Stench and the City: SF's Summer of Urine
Debra J. Saunders | Aug 09, 2015
How bad is the urine situation in San Francisco? This is not a joke: Monday night, a light pole corroded by urine collapsed and crashed onto a car, narrowly missing the driver. The smell is worse than I have known since I started working for The Chronicle in 1992. It hits your nose on the BART escalator before you reach Market Street. That sour smell can bake for blocks where street people sleep wrapped in dirty blankets. I talked to Mayor Ed Lee and rode around with police to find out what can be done to clean up San Francisco.
Why does the city stink so? With the drought there has been less rain to wash away the city's sins. Prosperity has produced a building boom -- so there are fewer vacant spaces where the homeless can burrow.
I asked Lee Wednesday why other cities seem so much cleaner than San Francisco. "I think they enjoy serious winters," Lee answered -- cold weather can drive street people to easier climates. Ess Eff doesn't have really cold weather: "We're a year-round attraction for various lifestyles."
Lee said things I didn't think I'd hear a San Francisco mayor ever say. Like: "I do think that people are being somewhat more irresponsible." (Remember: The first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it exists.) And: "It's not so much the urination," but "historic levels of drug use."
Changes in California law and policy mean that offenses that once rated as felonies are now misdemeanors. Police can't lock up drug users as they once did. Prisons and jails are releasing inmates who, Lee added, haven't worked through their "bad habits."
This year, Hizzoner has ramped up public restroom access. Newly staffed Pit Stop public toilets have decreased requests for sidewalk steam cleaning in the Tenderloin. They've put a pissoir in Dolores Park. The mayor has budgeted more money for Department of Public Works cleanup crews and for housing to improve the lot of 500 homeless families at a time. The new Navigation Center in the Mission has drawn chronic homeless who resisted programs because they refused to part with their pets and possessions. Last year, the board of supervisors adopted a version of Laura's Law that allows authorities to compel the mentally ill to accept outpatient treatment. Still, Lee warned, better bathroom facilities won't necessarily change the habits of street people who "can't even make a rational decision because they're so drugged out."
Too funny................................................................
Re: The Truth
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 5:19 pm
by Shlomart Ben Yisrael
"Piss that isn't running off your back when you're on all fours in a bathtub in a Castro Street flop house is piss wasted".
:x
Sincerely, Milton
Re: The Truth
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 5:36 pm
by MgoBlue-LightSpecial
When you have to actually commission a company to develop a special pee-resistant paint to "coat" the city with..........you might have a public urination problem.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 6:18 pm
by R-Jack
I blame the drought. Cutting back on drinking water has made bum puss far more acidic.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Sun Aug 09, 2015 7:00 pm
by Jay in Phoenix
"We built this city on Piss and Trolls..."
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 1:30 am
by Wolfman
Have not been to SF since 1994. It was not a huge problem from my perspective then. I bet it is not a problem in Chinatown.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 1:38 am
by trev
Eww. That's pretty gross. I think I'll stay in beautiful Sandy Eggo.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 2:02 am
by Diego in Seattle
trev wrote:Eww. That's pretty gross. I think I'll stay in beautiful Sandy Eggo.
Where one can enjoy the odor of urine as they walk down Broadway (especially by the federal courthouse).
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 2:39 pm
by smackaholic
Wolfman wrote:Have not been to SF since 1994. It was not a huge problem from my perspective then. I bet it is not a problem in Chinatown.
Yeah, some of the other smells in chinatown can give even dehydrated bum piss a run for its money.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 3:03 pm
by The State
Omaha, Nebraska
"Darwin's way of telling you... you've run out of options"
Obviously, it's against the law... to have (mountains, hills, trees, lakes, as well as an ocean)
Too funny...
the truth
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 5:15 pm
by Goober McTuber
The State wrote:Obviously, it's against the law... to have (mountains, hills, trees, lakes, as well as an ocean)
At least there's no river of urine.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 5:27 pm
by Mikey
Goober McTuber wrote:
The State wrote:Obviously, it's against the law... to have (mountains, hills, trees, lakes, as well as an ocean)
At least there's no river of urine.
Like the one in Colorado?
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 5:32 pm
by Goober McTuber
They probably wish that was only urine.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 5:36 pm
by Left Seater
Does CO, NM, AZ etc get to fine the EPA in this situation? You know damn well the EPA would be handing out huge fines if this situation were reversed.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 5:56 pm
by Diego in Seattle
Bravo!
-Robert Maplethorpe
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 6:01 pm
by Goober McTuber
Diego,
Whoever led you to believe that you are the least bit funny has done you (and this board) a tremendous disservice.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 6:25 pm
by Mikey
Left Seater wrote:Does CO, NM, AZ etc get to fine the EPA in this situation? You know damn well the EPA would be handing out huge fines if this situation were reversed.
They fucked up big time and will definitely be sued by multiple parties.
Too bad the mining company that created the original problem no longer exists. Of course mining, oil, coal and other interests should be allowed to extract their resources without any consequences for the toxic shit they leave behind.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 10:05 pm
by Smackie Chan
mvscal wrote:
Stench and the City: SF's Summer of Urine
Too funny................................................................
You obviously just don't get it. Stale, noxious, pole-corroding piss is the fragrant aroma of cosmopolitan sophistication secretly yearned for by fly-over hicks throughout the heartland. Tony Bennett was confused - he left his bladder in SF.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2015 10:24 pm
by Mikey
If you're going to San Francisco
Be sure to walk the Tenderloin if you dare
If you're going to San Francisco
You're gonna meet some homeless people there
For those who come to San Francisco
Summertime has urine in the air
In the streets of San Francisco
Homeless people will pee just anywhere
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 1:15 am
by War Wagon
Goober McTuber wrote:Diego,
Whoever led you to believe that you are the least bit funny has done you (and this board) a tremendous disservice.
Reading a Diego post looking for the funny is like 'spray posting a selfie of his most recent bout with hemorrhoids... things you hope and plan on never seeing.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 1:18 am
by Diego in Seattle
I guess I better watch out....the board's AARP wing is after me.
Wags, have another gulp of communion wine.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 1:30 am
by MgoBlue-LightSpecial
The State wrote:...mountains
SF should just round up all its homeless and stick them in the mountains. The mass runoff of bum pee would create a pissalanche of biblical proportions. Maybe build a drainage system around the base of the mountains where it all goes straight to a purification plant where they turn it into useable water to help with the supply issue.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 1:33 am
by Diego in Seattle
MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:
The State wrote:...mountains
SF should just round up all its homeless and stick them in the mountains. The mass runoff of bum pee would create a pissalanche of biblical proportions. Maybe build a drainage system around the base of the mountains where it all goes straight to a purification plant where they turn it into useable water to help with the supply issue.
They could make it a tourist destination. Who wouldn't want to piss on SF?
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 1:33 am
by mvscal
MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:
The State wrote:...mountains
SF should just round up all its homeless and stick them in the mountains.
Well I stand up next to a mountain...
And I chop it down with the stream of my piss...
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 1:55 am
by The State
MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:
The State wrote:...mountains
SF should just round up all its homeless and stick them in the mountains. The mass runoff of bum pee would create a pissalanche of biblical proportions. Maybe build a drainage system around the base of the mountains where it all goes straight to a purification plant where they turn it into useable water to help with the supply issue.
You Midwesterners... will believe anything. Especially, mvsnqqer's right-wing neoconservative trash mag and all its fallacies.
"Baghdad by the Bay "
The most beautiful city in the world... and its not close.
An uncensored view and trip into "The City"
the truth
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 3:48 am
by Jay in Phoenix
So then Milty, that piss reflecting paint your precious "city" Is implementing everywhere is just for show, right?
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 3:56 am
by The State
Jay in Phoenix wrote:So then Milty, that piss reflecting paint your precious "city" Is implementing everywhere is just for show, right?
The State wrote:You Midwesterners... will believe anything. Especially, mvsnqqer's right-wing neoconservative trash mag and all its fallacies.
Add "desert rats" to the list.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 7:10 am
by The State
There isn't a HOT chick in the world... that doesn't LOVE "Baghdad"
the truth
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 7:28 am
by The State
HOT chicks... LOVE "Baghdad" !
Will it EVER end ?
Not only does this fucking beauty... LOVE... San Francisco... she LOVES pron !
Psst... tards.
Let me let you in on a little secret....
It's GOOD.... being the only "straight" guy in a city full of HOT chicks.
Just a little heads up.
the truth
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 8:03 am
by The State
trev wrote:Eww. That's pretty gross. I think I'll stay in beautiful Sandy Eggo.
Cool.
That desert shithole... needs you.
We're only looking for HOT chicks with a brain.
the truth
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 8:33 am
by The State
Anyways... Baghdad does what Baghdad... does.
Rocked out with ELTON... and 200,000 of my closest friends... Sunday Night !
"Outside Lands"... the LARGEST concert in the WORLD... this year,
Of course, he choose "Baghdad" Sunday night... to get off !
It's how we roll...
Fucking $$$ !!!
You know who I am...
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 8:49 am
by Y2K
Elton came and everyone pissed in the street for an encore..it was epcot!
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 9:09 am
by The State
Y2K wrote:Elton came and everyone pissed in the street for an encore..it was epcot!
Hilarious.
There's a reason why I've kept you in Fresno.
the truth
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 9:21 am
by LTS TRN 2
Having just strode these very stretches this evening, I can assure you the stench is not that bad. There's a good steady breeze blowing it all away. Sure, the huddled freaks--the oddly shaped weird toddling bums--are camping on Duboce under the freeway, and on Harrison and Sixth. But Elton John, regardless of how much they're paying him, is actually dead--something out of The Strain--humphilling along, a nice distraction for texting youth. He offers no truth. None.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 10:20 am
by Carson
You tell 'em, LES PAUL 2.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 11:01 am
by Shlomart Ben Yisrael
Carson wrote:LES PAUL 2
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 1:30 pm
by Goober McTuber
The State wrote:Let me let you in on a little secret....
It's GOOD.... being the only "straight" guy in a city full of HOT chicks.
So.....you know this "straight" guy?
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 2:45 pm
by Mikey
Last time I wanted to see a "concert" with 200,000 people was...never.
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 2:57 pm
by Y2K
Mikey wrote:Last time I wanted to see a "concert" with 200,000 people was...never.
But...It's "the city" man...that's how they roll
Sure,.. You don't live in a town where the infrastruture is crumbling under piss and vomit...
Obviously just another "Elitist" LoCal
Re: The Truth
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2015 3:20 pm
by Mikey
Y2K wrote:
Obviously just another "Elitist" LoCal
Yep that's me. Total "Elitist".
My brother went and saw EJ at Harvey's Tahoe last week with a couple thousand people. Said it rocked, and he actually could see the show. No urine or vomit there either, but probably a lot of Elitists.
