6 ms·

I'm sure Ed Lee was a great guy, but San Francisco is the worst-managed city I have ever seen (lived there for many years). I don't expect improvement anytime

I'm sure Ed Lee was a great guy, but San Francisco is the worst-managed city I have ever seen (lived there for many years). I don't expect improvement anytime soon, but everyone should get on board the YIMBY movement and push hard for change.

jdavis703 9y ago
Ed Lee started out as an affordable housing advocate. I'm not sure what happened to him along the way. Did he get more conservative as he got older? Did the city's runaway growth outdo him? As for getting on board the YIMBY movement, Fast Co writes that the new mayor "grew up with her grandmother in the city’s housing projects and public housing has been an important part and particular focus of her political career. " A quick skim of voting records also appears that she supports development: https://sfgov.legistar.com/PersonDetail.aspx?ID=92842&GUID=4062CB2D-6026-4732-8E15-CD52FB7529AE&Search= https://sfgov.legistar.com/PersonDetail.aspx?ID=92842&GUID=4....
- yonran 9y ago
  Ed Lee advocated for the right housing policies. As mayor, he created the Affordable Housing Trust Fund after California ended Redevelopment and created several efforts to increase the housing supply, including the Public Land for Housing program (http://sf-planning.org/public-land-housing-formerly-public-sites-portfolio http://sf-planning.org/public-land-housing-formerly-public-s...) and the executive directive to streamline construction permits (http://sfmayor.org/article/executive-directive-17-02 http://sfmayor.org/article/executive-directive-17-02). On housing, my only criticism of Lee is that he was too slow to recognize the affordability issue.
- ucaetano 9y ago
  > Ed Lee started out as an affordable housing advocate. The best pro-affordable housing policy is plenty of market-rate construction.
- lacker 9y ago
  The affordable housing movement changed. It used to be people who wanted housing to be cheaper. Now it is people who want housing to be more expensive. They just kept the same name out of inertia.
- xster 9y ago
  Thanks for the voting records link!
masterleep 9y ago
Ironically, Ed Lee was viewed as the competent one. Get ready for what comes next to be worse.
timr 9y ago
...or alternatively, demand that the city stop handing moneyed interests the keys to the city. It's embarrassing to see a gigantic empty mall in the middle of Market street when so many people are homeless. You can thank Ed Lee for that -- it would be “such an attraction for retail,” he said [1]. What could have been an apartment building or live/work space became a mall that nobody wants [2]. While the housing crisis is real in SF, the "YIMBY" movement is a fairly thoughtless, knee-jerk reaction to the problem. In general in SF, developers have been getting exactly what they want since Wille Brown -- they just don't build things that help people who don't have money. SF could use some balance on the other side of the ledger. [1] http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/11/12/150-million-retail-development-breaks-ground-at-san-franciscos-6th-and-market/ http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/11/12/150-million-reta... [2] http://hoodline.com/2017/02/market-street-s-6x6-mall-opens-parking-access-but-still-has-no-confirmed-tenants http://hoodline.com/2017/02/market-street-s-6x6-mall-opens-p...
nodesocket 9y ago
As a recent downtown SF resident who just fled San Francisco after 6 years I completely agree. Sad about his passing, but SF politics and policies are completely backward. The city refuses to acknowledge problems and punish bad behavior for fear of social justice backlash. Instead they villainize hard working Americans and victimize criminals. Off to greener pastures; Nashville TN for me.
- justboxing 9y ago
  How's the job scene in Nashville? Work in Tech?
  - nodesocket 9y ago
    Self employed (SaaS and consultant). I am sure there will be far less networking opportunities there vs SF, but my sanity, safety, and personal happiness is more important.
- hyperbovine 9y ago
  Put differently, a tremendous number of people are willing to put up with SF, warts and all, rather than move somewhere else. It must be an amazing place to live.
  - refurb 9y ago
    Is that true? There seems to be a lot of churn. People come when they are young and leave after a few years.
    - butterfi 9y ago
      This is very much true, and has been since the 80's. Source? Me. I'm still here, but 95% of the people I met when I moved here in '85 have moved back home.
    - tomkarlo 9y ago
      That's true of a lot of large cities in that age group - as you start families, you tend to start to value cheap housing (for more space) and good schools more than you do when you're single. I remember a stat that said if you move to a city after you're 30, you have a >50% chance of staying there long term, and that's why cities will target that age group when trying to get people to move. I'm guessing that means for people 20-30 the % that stay in a city is less than that, so it would be normal to see most folks you know eventually move out of town in that age bracket in a major city. SF has a lot of turnover, but the few studies I've seen say it's not particularly high by US standards. Nashville, for one, is higher. (Notably this study is by MSA so it wouldn't consider someone moving from SF to say, Burlingame a departure.) https://www.abodo.com/blog/so-long-to-the-city/ https://www.abodo.com/blog/so-long-to-the-city/
mmanfrin 9y ago
Ed Lee took over Newsom's spot with a pledge that he would not run for Mayor in the special election (since taking over as interim Mayor would give him a big incumbent bump since many voters are apathetic about local elections and tend to just pick the name they recognize). Come election time, Lee throws his hat into the ring, to the jeers of people who cried foul.
- CalChris 9y ago
  Similarly, Gavin Newsom was appointed to the Board of Supervisors by Brown. San Francisco could markedly improve if appointments to vacant elected offices were banned.
transitorykris 9y ago
I would not pin the troubles the city is facing on Ed Lee. The Board of Supervisors has an outsized influence on policy, especially housing, and for the most part continues to obstruct development single handedly.
MBlume 9y ago
The mayor has only so much power over the city. As someone involved in the YIMBY movement, I think we mostly considered him an ally.

jdavis703 9y ago

Ed Lee started out as an affordable housing advocate. I'm not sure what happened to him along the way. Did he get more conservative as he got older? Did the city's runaway growth outdo him? As for getting on board the YIMBY movement, Fast Co writes that the new mayor "grew up with her grandmother in the city’s housing projects and public housing has been an important part and particular focus of her political career. " A quick skim of voting records also appears that she supports development: https://sfgov.legistar.com/PersonDetail.aspx?ID=92842&GUID=4062CB2D-6026-4732-8E15-CD52FB7529AE&Search= https://sfgov.legistar.com/PersonDetail.aspx?ID=92842&GUID=4....

yonran 9y ago
Ed Lee advocated for the right housing policies. As mayor, he created the Affordable Housing Trust Fund after California ended Redevelopment and created several efforts to increase the housing supply, including the Public Land for Housing program (http://sf-planning.org/public-land-housing-formerly-public-sites-portfolio http://sf-planning.org/public-land-housing-formerly-public-s...) and the executive directive to streamline construction permits (http://sfmayor.org/article/executive-directive-17-02 http://sfmayor.org/article/executive-directive-17-02). On housing, my only criticism of Lee is that he was too slow to recognize the affordability issue.
ucaetano 9y ago
> Ed Lee started out as an affordable housing advocate. The best pro-affordable housing policy is plenty of market-rate construction.
lacker 9y ago
The affordable housing movement changed. It used to be people who wanted housing to be cheaper. Now it is people who want housing to be more expensive. They just kept the same name out of inertia.
xster 9y ago
Thanks for the voting records link!

masterleep 9y ago

Ironically, Ed Lee was viewed as the competent one. Get ready for what comes next to be worse.

timr 9y ago

...or alternatively, demand that the city stop handing moneyed interests the keys to the city. It's embarrassing to see a gigantic empty mall in the middle of Market street when so many people are homeless. You can thank Ed Lee for that -- it would be “such an attraction for retail,” he said [1]. What could have been an apartment building or live/work space became a mall that nobody wants [2]. While the housing crisis is real in SF, the "YIMBY" movement is a fairly thoughtless, knee-jerk reaction to the problem. In general in SF, developers have been getting exactly what they want since Wille Brown -- they just don't build things that help people who don't have money. SF could use some balance on the other side of the ledger. [1] http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/11/12/150-million-retail-development-breaks-ground-at-san-franciscos-6th-and-market/ http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/11/12/150-million-reta... [2] http://hoodline.com/2017/02/market-street-s-6x6-mall-opens-parking-access-but-still-has-no-confirmed-tenants http://hoodline.com/2017/02/market-street-s-6x6-mall-opens-p...

nodesocket 9y ago

As a recent downtown SF resident who just fled San Francisco after 6 years I completely agree. Sad about his passing, but SF politics and policies are completely backward. The city refuses to acknowledge problems and punish bad behavior for fear of social justice backlash. Instead they villainize hard working Americans and victimize criminals. Off to greener pastures; Nashville TN for me.

justboxing 9y ago
How's the job scene in Nashville? Work in Tech?
- nodesocket 9y ago
  Self employed (SaaS and consultant). I am sure there will be far less networking opportunities there vs SF, but my sanity, safety, and personal happiness is more important.
hyperbovine 9y ago
Put differently, a tremendous number of people are willing to put up with SF, warts and all, rather than move somewhere else. It must be an amazing place to live.
- refurb 9y ago
  Is that true? There seems to be a lot of churn. People come when they are young and leave after a few years.
  - butterfi 9y ago
    This is very much true, and has been since the 80's. Source? Me. I'm still here, but 95% of the people I met when I moved here in '85 have moved back home.
  - tomkarlo 9y ago
    That's true of a lot of large cities in that age group - as you start families, you tend to start to value cheap housing (for more space) and good schools more than you do when you're single. I remember a stat that said if you move to a city after you're 30, you have a >50% chance of staying there long term, and that's why cities will target that age group when trying to get people to move. I'm guessing that means for people 20-30 the % that stay in a city is less than that, so it would be normal to see most folks you know eventually move out of town in that age bracket in a major city. SF has a lot of turnover, but the few studies I've seen say it's not particularly high by US standards. Nashville, for one, is higher. (Notably this study is by MSA so it wouldn't consider someone moving from SF to say, Burlingame a departure.) https://www.abodo.com/blog/so-long-to-the-city/ https://www.abodo.com/blog/so-long-to-the-city/

mmanfrin 9y ago

Ed Lee took over Newsom's spot with a pledge that he would not run for Mayor in the special election (since taking over as interim Mayor would give him a big incumbent bump since many voters are apathetic about local elections and tend to just pick the name they recognize). Come election time, Lee throws his hat into the ring, to the jeers of people who cried foul.

CalChris 9y ago
Similarly, Gavin Newsom was appointed to the Board of Supervisors by Brown. San Francisco could markedly improve if appointments to vacant elected offices were banned.

transitorykris 9y ago

I would not pin the troubles the city is facing on Ed Lee. The Board of Supervisors has an outsized influence on policy, especially housing, and for the most part continues to obstruct development single handedly.

MBlume 9y ago

The mayor has only so much power over the city. As someone involved in the YIMBY movement, I think we mostly considered him an ally.