A convertible owner who recently moved to Rincon Hill is learning the hard way that street-parking a soft top in this city is essentially an act of faith — and someone in the neighborhood has decided to punish that faith with a blade. After two-plus years of parking a Miata on SF streets without a single incident, this driver has had their soft top slashed twice in two weeks. The second time came within 24 hours of returning the car to a different nearby street, which strongly suggests they're being deliberately targeted by someone who either lives in the area or patrols it.

Let's do the math on this. A soft top replacement runs somewhere between $1,500 and $3,000 depending on the shop. Police reports for property vandalism in San Francisco are, as we all know, basically paperwork therapy — they make you feel like you did something, but nothing happens. SFPD's clearance rate for property crimes hovers in the single digits. The person doing this faces essentially zero consequences.

One local who dealt with similar escalation shared a grim warning: "I started having weird stuff happen to mine on the street, and then they stole it on Christmas Day. Had to file insurance, MTA finally found it 4 months later parked in another neighborhood after it was too late for me to claim it."

Another SF resident offered the only real advice available in a city where the justice system has largely checked out on property crime: "Park it so that a camera from your window can see it. Find the fucker. After that... up to you."

That last line tells you everything about where we are. San Franciscans have effectively been told to become their own detectives, their own prosecutors, and their own deterrents — while still paying some of the highest taxes in the country for public safety services that won't lift a finger for a slashed convertible top. The city collects the revenue; residents collect the consequences.

This isn't just about one Miata. It's about a local government that has made a quiet policy decision: your property isn't worth protecting. Until that calculus changes — until there are actual consequences for repeat vandalism — the only real advice is the depressing kind: get a camera, get a garage, or get out.