Video of Deserted Street Sparks San Francisco Ghost Town Debate

A video showing streets in San Francisco lined with empty stores has sparked debate online about why they have shut down.

The footage, taken in Union Square—which had long been a busy commercial hub in the city—showed vacant stores and "for lease" signs on either side of Powell Street with more empty retail spaces on the intersecting O'Farrell Street.

The video, uploaded by @unusual_whales, has been viewed an estimated 5.2 million views and liked some 10,600 times, since being uploaded to Twitter on Saturday, June 3.

Twitter accounts blamed the spate of vacancies on a number of factors including high crime, local government policies and drug use in the city.

San Francisco has a higher crime rate than 98 percent of other communities in California, according to Neighborhood Scout, with downtown districts around Union Square some of the most dangerous.

Union Square suffered higher vacancy rates in the first quarter of 2023 due to closures of holiday pop-ups and other stores, according to Cushman and Wakefield, a commercial retail estate services firm.

The vacancy rate was up to 13.5 percent, from 12.3 percent at the end of 2022, but down from 14.4 percent from a year ago.

Still, this is more than double the stated overall retail vacancy rate of 6 percent across San Francisco in the first quarter of 2023. This rate was the highest in the city since 2006 and was more than the 5.2 percent retail vacancy rate from one year ago, Cushman and Wakefield said.

Some businesses that have closed in San Francisco have cited safety concerns for staff, including Whole Foods Market which left its location near Trinity Place.

Le Marais Bakery, in the Castro District, complained it had been repeatedly vandalized and that city officials had not paid for its repair. The city said the bakery's application for funding was missing evidence.

Retailer Nordstrom will no longer have a presence in the San Francisco, blaming changing dynamics in the city that have negatively affected foot traffic.

Commenting on the video, @kaiyabunga said: "The rent and theft is too high."

And @mayurzzz blamed the city's mayor, London Breed, saying: "Mayor Breed working hard since 2018 to make SF the #1 city for crime, homelessness, retail vacancies, and a metropolitan Crystal meth hub."

New legislation introduced by the Democratic leader aims to improve the downtown area by simplifying the approval process and requirements for converting existing office buildings into housing.

In a May 4 press release, Breed said: "These changes shouldn't be something that requires granting exceptions through lengthy paperwork and exhaustive public hearings. We need to make the process easier for getting our buildings active and full."

Newsweek has contacted the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce for comment via email.

Update 06/05/2023 3.45 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comments taken from Twitter.