San Francisco has a lot to offer the millions of tourist who visit the city every year. Destinations like Pier 39, Alcatraz, and the famous cable cars make for incredible shots and amazing memories for families looking to travel.
Only, these days, San Francisco's dark underbelly, never far from the surface, has become harder and harder to ignore amid the picturesque scene of a city. Human feces, homeless camps, needles litter the streets beyond the formerly 'rough' parts of town, like the Tenderloin District.
“The streets are filthy. There’s trash everywhere. It’s disgusting,” the president of S.F. Travel, Joe D’Alessandro told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I’ve never seen any other city like this — the homelessness, dirty streets, drug use on the streets, smash-and-grabs.
D'Allesandro says visitors to the city are complaining about their experiences in San Francisco, saying that while they love the city, seeing people inject themselves with drugs in broad daylight, take away from the tourist's experience.
Some tourists are even threatened by many of the homeless who appear either mentally ill, or high.
One Australian gamer wrote on Twitter that San Francisco was a "dangerous city" after visiting for a Game Developers Conference, which drew some 28,000 international visitors. The man wrote that after being mugged, and having his credit card stolen, the whole experience left him feeling unsafe.
Leaders of several associations that hold events in San Francisco sent a letter to the late Mayor Ed Lee, asking him to do something about the dirty streets, threatening behavior, and public defecation. The letter promised that the city would see fewer conventions in future years should the situation remain unchanged.
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