What do you get when you make the theft of up to $950 worth of goods a misdemeanor, barely ever prosecute people who do so, and look the other way as a large-and-increasing homeless population takes over the streets and the shopping malls, leaving trails of hypodermic needles and human waste in the streets, and forcing citizens to deal with an army of aggressive panhandlers?
Here’s just one part of your answer, courtesy of the latest article by Ben Shimkus, US Consumer Reporter for London’s Daily Mail:
The San Francisco Centre, once a shining beacon of economic strength featuring a multi-level golden spiral staircase and ornate Corinthian columns, has been snowballing into oblivion.
Shops have been closing for years. Owners have stopped paying their rent. Auctions for the building’s sale have been continually postponed.
And now, 93 percent of the mall’s 1.56 million square feet of retail is vacant.
At its peak, more than 200 stores attracted deal-seeking shoppers, but today, the mall’s directory only lists 27 open stores.
Officials have blamed the iconic mall’s downturn on pandemic lockdowns, rampant retail theft, and concerns about homelessness.
Opening its doors in 1988, the structure was a nine-story building with multiple flagship stores, and created a San Franciscan phrase, ‘Meet me under the Dome.’
In 2009, the mall won a best-of-the-best award from the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Please be advised that The San Francisco Centre is far from the only location suffering this way (take a look at Union Square and the Embarcadero), and San Francisco is far from the only California city that now lives with the consequences of these decisions.
Also, don’t be fooled by the “statistics” that show crime is down there. When nothing is done against lawbreakers, people don’t bother reporting crimes. The statistics are, in a word, bogus (that’s the nice way to say it).
But – speaking for the voters who, despite the above, keep electing him – I congratulate Governor Gavin Newsom, the former Mayor of San Francisco who now oversees the entire state. Wonderful how your policies have, er, improved things.
And what a great thought it is that you might run for the presidency in 2028, so you can do for the entire country what you have done for California.
