There isn’t a single quote or data point in that article that suggests violent crime is down or that somehow perceptions of fear are unwarranted. The homicide rate has “recovered” from the pandemic (or is shockingly higher if you consider how depopulated/vacant the city is post-COVID).
> 2019, the city proposed opening a homeless shelter in the area, and residents protested, arguing that the facility — which eventually did open — would be detrimental to public safety.
> Opposition to the shelter gathered momentum after a woman trying to enter her condo building was attacked that summer by a man suffering from mental illness, one of many seemingly random assaults that occurred in succession as the pandemic emptied public spaces.
> But a bodega owner in the area said that crime seemed to be rising, and that at night, the neighborhood became a backdrop for drug use and occasional sideshows.
> San Francisco recorded 56 homicides in 2017 before some violent crimes dipped during the pandemic; in 2021 and 2022, the homicide count was back up to 56, according to data from the city’s Police Department.
It’s not exactly Portland or Chicago, but I think it is reasonable for people in SF to say the status quo is unacceptable.
Progressives tend to systematically underrate crime as a problem because it “magically” went down for so long after the 90s. Incidents like this remind people that crime is real, and not just imagined by the Fox News, and that the victims are real, too.