A third of San Francisco residents plan to leave, two-thirds say the city is in decline in bleak new poll

Survey respondents attributed the city’s decline to its homeless problem, crime, and exorbitant housing prices.

A third of San Francisco residents plan to leave, two-thirds say the city is in decline in bleak new poll
AP Photo/Eric Risberg
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A new poll conducted by the San Francisco Chronicle found that two-thirds of San Francisco residents say the city is in decline, with 37% expressing their desire to move out of the city. 

The poll, which surveyed 1,653 adults, and was carried out by the publication following the recall election of progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin, paints a bleak image of the city which was once famed for its liberal culture and contributions to the arts. 

The city, marred by years of Democrat neglect, is the portrait of urban decay, riddled with homeless encampments and drug addicts who shoot up on the sidewalk. 

The city has been described in the Daily Mail by author David Marcus as a “rancid drug-ravaged pit of human misery,” and a “fentanyl-ravaged hellhole.” 

Survey respondents attributed the city’s decline to its homeless problem, crime, and exorbitant housing prices. 

Around 70% of those who responded to the poll said that they doubted any of these problems would improve in three years. 

A staggering 84% of respondents over the age of 65 said they are planning to leave. 

Respondents who spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle blamed Mayor London Breed, who was praised for steering San Francisco through the pandemic, but now struggles to deal with the rise in crime, drug abuse, and widespread homelessness. 

35% said that the mayor was doing a “poor” or “very poor” job in improving the lives of San Franciscans over the past three years since she took office. Only 42% of respondents said she did a fair job, followed by 23% who said she did a “good” or “excellent” job. 

The San Francisco Chronicle reported: 

The result is a city that has already ejected from office its district attorney and three school board members. Unhappiness with law enforcement has led to rallies by Asian Americans protesting violence against their elders and a lack of police protection and prosecutions. Frustration over homelessness and its impact on street life in the Castro district led to a threat by the neighborhood’s merchants’ association to withhold business taxes.

John Whitehurst, a political consultant, said he has “never seen voters more upset and angry in San Francisco than they have been over the last two years and continue to be, and that anger gets expressed in many ways. Two ways, recently, include the district attorney recall and the Board of Education recall.”

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