6 ms·

Can San Francisco be saved?

11 points by dsr12 7y ago

JohnClark1337 7y ago
The Democrats aren't a bunch of mindless hicks like the Republicans. They are far more intelligent and sophisticated. I'm sure they'll have this fixed in no time.
arkadiyt 7y ago
Non paywalled link: https://web.archive.org/web/20200217231105/https://fortune.com/longform/can-san-francisco-be-saved/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200217231105/https://fortune.c...
chmaynard 7y ago
> London Breed is making the case for tough love. It’s early January, and the first woman to be elected mayor of San Francisco is giving an inaugural speech ... Ouch. As I recall, Diane Feinstein was Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- chrisdhoover 7y ago
  She’s neither the first woman nor the first black but she is the first black woman mayor of San Francisco
- masonic 7y ago
  Feinstein first became mayor via assassination, but she was subsequently elected to two full mayoral terms of her own.
jelliclesfarm 7y ago
Interesting timing. Mohammad Nuru was just caught on corruption and kickback charges in a FBI investigation..Nuru is in charge of homelessness initiatives in SF and public works. Breed admitted to have dated him years ago(irrelevant..they are both grown ups) and admitted to a 5.6k ‘gift’ to fix her 18 year old clunker car. All around weirdness on a voluntary disclosure on a Friday press release before a long weekend. https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/SF-corruption-probe-Mayor-London-Breed-dated-15056830.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/SF-corrup... And yes, Density is a bad word because Ms.Breed’s buddy Nuru has been handing over permits and contracts to an unnamed Chinese builder for building in the city. The city is tearing down multi level parking lots to build more housing. It is one of the most expensive cities in the world and density isn’t going to make it more affordable. Third world politics..cronyism, nepotism and corruption. Sadly, they are ALL rotten. It’s politics as usual in San Francisco. Chesa Boudin is a whole another can of worms.
- jmpman 7y ago
  Why do you think density isn’t going to reduce prices? Doesn’t density equal more supply in the supply/demand curve?
  - jelliclesfarm 7y ago
    yes, it will increase supply, but it won’t bring down prices. I literally don’t know one example in any overcrowded high density city that has affordable housing. Not in the whole world. The demand spurs more building and there will never be any surplus stock that will devalue existing housing or bring down prices. Let’s take tomatoes. Case 1. I grow 10 kilos of tomatoes for market from my 100 sq.ft vegetable plot. I sell it for $1/lb and make $10. The next year, I grow tomatoes on steroid fertilizers and get 20lbs from same plot. I sell it for $1/lb but my neighbour is also at the market and same customers don’t want as much from me. I end up selling at 0.50/lb to get rid of all my stock. Because. Glut. More supply = lower prices. Case 2. I take 10lbs of tomatoes to market. I make a deal with t the manager that only I can sell tomatoes and I don’t want any other competitors. I promise that I can bring double the amount of tomatoes, but the manager must advertise for me. If he fulfills the lack of competition and advertises for me, I will give him 1/4 of my proceeds. He agrees. He does a great job of advertising. First he lets everyone know that there will be no more tomatoes. Then he tells the customers that every other market is selling bad tomatoes and that his tomatoes are the very best. But too bad..it’s very Rare. There is literally no soil that can grow the kind of tomatoes that his market can bring. But best to wait..he will try to grab as many tomatoes as he can..but he can’t promise. The other market manager is threatening him. Then other customers come by and take him aside.. pssstt, they say..I hear you have the best tomatoes and when they come..can you set aside some for us. Shoo away the old customers..we can pay double. The market manager isn’t sure, but promises to try. But for his trouble, can he get a finders’ fee? Sure..the wealthy shoppers agree to the deal. So I bring 20 kgs of tomatoes to the market. The manager gets his cut. The old customers are shoo’ed away. New ones pay more to buy all. Manager makes bank. Only one who profits for nothing. It behooves him to keep increasing the prices and making my tomatoes more and more scarce. It profits me to grow mediocre tomatoes but increase volume. Maybe I can sell the squished ones..maybe I can paint eggplants red and sell them as tomatoes. Who cares..the crowd will buy 50 kilos if I can provide the tomatoes and I can even charge $5/kg. Why on earth would I sell it for less? Even more importantly, why would I sell for less than the $1/kg that originally got for my tomatoes when there are suckers waiting to pay five times more because of their branding? Case 2 isn’t about tomatoes. Here ends the stories.

11 points by dsr12 7y ago

The Democrats aren't a bunch of mindless hicks like the Republicans. They are far more intelligent and sophisticated. I'm sure they'll have this fixed in no time.

arkadiyt 7y ago

Non paywalled link: https://web.archive.org/web/20200217231105/https://fortune.com/longform/can-san-francisco-be-saved/ https://web.archive.org/web/20200217231105/https://fortune.c...

chmaynard 7y ago

> London Breed is making the case for tough love. It’s early January, and the first woman to be elected mayor of San Francisco is giving an inaugural speech ... Ouch. As I recall, Diane Feinstein was Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
chrisdhoover 7y ago
She’s neither the first woman nor the first black but she is the first black woman mayor of San Francisco
masonic 7y ago
Feinstein first became mayor via assassination, but she was subsequently elected to two full mayoral terms of her own.

jelliclesfarm 7y ago

Interesting timing. Mohammad Nuru was just caught on corruption and kickback charges in a FBI investigation..Nuru is in charge of homelessness initiatives in SF and public works. Breed admitted to have dated him years ago(irrelevant..they are both grown ups) and admitted to a 5.6k ‘gift’ to fix her 18 year old clunker car. All around weirdness on a voluntary disclosure on a Friday press release before a long weekend. https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/SF-corruption-probe-Mayor-London-Breed-dated-15056830.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/SF-corrup... And yes, Density is a bad word because Ms.Breed’s buddy Nuru has been handing over permits and contracts to an unnamed Chinese builder for building in the city. The city is tearing down multi level parking lots to build more housing. It is one of the most expensive cities in the world and density isn’t going to make it more affordable. Third world politics..cronyism, nepotism and corruption. Sadly, they are ALL rotten. It’s politics as usual in San Francisco. Chesa Boudin is a whole another can of worms.

jmpman 7y ago
Why do you think density isn’t going to reduce prices? Doesn’t density equal more supply in the supply/demand curve?
- jelliclesfarm 7y ago
  yes, it will increase supply, but it won’t bring down prices. I literally don’t know one example in any overcrowded high density city that has affordable housing. Not in the whole world. The demand spurs more building and there will never be any surplus stock that will devalue existing housing or bring down prices. Let’s take tomatoes. Case 1. I grow 10 kilos of tomatoes for market from my 100 sq.ft vegetable plot. I sell it for $1/lb and make $10. The next year, I grow tomatoes on steroid fertilizers and get 20lbs from same plot. I sell it for $1/lb but my neighbour is also at the market and same customers don’t want as much from me. I end up selling at 0.50/lb to get rid of all my stock. Because. Glut. More supply = lower prices. Case 2. I take 10lbs of tomatoes to market. I make a deal with t the manager that only I can sell tomatoes and I don’t want any other competitors. I promise that I can bring double the amount of tomatoes, but the manager must advertise for me. If he fulfills the lack of competition and advertises for me, I will give him 1/4 of my proceeds. He agrees. He does a great job of advertising. First he lets everyone know that there will be no more tomatoes. Then he tells the customers that every other market is selling bad tomatoes and that his tomatoes are the very best. But too bad..it’s very Rare. There is literally no soil that can grow the kind of tomatoes that his market can bring. But best to wait..he will try to grab as many tomatoes as he can..but he can’t promise. The other market manager is threatening him. Then other customers come by and take him aside.. pssstt, they say..I hear you have the best tomatoes and when they come..can you set aside some for us. Shoo away the old customers..we can pay double. The market manager isn’t sure, but promises to try. But for his trouble, can he get a finders’ fee? Sure..the wealthy shoppers agree to the deal. So I bring 20 kgs of tomatoes to the market. The manager gets his cut. The old customers are shoo’ed away. New ones pay more to buy all. Manager makes bank. Only one who profits for nothing. It behooves him to keep increasing the prices and making my tomatoes more and more scarce. It profits me to grow mediocre tomatoes but increase volume. Maybe I can sell the squished ones..maybe I can paint eggplants red and sell them as tomatoes. Who cares..the crowd will buy 50 kilos if I can provide the tomatoes and I can even charge $5/kg. Why on earth would I sell it for less? Even more importantly, why would I sell for less than the $1/kg that originally got for my tomatoes when there are suckers waiting to pay five times more because of their branding? Case 2 isn’t about tomatoes. Here ends the stories.