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Health & Fitness

Crime, Homelessness, and the Future of San Leandro

A follow-up of sorts to a post I did a while ago, which examines the state of crime and homelessness in San Leandro, and our uncertain future.

Someone commented on an old piece I did talking about a rise in the homeless population of San Leandro. It got me thinking about the differences in the city between then and now, for better and worse.

In the time since that piece was published, I can attest to two family vehicles vandalized, a neighbor's house spray-painted, and another neighbor's truck broken into (which then rolled unceremoniously down the drive with the unconscious, drug-addled thief behind the wheel). Several encounters with vagrants peeking up and down driveways and into cars or walking through neighborhoods shouting have also become a regular occurence. Top that off with a juniper bush being set ablaze in our front yard, and the time between postings on this particular topic have been filled with less than encouraging events.

In my experiences going about the city, I would say the vibe on the street is a notch darker than it was a year ago. Aggressive panhandlers continue to be a mainstay, with one particularly voracious individual shouting at me as we walked across from the police station to get off my phone and give them money. The GameStop downtown is emblematic of the more negative shift I've been seeing. The store has become a beacon for scammers, petty crooks who snatch and grab from the shelves, and irate customers who become so incensed that the police need to be called in. This crowd isn't limited to GameStop; they're anywhere and everywhere in the city, continuing to come from multiple parts of the Bay Area because they know this is a place where they're still meeting minimal resistance.

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The recent article about shopping at BayFair made me realize that our mall is truly representative of the city. From the outside, it looks great and seems to have some good things to offer. Than you get inside and are disappointed that there's less than you thought, with people behaving badly and too few security to stop them. There's a lot of futurist thinking happening in city hall, but we need the realists to step up and balance them out. SL city government can't keep shining the light on what they're getting right to keep us from noticing what continues to be neglected.

Between The Patch and SL Times, there's been a bevy of reports regarding shootings and crime that makes long-time residents anxious and incoming residents hesitant. Keep in mind, I don't think we're at a point where anyone should be full-blown panicking, but if things continue going in the direction they are, San Leandro is going to have a lot of fiber optic wire with no one to use it. People might be paying over the list price for a house here, but then they shuttle their kids off to private schools and shop at Hillsdale or Stoneridge; this is a jarring detachment that needs to be addressed and resolved.

Find out what's happening in San Leandrowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Focusing on the future, both technologically and politically, I think SL has some good things brewing and a fair road map planned out. It's the fundamentals, though, those devilish details that get you in the end. Petty crime and aggressive panhandlers can't be the norm until city council's hopes of a digital-renaissance brings sacks of cash into the coffers to hire more cops. If we can fling $1.1 million from the reserve fund at a potential loan-defaulter, you'd think we could squeeze some cash out to get a few more officers. San Leandro is too special and packed with things that make this city unique to have it all squandered. Whatever happens next, the city has to start thinking on multiple fronts.

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