Tourists curious about San Francisco’s “urban decay” of abandoned shops, open-air drug use and homeless encampments can get a guided tour of the whole thing.
A street-savvy guide fed up with the lack of action by the local government says they will take people on the so-called “Doom Loop Walking Tour” to see the worst of the city for themselves.
A tongue-in-cheek ad for the tour claims: “You’ve read the headlines. You’ve seen the Tweets, now get close and personal to the Doom and Squalor of downtown San Francisco.
“How can a city with a $14.6 billion annual budget be a model of urban decay? How can it spend $776.8 million per year on police and have no rule of law to show for it?
“Discover the policy choices that made America’s wealthiest city the nation’s innovative leader of housing crisis, addiction crisis, mental-health crisis and unrepentant crime crisis.”
The unidentified guide claims they are in a great position to give the tour as a “card-carrying City Commissioner” and “opinionated loudmouth” who works in a municipal department.
The guide promises paying customers will get to see the city’s most blighted and crime-ridden areas — all located in its center — including the Tenderloin, Union Square and the Mid-Market.
Community activists scoffed at the idea.
“Why would someone pay $30 to see something they could get for free?” questioned longtime Tenderloin resident JJ Smith, who helps the area’s drug users and homeless.
“San Francisco is having a rough time right now and something like this won’t help unless you give the proceeds back to the people on the streets who need it.”
The City by the Bay has been beset by rising crime rates and businesses shuttering all over its once-busy downtown.
More than 20 businesses, including Nordstrom, Whole Foods and Old Navy, have left the area since January 2022.
In a May survey conducted by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, 77% of residents said they believe the city is on the “wrong track,” while only 30% said they felt safe walking around downtown at night.
John Chachas, the CEO of Gumps — a luxury home furnishings store that has been in its Union Square location for 165 years — published an open letter in the San Francisco Chronicle addressed to Gov. Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and the Board of Supervisors begging for change.
The letter blamed “a litany of destructive San Francisco strategies,” such as “allowing the homeless to occupy our sidewalks, to openly distribute and use illegal drugs, to harass the public and to defile the city’s streets.”
It continued: “Such abject disregard for civilized conduct makes San Francisco unlivable for its residents, unsafe for our employees, and unwelcoming to visitors from around the world.”
The problem is so bad that city officials brought in the National Guard and the California Highway Patrol in May to try to curb the open use and dealing of the deadly narcotic fentanyl.
The event organizer of the Doom Loop Tour claims to be a co-founder of a local neighborhood association who decided to offer the tour as a “result of his own mental health crisis.”
Smith said while he agrees that drug use and homelessness in San Francisco are spiraling out of control, it is up to city leaders to really address the issues.
“They are pumping millions of dollars into the problem, but why don’t we see any real results?” Smith told The Post.
“I’m here every day, talking to people who need the help and they tell me they don’t see the people from the homeless coalition.
“There are people who want the help, but these groups are not working together to address the issues, and this is why we can’t get out of this ‘loop.'”
Tickets for the 1.5-mile Doom Loop Tour have already sold out.
