Olivia Murray wrote about the fact that business owners in San Francisco’s Castro district are fed up that the city is doing nothing to stop the influx of homeless into the district, complete with bodies splayed on the sidewalk, litter and, of course, human waste. For those of us who remember the city in the 1970s, this is a familiar tale—and one rife with possibilities.
Beginning in the 1960s, San Francisco had the biggest and most vibrant gay meccas in the world, located right on Castro Street, with the hub where Castro intersected with Market. By the mid-1970s, we high school students often went there for the great old movies at the Castro Theater, to visit the cool boutiques, to eat at the trendy-but-still-affordable restaurants and, naturally, take in the street scene.
