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'Somewhere between 'The Wire' and 'Squid Game'': San Francisco has a major image problem
SF Gate ^ | November 1, 2021 | By Michelle Robertson

Posted on 11/01/2021 9:39:40 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer

Read a smattering of national and even international news headlines and you can see it: San Francisco has an image problem.

It’s not just conservative media slamming the city. The New York Times, the Economist, even British-based publications like the Independent and Sunday Times have run recent stories on the state of San Francisco, ranging from its highly visible housing issues to its shoplifting problems.

“Why San Francisco’s city government is so dysfunctional,” reads a headline from the Economist. “Crime is basically legal in San Francisco,” says another headline from the Daily Mail. The New York Times, meanwhile, just ran an article stating that “the mundane crime of shoplifting has spun out of control in San Francisco, forcing some chain stores to close.”

In an interview with SFGATE, Sam Singer, one of San Francisco’s top communications strategists, approached San Francisco’s image problem from a PR perspective.

“Perception is reality,” he said.

“San Francisco has a deep-rooted and significant image and reputation problem,” he said. “In fact, I would say that the city is in crisis mode.”

Singer said San Francisco’s publicized corruption issues at City Hall and the Department of Building Inspection contribute to the city’s reputation. He noted what he called the city’s unwillingness to arrest and prosecute criminals, which leads to viral videos showing thieves running out of Walgreens with their spoils or tearing through Neiman-Marcus with stolen designer purses. (The mayor’s office and the Chamber of Commerce did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment.)

Singer also said the city’s housing crisis, as evidenced by its visible homeless population, makes San Francisco appear inhospitable to tourists and locals alike.

“You’re looking at a city that is beyond the pandemic, that has a pandemic of mental health, drug abuse, crime and corruption issues”, he said.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: california; crime; democrats; drugs; gavinnewsom; homeless; larryelder; michellerobertson; sanfrancisco; squidgame; thewire
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1 posted on 11/01/2021 9:39:40 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

They’re all a bunch of Bayholes.


2 posted on 11/01/2021 9:40:42 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

When you hear a city is a s***hole you don’t expect it to be literally true.


3 posted on 11/01/2021 9:42:13 AM PDT by \/\/ayne (I regret that I have but one subscription cancellation notice to give to my local newspaper)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Half the article is not about the city’s actual problems, but rather about the fact that “conservative” media call out the city’s actual problems.


4 posted on 11/01/2021 9:43:51 AM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

You can’t polish a turd. In San Francisco’s case, literally.


5 posted on 11/01/2021 9:44:14 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

San Francisco has one of the lowest percentages of POC population of any city in the country.


6 posted on 11/01/2021 9:48:04 AM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Why San Francisco’s city government is so dysfunctional

...for starters. Poster children for Women's Right's' no reason and no accountability. Why these entitled irrational women are elected to run our world is astonishing.

7 posted on 11/01/2021 9:52:29 AM PDT by Jim W N (MAGA by restoring the Gospel of the Grace of Christ (Jude 3) and our Free Constitutional Republic!)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Maybe its the scat or the crime?


8 posted on 11/01/2021 9:53:22 AM PDT by KC_Conspirator
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Oh heck, San Francisco has had an image problem since “Kung Fu” and ‘The Streets of San Francisco”. Hard to explain “The Doris Day Show”, though.


9 posted on 11/01/2021 9:54:32 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana ("There are only men and women."-- George Gilder, Sexual Suicide, 1973)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Well, if you elect criminals they will make crime easier. It’s not rocket science. DemonRATs are criminals. Instead of stealing money from working people to give to moochers they have just removed the middleman and allowed the moochers to steal directly. This should be upsetting the govt unions. No one has to go through the bureaucracy to get free stuff any more.


10 posted on 11/01/2021 9:54:38 AM PDT by Seruzawa ("The Political left is the Garden of Eden of incompetence" - Marx the Smarter (Groucho))
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

1. beggars
2. drugged out bums
3. heroin needles
4. shiit
5. thefts so widespread that major stores can’t stay in business, are closing
6. welfare welfare welfare for the able who could work just fine ... welfare is not given only to persons with serious disabilities or medical problems... it is all over town...
for nice young strong men...
7. free groceries that you can choose and pack into your nice new shiny Lexus or Honda, no questions asked
8. average used house price in non-descript “nothing special” neighborhoods...over $2,000,000
9. traffic congestion up the kazoo
10 roads breaking up, ruin your tires and alignment
11 power goes off frequently
12 phone service is poor, too
13 gasoline $5.69 a gallon and going up (state regulation restrictions on supply)
14 good steaks $26.99 a pound at butcher
15.egg salad (to make sandwiches) 12.99 a pint
16 a good hamburger at a joint $11
17 a good hamburger at a sit down restaurant $15 to $20
18 dinner for two at a good local diner, no wine.. $80 to $120
19 lunch for two at a regular down-scale diner...$40
20 tickets for two to see a stage show... $320 (some higher)

any more questions about San Fransicko?
oh yes, communist politicians always restricting or depriving you of your basic human rights and liberties
and
21. rent for one bedroom apartment without a parking space in “second life” rehab area (slum being rebuilt) $4000
where you take your life in your hands if you walk outside at might
22 rent for little house in non-descript but safe neighborhood $7000, $8000 and up


11 posted on 11/01/2021 9:54:59 AM PDT by faithhopecharity (“Politicians are not born. They’re excreted.” Marcus Tillius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))
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To: Jim W N

Mayor London Breed and Frau Nancy.
Sometimes, I think Mayor Breed has been getting paid to leave
certain problems unfixed.
That, or she allows Labor Unions to make too many decisions.

It should be in your face obvious that the first order of business
must be to change the rule of $950. robbery not being seen as a felony.
Why is this still going on? Walgreens has pretty much given up
on San Francisco.


12 posted on 11/01/2021 9:57:47 AM PDT by lee martell
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
The mayor's a piece of work:

Her younger sister died of a drug overdose in 2006 and her brother is in prison serving a 44-year sentence for a 2000 manslaughter and armed robbery conviction, for which Breed has repeatedly asked for clemency from the governor's office; in August 2021, she was fined for abusing her office in doing so.

I used to love going to SF each year, and did so for 17 years for a conference. Went there in 2020 and was one block off Fisherman's Wharf only to find human excrement all over the sidewalks, people passed out in doorways, and used needles in the gutters. I'm done with SF...you can have it.

13 posted on 11/01/2021 10:00:18 AM PDT by econjack (I'm not bossy. I just know what you should be doing.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

SF has a reputation for feces, homosexuality, high housing costs, shoplifting, car breaks ins and car theft.

What are the positives of SF? Why does anyone still live there?


14 posted on 11/01/2021 10:00:53 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Flew in there and spent the afternoon on my way to north Cali back in the 80s. Beautiful city but the people however....and it was a freak show back then.

Can’t imagine now....wouldn’t go there to throw up.


15 posted on 11/01/2021 10:03:40 AM PDT by V_TWIN
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To: Dilbert San Diego

“Why does anyone still live there?”

I’m thinking its mostly a 2 class city. Either your rich enough to insulate yourself from the mess or your too poor to be able to leave.


16 posted on 11/01/2021 10:05:53 AM PDT by V_TWIN
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To: lee martell

As I said, these women are poster children for Women’s Right’s’ no reason and no accountability. Why these entitled irrational women are elected to run our world is astonishing.


17 posted on 11/01/2021 10:09:11 AM PDT by Jim W N (MAGA by restoring the Gospel of the Grace of Christ (Jude 3) and our Free Constitutional Republic!)
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To: econjack
I used to love going to SF each year, and did so for 17 years for a conference. ...I'm done with SF...you can have it.

In my case, at least twice yearly since 1965. No more. Finito.

18 posted on 11/01/2021 10:12:30 AM PDT by Salvey
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Crime is not legal for everyone in SF. Only certain demographic groups.


19 posted on 11/01/2021 10:17:31 AM PDT by Brilliant
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To: faithhopecharity

You left out the disgusting displays around of Castro street and seeing homos openly fondling each other in broad daylight.


20 posted on 11/01/2021 10:22:58 AM PDT by Chainmail (Frater magnus te spectat)
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