People living in San Francisco’s NoPa neighborhood say they’re frustrated by encampments that have been popping up along with an increase in crime.
The fire Wednesday night at the corner of Fell Street and Central Avenue torched one neighbor’s car and a family with two small kids said it was close to their home.
“It’s dangerous. Like this fire was really scary, and it could have burned down this building,” said San Francisco Jed B.
San Francisco resident Linda Posage, who lost her car, is also breathing a sigh of relief.
“I was glad no one was injured,” she said.
Posage is now without a car and she blames city officials for the fire and the increase in crime around her neighborhood.
She said there is one solution that needs to be made.
“Using money that has been earmarked in the city funds for affordable housing,” Posage said.
Hundreds of millions of dollars of unspent affordable housing funds.
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Neighbors said they started seeing the tents and more crime during the pandemic.
“Very rapidly we started seeing some change with homelessness, tent encampments, drug use popping up around the neighborhood,” said Francesco Favaro of San Francisco.
In fact, just a couple of hours before the tent and car caught fire Wednesday, another neighbor two blocks away captured this video from their home.
Police responded quickly to the fight at Masonic Avenue and Grove Street, but neighbors say it’s another example of how the once quiet NoPa neighborhood has changed.
Favaro is helping organize a grassroots non-profit to pay for improvements in the neighborhood and said that the city has tried to help.
“The city is offering some services, but often times it’s the homeless population that’s not accepting the services that are being offered,” he said.
So, he wants a new city code when it comes to helping the unhoused.
“If shelter is being offered, we need these folks to take shelter. That’s the way it is in New York, where people cannot refuse shelter,” said Favaro.
Some neighbors agree a law like that could also work in San Francisco.
“Safety issues should not be political issues. It’s not safe,” said San Francisco resident Emily J.
NBC Bay Area reached out to San Francisco police and Supervisor Dean Preston, whose district includes NoPa for comment Saturday but did not hear back.
