Is San Francisco far from the glorious city it used to be? Google employee Sam Padilla thinks she is. He reached this damning verdict after taking a walk through the Sunset City. Sadly, he noticed a similarity between the city’s streets and the zombie apocalypse movie, “The Walking Dead.” He described the extent of the once-darling city’s fall from grace.

A decade ago, one wouldn’t have imagined San Francisco placed side-by-side with some of the world’s most dangerous places. But Padilla, who has spent part of his life in the South American nations of Brazil and Colombia, believes that SF is not too far away in terms of levels of insecurity.

He disclosed that the city is peculiarly “sketchy.” In particular, he described his walk from Soma to Hayes Valley as the sketchiest walk he has ever experienced.

San Francisco’s decline is easy to notice. One can tell from its rapidly decreasing standard of living. Homelessness and addiction are at their peak, as well as the crime rate.

Lawns, walkways, and alleys are littered with people with no place to live. The city’s infrastructure is decaying. Daylight murder and robbery are on the increase even as the city struggles with the perilous invasion of fentanyl and its resultant high rate of drug-related deaths.

One of the top emergency issues the city has faced in recent years is the proliferation of fentanyl. Republicans have vociferously placed the blame for this situation on the lax border policy of the Democrats led by President Joe Biden.

In San Francisco, at least 159 people died from Fentanyl from January to March 2023. In recent times, the city has had to increase its spending on addiction treatment centers and medication.

In comparison, Padilla stated that SF can easily rival Bogota, Colombia’s capital for drug trafficking and poverty. He saw areas of the city that reminded him of “Calle del Cartucho,” one of the most dreaded and disadvantaged parts of Bogota.

He said several places in SF “felt close, if not worse, than the freaking Calle del Cartucho.” This statement explains how far the city has fallen away from its former enviable state.

The city’s officials have recently been criticized for the spike in crime. For example, in the past four years, its government has adopted more progressive policies that critics say have boosted crime.

District Attorneys seem to have become lenient with criminals and have practically slapped them on the wrist for dangerous offenses. The city has let dangerous offenders back on the street and has become softer on hard drug use.

San Francisco is no longer conducive enough for business. The city has been grappling with rising shoplifting and theft cases for some years now. As far back as 2021, Target announced a reduction in night hours in several San Francisco stores.

Some businesses had to close down some of their SF outlets in response to the crisis. Notable among these are Walgreens, Whole Foods, and T-Mobile.

Due to the uncontrollable crime situation, commerce has taken a huge hit. To be more precise, a worrisome number of notable businesses have fled the city for safer economic atmospheres.

For example, American Eagle, a clothing giant, has bid the city a sad farewell after suffering more than a hundred separate security incidents in three years. Slack, X (formerly Twitter), Meta, Airbnb, and PayPal are some other A-rate companies that have already left or are set to leave.

One obvious sign of the city’s economic prowess waning is the high office vacancy rate, which is about 30%. Ted Egan, a San Francisco economist, has described how this is harming the city.

“It has contributed to a lot of business tax revenue to the city and a loss of ridership for local transit agencies. It has also harmed small downtown businesses that don’t have the same foot traffic from office workers eating lunch, meeting after work, or shopping during the day,” he explained.

Anyone who has lived in SF for a long time would agree that the Westfield San Francisco Center is one of the city’s pride. But now, the once-bubbling shopping mall is no longer what it used to be.

Now, occupancy at its shopping spaces has dropped to a dismal 25%. To worsen matters, the mall has now become a shelter for homeless residents and a haven for criminals.

The exodus from California extends beyond stores and businesses. People who once enjoyed the city are now leaving in droves.

The U.S. Census figures show that about 60,000 persons, representing 7% of the population, have departed the city since 2022. This amounts to about 2% of the city’s population and lends credence to the view of many concerned individuals that the city is “dying.”

In contrast to the growing negative perception of the city, the mayor believes that things are better than they appear. The Democratic mayor, London Breed, stated in an interview with Fox that increased social media scrutiny is largely to blame for the city’s poor reputation.

She added that the city’s lousy publicity stems from things being “taken out of context in terms of highlighting the entire city as being unsafe.”

Contrary to the liberal push for defunding the Police, Breed has recently begun to advocate for increased police power. She has pushed for more investment in surveillance equipment such as drones and CCTV.

A lot has gone wrong with the city; therefore, sustained efforts are needed to restore her to past glory. Hopefully, San Francisco’s fortunes will reverse soon, and residents and businesses can smile again.