San Francisco residents hope city will keep UN Plaza clean for them and not just during events
SAN FRANCISCO — The United Nations Plaza in San Francisco underwent a dramatic transformation for the APEC Summit, and locals are hoping the changes won't just be for when guests are in the city.
"So normally, in this location you'll see people doing their drugs, or they will be selling things that they stole from businesses around here," explained Rakie "But because we have APEC happening, they have park rangers here, and they put an Urban Alchemy person. Usually there's never an Urban Alchemy person here."
Rakie lives around the corner from United Nations Plaza, and, having moved in during the height of the pandemic, she has seen this space in some very hard times.
"I'm glad to see that the things that they did add here are made of stone," she said. "So, that I don't wake up the next morning and it's all gone because someone took it."
It is hard to look around and not worry the current arrangement will be fleeting. For years now, San Francisco's grand civic space has been at the center of the city's largest struggles.
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It's been a market for lethal drugs and stolen goods. It's been the site of an effort at a recovery center, an unofficial safe use site. And through all of that there has been a great deal of chaos and disorder. A place that has at times looked like a city that was falling apart.
"It's calm," said So Khim, owner of the cafe on the plaza. "I like it."
Khim said the change of tone is already bringing in more people, and she pointed to one reason.
"It's safety," she explained. "That's most important. Everybody that comes here feels safe."
Neighbors do have some reservations. The altered farmer's market is still a sore spot. And all the cleaning raises the larger issue.
"We always know when something is coming," Rakie said, "Because things are a little bit more tidy."
It wasn't even six months ago when this site got its last spiffing up. That was for the supervisorial questioning of the mayor, on location in the plaza, because that's where the problems were. That, of course, dissolved into chaos with someone throwing a brick. But it raises the old question.
"What about for the citizens," Rakie asked. "Don't just clean it up for the mayor. You should keep it clean for people like me who live here and pay rent here every day, who spend my hard earned money here every day."
