Our Very Own No-Go Zone - San Francisco

“In light of the conditions at the [federal building] we recommend employees … maximize the use of telework for the foreseeable future,” Cheryl Campbell, HHS Assistant Secretary for Administration.

That is a portion of a memo sent out to all federal employees in San Francisco days ago. Crime is so bad in downtown San Francisco where the federal building in question is located that your government no longer considers it safe to have them come to work. One of America’s greatest cities is now a no-go zone on par with the worst hellholes on the planet.

In an open letter to city leaders recently, the owner of one of San Francisco’s most historic businesses, Gump’s luxury department store, laid out clearly what has happened to the city under Democratic leadership.

In a full-page ad published in the San Francisco Chronicle, Gump’s CEO John Chachas said in part.

"Gump's has been a San Francisco icon for more than 165 years. Today, as we prepare for our 166th holiday season at 250 Post Street, we fear this may be our last because of the profound erosion of this city's current conditions."

"San Francisco now suffers from a ‘tyranny of the minority’ —behavior and actions of the few that jeopardize the livelihood of the many. The ramifications of COVID policies advising people to abandon their offices are only beginning to be understood. Equally devastating has been a litany of destructive San Francisco strategies, including allowing the homeless to occupy our sidewalks, to openly distribute and use illegal drugs, to harass the public, and to defile the city's streets." 

"Such abject disregard for civilized conduct makes San Francisco unlivable for its residents, unsafe for our employees, and unwelcoming to visitors from around the world."

The streets and sidewalks of downtown San Francisco are open sewers. Homeless people and drug addicts defecate openly anywhere they want. The city’s response has been to launch an app called Snapcrap (I did not make that up). This lets city residents take pictures of human feces and send the pictures to the city which will then dispatch a team to clean up the mess.

San Francisco has one of the highest crime rates in America. It is more dangerous than 98% of the communities in California. Homicides are up 20.7% since the beginning of the year, while robberies and motor vehicle thefts are up 14% and 13%, respectively, according to San Francisco police data.

Nordstrom’s just pulled out of San Francisco. Target has its entire product range locked up to prevent shoplifting. Whole Foods also appears to be pulling out. These are not isolated cases. Everyone is getting out.

There were 203 retailers open on the streets surrounding San Francisco’s historic Union Square in 2019. By May 2023, only 107, or 53%, were still in business.

The entire Westfield Mall in downtown San Francisco has shut its doors. The owners of the mall left no doubt as to the reason they were closing up shop.

“A growing number of retailers and businesses are leaving the area due to the unsafe conditions for customers, retailers, and employees, coupled with the fact that these significant issues are preventing an economic recovery of the area,” a mall spokesperson said.

Employees at Target which now keeps its entire inventory under lock and key had this to say about shoplifting in talking to local news recently.

"Every 10 minutes you see it," another worker said who also did not wish to be named. "Look in some corner of the store, and you'll see people shoveling stuff into a bag—food, cosmetics."

Another worker who also spoke on the condition they not be named said lipstick and nail polish were regularly stolen in handfuls.

Yet another staff member reported regularly seeing homeless people taking food and sometimes eating it in the store. Tin foil is also taken in large quantities because it is used to smoke fentanyl.

Congressman Kevin Kiley of California perhaps summed all of this up best in a recent Tweet.

“Crime in San Francisco is so out-of-control that employees at the Federal Building are being told to stay home. The building is home to Nancy Pelosi's office, as well as the U.S. Departments of Labor and Health & Human Services.

HHS, which is headed by former CA Attorney General Xavier Becerra, told workers to "maximize the use of telework for the foreseeable future" because of "conditions" around the building. The SF Chronicle described those conditions:

"Dozens of dealers routinely plant themselves on, next to or across the street from the property, operating in shifts as users smoke, snort or shoot up their recent purchases."

In recent months, San Francisco's decline has reached a point of total collapse. Whole Foods, Nordstrom, T-Mobile, Saks, and Anthropologie all announced their departure because of crime. Newsom even claimed he was sending in the National Guard.

If California offers a preview of where our country is headed, San Francisco offers an even starker warning. This is where failed policies, radical politics, and public corruption are in their most advanced stage – and where residents are most rapidly fleeing.”

The world is filled with hellholes and no-go zones. We have one right here in America now. It’s called San Francisco.