To the editor: As former San Francisco resident, I have followed the news (“'Vibra change is' real. The mayor of San Francisco, Daniel Lurie, becomes the hype of his hometown.” April 14) about the problems that my old city has had with the lack of housing, graffiti, garbage and commercial vacancies with interest. Last week, I spent five days visiting San Francisco and walked all over the center, from the Ferry building to the UN square in the town hall and Castro, all my old places. I found the city remarkably clean with little graffiti and few visible homeless people. It is not so true on the back, but even there I saw few camps, only people who gathered on the sidewalks.
I felt relieved to see that the city seems to be now on the right path to present itself better, more like when I lived there in the eighties and ninety years. Yes, there are still many vacant retail locations in the center and near Union Square, but it can create a clean and safe environment, it will attract retail companies when they can see greater pedestrian pedestrian traffic.
George Meyer, Long Beach
