Residents, Neighbors Look To Clean Up San Francisco Plaza
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – A petition drive to clean up a public plaza in front of the San Francisco Federal Building at 7th and Mission streets is helping move the process along.
The plaza remains fairly quiet during regular business hours, but many neighbors said that once 5 o'clock hits, it quickly fills up with homeless people, drug dealers and those bent on vandalizing the area.
KCBS' Mark Seelig Reports:
"I've seen many things that I wish I hadn't," said Nina Gruen, who lives a block away at the SOMA Grand condominium complex. "It's a very depressing walk."
Gruen and her husband, Claude, couldn't take the squalor in the area anymore, so they crafted a petition, urging city, state and federal officials to take action.
More than 150 of their neighbors signed on and within weeks, officials with the General Services Administration responded.
"We're aware of issues with vagrancy and destruction of property," said General Services Administration spokesman Jim Cain. "It's gotten worse more recently. We now have 24/7 security patrol here."
Gruen said that over the past week, she has noticed an improvement, including the repair of several broken windows that had been left in disarray for months.
Now, she and many of her neighbors are just hoping that the GSA will see the improvements through the long haul.
(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
