Multiple entertainment events Friday draw thousands to downtown San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO — As much as we’ve heard about the doom loop narrative and crime and homelessness plaguing the streets of San Francisco, the city transformed Friday into a mecca of art, festivals and concerts.

Tens of thousands packed downtown, bringing much-needed foot traffic and dollars to local businesses.

They came to enjoy a long list of events: A free Portugal. The Man concert, Green Day performing at Oracle Park, Oktoberfest on Front street and even Greek Fest in the Mission District. These events not only drew locals but others from around the Bay Area and beyond.

Vanessa Gayton took BART from Concord.

“I think it’s important to understand that every big city is going to have its problems but there is a lot of city to give to the people,” Gayton said. “So take that opportunity and do something with it.”

Vanessa and her boyfriend Dominic said they didn’t feel unsafe as they made their way to the concert. In fact, they were impressed with how alive the city felt on a Friday night.

“You know, coming out to this area five to 10 years ago, it seemed a lot more dicey and sketchy,” Dominic Bruno said. “Seeing all these people here having a good time, having a safe time, it’s definitely refreshing to see.”

Mayor London Breed also enjoyed one of the many events as she mingled with the crowd at Oktoberfest. She said change needed to happen at City Hall to bring events back.

“San Francisco has to become the city of yes,” Mayor Breed said. “Notoriously for being a city of no, you can’t do something.”

San Francisco has teamed up with Another Planet Entertainment to bring several concerts to the city. City leaders are trying to change the perception of downtown, which is still plagued with concerns about crime and violence. Mayor Breed believes the city needs to invest in itself to bring people back.

“We’re making it so much fun and making it easier not just with the permitting process but also putting our money where our mouth is,” she said. “So we can make events like this possible.”

City leaders want events like these to increase nighttime foot traffic. During the day, it’s been a struggle to bring office workers back. Office vacancy numbers are at an all-time high and it’s expected to go up again this year. That’s according to CBRE, a commercial real estate service group.

Restaurants like Chao Pescao are seeing first hand the difference these events can make. The Latin Caribbean eatery on McAllister Street near Civic Center Plaza was packed throughout the night, with wait times of an hour.

“Business has been really nice,” said Anabella Valdiviezo from Chao Pescao. “The Civic Center shows have definitely been helping. Last time with Skrillix, it was very packed, very crazy.”

“We came here with the intention of ‘We’re going to check the concert out, we’re going to have dinner around here afterwards so we’ll definitely be putting our business in the surrounding area,'” added concert-goer Kris Hoglund.

Kris and Michelle used to live in the area and they see positive changes in the city. They feel these events are helping to erase the city’s negative image.

“You on a Friday would certainly not see even 20 percent of this group roaming around here,” said Michelle Catania. “So it’s encouraging people to get out and about and explore areas of the city they normally wouldn’t.”