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We need more density. Serious question: do you guys think market rate development will push down prices enough to make SF affordable to the working class (servi

We need more density. Serious question: do you guys think market rate development will push down prices enough to make SF affordable to the working class (service industry, teachers, etc.)? Or do we need subsidized / below market rate housing? This is an issue that affects all of us. Commuting in 1+ hours for low wage jobs is not a viable growth model. Already small businesses in SF are having a very hard time hiring. Unless Elon Musk builds us some tunnels, we need local housing for the working class just to function as a city that’s desirable to live in. My thought on market rate: it will certainly make it more affordable for folks like us (upper 5 - lower 6 figure incomes). But there is a long queue of white collar professionals particularly in tech that would like to move into the city. All that demand needs to be soaked up before the market rate becomes “affordable” for the working class — which means dirt cheap for professionals. How many tech professionals would decide to move here if SF was dirt cheap? That’s a lot of induced demand to satiate. So that’s where the real debate is here when it comes to upzoning the west side. Do you open it up to maximum market rate, or do you negotiate with developers for maximum BMR units? I feel the “nimby vs yimby” dichotomy here tends to cloud that issue.

dragonwriter 8y ago
> Serious question: do you think guys think market rate development will push down prices enough to make SF affordable to the working class (service industry, teachers, etc.)? Or do we need subsidized / below market rate housing? Just a thought, but maybe no to both questions. You need working class people to be able to work in SF, but is it necessary (with adequate transit) that they live there?
- abalone 8y ago
  > (with adequate transit) Well, do we have adequate transit? I saw some maps that visualized where you could get from affordable neighboods on public transit within an hour in several major metros. Can’t find it now but it was striking. Even in NYC you could go from affordable parts of Brooklyn or the Bronx to most of Manhattan. But in the Bay Area... it was tiny areas around BART stops only. Most of SF was cut off. That’s why businesses are having such a hard time hiring. I tried to address this when I noted that either Musk needs to build tunnels or we need local working class housing.

dragonwriter 8y ago

> Serious question: do you think guys think market rate development will push down prices enough to make SF affordable to the working class (service industry, teachers, etc.)? Or do we need subsidized / below market rate housing? Just a thought, but maybe no to both questions. You need working class people to be able to work in SF, but is it necessary (with adequate transit) that they live there?

abalone 8y ago
> (with adequate transit) Well, do we have adequate transit? I saw some maps that visualized where you could get from affordable neighboods on public transit within an hour in several major metros. Can’t find it now but it was striking. Even in NYC you could go from affordable parts of Brooklyn or the Bronx to most of Manhattan. But in the Bay Area... it was tiny areas around BART stops only. Most of SF was cut off. That’s why businesses are having such a hard time hiring. I tried to address this when I noted that either Musk needs to build tunnels or we need local working class housing.