3 ms·

People who own properties in SF are in a v different situation to those who are renting, couch surfing, flying in and out to HQ etc etc. I love SF too. We move

People who own properties in SF are in a v different situation to those who are renting, couch surfing, flying in and out to HQ etc etc. I love SF too. We moved north over the bridge 8 years ago (working from home) but are in the city all the time. It was spectacularly deteriorating pre pandemic (when we left the Castro area the local library had just employed an armed guard to keep the transients out for example) and is now arguably in crisis due to the collapse of foot traffic retail, rampant crime and due to the city being a welcoming destination for transients who often have serious mental illness (SMI) and substance abuse issues. The city - and California generally - does not have the resources to triage their needs but it does have a huge 'non profit' homeless industry and more worryingly some areas are crowded with cartel drug sellers. Driving European visitor friends around a few weeks ago was the first time I'd really been to all the neighborhoods in a leisurely way since the pandemic abated. The wealthier areas (Noe Valley etc) are relatively unchanged apart from a lot of empty storefronts, but a lot of the city looks very beaten up despite the gorgeous vistas, light and climate (perfect weather during out tour). We are at a typical west coast boom/bust cross roads for California cities...

nineplay 4y ago
SF has its problems to be sure. California has its problems too though whether or not those problems are better or worse than problems in any other place is unclear - the media treats SF and California as though they are one and the same. ( I'm old enough to remember when the media treated LA and California as one and the same and the SFers would snottily gripe that they're not 'that' California ) Still I don't know of any SF problems that will be made worse by the population going down. Seems to me that the couch surfers, renters, etc. benefit from the lower population.

nineplay 4y ago

SF has its problems to be sure. California has its problems too though whether or not those problems are better or worse than problems in any other place is unclear - the media treats SF and California as though they are one and the same. ( I'm old enough to remember when the media treated LA and California as one and the same and the SFers would snottily gripe that they're not 'that' California ) Still I don't know of any SF problems that will be made worse by the population going down. Seems to me that the couch surfers, renters, etc. benefit from the lower population.