In August 2019, residents of the new SoMa West district photographed every concern on their streets: litter, stains, graffiti and hazards. The district used the survey to get a city grant for 53 Big Belly trash cans. In December 2020, three surveyors walked the same blocks again.
▶Watch both surveys
The hazards fell sharply. Litter did not. These are items on the 441 blocks (squares of about 55 m) that both surveys covered.
human or pet waste: 1,263 to 189 items.
graffiti and stickers: 2,750 to 1,049.
needles: 193 to 78.
litter: 12,484 to 14,876 items.
In 2019 one photo could carry several items; in 2020 each item had its own photo, so the totals compare items, not photos. Stains were recorded only in 2019. Starred rows are counted but never mapped.
Every number the blog posts gave, against the open data. Most check out. The 2021 headline's "as much as 85%" was human and pet waste, not litter.
| The post said | The data | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 community members took partAug 2019 post | 24 accounts photographed in the 2019 survey | Close |
| 27,461 concerns reportedAug 2019 post | 27,478 items on 10,619 photos | Checks out |
| Top three: litter 48%, stained sidewalks 31%, graffiti 10%Aug 2019 post | Litter 47.5%, stains 30.6%, graffiti and stickers 10.3% | Checks out |
| 74 blocks surveyed (72 in the 2021 post)Aug 2019 and Mar 2021 posts | Blocks are not in the data; the photos name 74 streets | Not in the data |
| Mapped in two weeksRoboflow, Sep 2023 | 20 days, August 6 to 26; 98% of the photos from August 10 on | Close |
| 53 Big Belly cans installed, almost one per cornerSep 2020 post | The December 2020 survey photographed 40 of them (41 photos); the other 13 are not in the data | Partly in the data |
| Human and pet waste: 1,308 to 197, down 85%Mar 2021 post | 1,303 to 197, down 85%. Same blocks: down 85% | Checks out |
| Graffiti, stickers and fliers: 2,831 to 1,067, down 62%Mar 2021 post | 2,842 to 1,067, down 62%. Same blocks: down 62% | Checks out |
| Needles: 192 to 81, down 58%Mar 2021 post | 195 to 81, down 58%. Same blocks: down 60% | Checks out |
| A large share of PPE litter is east of 7th StreetMar 2021 post | 84 of 199 masks and gloves (42%) were east of 7th, where 34% of all 2020 photos were | Checks out |
| Reduced litter and other hazards by as much as 85%Mar 2021 post | The 85% is human and pet waste. Litter itself rose 19% on the same blocks | Only the hazards |
The posts counted the whole district; "same blocks" counts only the 441 blocks surveyed both years.
The story first, then the map. Time runs fast across the district and slows to about three minutes a second when the camera walks close beside one person: a neighbor on August 18, 2019, then each of the three surveyors in December 2020. At the end, the same blocks are compared on the map.
Press play for both surveys in 139 seconds. It ends with photos from the surveys.
After the second survey, the replay draws one circle per block, sized by its items, on the same scale in both years. The August 2019 circles grow in, then a line sweeps from east to west and each block takes its December 2020 size. The white ring keeps the 2019 size.
Big Belly trash cans went in during September 2020, almost doubling the cans in the neighborhood: roughly one on every corner. The SoMa West team got them with a city grant, working with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development and the City, using the 2019 survey. Each can carries a Rubbish QR code, so anyone can report a problem without an app, and many wear wraps by local artists.
The December survey photographed 40 of them, mostly on Folsom St 8, 9th St 6, Harrison St 5, Howard St 4, 7th St 3, Bryant St 3. Those are the green cans in the replay.
Cans go on corners, where litter collects, and the December surveyors stopped at each can to photograph it, so this does not say the cans caused it. It says litter rose most right where the new cans stand.
All items in each survey, not only the shared blocks. The 2020 survey also counted the new cans, planters, bus stops and other street fixtures.
Starred rows are counted but never mapped. Tents were not a category in 2019.
22 residents (24 accounts in the file) photographed 10,619 concerns over 20 days. The busiest day was August 18, with 4,404 photos. Their walks are traced from their photos, because routes were not recorded then.
"In 2019 we came, we saw, we… tagged all the community issues across 72 blocks of SOMA West. But we weren't alone: 22 community members participated."
Rubbish blog, March 2021
These records point at people. They count in every total on this page and in the replay's bars, but they are left off the map and out of the photos. In the open data, 446 of them are published at about 110 m; the other 892, from 2019, appear only under a merged type that also holds litter and stains.
A few of the 28,144 photos, three of them the new cans. Every photo on this page and in the replay was opened at full size and checked by eye, edges included: none with people, feet, shadows of people, cars, belongings, tents, slogans, tags or names.
