4 ms·

I had always thought the supposed end of automaker dominance Detroit-style doomsday scenario was impossible for S.F., but turns out the normalization of remote

I had always thought the supposed end of automaker dominance Detroit-style doomsday scenario was impossible for S.F., but turns out the normalization of remote work was all it took. The American software industry didn't need to end, it just had to go home.

throwayyy479087 4y ago
NYC is doing great, as are quality-of-life focused cities like KC, Miami and Columbus. Maybe calling every critic in your town names and letting QoL go to absolute crap is the real driver of movement.
- thegjp210 4y ago
  By what metrics is NYC doing "great"? The amount of crime and visible urban decay/blight seems just as pronounced (in Lower Manhattan) as it does in San Francisco
  - onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
    By rent inflation?
  - nemothekid 4y ago
    >The amount of crime and visible urban decay/blight seems just as pronounced (in Lower Manhattan) as it does in San Francisco The crime/urban blight angle is a red-herring; It implies that there was anytime in the last 30 years that New York/San Francisco was anywhere nearly comparable to a city like Tokyo. Manhattan is already seeing a net influx in people moving back into the city.[1] [1] https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/sf-covid-recovery-nyc-17365339.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/sf-covid-recovery-nyc...
  - throwayyy479087 4y ago
    Name an intersection- I’m all over town and things seem normal downtown. Times Square has gotten worse I suppose.
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  Those cities are also not reliant on one market sector that has happened to have a spectacular 20 year run. I guess Financial Services might be the closest thing, but there's a lot more to NYC than Wall Street. The comparison to Detroit seems apt. When the automakers scaled down, there was no "Plan B" and the city leaders were too incompetent/corrupt to actually lead.
JeremyNT 4y ago
SF could be a beautiful town in a wonderful location - if only it wasn't so expensive. The "worst" scenario for SF in the event of a work-from-home sea change is that the COL regresses to a "normal" level for a city with its (impressive) amenities and natural environment, and it stops being propped up due to proximity of so many fatcat tech workers. "Worst" is in quotation marks for a reason, because this feels like a highly desirable outcome for everybody (except for the fatcat real estate owners doing the rent seeking).

throwayyy479087 4y ago

NYC is doing great, as are quality-of-life focused cities like KC, Miami and Columbus. Maybe calling every critic in your town names and letting QoL go to absolute crap is the real driver of movement.

thegjp210 4y ago
By what metrics is NYC doing "great"? The amount of crime and visible urban decay/blight seems just as pronounced (in Lower Manhattan) as it does in San Francisco
- onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
  By rent inflation?
- nemothekid 4y ago
  >The amount of crime and visible urban decay/blight seems just as pronounced (in Lower Manhattan) as it does in San Francisco The crime/urban blight angle is a red-herring; It implies that there was anytime in the last 30 years that New York/San Francisco was anywhere nearly comparable to a city like Tokyo. Manhattan is already seeing a net influx in people moving back into the city.[1] [1] https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/sf-covid-recovery-nyc-17365339.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/sf-covid-recovery-nyc...
- throwayyy479087 4y ago
  Name an intersection- I’m all over town and things seem normal downtown. Times Square has gotten worse I suppose.
SoftTalker 4y ago
Those cities are also not reliant on one market sector that has happened to have a spectacular 20 year run. I guess Financial Services might be the closest thing, but there's a lot more to NYC than Wall Street. The comparison to Detroit seems apt. When the automakers scaled down, there was no "Plan B" and the city leaders were too incompetent/corrupt to actually lead.

JeremyNT 4y ago

SF could be a beautiful town in a wonderful location - if only it wasn't so expensive. The "worst" scenario for SF in the event of a work-from-home sea change is that the COL regresses to a "normal" level for a city with its (impressive) amenities and natural environment, and it stops being propped up due to proximity of so many fatcat tech workers. "Worst" is in quotation marks for a reason, because this feels like a highly desirable outcome for everybody (except for the fatcat real estate owners doing the rent seeking).