Sit-lie ordinance not the answer for the Haight

Sit-lie ordinance not the answer for the Haight:

Thomas Wong

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

"For more than 40 years, the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood was synonymous with hippies, peace and love. Today, that same neighborhood is becoming synonymous with drug use and, unfortunately, aggressive panhandling.

The new breed of panhandlers, called road warriors, are young people who travel with pit bulls and look as if they came out of the film 'Mad Max.' They have been terrorizing residents, businesses and tourists with harassment and threats. Many now are calling Haight-Ashbury unsafe.

The road warriors, as it turns out, are a group of a few hundred thugs who travel up and down the West Coast in an almost seasonal migration. They stay for a few months, harass a few residents and then move on to the next city. In response, many municipalities, including San Francisco, have been considering ordinances that prohibit people from sitting or lying on streets during regular business hours." Sphere: Related Content