San Francisco plans to address homelessness with the One City Shelter Act, introduced by Supervisor Bilal Mahmood. This legislation seeks to expand shelter placements across neighborhoods while avoiding shelter mandating in specific areas. The act aims to provide equitable care for the unhoused in various neighborhoods rather than concentrating services in areas like Tenderloin and SoMa. Mahmood emphasizes an evidence-based approach, arguing that the current system negatively impacts both the unhoused and local residents. Opposition exists from some neighborhoods wary of nearby shelters.
"This is a path forward that ensures that we are now taking an evidence-based and data-based approach to delivering shelter, not a political or ideological approach," Mahmood said.
"San Francisco has a lot of people who say they want to support services for the homeless, services for mentally ill people, services for people with substance abuse problems, but they want it all in the Tenderloin, or 6th Street, or Bayview but that's not how the city can operate anymore," said Randy Shaw.
Mahmood says the current situation is unequal for several reasons, making it harder for unhoused people in some neighborhoods to get care.
Mahmood's proposal has received pushback, including in some neighborhoods like Chinatown, where many are opposed to the possibility of shelters opening up nearby.
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