The negative impacts of Governor Gavin Newsom’s California Comeback Plan and other lenient law enforcement policies are being felt across the Golden State, and nowhere more than San Francisco.
As Governor Newsom rolled out his California Comeback Plan last year, he said “To the extent that people want to come here for new beginnings and all income levels, that’s part of the California dream.” In San Francisco, homelessness has been a growing problem for years, and living on the streets is easier there because the progressive city simply doesn’t enforce its anti-camping laws.
Author of “Apocalypse Never” and “San Francscko,” Michael Shellenberger posted some of his street-interviews in a Twitter thread on Wednesday. One man, identified as James, said he moved from Texas to California because he knew California has more lenient laws regarding living on the street and welfare. Regarding being homeless in the Bay Area, James said “”If you’re gonna be homeless, it’s pretty f***ing easy here,” continuing, “I mean, if we’re gonna be realistic, they pay you to be homeless here.”
In another interview from Shellenberger, a man identified as Ben pushed back against the narrative people are largely driven to homelessness by poverty. Instead, Ben said that drug addiction is by far the primary cause of homelessness in the area. Ben also claimed that the majority of the homeless in San Francisco are not originally from the Bay Area, and that most have come to San Francisco because of the city’s lenient law enforcement.
Photo Cred: Anne Wernikoff/CalMatters
