The Decline of San Francisco & The Illusions vs. The Realities of Living Here
The countdown has started. I have 11 days to decide where I want to live for the next year. For those that don’t know a one-year lease is more than standard in San Francisco and breaking leases have very adverse consequences, and sub-leasing is mostly not allowed in San Francisco.
In the past few weeks, I’ve been apartment shopping, and it has been a very goldilocks like experience. There are many factors to consider regarding lease control, neighborhoods, space, and the type of renovations that have been done or not done. In San Francisco, the least renovated the better. Many landlords have destroyed the beauty and charm of their properties from the 1970s onward by tearing out moldings and inserting astonishingly horrific kitchen cabinets, vinyl flooring, and dated lighting fixtures. There is also a sort of amnesia with the landlords who are caught in a time capsule of not realizing that the prices of rentals have changed or more appropriately they have not returned as expected to pre-pandemic highs. A very similar apartment can be on the market for 20–30% more and require large deposits while others have slashed their prices and allow you to buy a bond in lieu of a deposit. What I’ve found with the lower prices is a lack of onsite supervision of the property which in the long run makes them less ideal. Other landlords can have a lovely building that is half full and still refuse to negotiate. This is due to rent control. As renters could live there for many years to come and they are waiting out the market.
The other thing to consider based on my daughters is the vibe. To me, the terms of the lease and the square footage are the most important things, but to them, the “vibe” is the most important thing. I've been lucky to have either one or the other of my daughters along for the apartment viewing. When they say they don’t like the vibe I do listen. I certainly don’t want to move into a building that gives them a bad vibe.
After weeks of visiting these properties, I paid a visit to my own leasing office. They have raised my rent even though we have tents pitched outside our door. My building is operated by a national corporation and they use a formula that does not have an algorithm for the state of San Francisco politics.
My best friend has offered me her home where she rarely spends time as she travels with her partner and is now happily sitting in Jackson Hole Wyomy while I step over hypodermic needles and weave my way to Whole Foods while homeless people sleep face down on the street. On the regular, I wonder what I am doing here. The other day I saw a man asleep in his own vomit. I walked past the Marriot Hotel and in that one block, I saw two people smoking crack as people with name tags around their necks headed toward Moscone Center to attend a conference. The National Guard and CHP promised by Gavin Newsome months ago was nowhere to be seen. I have seen absolutely no change to the streets where I live. The people in San Francisco are amazingly tolerant is my main observation.
Damian Morffet and Ron Haysbert, who work security at La Cocina, put the blame for its failure squarely on a shrugging City Hall and an inconsistent, lackluster police department. They said when they were growing up, drug dealers and people using drugs felt uncomfortable in public — but now they’re given free rein over public sidewalks. — SF Chronical
It shocks me that city officials do not realize that all of this is so, so very bad for business. If they don’t care for the actual residents and the workers that reluctantly trickle back to their desks in the Financial District then at the very least they should protect visitors that fuel the tourism and conference economy that supports the hotels and restaurants. It amazes me that people from all over the world walk down our streets and simply ignore what is happening here. It’s shocking that they even come here at all, but that apparently is about to change with the Hilton Hotels in foreclosure.
No one seemed to care when a man dropped his pants and befouled the sidewalk outside La Cocina in a disgusting way, then sauntered off. Despite their efforts to clean the area, it still smelled bad Wednesday, scaring off customers, they said. — SF Chronical
I’ve had a front-row seat to the demise of San Francisco. My goal when I moved here was to dedicate time to building Ocean SF into a prosperous company. I wanted to be here near my factory which is just across the street from my building. I imagined going there to oversee my production and I have done that, but I could have come here every few months as needed as well. I wanted to support local seamstresses and the small factory that I have used on Jessie Street, but the other day I had a very hopeful meeting with two women representing an ethical factory in China. They can make everything that I could ever dream of and then ship it to my warehouse. I would not have to park and dodge the drug-infested streets to get to their backdoor because they have long ago shuttered their entrance on Mission Street.
I can do everything online now. I can teach my Leadership class, coach my clients and run my businesses from home, but where will that be?
Regardless, I have been very successful here in San Francisco. I have met people from all around the world and am moving my projects forward. I am meeting with an app developer to design and build an app for dressing appropriately for extreme sports. This is something I dreamed of doing since I was a ski instructor in Tahoe. Besides meeting with the Chinese Factory I have been invited to be a guest on a podcast called Elite Business Conversations that has 100M followers. My discussion will be around the topic of women in leadership in technology based on my participation in the Women of Silicon Valley. I am also consulting. While the city disintegrates around me I do feel I am making an impact here. Today, I am meeting with my interns in the morning and with my fintech client in the afternoon where I am the consultant to the CEO.
There is always this pull to downsize, to small-size myself by retreating from the pressure that the above entails. To retire or to be semi-retired is what I am expected to do. To take on less and then take up golfing again instead. But, that is not who I am. I am someone who wants to remain a productive part of society. I want to share my wisdom and inspire others. I cherish the work I do and feel lucky that I am still invited to do it.
Although this is not the San Francisco of my youth it is still a place of innovation and home to some very progressive companies that continue to change the world. From the Gold Rush on San Francisco has been a place of boom or bust. It's clear we are squarely in the bust phase now.