Apec summit 2023: San Francisco scrambles to clean up its image as world leaders arrive
- Thousands of foreign dignitaries and nearly two dozen world leaders expected in San Francisco for this week’s Apec summit
- California host city, which has reputation for its seedy underbelly, has made efforts to clean up its image for the event
Like a housework-shy couple who suddenly discover the neighbours are dropping round, San Francisco is in tidying panic mode as it readies for thousands of influential Apec visitors.
There are palpable efforts to spruce up the decaying downtown that in recent years has earned itself a reputation for open-air drug use, homelessness, litter and crime.
Major streets have been swept clean, potholes newly repaired and an army of flat-capped police officers are on patrol in the shopping and business district where diplomats, journalists and businesspeople will mingle this week for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, a summit of leaders from around the Pacific.
There’s an obvious sense of best-foot-forward as the city tries to project an image that it’s a place to do business and invest, after years in which companies have fled, giving rise to the notion that it is in a “doom loop”.
“This place has a reputation for homeless encampments and drug dealers,” a jogger who identified himself as Oliver told Agence France-Presse on Saturday.