Reports of Human, Animal Feces on San Francisco Sidewalks Increased 400 Percent Since 2012
The average San Francisco, Calif., neighborhood saw a nearly 400 percent increase in calls about human or animal waste from 2012 to 2021, the San Fransisco Chronicle found.
Since 2012, residents of the city have complained over 230,000 times about human or animal waste in the streets, calling 311 to alert city service representatives, according to the outlet. Only one neighborhood, the Tenderloin, saw a decrease in waste-related incidents, with the number of 311 calls going down by 29 percent.
The increase in waste-related complaints may be due to a larger amount of waste, but also may be attributed to the new ways people can submit requests for street cleaning services via the 311 hotline, including going on the city’s website or tweeting about it.
The Tenderloin neighborhood’s success with battling animal and human waste on the streets is largely due to the Pit Stop Program initiative set up by the San Fransisco Public Works Department. The program offered three free public toilets attended by staff in the Tenderloin in 2014, when the neighborhood has the highest ratio of waste-related 311 calls in the city.
In 2010, more than 40 percent of 311 calls from the Tenderloin were waste-related, compared to the three percent ratio across the city, the outlet reported. The majority of the decrease of waste-related calls in the neighborhood came after the public restrooms were installed.
However, the bathrooms come at a lofty price, running anywhere from $100,000 to $600,000 per year to run a single unit, Public Works spokesperson Rachel Gordon told the outlet.
The bathrooms allow people to release themselves with “dignity” and also increase employment, as someone has to staff the units, Gordon said.
“If you have a toilet, there’s a chance that people might avail themselves to that and not go on the streets or sidewalks,” Gordon told the outlet. “We also wanted to improve the … livability of a neighborhood.”
