Make a sharp left on to Merlin Street and you enter another world. Past two low-slung, industrial buildings and under a busy, noisy freeway is a scene that has come to define San Francisco: Tents line the sidewalks, and a collection of household items tumble out onto the street. There are cardboard boxes, coolers, garbage bags full of trash, containers of food, grills, chairs, and a pile of bicycles. A huge clock is attached to a chain-link fence and on top of it sits a red toy truck. A makeshift clothesline dries shirts and pants in the dusty air. An elderly man sits in a wheelchair. Parked on the street is a black pick-up truck and several large, rusting RV’s. Merlin Street is a mini homeless community where just one block over people live in luxury condos that cost millions. The streets of San Francisco tell a brutal story of wealth, poverty, and the pursuit of profit over the housing needs of human beings.
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