[4K] Is San Francisco's Tenderloin the Fentanyl Capital of America?

WARNING: Watch the video and read this piece with an open mind
None of my family or friends ever walked the streets of Tenderloin despite the fact that they were either born in San Francisco Bay Area or have lived here for decades. Just the name Tenderloin terrifies or disgusts them.
I have always been adventurous and thought that I have seen the worst in my travels in third world countries. Exploring Tenderloin is tricky. Mixed feelings of disgust, fear, hope & hopelessness would hit you at the same time. Stench smell of human feces, urine, garbage, cigarettes and drugs is almost everywhere. It's a very, very miserable sight. Open-air drug trade and drug use in broad daylight, overdosed bodies either hunched over or lying on the ground. You'll never know if they're dead or alive. Every corner seems to be an embodiment of lawlessness and chaos.
However, co-existing with this misery are hardworking, struggling low-income residents who take pride in the diversity, compassion and generosity of the community. You''ll find non-profits and individuals helping out each other. It could be overwhelming for them though because of the gravity of poverty and drug addiction. Take note that majority of the unhoused people, drug dealers and drug addicts on the streets are not from San Francisco. They travel to San Francisco specifically to Tenderloin because of its the mecca of progressivism in the country. Residents here are compassionate and welcoming and some people exploit that. Residents here struggle everyday for decades to transform Tenderloin and improve its image. Tenderloin is built a different way and what makes it unique. Most residents here are taken care of. Most of what we see in the media are the rotting SRO hotels because that what sells and get clicks. There are decent multifamily housing which are subsidized, non-profits that feed the hungry and organizations that help people with mental health problems. San Francisco and Tenderloin need more of these though.
Homelessness and drug addiction have been persisting for years in America not only in San Francisco. But we just love to attack San Francisco. Why?
Here's the latest data on homelessness and drug overdose deaths:
Cities with the largest homeless populations:
Los Angeles City & County - 65,111
New York City - 61,840
Seattle/King County- 13,368
San Jose/Santa Clara City & County - 10,028
Oakland, Berkeley/Alameda County- 9,747
Sacramento City & County- 9,278
Phoenix, Mesa/Maricopa County - 9,026
San Diego City and County - 8,427
San Francisco - 7,754
Metropolitan Denver- 6,884
Cities with the Highest Opioid Deaths in the U.S.
20. New York City, New York
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 16
19. Portland, Oregon
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 16.6
18. Seattle, Washington
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 16.9
17. Denver, Colorado
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 21
16. Phoenix, Arizona
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 26.9
15. Minneapolis, Minnesota
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 27
14. Boston, Massachusetts
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 29.5
13. Chicago, Illinois
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 32.6
12. Tucson, Arizona
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 35.9
11. San Francisco, California
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 36.04
10. Memphis, Tennessee
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 37.8
9. Washington, D.C.
8. Indianapolis, Indiana
7. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 47
6. Detroit, Michigan
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 48.7
5. Louisville, Kentucky
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 51.2
4. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 53.5
3. Columbus, Ohio
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 54.1
2. Cleveland, Ohio
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 58.5
1. Baltimore, Maryland
Opioid-related drug overdose deaths (per 100,000 population, age-adjusted): 109.5
San Francisco, California, USA
Tenderloin District
Recorded August 23, 2023, Wednesday

[@tommystrange]

thanks for doing per capita numbers. ''journalists' and politicians can't seem to do that, for some reason.

[@granola9827]

Good video! Be careful out there… I think Kingston, Philadelphia has us beat. I drove around this area late last night. I have some crazy footage. I'll post it. In a day or two. Keep up the good work…

[@caliwalks]

Thank you so much. I subscribed to your channel too. Just found out you do SF contents too. Nice video catalog too. I hope you don’t mind me asking, are you an Uber driver? Thanks again

[@granola9827]

Thank you I'm honored. I don't drive for Uber just myself. If you ever need a ride let me know… Maybe we can collaborate… Do you use a DJI pocket right? I really want to buy one. But I think the GoPro might work better. I would love to test it and see how it looks from the car... People with iPhones make really good looking driving videos as well. Have a great day!@@caliwalks

[@californiamade5608]

I’ll tell you one thing tho, it looks like they really did clean up that intersection. Because before, it was heavily infested with druggies, tents, & trash. The reek of feces and urine was unbearable. Hope the city keeps going in a positive route.

[@TohaBgood2]

Yeah, they're cleaning up for Dreamforce and the big Asia-Pacific conference with all the heads of state. Watch how by October it will be fully cleaned up and by the conference it will be just a memory. But this problem can and will come back as soon as they stop the cleanup. It's up to us to keep the pressure on the city and most importantly the Board of Supervisors to keep this up after they get it cleaned up. We don't want just an empty Mission Accomplish and slow slide back to rock bottom.

[@sailingaeolus]

"reeks of feces and urine"...OMG.

[@x400degreez]

Looks like u walked around the part of the TL that has been “cleaned up”, everything has mostly shifted /moved towards the eddy/ o’farell back streets and SOMA is stil pretty shitty , they basically just cleared up the bus routes thru the TL. The police and narcs have been hitting eddy hard past few days they crackin down right now . But doubt it will make a difference

[@anthonyjackson1446]

Nice video and scenery/coverage 😃🙌🏼👍👏🏼🏢📸

[@elmerfudd516]

This is a cakewalk compared to Philly. That Kensington area is dystopia, right out of a nc17 movie

[@spankyharland9845]

the solution to homeless is more affordable housing- but they keep forgetting that most homeless either have a drug addiction or a mental condition, or both and have a hard time living in confined spaces under specified rules- this is why they live on the streets, for addiction is what their lives revolve around- the next high and everything else is secondary or non existent. People who never had an addiction do not understand how powerful it is and how it can take you down to nothing.

[@sailingaeolus]

Took me years to kick smoking (tobacco). I can't image being addicted to a drug or alcohol.

[@AlphaMeezaLeon]

I must point out that if you think that what you have seen and experienced while walking around the L's ( What natives call the TL) then I'm glad you didn't experience when it was actually out of control. Before the resurgence of opiates and the massive amounts of deaths due to fentanyl poisoning they pretty much left the Dealers(Honduran Nationals mostly age 14 to 21) and the addicts alone as long as the violence was too out of control. When middle and upper class people started loosing their children to the opiates that's when it became a real problem. Now it's practically a ghost town in the daytime and at night it is like being in the "Thriller" video! God help us.

[@marknemetz5020]

She says she loves the politics which is the product of the things she doesn't like and fears 🤔

[@medrep1000]

Is it safe filming the Tenderloin?

[@californiamade5608]

No. I wouldn’t recommend, especially at night. Some people don’t like it. They can get violent. If you record, do it on the low.

[@caliwalks]

I wouldn’t recommend it. I’m just giving that local vibe that’s why they just let me roam around, also, I have a tiny camera

[@lexxolexxo7074]

Surprised no one tried to take it from you. Try filming in East Oakland on international blvd

[@chopinmack5418]

Try not to visit Tenderloin after dark !

[@sailingaeolus]

Why?

[@stevenjohnson8736]

living the drug addicted life in the drug infested city called San Francisco 😃

[@californiamade5608]

Tenderloin is Disneyland compared to Kensington in Philly and Skid Row in LA.

[@x400degreez]

Yea but LA and Philly are much bigger way larger population, that’s what makes SF so concerning….plus the title says “Fetty capital” I’d say more then Philly , they mostly have a problem with “tranq” then Fetty right now in Philly

[@xonious9031]

The optics are worse in the places you mentioned but 80% of all fentanyl coming into America is trafficked through Phoenix... Sentinel pills are $1 each on the streets of Phoenix... It's pretty bad

[@xonious9031]

@@x400degreez i think you're referring to the optics of it... I'm pretty sure no other city in America has fentanyl pills for a dollar each only Phoenix has that... 80% of the fentanyl coming into America comes through Phoenix and it's basically free in Phoenix the optics aren't as bad but the problem is probably worse in Phoenix

[@californiamade5608]

@@x400degreez not really because the numbers of homeless match SF’s population (about 7k) for a city of 800k and LA is 60k for a city of 3.8 million. Also, fetty ain’t too far behind in philly

[@user-ep2tz7kn5w]

😂 it just depends on the day SF has a drug problem among other major issues

[@Portlandandylindsey]

This js worse than kensington

[@challiray]

No. It ain't even top 10.