The Bay Area's housing problems arise largely from fragmentation and NIMBY-ism. The sum of the rationally self-interested being made in all of these tiny, fragm

The Bay Area's housing problems arise largely from fragmentation and NIMBY-ism. The sum of the rationally self-interested being made in all of these tiny, fragmented municipality equals a giant mess that's getting worse every year and that's starting to seriously impair economic growth. The entire Bay Area needs to be incorporated as one giant city all the way from the Presidio down to San Jose. It's already one giant city: we might we well recognize the fact. We'll reuse the name "San Francisco" for convenience. Having had SF annex all its suburbs (like growing cities used to do back when we remembered what good government looked like), residents can switch the city to at-large representation and finally start planning the region's growth in a way that makes sense.