of them—90 percent—were living in vehicles.
There were 3,969 homeless people living in shelters as of Jan. 30, representing a 39 percent increase from 2019, the data show. San Francisco Mayor London Breed said that local authorities are working to move homeless people off the streets and into shelters.
“This is safer and healthier for people on our streets, and it is better for all of us that want a cleaner and safer San Francisco,” Ms. Breed said in a statement.
“Our City workforce is dedicated to making a difference, and we will keep working to get tents off our streets, bring people indoors, and change the conditions in our neighborhoods.”
San Francisco has increased shelter capacity by more than 60 percent since 2018, and more incoming shelter beds will bring the expansion to 66 percent, according to the mayor’s office.
“San Francisco has also increased housing slots by over 50 [percent] since 2018, giving San Francisco the most housing for the formerly homeless of any city in the Bay Area and the second most per-capita in the country,” it stated.
Rise in Homelessness Sparks Lawsuit
The rising homelessness in San Francisco has led some residents and businesses in the Tenderloin neighborhood to file a lawsuit against the city.They accused officials of running a covert policy that corrals illegal drug dealing and use in their neighborhood, and allowing homeless tent encampments to crowd sidewalks.
In a complaint filed on March 14 at the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, four individual plaintiffs said they fear for the safety of their families, and three businesses said the conditions on sidewalks scare away customers.
The plaintiffs were not seeking monetary damages but only requesting an order requiring that officials stop treating the Tenderloin neighborhood as a “containment zone” and comply with its responsibility to ensure that sidewalks and public spaces in the neighborhood are kept clean, safe, and accessible.
The 38-page complaint also includes dozens of dramatic photographs of homeless encampments blocking sidewalks and of people injecting drugs.
Plaintiff “Barbara Roe finds it ‘difficult and scary’ to navigate through the crowds around her residence,” the complaint reads. “People under the influence block the door to her building. When she politely asks them to move so that she can pass, she fears that they will attack her.”
“Encampments, garbage, and biological hazards make it difficult or impossible for even able-bodied guests and patrons to navigate on the public walkways around the hotel,” the complaint reads.
