Sunnydale projects

The Sunnydale projects in San Francisco have a really rough history, and things seem to be getting worse.  A reporter for the Chronicle wrote a column about it after he went on a tour with a politician, and everyone he met that night had either been shot or knew someone who was shot.  The day after the reporter walked through the community I went on my own tour.  I met Drew, who was shot in 2004 after dropping his kid off at a slumber party.  Drew is a mentor and community leader who works with teens at the youth center.  After he was shot, the police thought he was involved somehow and armed, and he had to get other community leaders to vouch for his character.  I met Brad and Thomas, neighbors who were shot last month as they barbecued, just five minutes after Thomas had sent his kids off on an errand.  I toured the projects in broad daylight, and the whole time I was there, no matter who I was talking to, their eyes were constantly scanning the horizon, looking out for trouble.  The projects are at war with another housing project just a couple blocks down the hill, and innocent people keep getting caught in the crossfire.  Drew pointed out where a shooting was last week, and while I was there working on this story a little girl got caught in the crossfire of a shooting.  I've shot in rough neighborhoods in places like Newark, and Detroit, and even other rough neighborhoods in San Francisco, but Sunnydale definitely stands out for its lack of options.  There is no place for kids to go here.  There is one teen center that could definitely use some upgrades.  There is no gym, and the basketball courts I saw in the middle of the project didn't have lights.  Residents talked to me about observing a curfew - grown men who make sure they're inside before it gets dark, men who drive their cars over the curbs of the parking lot all the way to their front doors to let their children into their homes.  I'm new to San Francisco, so I don't know why neighborhoods like Bayview or Hunters Point get more funding or have more resources than Sunnydale.  Drew explained that places like Bayview have five or six gyms, while they don't have one.  I don't know if it's a size issue, or strictly money.  I hope this column helps them get some funding somehow.  There's definitely a larger issue here - Sunnydale seems a lost neighborhood.  

Drew Jenkins gazes down the hill from his Sunnydale neighborhood in San Francisco, Calif., Friday, November 4, 2011.  Jenkins, a community leader and mentor, was shot there in 2004 after dropping his son off at a slumber party.  He says the rivalry between his neighborhood and the one two blocks down the hill is at an all time high.  "This is a state of emergency," he said of the recent shootings, "It's like the land of the lost."

Thomas Konaris, 58, was shot once through his side and once in his foot while barbecuing outside his Sunnydale home October 15.

Bradley Young was shot while barbecuing in front of his Sunnydale home October 15.  The shot went through his arm and lodged in his chest.  Now he said he's shellshocked, and constantly keeps an eye out for people he doesn't recognize.

Police investigate a shooting at The Shop, a barbershop on Leland Ave. in San Francisco, Calif., Friday, November 4, 2011.