Monday, January 07, 2013

what's up?

Man, Scott and I were in South Sac yesterday, and not even that deep in - at Pho Saigon and it was gnarly.  I usually find South Sac to be not too gnarly, especially there and it was insane. Panhandled in the parking lot right off the bat, aggressively, and then watched a parade of zombie like dudes and hookers walk by.  There was a guy with a bandage on his eye and his pants partially down was gesticulating and screaming in a way that was scaring me to go outside, but then he wandered away.  It seems like it's gotten worse in that area, especially with just seeing hookers walking around.  Maybe it was just the day or I was just noticing.  We walked for a while downtown, too and I bet all-in-all I saw at least 75 homeless people.  Do you think there are more around?  Good thing the mayor's on the job! Right after he work on that gun buyback that will not actually happen.

Speaking of KJ the entire episode of Frontline tomorrow night is pretty much devoted to a takedown of her time in the DC school system.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe the zombie horde will reduce the Alonzo's wait time

-- Patrone

DJ Rick said...

Alonzo's is always pretty packed, but we have always had good luck getting seated within minutes.

You must've picked an especially gnarly time to visit Pho Saigon. The zombie horde and the hookers are densest between Southwest Ave (by Bank of America) and Lemon Hill (by the KFC) along Stockton. They do wander up and down the boulevard.

For the hookers, it had noticeably curtailed about 7-8 years ago as business owners in the area were successful in getting attention from police. City and county jurisdictions alternate a lot along the west side of the street from 14th Ave south past Mack Rd, so it took more of a coordinated effort by the Sac PD and sheriffs to beat the problem. When johns were getting stung at area motels (as seen on Cops), that activity greatly curtailed, and moved out to areas of North Watt and Auburn Blvd. But it's come back in the last couple years very noticeably because the secret was out that budget cuts had put an end to the prostitution patrols and stings.

Our area's POP officer told our neighborhood association that they don't police it at all anymore because prostitution has been deprioritized.

You shoulda seen the empty lots at the former San Juan Motel and the neighboring motel (I forget its name) a couple months ago when several visible encampments had set up. It's been rousted, and now the occasional overnighter gets moved out by the next morning. I noticed a campfire there a few nights ago.

beckler said...

Speaking of police, without giving out details in case it's not kosher, I met with a detective and let me tell you, to do witness identification you really have to be sure. Which is hard when someone is in the dark and tell you not to look at them.

My time doing research for witness issues taught me how unreliable it is. Gun focus is a big problem, for one. If you've taken any cognition classes or perception (2 of my favorite classes ever! My mind was totally blown) you might have heard of the experiment where people were told to track a basketball and count the bounces or something in a video and most of them failed to notice a man in a gorilla suit crossing the court. People are not observant and their memories are not good.

Another mind blown fact: your eye makes a horizon look closer, which is why pictures look so much farther when you snap a vista.

I could go on and on. And I remember so little from my undergrad education that it's pretty incredible that I remember so much from this class.

Anonymous said...

Del Paso Blvd is going downhill too. I saw *multiple* empty bath salt packages littering the parking lot near Thrift Town. I'm usually an outspoken advocate for the Boulevard, but I was honestly freaked out the other day.

Anonymous said...

My hookers are getting better looking. Like actual young women who know how to dress and don't seem crazy. I do not know what this means, but it is something I have been noticing.

gbomb

Anonymous said...

that was just me throwing up from heat and tequila exhaustion during the christmas show G.

-N.

Anonymous said...

I did a not very good piece for the SN&R a year or so ago after I was transferred to a new job site on Florin Rd. I was shocked by the number of businesses that were shuttered -- whole swathes of them. And there were abandoned government buildings overgrown with weeds. Parts of Florin had a very post-apocalyptic look and feel. The upshot of the piece was that none of has really registered in the public discourse.

Perhaps the social consequences of the recession have at last arrived.

--knowcebo