Cleaning Up the Streets: How a Major Summit Brought Brief Order to San Francisco

As a resident of the suburbs of San Francisco, I’ve become accustomed to seeing homeless encampments lining many of our city’s streets and sidewalks. While this is a complex issue with no easy solutions, it’s become an inescapable part of living and working here. However, over the past couple weeks, walking around some neighborhoods has felt like entering a different city. The 23rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was recently hosted in San Francisco, bringing together world leaders from 21 Pacific Rim countries to discuss economic issues. With a major international event of this scale coming to town, it’s no surprise the city made efforts to clean up before all the dignitaries arrived. What was surprising was just how extensive those cleanups turned out to be. Entire blocks that were usually crowded with tents, carts, and belongings now sat eerily empty. Homeless residents had been cleared out, and the streets scrubbed spotless. <a href="https://thelaymanspeaks.medium.com/cleaning-up-the-streets-how-a-major-summit-brought-brief-order-to-san-francisco-1b4a88b94472">Website</a>