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I wish SF had a better mayoral candidate. I feel like I'm stuck choosing between sane housing policy (Breed) or sane bike/transit policy (Kim). And I'm sure t

I wish SF had a better mayoral candidate. I feel like I'm stuck choosing between sane housing policy (Breed) or sane bike/transit policy (Kim). And I'm sure there are plenty of other dimensions where they're both bad.

zapita 9y ago
In my opinion housing comes first. Breed's bike policy seemed reasonable but maybe I missed something? The most critical transit issues are at the scale of the Bay area, and the SF mayor doesn't have the authority or budgets to solve them alone. That will require strong action at the state level, or the emergence of a new layer of government with the mandate and budgets to bypass the petty squabbles of cities and impose a sane bay area transit infrastructure development roadmap. One can dream...
- dsfyu404ed 9y ago
  >That will require strong action at the state level, or the emergence of a new layer of government with the mandate and budgets to bypass the petty squabbles of cities and impose a sane bay area transit infrastructure development roadmap. One can dream... Controlling what people can and can't build on their property at the city level was created to prevent the same problems that exist on the city level back when they were on the neighborhood level. I don't see state or county level zoning as anything more than recursion that will just keep bringing the problem to a different level without solving it. The fundamental issue is that people are not allowed to or the regulations make it economically impossible to build housing at high density. I don't think adding another layer of bureaucracy will make it easier to build the necessary density of housing.
  - zapita 9y ago
    I'm not talking about housing or zoning (although in some cases state intervention can be useful there too, for different reasons), I'm talking about transit. The bay area mass transit infrastructure is a joke, it is nowhere near the level required to support its growth in population and economic activity. We need more intercity mass transit, and bay area cities have a clear track record of being incapable of building them through collaboration. They need an authority above them to make the calls and provide the funds. That is how other successful urban mega-hubs do it: Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam, etc.
jdavis703 9y ago
She actually has a fairly good track record and platform on mobility: https://medium.com/@LondonBreed/transportation-that-works-for-everyone-bd376b37279d https://medium.com/@LondonBreed/transportation-that-works-fo.... I wish she had come out with this post much earlier, but better late than never.
Decade 9y ago
The tipping point for me is to consider how they do their work. London Breed is trying to make San Francisco a city for everyone, and she does not let personal feelings get in the way of good policy. Jane Kim may know how to say the right things, but get on her bad side and she will abandon your policy and destroy your company’s projects.
bytematic 9y ago
This is cute. You should see the candidates in my hometown, reddest district in Wisconsin.

zapita 9y ago

In my opinion housing comes first. Breed's bike policy seemed reasonable but maybe I missed something? The most critical transit issues are at the scale of the Bay area, and the SF mayor doesn't have the authority or budgets to solve them alone. That will require strong action at the state level, or the emergence of a new layer of government with the mandate and budgets to bypass the petty squabbles of cities and impose a sane bay area transit infrastructure development roadmap. One can dream...

dsfyu404ed 9y ago
>That will require strong action at the state level, or the emergence of a new layer of government with the mandate and budgets to bypass the petty squabbles of cities and impose a sane bay area transit infrastructure development roadmap. One can dream... Controlling what people can and can't build on their property at the city level was created to prevent the same problems that exist on the city level back when they were on the neighborhood level. I don't see state or county level zoning as anything more than recursion that will just keep bringing the problem to a different level without solving it. The fundamental issue is that people are not allowed to or the regulations make it economically impossible to build housing at high density. I don't think adding another layer of bureaucracy will make it easier to build the necessary density of housing.
- zapita 9y ago
  I'm not talking about housing or zoning (although in some cases state intervention can be useful there too, for different reasons), I'm talking about transit. The bay area mass transit infrastructure is a joke, it is nowhere near the level required to support its growth in population and economic activity. We need more intercity mass transit, and bay area cities have a clear track record of being incapable of building them through collaboration. They need an authority above them to make the calls and provide the funds. That is how other successful urban mega-hubs do it: Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam, etc.

jdavis703 9y ago

She actually has a fairly good track record and platform on mobility: https://medium.com/@LondonBreed/transportation-that-works-for-everyone-bd376b37279d https://medium.com/@LondonBreed/transportation-that-works-fo.... I wish she had come out with this post much earlier, but better late than never.

Decade 9y ago

The tipping point for me is to consider how they do their work. London Breed is trying to make San Francisco a city for everyone, and she does not let personal feelings get in the way of good policy. Jane Kim may know how to say the right things, but get on her bad side and she will abandon your policy and destroy your company’s projects.

bytematic 9y ago

This is cute. You should see the candidates in my hometown, reddest district in Wisconsin.