6 ms·

Meanwhile SF supervisors have proposed a moratorium on the Ellis act. If rent was ugly before, I can't imagine what if will be like now. I get the feeling tha

by batbomb 13y ago

Meanwhile SF supervisors have proposed a moratorium on the Ellis act. If rent was ugly before, I can't imagine what if will be like now. I get the feeling that the mayor and supervisors only care about displacement, not placement.

brandur 13y ago
Indeed. This is one of the few things that could make the residential situation around here even worse. Provided we don't see another bust before then, it'll be interesting to see how bad it gets before even our municipality is forced to consider changes to policies like rent control. 2x NYC? 2x Manhattan? At what point do companies start looking for space elsewhere?
- chrisabrams 13y ago
  That's why companies are opening offices in NYC..it's actually become cheaper in parts of NY than SF.
- harryh 13y ago
  "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." - Yogi Berra
njudah 13y ago
What is the source on supervisors proposing a moratorium on the Ellis act? That seems uncharacteristic and unlikely.
- brandur 13y ago
  It's not a moratorium, but here's an article from today with an early description of proposed amendments: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-politicians-Restrict-Ellis-Act-evictions-4981974.php http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-politicians-Restri...
geebee 13y ago
San Francisco is notorious for opposing development, and at least some of its reputation is deserved. However, this problem can still be overstated. Plenty of new construction is taking place in SF. http://www.spur.org/publications/library/article/san-francisco-boom-back http://www.spur.org/publications/library/article/san-francis...
- diogenescynic 13y ago
  >More than 4,220 units of housing began construction in San Francisco in 2012 — following a year in which just 269 net units were added. Is that enough additional housing to cover all the new residents? From 2010 to 2012, the population grew from 805,235 to 825,863: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06075.html http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06075.html It seems like demand is outpacing the supply, driving prices up.
  - chrisabrams 13y ago
    Gentrification is a bitch. If you develop, it makes it worse, but if you don't develop, it makes it even worse.
  - malandrew 13y ago
    What sucks more is that a lot of the new buildings are only luxury buildings going for $2000+ a month per living space per person and most have homeowner's association trying to keep the ratio of owners to renter's high, so most units don't even hit the rental market. Couple this with the fact that the only program in the city focused on making housing affordable, the BMR program, only really makes things accessible for those with a household income between 70 and 90% of the median income, leaving every else out in the cold, and you basically have horrendous conditions for most people to be able to live here. The way I see it, San Francisco's 1% are taken care of, as are San Francisco's 60th to 65th (I don't know the exact equivalent to the 70-90% of median income here), and everyone else is left to fight over what little housing is left.
- alexeisadeski3 13y ago
  >Plenty of new construction is taking place in SF You've got to be kidding me. This is what "plenty of new construction" looks like: http://rwrant.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/S%C3%A3o-Paulo-Skyline.jpg http://rwrant.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/S%C3%A3o-Paul... Sure, it's ugly. Sure, you don't want SF to look like that. But don't try to pretend that SF is addressing the issue.
williamcotton 13y ago
Yeah, it's almost like the city is actually forced to listen to the demands of the people that live in it... Maybe if we got rid of democracy then Mayor Ed Lee wouldn't haven't to cloud his pure ideology with such trivialities? I mean, how else are we going to be truly free?
- woah 13y ago
  Only solution: Wall around SF. You have to pass the coolness test to get in. Only artisan puppeteers and activist breadmakers allowed. None of these dorky tech folks driving up the rents.
  - williamcotton 13y ago
    Or how about another solution, compromise? How about we open up a dialog and get people talking instead of just gravitating to one sort of ideology or another? What if we open up the conversation to be more than just a binary opposition between the privileged nerds vs the privileged artists? I'm afraid part of the issue is that engineers tend to gravitate towards binary opposition and reductionist thought. The tech industry is very good at talking and terrible at actually listening.
    - batbomb 13y ago
      I don't know many people who aren't frustrated about the cost of rent in the city, but that might be because I'm biased towards knowing people mostly under the age of 40. I'm torn on the Ellis act evictions. I think something needs to be done about them, but on the other hand I think landlords should be able to sell their properties. Without some form of the Ellis Act, landlords will be forever landlords. Companies like Urban Green Properties are kind of shitty, but the big problem is that San Francisco has absolutely no plans for placement or re-placement of residents. Strictly speaking, SF has a ~1% population growth. That's 8500 people a year. Theoretically, 2/3 of that is likely non-native, but still there should be theoretically a net 2k new San Franciscans/year if you account for the numbers native high school graduates and subtract the death rate. And I don't think it's just a nerd vs artist thing, I think it's a bit more of a new adult resident vs established adult resident (which tends to skew to old vs. young). However, the nerd population tends to make more money and larger waves, which means they're the obvious punching bags.

by batbomb 13y ago

brandur 13y ago

Indeed. This is one of the few things that could make the residential situation around here even worse. Provided we don't see another bust before then, it'll be interesting to see how bad it gets before even our municipality is forced to consider changes to policies like rent control. 2x NYC? 2x Manhattan? At what point do companies start looking for space elsewhere?

chrisabrams 13y ago
That's why companies are opening offices in NYC..it's actually become cheaper in parts of NY than SF.
harryh 13y ago
"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." - Yogi Berra

njudah 13y ago

What is the source on supervisors proposing a moratorium on the Ellis act? That seems uncharacteristic and unlikely.

brandur 13y ago
It's not a moratorium, but here's an article from today with an early description of proposed amendments: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-politicians-Restrict-Ellis-Act-evictions-4981974.php http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-politicians-Restri...

geebee 13y ago

San Francisco is notorious for opposing development, and at least some of its reputation is deserved. However, this problem can still be overstated. Plenty of new construction is taking place in SF. http://www.spur.org/publications/library/article/san-francisco-boom-back http://www.spur.org/publications/library/article/san-francis...

diogenescynic 13y ago
>More than 4,220 units of housing began construction in San Francisco in 2012 — following a year in which just 269 net units were added. Is that enough additional housing to cover all the new residents? From 2010 to 2012, the population grew from 805,235 to 825,863: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06075.html http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06075.html It seems like demand is outpacing the supply, driving prices up.
- chrisabrams 13y ago
  Gentrification is a bitch. If you develop, it makes it worse, but if you don't develop, it makes it even worse.
- malandrew 13y ago
  What sucks more is that a lot of the new buildings are only luxury buildings going for $2000+ a month per living space per person and most have homeowner's association trying to keep the ratio of owners to renter's high, so most units don't even hit the rental market. Couple this with the fact that the only program in the city focused on making housing affordable, the BMR program, only really makes things accessible for those with a household income between 70 and 90% of the median income, leaving every else out in the cold, and you basically have horrendous conditions for most people to be able to live here. The way I see it, San Francisco's 1% are taken care of, as are San Francisco's 60th to 65th (I don't know the exact equivalent to the 70-90% of median income here), and everyone else is left to fight over what little housing is left.
alexeisadeski3 13y ago
>Plenty of new construction is taking place in SF You've got to be kidding me. This is what "plenty of new construction" looks like: http://rwrant.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/S%C3%A3o-Paulo-Skyline.jpg http://rwrant.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/S%C3%A3o-Paul... Sure, it's ugly. Sure, you don't want SF to look like that. But don't try to pretend that SF is addressing the issue.

williamcotton 13y ago

Yeah, it's almost like the city is actually forced to listen to the demands of the people that live in it... Maybe if we got rid of democracy then Mayor Ed Lee wouldn't haven't to cloud his pure ideology with such trivialities? I mean, how else are we going to be truly free?

woah 13y ago
Only solution: Wall around SF. You have to pass the coolness test to get in. Only artisan puppeteers and activist breadmakers allowed. None of these dorky tech folks driving up the rents.
- williamcotton 13y ago
  Or how about another solution, compromise? How about we open up a dialog and get people talking instead of just gravitating to one sort of ideology or another? What if we open up the conversation to be more than just a binary opposition between the privileged nerds vs the privileged artists? I'm afraid part of the issue is that engineers tend to gravitate towards binary opposition and reductionist thought. The tech industry is very good at talking and terrible at actually listening.
  - batbomb 13y ago
    I don't know many people who aren't frustrated about the cost of rent in the city, but that might be because I'm biased towards knowing people mostly under the age of 40. I'm torn on the Ellis act evictions. I think something needs to be done about them, but on the other hand I think landlords should be able to sell their properties. Without some form of the Ellis Act, landlords will be forever landlords. Companies like Urban Green Properties are kind of shitty, but the big problem is that San Francisco has absolutely no plans for placement or re-placement of residents. Strictly speaking, SF has a ~1% population growth. That's 8500 people a year. Theoretically, 2/3 of that is likely non-native, but still there should be theoretically a net 2k new San Franciscans/year if you account for the numbers native high school graduates and subtract the death rate. And I don't think it's just a nerd vs artist thing, I think it's a bit more of a new adult resident vs established adult resident (which tends to skew to old vs. young). However, the nerd population tends to make more money and larger waves, which means they're the obvious punching bags.