The ‘Doom Loop’

“Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town.”

No, it’s not as bad as the lyrics to the old Simon and Garfunkel song. The term “doom loop” refers to a city where financial concern and a rising crime rate cause a viscous cycle or domino effect, forcing businesses to leave and creating a ghost town. That’s not going to happen in San Francisco, but it’s going to take some changes concerning San Francisco’s seemingly, although not necessarily accurate, tolerance to criminal activity and drug use. Last Wednesday, I toured the City with six visiting relatives from Texas; starting with a brief stop at the Exploratorium. Next, the Liberty Ship the Jeremiah O’Brien, Fisherman’s Wharf, a cable car ride to Nob Hill and back to Ghirardelli Square, a drive through Chinatown and down Lombard Street, a visit to Alamo Square, a drive through Golden Gate Park, and ending up on Ocean Beach at sunset. (Whew, I’m getting too old for these tours!) We didn’t encounter anything unpleasant, except for a vagrant sleeping on a bench inside the Musee Mecanique. One of my relatives asked, “Why is that allowed? This is a tourist attraction!” all I could think of to say was, “You got me!” Anyway, back to the doom loop. Things are closing in San Francisco, some of them favorites of mine, some of them promising to reopen. I took a look back on my site for pictures I’ve posted in the past of places that haven’t or will not survive in San Francisco, although as I mentioned, some of them are planning to reopen. We can only hope. (Thumbnail images)

There was an article in yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle about the imminent closing in August of the Westfield Shopping Centre inside the old Emporium Department store. I was there yesterday to take a picture for an upcoming post I’m planning. I walked one block to Market Street at Mason to get my picture. Some days this area isn’t bad, yesterday was not one of them. I kept looking around and over my shoulder carefully as I located  my picture spot, and left as quickly as I could. When I got back to Westfield Centre, I wondered how the shopping center survived this long near a frontier like that.

 

Alioto’s and #9 Fishermen’s Grotto in Fisherman’s Wharf, both gone forever: This one is the hurt that will never go away.

The Cliff House: There are indications that the famous landmark will be back in business soon. This one has to reopen or there is no God!

Lefty O’Doul’s Bar near Union Square, seen here in the 1960s: I never had a chance to visit there before it closed in 2017.

I did used to take a pit stop at another bar near Union Square, the Gold Dust Lounge, rumored to be a favorite hangout for Bing Crosby when he was in town.

Candlestick Park: Boy the memories I have from there, going all the way back to the Mays and McCovey days when my mom and dad took us out there.

Beach Blanket Babylon Blvd, named after the famous, and now closed, musical play that I also never had the pleasure of seeing.

Fleishhacker Pool, once the largest swimming pool in the world, and the Bath House, seen here when it closed in 1971:: My mom took a train out to San Francisco from North Dakota when she was 17, and went swimming here with her cousin Frances. She told me about how nice the Steakhouse upstairs in the Bath House was. The pool is now buried underneath the San Francisco Zoo parking lot, the Bath House building burned down in 2012 in a fire caused by homeless people.

 

Louis Restaurant, just up from the Cliff House, seen here in 1966 when a fire burned down the Sutro Bathhouse next to it: I’ve eaten here more often than I have at the Cliff House. There’s also talk of the Louis Restaurant opening again soon, and I’m ready for breakfast.