Mission and 16th is likely to get a bit busier today, as are other hangout spots around the Mission and Tenderloin, as the city conducts a fresh "sweep" on Sixth Street.

Warning signs went up last week about a sweep of encampments and those loitering on Sixth Street between Market and Howard streets, and on the adjacent alleys like Natoma, Harriet, and Russ streets. And as KTVU reports, SFPD officers doing foot patrols were also sending a warning signal on Monday to clear the sidewalks.

The notices said that the Department of Public Works and SF police would be asking those on the streets to move "permanently," and said that outreach workers would be on hand to offer assistance and housing services.

Sixth Street hasn't been the magnet for encampments that it was a few years ago — as one denizen named Sherman tells KTVU, "Five years ago it was shoulder to shoulder, tent to tent... this is cleaned up." But the stretch of Sixth between Market and Howard has been a magnet for drug users and the dwellers of nearby SROs for decades now — and Mayor Daniel Lurie's focus on it, for the city's cleanup efforts, may or may not prove futile.

It's easy to see the city and police shifting their efforts over the 16th and Mission, and many people camped or loitering there simply returning to this part of SoMa.

The city says it is prepared to offer shelter beds to anyone who gets swept up in today's sweep, but those may be only single-night stays.

Ashley Brown, who has struggled with homelessness for years, tells KPIX that she's finally secured a housing voucher, after eight years waiting for one, but she still has to bounce around or find a hotel for the next three days. Brown was attempting to sell grocery items she'd collected, possibly from a food bank, to gather some cash.

Amber Jordan, who also says she's been homeless in SF for years, tells KPIX she's tired of people being shuffled around.

"You can clean up this spot but then where are they supposed to go?" Jordan says. "It's taking too long to get people inside."

Sixth Street has been a prime focus of Mayor Lurie and his "Breaking the Cycle" campaign, starting with the installation of a "triage center" at Sixth and Jesse streets in early February. Within weeks, though, Mission residents were noticing an uptick in illegal vending and drug activity at the 16th and Mission BART plaza, and extending along Mission toward 15th.