The number of tents on San Francisco streets has fallen to a record low, according to new data from the mayor’s office.
The count shows fewer homeless encampments in all 11 of the city’s supervisor districts over the past year.
There were 242 tents and structures seen during an Oct. 2 tally, a 60% reduction since July 2023 and the lowest total since the city started conducting a quarterly encampment survey in 2018, according to Mayor London Breed’s office.
District 8, which includes the Castro, saw the most dramatic reduction: a 96% decrease, from 24 tents in July 2023 to just one.
In District 9, which includes the Mission, city staffers counted 14 tents — down 87% from 105.
District 6, which includes SoMa — usually home to the most tents in San Francisco — saw a 51% drop.
In District 5, which borders District 6 and includes the Tenderloin, a neighborhood often depicted as the epicenter of the homelessness crisis, staffers counted 30 tents, down 68%.
The number of tents has steadily dropped since July 2023. But this July, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that cities can remove encampments even if shelter isn’t offered, prompting Breed to loosen the city’s encampment clearing policies.
Police have made 296 arrests of homeless people during clearings since Aug. 1. Roughly 80% were arrested for illegal lodging and released on the scene.
The mayor’s office credited these changes, as well as an uptick in people entering housing and treatment, for the decrease in tents. Breed’s spokesperson Jeff Cretan speculated that fewer homeless people may be moving to the city due to the rise in enforcement. He also noted that tent counts are known to fluctuate on a daily basis.
“This latest count shows we are making progress,” Breed said in a statement. “And we will not let up as we continue to move people into shelter and housing and improve the conditions of our neighborhoods.”
However, since the crackdown began, there hasn’t been an increase in people entering shelter. Breed’s plan to bus more homeless people out of town also hasn’t led to a rise in referrals to relocation programs.
‘We’re still here’
Homeless people who spoke to The Standard said fewer tents don’t necessarily mean there are less people sleeping on the streets.
Metal fences had replaced a longtime encampment on Stevenson Street in the Mission when The Standard visited Wednesday. But just two blocks away, more than a dozen homeless people crowded into an alley across from the 16th Street Mission BART Station.
Zach Wolfe, who was in the crowd, is among several homeless people who told The Standard he recently stopped sleeping in a tent, in order to avoid arrest. He’s worried that as winter approaches, he might freeze sleeping on the sidewalk.
“We’re still here,” Wolfe said. “We’re just hiding in different parts of the streets.”
Michael Gresser, sitting next to Wolfe, said San Francisco has more resources than many other cities for people suffering from homelessness and addiction. But the increased enforcement against tents hasn’t persuaded him or anyone he knows to seek those services.
“I’ll go get help whenever I want to, and it has nothing to do with a tent or no tent,” Gresser said. “I haven’t ran into anyone yet who said, ‘They took my tent, that’s it — I’m going to rehab.’”
Dave Camet, who stood in the alley holding everything he owned in a grocery basket, said he thinks homeless people are being used to score political points.
“Just because it’s election season, we end up getting targeted,” Camet said. “They’re all pretty much in agreement that they can punch down on the unhoused, and it’s just OK for us to be treated less than human beings.”