The federal government built a massive monstrosity to house its workers in the heart of San Francisco. As is often the case, government buildings are surrounded by other government buildings, hotels and of course arts facilities.

It is a typical setup found in any major downtown, with the exception that the Biden Administration has decided that the city is too crime ridden to risk its employees safety by asking them to work there.

Yes, our federal government has abandoned San Francisco as too dangerous.

Not a Parody: Gov't Employees Told To Work From Home Due to Rampant Crime Outside the Nancy Pelosi Federal Building in SF

"For the foreseeable future": Bureaucrats urged to stay away from hideous structure in notorious drug haven

Via @AndrewStilesUSA https://t.co/sIFYj9pJCe

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) August 14, 2023

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

You do have to appreciate the fact that the hideous building in question is named after Nancy Pelosi, though. It is an irony that any of us should admire. Nancy Pelosi herself has urged the move away from the building named after her, as she fears for the safety of her own employees who work there.

“In light of the [disgusting and unsafe] conditions at the [Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building] we recommend employees … maximize the use of telework for the foreseeable future,” wrote Cheryl Campbell, the Health and Human Services assistant secretary for administration, in an August 4 memo.

• The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that the building named after Pelosi “has long been a locus of some of the city’s most intractable problems.”

• “Dozens of dealers routinely plant themselves on, next to, or across the street from the property, operating in shifts as users smoke, snort, or shoot up their recent purchases,” the Chronicle reported. “The property’s concrete benches are an especially popular site for users to get high, socialize, or pass out.”

• “The safety of workers in our federal buildings has always been a priority for Speaker Emerita Pelosi, whether in the building or on their commutes,” Pelosi spokesman Aaron Bennett said in a statement. “Federal, state, and local law enforcement—in coordination with public health officials and stakeholders—are working hard to address the acute crises of fentanyl trafficking and related violence in certain areas of the city.”

Acute crises? What is acute about them? The problem is chronic and getting worse by the day. San Francisco, in what might be the most beautiful natural setting of any American city and arguably in the world, has become a craphole (literally) that is plagued by crime, homelessness, drug use, and social decay.

Government is ultimately responsible for these conditions, and government is responding in the best way it knows how: abandoning citizens to their own devices as it picks up and leaves, taking its precious employees with it.

Good luck guys. And don’t forget to pay your taxes or an IRS agent might show up and raid your house.

The Wikipedia article on the building gives us details about the thinking behind the building, which has been temporarily rendered useless. It is a masterpiece of both overthinking and of government neglect of the essentials.

The building was designed to be a ‘green’ building consuming less than half the power of a standard office tower. Utilizing natural light to illuminate 80 percent of the building helped it achieve worldwide recognition as the first Federal Building to be certified under the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria.[6] Its southern wall is draped with translucent panels of perforated stainless steel (3 by 8 feet in size), intended to accumulate solar heat and thereby create an upward air flow, which in turn causes cooler air to enter the building through sensor-controlled windows, achieving an air conditioning effect.[7][8] The result has been criticized as unsatisfactory by employees working in the building, which has received low workplace satisfaction ratings.

The building features some elevators which stop on every third floor to promote employee interaction and health. Users of the building exit the elevators and walk either up or down one floor via stairs. There are, however, also elevators which stop on every floor for users unable or unwilling to negotiate stairs. As of 2019, there were concerns that the courtyard had become a large marketplace for illegal drugs at nighttime.[9]

This is your government at work. Or at least working from home.