2012 Theses Master's

San Francisco's Sit/Lie Ordinance: Perceptions, Realities, and Desires

Liu, Tsz Kiu

San Franciscans in the 2010 election voted for Proposition L, the Sit/Lie Ordinance, which prohibits sitting or lying on sidewalks citywide from 7am to 11pm. This thesis will study the consequences of the new law. Considered having one of the largest homeless populations in the country, San Francisco recently adopted the law which is widely seen as anti-homeless. The author is interested in how the homeless and various community-based organizations that have long advocated for the rights of the homeless respond to the measure. This is an important issue, not only in San Francisco but many other cities in the U.S., as it defines who the "public" is in public space. This study aims to use empirical research to answer the question of how the right to the city is contested in the use of public space by the homeless. This paper hypothesizes that the homeless and their advocates continue to resist the ordinance and try different ways to reclaim their use of public space since public space is a dynamic -- rather than fixed -- venue open for struggles.