Newsflash: Mid-Market, despite high-profile revitalization efforts, is still very dirty and smells resultantly horrific.
According to a survey conducted by the City’s Office of the Controller, Tweet Street the Twitter section of Market Street between 7th and 11th Streets received a score of 2.93 out of a possible 3 for griminess. That made this strip, also home to Uber's current quarters, the dirtiest commercial stretch in the city.
JBR Partners, Inc., The City’s contracted evaluator, conducted 366 evaluations in fiscal year 14 over 184 routes in San Francisco. They followed their keen senses and documented the garbage they saw, which is basically what Capp Street Crap does, and it's a valuable public service.
With the addition of a new olfactory category, evaluators also followed their noses. The same Mid-Market section was nearly the smelliest, too, but lost out to nearby Taylor Street between Market and O’Farrell Streets. From the report: "Offensive odors include sewage, odor from catch basins, human excrement related odors (feces and urine), and other significant unpleasant odors." Unafraid to spell things out for us, the report's ultimatum is that "100% of sidewalks must be free of strong offensive odors." So far, 90% of streets pass muster.
By contrast to the Market Street meltdown, the cleanest commercial street was Ocean between Phelan and Capitol avenues. Dirtiest residential street infamy went to Farallones Street between San Jose Avenue and Orizaba Avenue, while the cleanest residential category winner was Cornwall Street from Arguello Boulevard to Fourth Avenue.
What remains to be seen is how the not-that-shocking report will be interpreted in San Francisco. Is this further fodder for poop jokes and crap maps, like last weeks smash-hit "(Human) Wasteland" from artist Jessica Wong? Is it a cry for more public restrooms and Lava Mae buses? Or, is this a sure sign of the broken contract with tech tax-break recipients? Per the Chronicle: "While tech tax breaks have brought a wealth of new money and business to the strip, the payoffs have yet to make it down to the street level of the long-bedraggled boulevard."
Yeah, so, watch your step!