Published
Video duration:
4 mins
United States: San Francisco adrift
San Francisco is now faced with such impoverishment that it is gradually emptying of its inhabitants, those who can. For others, daily life is punctuated by insecurity and crime. – (France 2)
San Francisco is now faced with such impoverishment that it is gradually emptying of its inhabitants, those who can. For others, daily life is punctuated by insecurity and crime.
From the red of the Golden Gate to the tram that runs up its sloping streets, it has often been the favorite city of Europeans in America. San Francisco, one foot in the art of living and culture, the other in high technology. But today, the beauty of California is no longer a dream. For years, homeless people’s tents have lined the avenues of the city center. And drugs, particularly fentanyl, wreak their havoc in broad daylight.
Vote for an exceptional measure
The result is that in the shadow of tech skyscrapers and colorful postcard houses, avenues of immobile camper vans are created. A city of countless housing downgrades. The amount of rents, combined with insecurity, is a repellent. The city has long been a sanctuary city, welcoming to the homeless and light on drugs. But last year, San Franciscans voted for an exceptional measure: removing the attorney general from office. Residents criticized him for his too lax policy in terms of arrests in particular.