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And of course absolutely not a single mention of the fact that the city killed itself with its harsh pandemic measures. When I was flying to Sweden in summer 2
by henrikschroder 3y ago
And of course absolutely not a single mention of the fact that the city killed itself with its harsh pandemic measures.
When I was flying to Sweden in summer 2021, I had a six-hour layover in SF, so I decided to take the BART up to the city to take a look, since I had previously lived there, and I almost didn't recognize the place. Half the shops around Union Square were boarded up and closed, it looked like a warzone. It was always a dirty shithole, but at the same time a vibrant, cool city. In 2021 all the good things were gone, and only the crap - literally - remained.
If you forcibly close all the things that make a city worth living in, for over a year, you don't get to act surprised when people stop wanting to pay for the high cost of living and move out of the city. SF is in a death spiral, as all the high-income workers leave the city, companies start leaving, foot traffic lessens, stores and restaurants start closing because they can't make it or because they're overwhelmed by shoplifters or homeless, ther city becomes less desireable, more workers leave the city, more stores and restaurants close, and with no-one filling the gap, you get a ghost town. Property values plummet, commercial real estate plummets, and it becomes a service and retail desert.
All because of their own choices. None of this was inevitable. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and there's no better illustration of that than what's happened to SF.
- gingerrr 3y agoPretty incredible that you were able to ascertain the cause of the economic decline of that area over the last decade was entirely due to the 2020 pandemic, all within the span of a 6 hour layover. Hope you make plenty of money with that superpower. Of course, those of us who have lived here during that time know that Union Square has been on the decline with empty storefronts since 2012 - but it's fascinating to watch people building and tilting at strawmen in real time.
- henrikschroder 3y agoThere are of course tons of underlying long-term causes, but the idiotic lockdown policies shifted the equilibrium of the city. Before, the gentrification and influx of tech money caused a positive spiral, more offices, more office workers, higher income office workers, higher end restaurants, all of that pushed against the unsavory elements of the city, keeping it pretty much confined to the Tenderloin. Hell, when I left in 2016, Market Street was in better shape than ever. But the forced closures of stores and restaurants for far too long, shifted this equilibirum, rapidly, quickly, and much further than anyone anticipated. That was the proverbial straw.
- dang 3y agoPlease don't cross into personal attack or be snarky in HN comments. You can make your substantive points without that. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html