Small business owners in San Francisco’s “Little Saigon” neighborhood expressed fears a homeless clinic could make safety conditions worse by attracting more homeless people, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
City officials announced plans to open a health and resource center tied to the San Francisco Community Health Clinic at the location of a recently-closed Vietnamese restaurant in February, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The small business owners raised concerns that opening the clinic for the city’s homeless population could drive customers away because it was expected to assist 100 people a day with everything from social services to doing laundry and providing meals.
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“If I had my choice, I would say no,” Pinyo Charoensuk, owner of Lapats Thai Noodles Bar, told the Chronicle when asked about the clinic. “This neighborhood is already really bad.”
Charoensuk said his business was surviving due to delivery orders since neighborhood conditions, including open drug use and the presence of the homeless, deterred people from dining in at his restaurant, which was damaged by an explosion in 2021. Tommy Huynh, who owned the Larkin Restaurant, echoed Charoensuk’s concerns.
“Business is already very bad right now because of the street conditions,” Hyunh said, according to the Chronicle. “I hope they would put it somewhere else.” A review of the website for the Larkin Restaurant praised the cuisine but noted the location was “sketchy” and “not safe for parking.”
San Francisco has seen several incidents involving homeless people draw media coverage, including one where a former fire commissioner was allegedly attacked by a homeless person who was later acquitted of charges. Another homeless person camped in front of a school with signs offering fentanyl and methamphetamine.
“I saw really good potential in this neighborhood,” Hyunh told the Chronicle, citing weekend visits from families and lunchtime crowds from government offices. “Not anymore. Parents don’t want to bring the kids around here.”
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Retailers in California are backing a ballot initiative to reverse California’s Proposition 47, which reduced penalties for shoplifting and grand theft. Commercial robberies in the state increased by 13.3% since 2019, according to a study by the Public Policy Institute of California, which also noted a 28.2% increase in shoplifting, particularly around San Francisco.
Homicide in the Tenderloin District increased by 71.4% over the previous year in 2023, while robbery and motor vehicle theft both increased by over 11%, according to data from the San Francisco Police Department.
Target announced it was closing three locations in the San Francisco area in September, citing theft, including organized retail crime.
Charoensuk echoed Hyunh’s assessment of neighborhood conditions. “People love my food but they prefer not to come to the Tenderloin.They don’t feel safe walking around here,” Charoensuk told the Chronicle. “The city needs to make it safer and cleaner.”
The San Francisco Community Health Clinic did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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