The Mission District in San Francisco has been one of the most desired districts to live for many, including out-of-state and wealthy people, as it has one of the best climates in the city, grocery stores everywhere, food restaurants of many different cultures, and most of all, at very low prices compared to the rest of the city. SF is one of the most expensive cities to live in the United States. Its residential buildings are mostly Victorian-era architecture.
I remember what a real estate agent once told me several decades ago, when the district, or Latino barrio as it is known, was a very dangerous place to live due to violent gang activity. There were shootings in broad daylight. The taxi drivers did not want to go to pick up clients there, many corners were taken as territories of different gangs. Drug sales were rampant.
“I have a client from New York with a lot of money who needs me to find even a room for his daughter in the Mission District, and mostly on 24th Street,” the agent said. “I didn’t understand why this man wanted something so dangerous for his daughter.”
“But that’s where my daughter wants to live,” the prospective client told the agent.
However, thanks to the federal government, most of the gang members were gradually captured and sent -silently- to their respective countries in Central America. What now represents a serious headache for the governments that received them.
For many years this Latino district has become a jewel for non-Hispanic investors, as it also enjoys the best urban transportation in the city.
However, recently, things have not been going very well after the pandemic.
One block from the El Reportero office on Mission Street and 23er, there is a Walgreens store, very convenient for buying basic emergency items, including a pharmacy that opens until 12 at midnight.
One block away is the BART (subway) station.
Almost all day, all week, thieves enter the store with large bags and backpacks and fill them up. They leave without paying, walking in front of the employees and the private security hired by the store, since they calculate that what they steal does not exceed $1,000.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law mandating that violators – or thieves – not be arrested if what they steal is less than $1,000.
They rush to the BART station to sell their merchandize to the sidewalk vendors, and, of course, this has turned the BART plaza into a hub for thieves and buyers of stolen goods. The police have their hands tied with this law, and young people are licensed by the state to steal whatever they want.
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elreporteroTV camera capture this young man putting merchandise in his bag and exiting the store without paying:
