Blue City Boasts Drop In Tent Population Weeks After Mayor Directed Homeless Be Bused Away

Democratic San Francisco Mayor London Breed celebrated a drop in the number of people living in tents on the streets on Thursday, just weeks after issuing an order to bus the city’s homeless population out of the area.

Breed announced in the August executive order that city staff would be required to offer homeless individuals bus tickets since the shelters and other housing options were reaching capacity. The number of people living in tents on the city’s streets dropped 60% from July 2023 to October, the lowest level since San Francisco started counting in 2018, according to a press release.

“Every day our City workers are out in San Francisco offering help, bringing people indoors, and cleaning up our neighborhoods and we are seeing the results,” Breed said in the press release. “We are a compassionate City that leads with services, but we also will continue to enforce our laws when those offers are rejected. This latest count shows we are making progress, and we will not let up as we continue to move people into shelter and housing and improve the conditions of our neighborhoods.”

A count conducted by the city found that 40% of San Francisco’s homeless community were individuals who were not originally from the city, but traveling to cycle in and out of city-funded programs, Breed said in her August order. Much of the unsheltered population are outsiders flocking to the city since they know they’ll receive shelter and other benefits, which led Breed to establish the “Journey Home” program.

Three directives made up Breed’s “Journey Home” program