How bad have things gotten in San Francisco?
A local guide now offers a “Downtown Doom Loop Walking Tour,” to “start at City Hall, and continue through Mid-Market, the Tenderloin, and Union Square. We will view the open-air drug markets, the abandoned tech offices, the outposts of the nonprofit industrial complex, and the deserted department stores.”
It’s no joke: Thanks to the woke policies adopted by the bulk of the city’s electeds, the “doom loop” — i.e., a vicious circle where bad conditions breed taxpayer and business exodus that clears the way for even worse conditions — is all too real.
Take crime. Under woke former DA Chesa Boudin, convictions for serious crimes and quality of life offenses dropped.
One jaw-dropping figure: Just 6% of those charged with dealing drugs from 2018 to 2022 have been convicted.
Now, Whole Foods has shuttered its flagship location, retail goods are regularly locked or chained up, and small business owners are assaulted for daring to stand up to street thugs.
Things have gotten so bad that Uncle Sam is officially scared: The Department of Health and Human Services office in downtown SF recently advised its employees to work from home rather than risk falling victim to street crime.
That the building these workers will now be avoiding is named after Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would be a hilarious irony, if it weren’t a tragedy.
Homelessness? Another massive problem. It’s up 35% since 2019, with about 38,000 individuals homeless on any given night.
The progressive response? A lawsuit by the Coalition for the Homeless that resulted in a federal injunction against clearing encampments.
Combine that with the city’s lax drug posture (a new diversion program by new DA Brooke Jenkins, for example, has been a miserable failure) and the result?
Open-air drug markets where dealers hawk fentanyl and other poisons as they prey on the vulnerable in total safety from real consequences.
No wonder famed comedian Dave Chappelle asked, “What the f— happened to this place?” in a recent show.
So it’s clear why the “Doom Loop Walking Tour” is already sold out — and that it contains a potent warning for New York and progressive-dominated cities across the country.
Our own progressive overlords have put in place eerily similar policies.
How long before we get our own Doom Loop tour?