Maybe This Week, Maybe Next Week 26 June, 2026

For many reasons our cities and towns have folks living on the streets. It was true before I moved to SF almost 45 years ago, and it’s true now. At times it’s better, and at times worse. To me, it seems worse now.

About 15 years ago I started working on what would become the “Division Street” project. The project became a book of the same title published by Dewi Lewis in 2022.

I started photographing and talking with folks on the streets because the conditions and numbers were worse than I had seen during my time in the city.

Since 2011 there have been 5 mayors. Everyone one of them has promised to solve the “homeless problem”. Gavin Newsom liked “Care not Cash”. Ed Lee tried some version a carrot and stick. London Breed tried just about anything she could give a non-profit money to do. The current mayor, Daniel Lurie is trying a mix of criminalization, harassment, daily sweeps, and the offering of often non-available services.

The “doom loop” stories of SF have receded, people are coming to visit again, and money is pouring in through AI start-ups.. Lurie’s approval rating are high. And why shouldn’t they be?. The streets are cleaner and being repaired, visible signs of a city “working”, tourists have arrived in numbers, and the World Cup is fun.

Confidence is on the rise. The billionaires did very well in the last election and elected or not, they are the major players at City Hall.

But to my eye,and recent experience, the more the city is taken over by the billionaire cult the worse the situation on the street seems to be getting for rank and file San Franciscans.

Below 5 images from 3 recent days.