San Francisco's unhoused tent count down by 60%, mayor says

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed says the city's tent count is down 60% since July.

Officials say it is the lowest level since the city began conducting counts in 2018.

This month's quarterly county found 242 tents and structures on city streets.

The mayor credits encampment teams with helping more than 950 unhoused people get into shelters this year.

MORE: Several Bay Area cities, counties receiving state money to combat homelessness

"People are trying to imply that we are sweeping people from one place to another. That is not the case. These are people. We want to help them. You can't force them to take our help. But, we will do everything we can to get them off the streets of San Francisco by offering the services we have available," Breed said.

Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to transform an outdated San Francisco DMV into hundreds of affordable housing units.

The mayor says the DMV property at Fell and Baker Streets has been a place that's attracted homeless encampments.

The state-owned building will be turned into a multi-use complex with 370 homes -- and a modernized DMV office -- by 2030.