I Am Doubling Down on San Francisco
I have had the most stressful six weeks of my life trying to make a wise and sound decision regarding where I plan to live for the next year. July is always stressful for several reasons, but most urgently my lease was up on my apartment in San Francisco on July 25th. I moved here a year ago with the hope that the city would return to its former vibrant pre-covid state.
Last summer San Francisco was a hopeful place to be. Workers were returning and businesses were opening and things were heading in the right direction. However, by the second quarter, flagship stores like Nordstroms closed their doors and the Hilton Hotels had gone into foreclosure reinforcing the fear of a doom loop. In May a shoplifter was killed on Market Street a few blocks from where I live and earlier in the year Bob Lee was murdered under the Bay Bridge in a bizarre drug-induced scenario between friends. The Whole Foods closure due to the safety of their customers and employees really sent an alarm through the city and more importantly City Hall.
Ever since the pandemic, the city has become the scary poster child for the Death of American Downtowns. Liberal newspapers and conservative pundits alike love to point to San Francisco as a cautionary tale of how not to run a city, a post-COVID apocalypse. Commercial real estate is a garbage fire; owners of several major hotels have given the keys back to the bank and split. Nobody’s really sure how bad crime is, but it feels worse, and the police may have quiet-quit. It’s not uncommon to see unhoused folks having mental breakdowns amid the outside-dining parklets of ritzy restaurants. I’ve lived in the Bay Area for going on two decades now. It’s not Mad-Max-meets-Omega-Man out here, but it’s bleaker than I’ve ever seen. — Adam Rogers, Insider
Initially, my first reaction was to run and leave the city for good when my lease was up. Then, I decided to move to a different neighborhood. I scoured the internet and looked at rentals from Pacific Heights down to the Marina. This at first appeared the best option. I was set on a flat built in 1929 on Jefferson Street one block up from the St Francis Yacht Club where I spend a good deal of my time. This was three days before I was due to move. Before signing the lease I decided to stay where I was, but move up three floors. It was a head-spinning reversal of my thoughts from previous months when I felt anywhere was better than here.
When I contemplated actually moving I had second thoughts because I am really happy here. I have friends here and my business is here. There is something to be said for being happy and having people you enjoy around you. I did not want to be isolated in the Marina and I am thriving here. I absolutely love where I live and all of my neighbors. I have made so many friends here. When I moved my neighbors took turns helping me. I was out of my old apartment in just a few hours. I feel safe and secure here because I have a sense of community.
It is also good for the business that I founded seven years ago. I have spaces to work here with my interns. I am across the street from my factory on Jessie Street. I have been working on Ocean SF for seven years and I want to stay and continue to work to make it the successful business I know it can be. I also want to continue my leadership development consulting work developing strong leaders in tech and through my Ocean SF internship program. One of the highlights of my year was speaking at the Women of Silicon Valley conference. My building is full of women engineers working for Google, Tesla, Amazon, and so on. I want to host events here and help these young women become great leaders in this male-dominated industry.
There has been some improvement to the city since it became the poster child of the Doom Loop in the U.S. London Breed and Gavin Newsom have been working to curtail the problem and have announced plans to improve the city. It remains to be seen if these plans will make a difference, but I feel the mood of the city has changed for the better. I have noticed there are fewer people sleeping on the streets recently and there are more police present and things have quieted down.
It feels like the progressive agenda is no longer tolerated here because it simply didn’t work.
The former politics around trying to help the homeless created a humanitarian disaster. It seems the city is taking a more conservative approach and making the city viable for businesses to thrive. Enforcing existing laws is a good start.
“There are plenty of laws on the books, and it’d be nice to see some of these damn laws enforced for a change,” said Gavin Newsom in early July reported by the Chronicle. He can’t make a run for the White House unless he cleans up San Francisco it has been rumored he will run in 2024 or 2028 (Forbes).
Comments From a 20-year Resident
San Francisco has always been a city that the right has distorted for propaganda reasons. They go to the worse neighborhoods and say the whole city is like that. Violent crime is much lower than red state cities, Average salary in San Francisco is $167,663. The city continues to grow.
That being said these last 3 years I am starting to see things I have never seen in my 20 years as a resident. As a property owner I have personally kicked many homeless off my property in the past. People now refuse to leave. There is a sense of aggressiveness and boldness by homeless now. I see tents going up in nice neighborhoods where it was not tolerated.
Now that Chesa Boudin the crazy DA has been recalled and mayor is on board with more prosecution of crimes I hope we can bring SF back.
Otherwise the citizens have had enough and people are starting to take the law in their own hands.
The writer references Bernhard Goetz — who was dubbed the “Subway Vigilante” by New York City’s press who came to symbolize New Yorkers’ frustrations with the high crime rates of the 1980s. The incident has also been cited as a contributing factor to the movement against urban crime and disorder.
When I was 25 years old I moved to San Francisco and worked for Bank of America in their corporate offices. It was here that I learned the skills and made the connections that would make me successful. I believe the youth of today deserve the same and that we should take our cities back and not leave them to decay as we all flee to the suburbs. I am taking a stand and staying in the city that I have always loved.
There are some decisions that are extremely impactful to our lives and as I enter this next chapter I hope I have made the right choice. It was not easy, but I am doubling down and staying. Please send me your prayers and good thoughts for a safe and happy year.
Love and blessings to all.