San Francisco made significant efforts to revamp its streets ahead of the crucial U.S.-China summit, including removing homeless camps in the city. Here’s the whole story.
The Conference
In a conference unveiling the city’s plan, California Governor Gavin Newsom said, “I know folks are saying, ‘Oh they’re just cleaning up this place because all those fancy leaders are coming to town.’ That’s true because it’s true — but it’s also true for months and months and months before APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit], we’ve been having conversations.”
Economic Boost
San Francisco Mayor London Breed also said at the conference that he anticipated an economic injection of $53 million into San Francisco’s economy due to the summit, sharing the city’s reliance on tourism.
The Concerns
While the city’s cleanliness has notably improved, the visible reduction in homeless encampments on major streets has sparked concerns about the displacement of unhoused individuals.
Historical Encampments
Internal communications from the city administration shared concerns about historical encampments, especially in areas close to priority locations.
Strategic Cleanup
The specific areas flagged for attention due to their historical homeless crisis significantly reduced tent encampments just days before the APEC summit.
The Summit
The summit, hosting President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, addressed various global tensions, including those around Taiwan, Ukraine, and the Middle East.
Economic Opportunities
City officials, such as Aaron Peskin, recognized the summit as a substantial economic opportunity.
They Just Do the Bare Minimum
Some community activists and observers, such as Ricci Lee Wynne, criticized the city’s actions as temporary and said, “They’ve cleared out the tents that were near the Moscone Center on Howard Street, which tells me the city had the capability to do this all along — instead they just do the bare minimum.”
The Tents Will Return
“Once APEC is gone, police presence will start to simmer down again, the tents will return, and it will slowly flare up again. What we need is a permanent solution,” Lee added.
The Public Expressed Their Views
Several social media users shared their thoughts on the incident.
One Twitter user wrote, “Just because it’s cleaned up doesn’t mean the problems have gone away. Just sweeping dirty under the rug doesn’t get rid of the dirt.”
Taxation Without Representation
Another user added, “Cleaning the city for the foreign communist leader, but not for the people that are actually paying for it. It almost seems like taxation without representation.”
This Is Wild
A third user commented, “The fact that he’s letting China’s leader come here, and the fact that they’re cleaning it up for him is wild.”
The post San Francisco’s Cleanup Ahead of U.S.-China Summit – Is It an Economic Boost or Temporary Solution? first appeared on Wealthy Living.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Philip Pilosian. The people shown in the images are for illustrative purposes only, not the actual people featured in the story.
