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Willie Brown. - - - - Heh, seriously though, FWIW, as someone who grew up here and was, until recently, against what I called at the time the Manhattan-izatio

Willie Brown. - - - - Heh, seriously though, FWIW, as someone who grew up here and was, until recently, against what I called at the time the Manhattan-ization of San Francisco, the argument that did the most to change my mind about growth was a quick review of the history of the place: In a nutshell: Ohlone, Spanish, 49ers, ..., Beatniks, Hippies, ..., Tech Bros. In other words, locals getting displaced by incoming waves of invaders is more-or-less the history of San Francisco, from founding to the present day. That, combined with the simple fact that I'll never realistically be able to afford to buy a home in my home town (despite having a decent career programming computers), convinced me that we should try to build ridiculous amounts of housing here. Like enough to put a serious dent in the housing shortage on a national scale, eh? Let's build hundreds of thousands of new units! I don't know how the logistics would work out, but I bet we could figure it out.

bifrost 4y ago
The history is mostly irrelevant to building here, and you forgot the Yuppies then the Wuppies :) I should also point out that 20 year high interest rates are bringing down the prices of homes so you may be able to buy one here shortly. Yes, we are probably 50-60k units behind where we should be, but that doesn't mean we should build them without intelligence. Building along underground transit lines should be the primary goal because thats where its the most sustainable AND where its most likely to fix our urban blight brought on by the last 3 years of "stuff". The city's budget does need new taxpayers but putting folks all the way out by the ocean is truly a bad idea and a way to create pain.
- carapace 4y ago
  > The history is mostly irrelevant to building here It's relevant to getting the current residents to recognize that they're not the ultimate endpoint to the history of the San Francisco peninsula, eh? At least, that's what it did for me. :) > you forgot the Yuppies then the Wuppies :) It's true. That '...' between the 49ers and the Beatniks elided a lot too, eh? > Yes, we are probably 50-60k units behind where we should be, but that doesn't mean we should build them without intelligence. Building along underground transit lines should be the primary goal because thats where its the most sustainable AND where its most likely to fix our urban blight brought on by the last 3 years of "stuff". > The city's budget does need new taxpayers but putting folks all the way out by the ocean is truly a bad idea and a way to create pain. I agree with you. Well said! Cheers

bifrost 4y ago

The history is mostly irrelevant to building here, and you forgot the Yuppies then the Wuppies :) I should also point out that 20 year high interest rates are bringing down the prices of homes so you may be able to buy one here shortly. Yes, we are probably 50-60k units behind where we should be, but that doesn't mean we should build them without intelligence. Building along underground transit lines should be the primary goal because thats where its the most sustainable AND where its most likely to fix our urban blight brought on by the last 3 years of "stuff". The city's budget does need new taxpayers but putting folks all the way out by the ocean is truly a bad idea and a way to create pain.

carapace 4y ago
> The history is mostly irrelevant to building here It's relevant to getting the current residents to recognize that they're not the ultimate endpoint to the history of the San Francisco peninsula, eh? At least, that's what it did for me. :) > you forgot the Yuppies then the Wuppies :) It's true. That '...' between the 49ers and the Beatniks elided a lot too, eh? > Yes, we are probably 50-60k units behind where we should be, but that doesn't mean we should build them without intelligence. Building along underground transit lines should be the primary goal because thats where its the most sustainable AND where its most likely to fix our urban blight brought on by the last 3 years of "stuff". > The city's budget does need new taxpayers but putting folks all the way out by the ocean is truly a bad idea and a way to create pain. I agree with you. Well said! Cheers