A planned sold-out “doom loop” tour of drug-infested San Francisco was canceled, and community leaders tried to stage “positive walks” – only to continue walking past high-camp addicts and homeless people.
Tourists and curious locals have shelled out $30 a pop on Eventbrite for a weekend tour that promises an up-close-and-personal experience with San Francisco, “a model of urban decay” — complete with walking past “open-air drug markets and empty office and retail space.
But the tour guide, listed only as “SF Anonymous Insider,” failed to show at Saturday’s event, claiming he was afraid to perform because of all the controversy surrounding him.
“Unfortunately, the huge media interest means that it is not possible to maintain my privacy while publicly posting the time of the visit and the location of the meeting,” he wrote in a message to clients, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Community activist Del Seymour and others with the nonprofit Code Tenderloin — who had gathered at the designated starting point to protest the event — then led about 70 people on a nearly 2-mile “anti-doom loop tour” through areas like City Hall, Union Square, Mid-Market and the Tenderloin District.
One of their stops, the Civic Center district, is virtually empty except for half-baked drug addicts bent over after being high on fentanyl and other drugs.
As tour groups walk past shuttered stores like the Whole Foods grocery store on Market Street, drug deals happen in broad daylight.
A homeless man yelled at some of the group as they passed through the camp.
Del Seymour, dubbed the Mayor of the Tenderloin District, speaks to tour participants of the Celebrate the Tenderloin Tour outside San Francisco City Hall on Saturday. David G. McIntyre
As Seymour took the group to Glide Memorial Church and a nightclub called Power Exchange in the Tenderloin neighborhood, the participants passed through rows of tents, many with homeless addicts passed out inside.
In the corner, men exchange crumpled money for foil balls.
Some openly smoked fentanyl and other drugs as the tour group walked past them.
The stench of urine mixed with human and animal excrement was at times appetizing as Seymour briskly walked toward the group past the notorious corner of Hyde and Turk streets, where drug deals are rife especially “when the sun goes down,” a local resident told The Post.
Tour participants in the Celebrate Tenderloin Tour traverse the heart of the Tenderloin District at Turk and Hyde Streets in San Francisco on Saturday.David G. McIntyre
A few homeless men and women lying on street corners looked up in confusion as a group of tourists walked past them.
Serena, a member of the group carrying snacks and water in her bag, stopped to give some homeless people and a woman her food.
The woman, who was passed out on the ground, was so high on drugs that she couldn’t lift her head to say thank you.
Another man took a deep breath from the pipe and blew smoke into the air.
A homeless person washes his feet on the sidewalk as tour participants on the Celebrate Tenderloin Tour walk through the Tenderloin District.David G. McIntyre
He took one of the snacks Serena offered.
“It’s hard because housing here has turned into a crisis,” Serena told The Post. “It feels like City Hall isn’t listening to the community and this is the downfall of a broken system that we’re seeing.”
During the two-hour tour, Seymour talked about the various programs available in the Tenderloin, including subsidized low-income housing where families pay just $400 for a three-bedroom apartment that would normally rent for $5,000 to $8,000 a month.
Seymour also pointed to the various services available to homeless people in the area, including free meals and housing, but also told The Post part of the struggle involves getting those who need help to realize they need it.
Homeless encampments on the street as tour participants on the Celebrate Tenderloin Tour walk through the area.David G. McIntyre
“If I’m not at home and mentally challenged, you can’t just spend 30 seconds and then leave after I say no,” he said. “You have to sit with me and talk to me politely. It might take an hour, it might take two, but you have to give me that time and build that trust with me so that we can make some sort of compromise.”
As for the “doom loop” tour, the activist said, “I fell out of my chair laughing at the cruelty of people in San Francisco to have to suggest something like this.
“This is not healthy or helpful at all for our people,” he said. “We don’t want to live in the situation we’re in. We want to do something about it, but you can’t do something about it when people hit you.”
Dany Vallerand said she initially wanted to take the advertised “doom loop” tour because she doesn’t usually feel comfortable going through the area herself.
Participants and organizers sing outside San Francisco City Hall before they join the Celebrate Tenderloin Tour. David G. McIntyre
“I just thought it would be really cool, and I hope the money goes to a good cause, like some charity,” he told The Post. “I’m looking forward to exploring the Tenderloin in a way that I wouldn’t normally be comfortable doing on my own and in the company of others with different points of view.”
Vallerand said that while he was “very happy” to go on the anti-doom loop tour instead, he said downtown San Francisco’s economy has hurt many residents like himself, as major businesses have left the area and property values have declined.
Vallerand said he recently sold his condo for $150,000 below its asking price.
“It’s very difficult to see it happen here,” he said.
Tour participants of the Celebrate Tenderloin Tour walk past the now-closed Whole Foods Market on Mid-Market Street.David G. McIntyre
More than 20 businesses, including Nordstrom, Whole Foods and Old Navy, have left the area since January 2022.
While locals like Vallerand decided to join the opposition tour, others who signed up for the original version of the “doom loop” were disappointed that they didn’t get what they paid for and left.
But Serena said she decided to take part in the tour “positively” because the initial Eventbrite listing offended her.
“They want to showcase the doom of the Tenderloin, and to me, it sounds very f-ked up,” said Serena, who did not want to give her last name. “I can’t believe it sold out.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
