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That map is misleading if you just look at the colors, because all the downtown mixed-use zones are grouped under "commercial". The red in SoMa is mostly "C-3-O

That map is misleading if you just look at the colors, because all the downtown mixed-use zones are grouped under "commercial". The red in SoMa is mostly "C-3-O (SD)", for "commercial 3 - office - special districts", where there "special district" rules allow either offices or residential over street-level retail. There's a bunch of large condo buildings in the red areas between Folsom and Market east of 4th (you're probably at least familiar with the infamous Millennium Tower at Mission and Fremont and the visually distinctive Mira at Folsom and Spear). Along Market in the other direction, "C-3-G" ("Downtown General") also includes apartment buildings, and there's a few that have opened in the past few years between 6th and 9th. North of Market to the east you have more of the traditional financial district, but that's really quite a small area, and it's not where the mall is. You also have to remember tourists, which have actually picked up pretty well post-pandemic. The red areas in around Union Square and in SoMa between 2nd and 5th contain a large fraction of the city's hotel rooms. That's not permanent residents, but it's still a lot of people.

estebank 3y ago
If you look at the population density per neighborhood[1], that area is not any denser than other parts of the city, including the very residential Richmond and Sunset districts, but the number of shops is much higher. That means that all things being equal, shops throughout the city are more spread out and have less competition, allowing them to have an easier time being profitable. To me that tells me that downtown is entirely reliant on people going there from other parts of the city, while the other neighborhoods service their local communities. Furthermore, urban malls rely on foot traffic: malls are either a destination (you go there because you need multiple things so you save multiple trips around town) or they are a place of convenience (they are next to transportation hubs or landmarks with lots of foot traffic). Westfield SF was rarely the first, and lost the later for years due to the pandemic. 1: https://statisticalatlas.com/county/California/San-Francisco-County/Population https://statisticalatlas.com/county/California/San-Francisco...
TMWNN 3y ago
>You also have to remember tourists, which have actually picked up pretty well post-pandemic. The red areas in around Union Square and in SoMa between 2nd and 5th contain a large fraction of the city's hotel rooms. That's not permanent residents, but it's still a lot of people. Tourism *in San Francisco* has not recovered. From <https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/two-s-f-s-largest-hotels-given-owner-18136504.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/two-s-f-s-largest-hot...>: >Park Hotels said San Francisco’s convention-driven demand is expected to be 40% lower between 2023 and 2027 compared with the pre-pandemic average.

estebank 3y ago

If you look at the population density per neighborhood[1], that area is not any denser than other parts of the city, including the very residential Richmond and Sunset districts, but the number of shops is much higher. That means that all things being equal, shops throughout the city are more spread out and have less competition, allowing them to have an easier time being profitable. To me that tells me that downtown is entirely reliant on people going there from other parts of the city, while the other neighborhoods service their local communities. Furthermore, urban malls rely on foot traffic: malls are either a destination (you go there because you need multiple things so you save multiple trips around town) or they are a place of convenience (they are next to transportation hubs or landmarks with lots of foot traffic). Westfield SF was rarely the first, and lost the later for years due to the pandemic. 1: https://statisticalatlas.com/county/California/San-Francisco-County/Population https://statisticalatlas.com/county/California/San-Francisco...

TMWNN 3y ago

>You also have to remember tourists, which have actually picked up pretty well post-pandemic. The red areas in around Union Square and in SoMa between 2nd and 5th contain a large fraction of the city's hotel rooms. That's not permanent residents, but it's still a lot of people. Tourism *in San Francisco* has not recovered. From <https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/two-s-f-s-largest-hotels-given-owner-18136504.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/two-s-f-s-largest-hot...>: >Park Hotels said San Francisco’s convention-driven demand is expected to be 40% lower between 2023 and 2027 compared with the pre-pandemic average.