I’ll tell you, anyplace what has a neighborhood association named after it is no place for your Bounder RV.
Driving 3 MPH on Ewing Terrace, looking for a place for the night:
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I mean, these NIMBYs have the local police station captain’s phone number on speed-dial, so why not instead try the Panhandle or Post Street (near Scott) or SoMA or someplace else where nobody cares that much about you?
All right, let’s see here.
Hint #1 is the way your ride is sitting on its haunches like a dog, like you removed the engine and put it in the trunk. Like you and your bud have flopped down the back seats to turn your Subie into a rolling motel, right near Haight- Ashbury.
Hint #2 is the way your ride, unlike the others on the block, is all fogged up inside because you refuse to crack your windows a bit because you don’t want people coming into your car at night to get at you or your collection of contraband / stolen goods / lifestyle accessories what’s also tucked away in the back of your red Subie.
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Now the cops of the Haight might not mess with you or anything, you know, ’cause they have bigger fish to fry, but they knows what you’re up to.
They knows.
Now this isn’t a steam grate per se, but when temps are in the high 30′s, the way they’ve been lately some mornings, you can actually see water vapor coming up from the sidewalk. That shows where the warm spots are.
And then if the commuters are quiet enough, you can sleep all morning:
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Or something:
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Perhaps they later sped to the Financh in time for an evening drive photo shoot in the middle of Market street with the cars whizzing by?
We can only hope…
In many parts of the world, people have a place to live but they can’t afford a laptop PC or a car.
In San Francisco, things are a bit different:
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For various reasons. (Can you list them?)
All the condensate on the windows – that’s how the SFPD knows you’re sleeping in your car. The cops don’t really care though.
(Your laptop keeps you in the loop and lets you look for work, of course.)
Anyway, this scene is a sign of the times, 2010s-style.
This is the scene on San Francisco’s Market Street near Union Square – can you see the sign going, “NO OVERNIGHT CAMPING“?
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That’s the way San Francisco property owners do things using Municipal Police Code Section 25. A sign like this tells the cops that the person hanging out on private property hasn’t been given permission.
Distribution of “No Trespassing” Signs July 2008: The Community Guides distributed the “No Trespassing” signs to merchants,building security/concierge, and street-level businesses. The signs request enforcementof the Municipal Police Code Section 25 to all the street level businesses.After signing the forms, the merchants, street-level tenants and property representatives displayed the notices on the windows of their business and other visible places, they do not give anyone permission to sleep, lie, or in any way remain in their doorway. These notices help SFPD and Community Guides address issues of sleepers and campers inside ofdoorways. The notice expires every six months
See? This one is similar:
NO TRESPASSING REQUEST FOR ENFORCEMENT OF MUNICIPAL POLICE CODE SECTION 25 San Francisco Municipal Police Code Section 25 provides that no person shall willfully rema.in upon any private property or business premises after being notified to leave by the owner, lessee, or other person in charge . Notice may be oral or in the form of a written notice posted in a conspicuous place. A violation of Section 25 is an infraction. A second violation within 24 hours (Section 26) is a misdemeanor. To the San Francisco Police Department: I hereby request that the San Francisco Police Department enforce the above Municipal Police Code Sections on my beha-If and in my absence. I have given no person(s) permission to sleep, lie, or in any way remain within my doorway located at (private property) while my business is closed. _- I further state that I will notify the San Francisco Police Department in writing within 24 hours if I do give a person(s) permission to sleep, lie, or in any way remain within said doorway, providing the Police Department with the person(s) name. I agree to post a copy of this notice in a location where it will be visible to all persons within said area. I understand that this letter of request expires six months after the below-signed date. Signature of owner or agent Date: Address 2 copies: Owner AGENT TO POST JULY THRU DECEMBER YEAR.
The three youths here sleeping through mid-morning rain in the Upper Haight area typify some of the homeless of San Francisco. These Alexander Supertramps carry backpacks and sleeping bags, just like campers at a national park.
Three teens at Clayton and Page, just two blocks away from the landmark Ben and Jerry’s: Click to expand:
And here’s the remnants of a campground kitchen in the nearby Golden Gate Park Panhandle:
And here are your facilities (trucked in all the way from Kentucky) – it’s the Panhandle bathroom near Ashbury Street. It looks just like what some Yosemite Park campers get.
So that’s Urban Camping as practiced by the youths of Hashbury.
This pair of Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) are definitely taking a rest with their heads tucked in.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean they close their golden eyes…
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As seen in the Wildfowl Pond in the San Francisco Botanical Garden (nee Strybing) inside Golden Gate Park.
