HERE11 - The Sidewalk during Covid 19

The Covid-19 shutdown in San Francisco led me to experience a quite different sidewalk outside in Western Soma (the South of Market district). The longtime homeless were now largely gone. In the quiet of no one coming and going to work and the absence of my area's vibrant nightlife, new homeless folks wandering the sidewalks came to the forefront. Looking through my building's surveillance cameras, I beheld, extraordinary events. Some were emotionally difficult. This is an hour long video that hopefully brings a level of compassion for what was on the street during this period.
@HERE8 - Frosted Glass: Street Life in Western Soma is a companion to this video.

[@electra424]

wow, this is absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking. thank you

[@lymarchvideo]

Thank you, much appreciated.

[@miker5900]

I just discovered this while finishing up some of the other "here" videos. excellent view through the camera lens of a world also just outside my door as well only a few blocks away . when i truly think about it so many have come and gone that were the original homeless of SF. the ones like you said that were in some form protection from those who mean to do harm. thanks for taking the time to share i will most certainly pass this along to those who see this from only one side

[@lymarchvideo]

Thank you

[@jlbraswell5961]

Great video Glenn! Nicely done, especially towards the end.

[@lymarchvideo]

Thanks!

[@hongyanyang8694]

Wonderful documentary! Really appreciate your attention to interstitial spaces like sidewalks-they have lives and stories!

[@lymarchvideo]

Many thanks!

[@chrissimons2727]

Thanks for this. I've watched your other videos relating to SF history, and this one is alot more personal. Your compassion is obvious. I lived in San Francisco a long time ago. I recognize so much. But the changes are also unimaginable and horrific. Glad good people like you still live there. Peace.

[@lymarchvideo]

Thank you very much. This one took a lot of time and emotional processing to complete.

[@beas6671]

Amazing video. Just wanted to commend you for a new take on exploring and showcasing SF during and after the pandemic

[@lymarchvideo]

Thank you

[@williamsnyder5616]

This is immmensely impressive and heartbreaking. The stories are varied and they break all the stereotypes. When we run into people who say it is JUST drug-related, we can go further and point to the young man who was from an evangelical Christian family. Or, AJ, whom Glenn never felt fear but felt compassion. Compelling viewing.

[@lymarchvideo]

Thanks Will

[@travelmaryrose]

Glenn, your film captured my heart and at one point (the two doing drugs on the sidewalk) my instinct was to start tonglen. I appreciate how you capture the homeless as (extra)ordinary people. May their dreams be peaceful tonight (and ours too!)

[@lymarchvideo]

Thank you Mary !

[@tmkim]

"on the other end is peace...." That exemplifies addiction and the roots in trauma and the need to feel the temporary "right " feelings and sensations, what would have been held against one or denied. The eating of dirt/brushing teeth, to the temporary moving couch and off with a some ingenuity and chutzpah...

[@lymarchvideo]

Ah thank you, very apt comments...

[@chavita4321]

When are you gonna do more videos on the history of each historic building in SF! lol

[@lymarchvideo]

:-)

[@xavian8970]

Would it be possible to do another episode like here 5 but on the east bay.
There's a lot of interesting stuff that happened here
One of the more interesting things are the huge shell mounds that ones stood here or what's left of them

[@lymarchvideo]

around the time I was working on HERE5 I was thinking about exactly the topic you mentioned. But I realized it was a super major undertaking and beyond the scope of what I could do at the time. I am sort of interested in the shell mounds as a Bay Area wide system of alerts, signaling and surveillance. And as you know, they went out of use around the late 1500 CE so the bottom of the Emeryville Mound is larger many feet below sea level. As you may know, there are several "intact" shell mounds on Mt San Bruno. You can find out about them and visit them via the State Park and via the San Bruno Mountain Watch group (www.mountainwatch.org/archives) There are other mound/signaling systems in the pre-European period, and the system related to Chaco Canyon and its regions is rather interesting.

[@xavian8970]

@@lymarchvideo yeah I could understand, and thank you
ill check them out sooner or later