4 ms·

You are operating under a false assumption. The SF government and many of its citizens (see other comments) don't want more parking. Almost every policy change

by spikels 13y ago

You are operating under a false assumption. The SF government and many of its citizens (see other comments) don't want more parking. Almost every policy change in at least the past 15 years has resulted in fewer parking spots not more. We have also instituted policies to reduce housing (rent control), increase homelessness (city welfare programs & non-profits), reduce employment (anti-tech, heavy taxes, fees & regulations), increase cost and reduce quality of government services (lax management, union friendly contracts), increase corruption (single party rule), increase crime (lax prosecution, sanctuary), drive out families and middle class (high costs, poor schools)... I could go on all day. I know this seems strange but you just don't understand. We are just much smarter, more sophisticated and more caring than you! Sorry for the cynical, snide rant but sometime this city gets to me. It seems like a conspiracy to set SF up to fail but it is a conspiracy led by the people of SF. This is a great city but it could be so much better.

bmmayer1 13y ago
Bravo.
mikeyouse 13y ago
This kind of asinine rant is so completely worthless. If you hate SF so much, go somewhere else. Or better yet, work to improve it! "The SF Government" that makes all these policies that you loathe so much is made up of concerned citizens, much like yourself. * Almost every policy change in at least the past 15 years has resulted in fewer parking spots not more. That's an intentional choice to make more walkable neighborhoods. It's worked as SF is seen as one of the most walkable cities in the country.[1] This lowers healthcare costs, increases fitness, drives more business to local stores, etc. * We have also instituted policies to reduce housing (rent control) Rent Control was enacted in 1979 and doesn't cover any building constructed after that date [2]. That's not exactly something we've done in the past 15 years.. * [We have also instituted policies to] increase homelessness (city welfare programs & non-profits) Do you honestly believe that providing care for the homeless leads to more homelessness? That's a very ugly view of humanity. * [We have also instituted policies to] reduce employment (anti-tech, heavy taxes, fees & regulations) SF just eliminated it's payroll tax [3], has tax-free zones for companies who move to underdeveloped parts of the city [4], and some SF supes are on Github [6] with new laws that further reduce fees and streamline ops (especially surrounding SF's Open Data initiative [5]). The number of tech jobs has dramatically increased in the city limits and the unemployment rate is almost below 5%. Our 'employment-reducing' policies don't seem to be working very well. * [We have also instituted policies to] increase corruption (single party rule) Stupid democracy, always giving people the representation they want. * [We have also instituted policies to] increase crime (lax prosecution, sanctuary) The data disagrees [7].. SF's violent crime rate is better than most large cities (including Ft. Worth, NYC, Louisville, Phoenix, Nashville, Houston, Boston... ), most of the violent crime is constrained to a few neighborhoods and the property crime is generally petty theft. * [We have also instituted policies to] drive out families and middle class (high costs, poor schools) The high costs are due to the strong job market combined with a housing shortage. The housing shortage was exacerbated by the credit freeze in the wake of the GFC. There was a 5 year time period when almost 0 new units were constructed. Between now and 2015, 8,000 new units will be constructed, that's more than the previous 15 years combined.[8] Does that sound like a city afraid of growth? The schools get a bad rap, they actually perform fairly well on the state's API rankings [9]. There are some obvious problems, especially in the Mission and Bay View areas, but close to 80% of schools in SF are improving YoY. Bemoaning snarky, inaccurate caricatures of laws and policies is about the laziest form of civic engagement possible. You live here, so why not work to make things better. [1] - http://www.walkscore.com/cities-and-neighborhoods/ http://www.walkscore.com/cities-and-neighborhoods/ [2] - http://www.sftu.org/rentcontrol.html http://www.sftu.org/rentcontrol.html [3] - http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/223032/tax+authorities/Proposition+E+Death+Of+The+San+Francisco+Business+Payroll+Tax http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/223032/tax+authorities/... [4] - http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Tax-break-draws-firms-to-Mid-Market-3622860.php http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Tax-break-draws-firms-... [5] - https://data.sfgov.org/ https://data.sfgov.org/ [6] - https://github.com/SupervisorMarkFarrell/San-Francisco-Open-Data-Legislation https://github.com/SupervisorMarkFarrell/San-Francisco-Open-... [7] - http://www.fathersmanifesto.net/murdersanfrancisco19992011.PNG http://www.fathersmanifesto.net/murdersanfrancisco19992011.P... [8] - http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/print-edition/2013/05/17/san-francisco-rental-construction-soars.html?page=all http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/print-edition/2013/0...
- spikels 13y ago
  Yes it was a rant but your response is wrong on almost every point (thanks for conceding that SF is anti-car). Here are a few links to help open those eyes. I wish I had the time to relate all my personal experiences with each of these problems. Maybe we could grab a beer someday to discuss how to fix this but the first step is admitting there is a problem. Overview - http://www.sfweekly.com/2009-12-16/news/the-worst-run-big-city-in-the-u-s/ http://www.sfweekly.com/2009-12-16/news/the-worst-run-big-ci... Rent control - https://www.baycitizen.org/columns/elizabeth-lesly-stevens/small-time-landlord-vs-big-time-tenants/ https://www.baycitizen.org/columns/elizabeth-lesly-stevens/s... Homeless - http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Nevius-How-helping-the-homeless-can-hurt-them-3223941.php http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Nevius-How-helping-the... Anti-tech - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5928382 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5928382 Corruption - http://www.citireport.com/2012/04/inside-the-willie-l-brown-money-machine/ http://www.citireport.com/2012/04/inside-the-willie-l-brown-... Crime - http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/S-F-family-s-murderer-killed-before-FBI-was-told-3676718.php http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/S-F-family-s-murderer-ki... Anti-family - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/09/families-flee-san-francisco_n_1335639.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/09/families-flee-san-f... A little humor - http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-san-francisco-worst-awesome-city-in-america/ http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-san-francisco-worst-aw...

by spikels 13y ago

bmmayer1 13y ago

Bravo.

mikeyouse 13y ago

This kind of asinine rant is so completely worthless. If you hate SF so much, go somewhere else. Or better yet, work to improve it! "The SF Government" that makes all these policies that you loathe so much is made up of concerned citizens, much like yourself. * Almost every policy change in at least the past 15 years has resulted in fewer parking spots not more. That's an intentional choice to make more walkable neighborhoods. It's worked as SF is seen as one of the most walkable cities in the country.[1] This lowers healthcare costs, increases fitness, drives more business to local stores, etc. * We have also instituted policies to reduce housing (rent control) Rent Control was enacted in 1979 and doesn't cover any building constructed after that date [2]. That's not exactly something we've done in the past 15 years.. * [We have also instituted policies to] increase homelessness (city welfare programs & non-profits) Do you honestly believe that providing care for the homeless leads to more homelessness? That's a very ugly view of humanity. * [We have also instituted policies to] reduce employment (anti-tech, heavy taxes, fees & regulations) SF just eliminated it's payroll tax [3], has tax-free zones for companies who move to underdeveloped parts of the city [4], and some SF supes are on Github [6] with new laws that further reduce fees and streamline ops (especially surrounding SF's Open Data initiative [5]). The number of tech jobs has dramatically increased in the city limits and the unemployment rate is almost below 5%. Our 'employment-reducing' policies don't seem to be working very well. * [We have also instituted policies to] increase corruption (single party rule) Stupid democracy, always giving people the representation they want. * [We have also instituted policies to] increase crime (lax prosecution, sanctuary) The data disagrees [7].. SF's violent crime rate is better than most large cities (including Ft. Worth, NYC, Louisville, Phoenix, Nashville, Houston, Boston... ), most of the violent crime is constrained to a few neighborhoods and the property crime is generally petty theft. * [We have also instituted policies to] drive out families and middle class (high costs, poor schools) The high costs are due to the strong job market combined with a housing shortage. The housing shortage was exacerbated by the credit freeze in the wake of the GFC. There was a 5 year time period when almost 0 new units were constructed. Between now and 2015, 8,000 new units will be constructed, that's more than the previous 15 years combined.[8] Does that sound like a city afraid of growth? The schools get a bad rap, they actually perform fairly well on the state's API rankings [9]. There are some obvious problems, especially in the Mission and Bay View areas, but close to 80% of schools in SF are improving YoY. Bemoaning snarky, inaccurate caricatures of laws and policies is about the laziest form of civic engagement possible. You live here, so why not work to make things better. [1] - http://www.walkscore.com/cities-and-neighborhoods/ http://www.walkscore.com/cities-and-neighborhoods/ [2] - http://www.sftu.org/rentcontrol.html http://www.sftu.org/rentcontrol.html [3] - http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/223032/tax+authorities/Proposition+E+Death+Of+The+San+Francisco+Business+Payroll+Tax http://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/x/223032/tax+authorities/... [4] - http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Tax-break-draws-firms-to-Mid-Market-3622860.php http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Tax-break-draws-firms-... [5] - https://data.sfgov.org/ https://data.sfgov.org/ [6] - https://github.com/SupervisorMarkFarrell/San-Francisco-Open-Data-Legislation https://github.com/SupervisorMarkFarrell/San-Francisco-Open-... [7] - http://www.fathersmanifesto.net/murdersanfrancisco19992011.PNG http://www.fathersmanifesto.net/murdersanfrancisco19992011.P... [8] - http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/print-edition/2013/05/17/san-francisco-rental-construction-soars.html?page=all http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/print-edition/2013/0...

spikels 13y ago
Yes it was a rant but your response is wrong on almost every point (thanks for conceding that SF is anti-car). Here are a few links to help open those eyes. I wish I had the time to relate all my personal experiences with each of these problems. Maybe we could grab a beer someday to discuss how to fix this but the first step is admitting there is a problem. Overview - http://www.sfweekly.com/2009-12-16/news/the-worst-run-big-city-in-the-u-s/ http://www.sfweekly.com/2009-12-16/news/the-worst-run-big-ci... Rent control - https://www.baycitizen.org/columns/elizabeth-lesly-stevens/small-time-landlord-vs-big-time-tenants/ https://www.baycitizen.org/columns/elizabeth-lesly-stevens/s... Homeless - http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Nevius-How-helping-the-homeless-can-hurt-them-3223941.php http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Nevius-How-helping-the... Anti-tech - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5928382 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5928382 Corruption - http://www.citireport.com/2012/04/inside-the-willie-l-brown-money-machine/ http://www.citireport.com/2012/04/inside-the-willie-l-brown-... Crime - http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/S-F-family-s-murderer-killed-before-FBI-was-told-3676718.php http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/S-F-family-s-murderer-ki... Anti-family - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/09/families-flee-san-francisco_n_1335639.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/09/families-flee-san-f... A little humor - http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-san-francisco-worst-awesome-city-in-america/ http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-san-francisco-worst-aw...