Beautiful & Troubled — San Francisco
For better or worse I have a front row seat to the doom spiral happening in San Francisco right now. I moved here in August to start my next chapter. My children were raised and it was time for me to make changes that would support both my career and interests. As I love technology, teaching leadership at UC Berkeley and coaching working adults moving to the city was a logical choice, plus I love to sail and spend time on the water. In August the city was hopeful the technology workers would be coming back to their jobs and businesses would begin to thrive again.
This has not happened.
Things have deteriorated and it looks unlikely that the tech industry can save San Francico. However, San Francisco is the city to watch as the West Coast grapples with the fallout of Covid. Other major cities have been impacted, especially Portland, Oregon my other home town, but we are the slowest to recover. There is a great deal of blame going around. Many blame the technology industry that once drove commercial and residential prices sky high, others blame crime and the mismanagement of San Francisco by progressive leaders. Others blame London Breed. Who knows what the real cause is, but it is likely a combination of all of the above, but the result is a very big mess here in the most beautiful city in the world.
London Breeds rhetoric on homelessness earned her the scorn of progressives who already perceived her as just another handmaiden to the city’s wealthiest who would rather sweep away problems than solve their root causes. — Politico
Mayor Breeds back story is truly incredible. She grew up in a housing project in the city’s Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco, although ornate Victorian homes lined the streets they were riddled with gun fire and violence. She did not know her father and her mother was barely in the picture, and she was raised by her grandmother. Her brother struggled with addiction and was sent to prison after a woman was killed by oncoming traffic when he pushed her from a getaway car. Breed’s sister died of a drug overdose. So, I wouldn’t call her a handmaiden to the rich, but her past does show a familiarity and maybe even a desentivity to what is happening in the city now, but she is definitely trying.
San Francisco’s economic recovery remains slow. The jobless rate in March rose to 3%, up from 2% in December after a series of tech layoffs, but there are signs of slight improvement that might point to the loop spiral reversing.
Ridership on the Muni Metro subway and exits at downtown BART stations increased modestly in February compared to their levels in earlier winter months. The number of new business formations is trending upward, with the most recent three-month average for new restaurants and bars reaching a level not seen since 2019.
“The story of San Francisco’s recovery is slow,” said Egan, the city’s chief economist. “And the slow recovery is continuing.” — San Francisco Chronical
As we move into Q2 of 2023 I am hoping to see signs of improvement and a miracle. As a very optimistic person I do think somehow that could happen. Please share your thoughts on the future of San Francisco.