Here's a look at SF's Tenderloin one month after encampment crackdown

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- On Aug. 1, the city began taking a more aggressive approach toward people who camp outdoors on San Francisco streets, particularly in the Tenderloin neighborhood where many of the unhoused congregate.

It's now September. So how's it going? We came down to see for ourselves without anyone from any city department leading us.

Just by walking around the neighborhood, we noticed that conditions here have not changed that dramatically.

It appears that there are just as many unhoused people on Wednesday as before, but fewer tents and structures.

Here are the numbers from the Department of Emergency Management: 735 tents and structures have been removed in the month of August.

Meanwhile, crews from the Department of Public Works, with the help of police, continue to remove trash and ask people to pick up and leave in order to clean the street.

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On average, it takes this kind of manpower between 45 minutes to an hour to sweep and clean just one side of the street, that's if people are willing to cooperate.

We arrived at 10:50 a.m. City workers, seven of them, had been waiting for a single tent to move. They had already been waiting for 20 minutes.

While crews worked around the tent, the person inside slowly emerged. It took an hour.

Since the sweeps began, San Francisco has taken a more "service-first" approach, offering people shelter.

The woman who owns the tent, Greatcher told us she has yet to be cited for camping on the street.

Lyanne Melendez: "Have you been offered shelter?"
Greatcher: "Ah, as far as what?"
Melendez: "Shelter, a place to stay?"
Greatcher: "Like for a homeless person?"
Melendez: "Yes."
Greatcher: "Yeah, they do, they offer me but I'm not applicable."
Melendez: "You're not what?"
Greatcher: "I'm not 'applicable' for a homeless shelter. You take advantage of those when you need it."

Aref Elgaali, a business owner said nothing has really changed.

"They want to always be on the street. I don't know what the benefit of that may be if they reside in a shelter they are not allowed to do what they do outside. I think that is the main problem," expressed Elgaali.

According to city data, in August, only 202 people accepted shelter while 1,127 refused any help.

As far as we can tell, the work is frustrating for the crews and physically and emotionally hard on the unhoused. Greatcher told us she's forced to move three to four times a week. The process seems exhausting.

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She told us she would probably move to a site across the street.

And that's exactly what she did. She walked up the block, crossed over and settled on the other side of the street.

Elgaali says the same cycle repeats itself.

"The city, they clean it - they start from 5 o'clock cleaning but go on the same side that they have cleaned, at 6 o'clock, at 10 o'clock you will find the same thing," he revealed.

In fact, it took less time while we were there. An hour after that corner was swept and cleaned, people had already claimed a spot.