Altruistic California Voters?

Above: Forest Avenue, Palo Alto, CA. 8:00 AM. 14 October 2023.

Per image. Clean enough. Safe enough. Yet knowledge of nearby San Francisco's descent into third world urban status causes this power walker to be attentive, if not wary. Is Palo Alto trending San Francisco? Last night at Hoover Institution dinner, my 85-year-old, widow, dinner partner told of a recent daylight robbery at not far away Stanford Mall Gucci store. She reported that a dozen expensive purses were taken. A Palo Alto local, and heretofore believing the Stanford Mall to be a safe place, she now refuses to go there sans a male companion. Urban California's crime rate has been rising for some time. Notwithstanding, Californians voted in a recall election, September 2021, to retain their current governor and current "defund the police" doctrine. My guess is that a majority of Palo Alto voters voted to reaffirm Gavin Newson (D) as governor, so one has to assume they view the possibility of rising crime in their community as a price worth paying to reduce social inequities which they believe to be rife in their state. On my walkabout in downtown Palo Alto this AM I saw two or three single males who, by their dress and demeanor, looked to be outliers. None were threatening and two of them greeted me with a "good morning."