DECLINE IS A CHOICE: How San Francisco’s Westfield turned into a ghost mall: The dying center where 75 PERCENT of units are empty and more stores are closing – as shoppers describe ‘dodgy’ area overrun with homeless who left them ‘scared.’

This is not a scene from a post-apocalyptic TV show. And it’s not a so-called ‘dead mall’ in some forgotten corner of America.

This is the palatial San Francisco Center on a Friday afternoon in mid-January, when just a few years ago the luxurious complex would have been heaving with shoppers reveling in after-Christmas sales.

Today, this former retail jewel at the heart of one of America’s most iconic cities is literally a shell of its former self.

Businesses have left in droves – this month alone, five have closed or announced they plan to – and occupancy is at a measly 25 percent. Footfall has plunged by half since last year and, as shops and customers have departed, the homeless have moved in and drug-taking and crime have risen.

Gooder and harder, San Francisco — but anyone who remembers the city from its glory days can tell you just how sad a sight this is.