San Francisco

Small business owners frustrated with crime, homelessness, consider leaving San Francisco

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Major retailers have left downtown San Francisco, but now some small business owners say they're considering moving out too.

Crime, homelessness issues and expensive rules and regulations from city hall all seem to be taking their toll.

Tacorea in lower Nob Hill has earned a reputation as a hotspot -- serving up delicious Korean-Mexican fusion food. But owner David Lee says he's about ready to throw in the towel.  

“I'm kinda planning to close up shop probably around December. I'm just over it,” he said.

His latest frustration with the city is new regulations on the parklet he constructed during the pandemic.

He got a long list of requirements from the SFMTA to bring it up to post-pandemic code.

For years it was a lifeline for his business, but this week, he just decided to get rid of it.          

“I just decided we were going to take it apart. So the night before, I told the guys to keep it open. And sure enough, there's a guy in there, no pants on,” Lee said.

In a security camera video he shared, you can see an unhoused person in the parklet as the contractor is dismantling it piece by piece.

Lee said chronic issues with the unhoused, open air drug use, and crime in the neighborhood have all piled up.

Earlier this year, his shop was broken into and thieves stole his cash register and an iPad he uses for orders.

He did get a $1,000 small business vandalism grant from the city. But he said he's at his breaking point.  

According to the San Francisco Office of Small Business, there are no clear figures on how many small businesses have closed in the city since the start of the pandemic.

But they say they do have other grants available that could possibly help those on the bubble.  They also say they can help small businesses navigate the city's bureaucracy.

In the Mission District, motorcycle and scooter shop Scuderia will be moving. But the owner says it will be to a bigger space in the Dog Patch neighborhood.

“There's a company called Brookefield Construction that is renovating a bunch of these old steel manufacturing buildings,” said the owner Greg McCord. “And so we're moving into the first one they've completed.”

McCord says the Mission neighborhood where his shop has been for more than 30 years also has issues with unhoused people, drugs and some crime.

But he credits city hall with recent efforts to deal with those issues. He said he's seen improvements in the last six months.

He said he and his employees will miss the Mission and hopes improvements in the entire city continue.

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