A hazy morning just before six. The clean-up crew starts washing away the greasy residue left over from last nights gritty revelry. Police horns leave jagged echoes preparing for daylight, and the dollar toting tourist are headed to Union Square.
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Fog laden San Francisco, rolling hills and the home of the original forty-niners. Frisco, the Hobart, Embarcadero and Fisherman’s Wharf. But there are other corners to this busy metropolis, dark seedy blocks, where the homeless eek out a rough existence between predators and prey. It’s a rugged playground for those at the bottom of the totem pole. Dingy Market Street’s Tenderloin district is an uncompromising magnet to the dregs and homeless of San Francisco.
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Daylight: Market Street bustles with activity bordering on civil, but at night, the sleaze and scum come out to play. Junkies and hookers ply for business with zeal. Empathy thrown to the wind as the homeless squirm somewhere in between. It’s not uncommon for a foreign tourist to get lost and become a victim in the deep shadows of Market street. Police patrols and neighborhood watch have done their to best maintain clarity in this blemish on the city by the bay.
San Francisco has much to offer, it’s lovely city by the bay. Wonderful architecture, parks and a hip, up-beat flair. Often called the most European city in the US, San Francisco’s a city everyone who visits the west coast should see.
Just during your next visit, stay clear of the Tenderloin district.
