Discover Polk CBD survey, 2019

Where it was

The district runs six blocks along Polk Street, from California Street to Broadway, Larkin to Van Ness. The survey covered its 19 block faces from Polk Street to Van Ness Avenue whole: Polk, Van Ness and the seven cross streets between them. Counted per 100 m of street, both sidewalks together, the busiest block faces were Sacramento Street (942 items per 100 m) and Clay Street (817), then Jackson Street and Polk Street from Sacramento to Clay (737 each), and Polk Street from California to Sacramento (718). Van Ness Avenue was the quietest.

942per 100 m

Sacramento St, Van Ness to Polk: the busiest block face, 1,372 items.

84per 100 m

Van Ness Ave, Jackson to Pacific: the quietest.

2.2x

Polk Street against Van Ness Avenue, per 100 m.

64%

gum: 7,112 pieces, most of them on the cross streets.

Items per 100 m on each block face, Polk to Van NessThicker and darker is more. North at the top: Broadway at the top, Polk Street on the right.

84 to 942 items per 100 m

All 19 block faces, busiest first

Block face	Length	Photos	Items	Per 100 m	Gum	Butts
Sacramento St, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	485	1,372	942	1,056	174
Clay St, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	396	1,190	817	959	126
Polk St, Sacramento to Clay	99 m	253	730	737	472	139
Jackson St, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	455	1,073	737	766	103
Polk St, California to Sacramento	104 m	242	750	718	520	171
Polk St, Clay to Washington	99 m	202	666	671	536	82
Washington St, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	347	768	528	500	85
Polk St, Pacific to Broadway	104 m	241	519	497	242	179
Van Ness Ave, California to Sacramento	104 m	171	495	474	249	172
Polk St, Washington to Jackson	99 m	158	359	363	269	43
Pacific Ave, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	150	468	321	310	68
Polk St, Jackson to Pacific	99 m	147	299	302	158	72
Van Ness Ave, Clay to Washington	99 m	138	275	277	188	59
Broadway, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	163	353	242	134	101
California St, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	93	351	241	256	54
Van Ness Ave, Sacramento to Clay	99 m	110	217	219	69	120
Van Ness Ave, Pacific to Broadway	104 m	129	215	206	56	81
Van Ness Ave, Washington to Jackson	99 m	121	192	194	19	110
Van Ness Ave, Jackson to Pacific	99 m	63	83	84	39	24

Block-face items leave out the 42 items of feces, urine and needles on these faces; the photo counts include their photos, and the page's totals count them.

All 19 block faces, busiest first

Block face	Length	Photos	Items	Per 100 m	Gum	Butts
Sacramento St, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	485	1,372	942	1,056	174
Clay St, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	396	1,190	817	959	126
Polk St, Sacramento to Clay	99 m	253	730	737	472	139
Jackson St, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	455	1,073	737	766	103
Polk St, California to Sacramento	104 m	242	750	718	520	171
Polk St, Clay to Washington	99 m	202	666	671	536	82
Washington St, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	347	768	528	500	85
Polk St, Pacific to Broadway	104 m	241	519	497	242	179
Van Ness Ave, California to Sacramento	104 m	171	495	474	249	172
Polk St, Washington to Jackson	99 m	158	359	363	269	43
Pacific Ave, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	150	468	321	310	68
Polk St, Jackson to Pacific	99 m	147	299	302	158	72
Van Ness Ave, Clay to Washington	99 m	138	275	277	188	59
Broadway, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	163	353	242	134	101
California St, Van Ness to Polk	146 m	93	351	241	256	54
Van Ness Ave, Sacramento to Clay	99 m	110	217	219	69	120
Van Ness Ave, Pacific to Broadway	104 m	129	215	206	56	81
Van Ness Ave, Washington to Jackson	99 m	121	192	194	19	110
Van Ness Ave, Jackson to Pacific	99 m	63	83	84	39	24

The district's edges: 706 more items

Our 2019 report's map takes the district out to Larkin Street along Broadway, east of Polk to the backs of the lots that face it, and across Van Ness at the Broadway and Washington Street corners. The surveyors counted 706 items in 372 photos at those edges: 241 on Broadway from Polk Street to Larkin Street and 76 round the corner on Larkin, 170 on the cross streets just east of Polk, and 128 on Washington Street and 91 on Broadway west of Van Ness. They count in every total on this page; the rates per 100 m are for the 19 block faces walked whole.

By streetItems per 100 m of street, both sidewalks

Polk Street

5493,323 items

Van Ness Avenue

2441,477 items

Cross streets

5475,575 items

Polk Street in two halves: California to Washington (south), Washington to Broadway (north)

South half

7093 blocks

North half

3893 blocks

Polk's three southern blocks had 1.8x the rate of its three northern blocks. Street counts leave out feces, urine and needles, as the block faces do.

By typeItems counted, and share of the count

Gum

7,11264%

Cigarette butts

2,15819%

Paper

4704%

Plastic, bottles, glass

2212%

Food and other litter

3313%

Stains

3783%

Graffiti, stickers, etching

3413%

Other conditions

661%

Plus 46 items of feces, urine and needles, counted but not mapped (below).

Gum is counted spot by spot: a photo of one square of sidewalk can hold a dozen. Stains, graffiti and stickers are street conditions; the survey recorded them alongside the litter.

What the sources said, checked

Each claim against the open data, starting with our own report to the district.

Discover Polk CBD Audit Summary · Rubbish · December 2019Our report to the district, sent on 23 December 2019 with the data (4,426 records). Internal, not linked.

What it said	The data today
11,113 concerns in 12 categories, tagged with the Rubbish app.	11,123 items in 4,436 records, 10 more than the report. It did not count 12 records: 11 construction markers on 20 December and a trash can photographed at 2:16 pm on 12 December, 19 minutes before the rest of the survey. It did count 2 that are not in the survey today: one from 15 December, away from the district, since deleted, and one just north of Broadway. Since then, counts were edited on 11 records, types on 11 and times on 3; in the total the count edits cancel out.
Gum: 7,112, 64.0% of the concerns.	7,112 pieces of gum, the same count: 64% of today's total (63.9%).
Tobacco: 2,159, 19.4%.	2,158 cigarette butts, 19.4%.
Pressure washing (gum and stains): 7,490, 67.4%. Street litter (butts and other litter): 3,182, 28.6%.	Gum and stains: 7,490, 67%. Butts and other litter: 3,180, 29%.
Over 11,113 concerns were tagged in one day.	Two days. Thursday 12 December, 2:16 pm to 5:10 pm: 7 surveyors, 9,001 items (81%). Friday 20 December, 10:29 am to 11:23 am: 2 surveyors, 2,122 items. The data we sent with the report shows the same two days.
Total time logged: 14.12 hours. 5 seconds per item.	The photos' own times: 14.0 hours from each surveyor's first photo to their last (9 surveyor days), leaving out one break of 1 hour 37 minutes. That is close to the report's 14.12 hours, and 4.5 seconds per item against its 5. With the break: 15.6 hours, 5.1 seconds per item.
The 12 categories: gum, tobacco, street litter, street stain, graffiti, stickers and flyers, urine and poop, large item, other, tree and weeds, trash can issue, street furniture.	Row by row the counts match today's within 1. One slip: the last three rows (tree and weeds 16, trash can 6, street furniture 4) hold 26 items that the data has as 13 tree issues, 4 trash can issues (5 today, with the 2:16 pm photo), 3 pieces of street furniture and 6 needles. The report's own summary has them right: city maintenance 20, hazard 6.

The report's street-litter page gives smaller counts than its own summary (tobacco 1,976 against 2,159, and 2,782 street litter in all against 3,182); the rows above check the summary.

Source	What it said	The data
Office of the Mayor, July 2018From the search snippet; the saved copy of the page did not load.	Discover Polk forms a Community Benefit District: 535 parcels on approximately 14 whole blocks, bounded by Polk Street, California Street, Broadway and Van Ness Avenue.	Our December 2019 report's map of the district also takes in the lots on the east side of Polk Street, Broadway out to Larkin Street, and two corners across Van Ness. 4,436 of the account's 4,439 December 2019 records are this survey, in and at the edges of that district: 4,064 on Polk, Van Ness and the cross streets between them, 251 east of Polk and 121 west of Van Ness. The other three: two far from San Francisco, and one just north of Broadway.
130,000 Reasons, Rubbish blog, August 2019	Polk Street becomes rapidly commercial the further south you go, and commercial areas are more trash-laden. (Written about the four pilot blocks north of Broadway.)	The pattern holds in the district, south of the pilot blocks: Polk's three southern blocks, California to Washington, had 709 items per 100 m; its three northern blocks, Washington to Broadway, had 389. That is 1.8x.
Rubbish team records	The Discover Polk team account holds about 10,150 records, from December 2019 to October 2021.	10,150 records, 12 December 2019 to 13 October 2021. 4,436 of them are this survey; where the rest are is listed below.

Watch the survey

Thursday afternoon plays in about a minute, north up and at one even pace once the walks begin, as the view glides over the district from California Street to Broadway and seven walks trace themselves from the surveyors' photos. Then Friday morning, eight days later, and the district in 3D: a wall on every block face from Polk to Van Ness, as tall as its items per 100 m.

Press play for the two visits and the district in 3D, 113 seconds. It ends with photos from the sidewalk.

Open the map full screen

Two visits

Thursday 12 December 2019

9,001 items

7 surveyors, 2:16 pm to 5:10 pm: 3,478 photos on Polk Street, Van Ness Avenue, the cross streets and the district's edges.

Friday 20 December 2019

2,122 items

2 surveyors, 10:29 am to 11:23 am: 958 photos to finish Jackson, Washington and Van Ness.

Who countedItems counted, and miles walked (traced from each surveyor's photos)

Surveyor A

4,2211.6 mi

Surveyor B

2,4031.1 mi

Surveyor C

2,1600.8 mi

Surveyor D

9560.4 mi

Surveyor E

9330.4 mi

Two others

4500.3 mi

A survey, not a cleanup

The surveyors photographed each item where it lay, and most of it stayed there: gum and stains cannot be picked up. The app marks 513 of the 4,436 records as picked up, nearly all from one surveyor on the Friday. The photos are of the ground, so they show the sidewalk itself: gum spots, butts in the cracks, a tree well.

Counted, not mapped

46 items: 29 of feces, 11 of urine and 6 needles.

They count in the totals and in the replay's bars, but not in the block-face counts; they are not on the map and their photos are not shown. The records do not say whether the feces were human or animal.

From the sidewalk

Twelve of the 4,436 photos, cropped to the ground; they close the replay. Photos with people, feet, shadows, cars, signs or writing are not shown.

Gum spots on the sidewalk, Discover Polk CBD, December 2019 — Gum spots

Paper scrap on the sidewalk, Discover Polk CBD, December 2019 — Paper scrap

Wrapper in the leaves on the sidewalk, Discover Polk CBD, December 2019 — Wrapper in the leaves

Clear plastic on the sidewalk, Discover Polk CBD, December 2019 — Clear plastic

Butts in a tree well on the sidewalk, Discover Polk CBD, December 2019 — Butts in a tree well

Plastic bag on the sidewalk, Discover Polk CBD, December 2019 — Plastic bag

Paper on the sidewalk, Discover Polk CBD, December 2019 — Paper

Gum on the sidewalk, Discover Polk CBD, December 2019 — Gum

Wrapper on the sidewalk, Discover Polk CBD, December 2019 — Wrapper

Leaves and a butt on the sidewalk, Discover Polk CBD, December 2019 — Leaves and a butt

Plastic strip on the sidewalk, Discover Polk CBD, December 2019 — Plastic strip

A straw on the sidewalk, Discover Polk CBD, December 2019 — A straw

What else the account recorded

The Discover Polk team account was used for more than this survey. Polk Street north of Broadway is in the Polk Street file and the Redwood City records are in the events file (Startup Grind 2020); the Mission cleanup and the records elsewhere are not in the open data.

Where	Records
This survey: the district, December 2019	4,436
Polk Street north of Broadway	2,027
The Mission (23rd, 24th and Shotwell Streets), 12 January 2020	1,501
Redwood City, January and February 2020	1,152
Elsewhere, or no location	767
Broadway near the district, 2019 and 2020	184
The district, 2020 (at its Broadway edge)	83

Polk Street north of Broadway is the Polk Street pilot's ground; those records are in the Polk Street replay.

About these numbers

The district is the Discover Polk Community Benefit District: Polk Street from California Street to Broadway, Larkin to Van Ness. Our December 2019 report's map of it runs from Van Ness Avenue to the backs of the lots that face Polk Street on its east side, out to Larkin Street along Broadway, and across Van Ness at the Broadway and Washington Street corners.
The survey is the Discover Polk team account's records in the district on 12 and 20 December 2019: 4,436 photos, 11,123 items (a photo can hold more than one). 4,064 photos and 10,417 items are on the 19 block faces from Polk to Van Ness, where the rates per 100 m are worked out (the block-face counts and rates leave out the 42 items of feces, urine and needles among them); 372 photos and 706 items are at the district's edges. Records of the same account elsewhere, and the 7,932 records other teams made on Polk, Van Ness and the cross streets between them (almost all at the Broadway corner, from the Polk Street pilot), are not part of it.
Our report to the district, Discover Polk CBD Audit Summary (December 2019), counted 11,113 items from the data we sent with it; the open data has 11,123 for the same survey. The checked claims above say where the difference is.
Each record goes to its nearest block face. Both sidewalks of a street count as one face, because phone locations are good to about 10 m. Eleven photos near California Street lie a little west of Van Ness Avenue, past the line used for it; their own records name Van Ness Avenue and they were taken in a run of Van Ness photos, so their 18 items count on its block face from California to Sacramento. Rates are items per 100 m of street, measured between the centres of the cross streets; Van Ness Avenue is wide, so its faces are measured the same way.
Gum and stains are counted spot by spot, as the surveyors tagged them. Feces, urine and needles are counted but not mapped.
No GPS routes were recorded; each walk in the replay is traced from one surveyor's photos in order. Phone locations are good to about 10 m, so the replay draws each photo on the sidewalk of its street, on the side its surveyor was walking (kept steady over several photos), and the walk follows the sidewalks round the corners. The block-face numbers use the photos' own locations. Surveyors are lettered by how much they counted; the two who counted least share a row.
The records are open data: RubbishOpenData, polk-street-2018-2021.csv (CC BY 4.0). No names, accounts or photos; locations to about 11 m.
The photos on this page and the 70 on the replay's live screen were checked one by one (no people, feet, shadows, cars, signs or writing), cropped to the ground, and carry no location data.

In the Discover Polk CBD, 64% of what a December 2019 survey counted was gum.