On a typical day in San Francisco's largest housing project, teens ditch school to take the bus to a funeral. A woman wanders into the liquor store to buy Cheetos for her young grandson and a 20-ounce beer for herself. Two 3-year-old boys ride their tricycles down a steep hill patched with trash and broken glass.Such is life in Sunnydale, quite possibly the most dangerous, depressed and decrepit area of the city. The dilapidated barracks that make up the development are lined up on a hillside in the shadow of the Cow Palace, opposite McLaren Park in Visitacion Valley.
An estimated 1,633 people live in the square mile of concrete housing that was originally built for soldiers in World War II. Once considered a nice place for a family to live, the development is now home to those who can't afford anything else.
Sunnydale, also called "The Dale" or "The Swamp," is littered with bottles and trash. There is no landscaping, just overgrown grass and clumps of weeds. There are dirty diapers in trees. Cockroaches and mice run around inside. Some sinks are so moldy, they are black. Walls are crumbling. Stairs have collapsed.
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