Homelessness in Downtown San Francisco

I’ve found the disparity between the classy neighborhoods of Russian Hill and Nob Hill pretty interesting in contrast to other parts of downtown San Francisco, especially after talking with some in the homeless community there. I’ve been building a rapport with “Big Man” who hangs out at his usual spot at the top of the stairs at Embacradero Station. Even though he’s not one of my beat’s denizens, I do like talking to him after hiking north over both hills, catching the ‘F’ on Beach Street, riding it back to Big Man’s station.

“Nickel for a smile, nickel for a smile man…” he repeats, shaking a near empty Starbuck’s cup and holding a portable radio playing the Giants game.

He’s very articulate. We talked baseball for a while before he pointed out a man hunched over a shopping cart headed toward Justin Herman Plaza. He told me that the man is pretty “hard” and is usually pretty strung out.

I’d really like to talk more with Big Man because he’s a great conversationalist.

The homeless in these nicer neighborhoods, in contrast to their counterparts in places like the Tenderloin or around Civic Center, walk up and down the street wearing dirty sport coats and an honest look on their face. One who can illustrate this was a man I talked to on my way home from The Union Room named Daniel. Despite the fact his sport coat was really dirty and buttoned incorrectly, I felt like he was genuine. After we’d talked I gave him the 30-something cents I’d left in my pocket and started to move on. He kept asking for more, almost begging. It was actually sort of hard to turn a shoulder and walk away after a while.

Sometimes, I feel like the homeless people I’m talking to are playing me like a fiddle, just trying to get something out of me.

Geary Street and O’Farrell Street are both really great for finding homeless people to talk to. That’s usually where the action generally is too. I spoke with a few business owners around Union Square and found that in general, they are really bothered that the homeless exist, especially in their city. At the same time, I did get a lot of those instances where the person I’m talking to lets out this long sigh before starting again with some compassion. It’s a fascinating coexistence and I’d like to explore it further to accentuate how these two neighborhoods have many faces. Russian Hill at night is usually pretty quiet in contrast to Nob Hill, but I’m wondering if Russian Hill Park is one of those places where camps form after dark.

I discovered a series done by The San Francisco Chronicle that detailed the city’s homeless. It is loaded with really great material that has helped to point me in a direction where I would hopefully find the right questions to ask. Very educating.