I've dealt with SF Planning several times in the last few years. With one exception (existing illegal units) planning restrictions have only gotten worse. For e

I've dealt with SF Planning several times in the last few years. With one exception (existing illegal units) planning restrictions have only gotten worse. For example development along the Embarcadero has been banned by ballot measure. Meanwhile the key rules continue to steadily tightened with things like the Eastern Neighborhoods Plan. And it's not just the rules but the slowness of the process that makes it so painful and costly. And that's just SF Planning. Numerous other SF Gov created problems also make development incredibly slow and costly. I'll just quickly list a few examples: SF Bulding Code does not permit plastic drain pipe; anyone can easily demand a hearing on an already issued building permit; SF Water charges $9000 for a new water meter; and rent control laws are strict and constantly changing. All of these are as strict or stricter in SF than almost anywhere in the US. The reason for the jump in building is that office and apartment rents have become so ridiculously high it now makes sense to build in the few remaining sites despite all the costs. Even these projects had to go through tortuous approval process, such as the Transbay Transit District, and unbelievably many projects started back in the last tech boom! The building boom will likely grind to a halt in a few years as builders run out of sites. Rant over. SF is a great place but this is in spite of it's crappy local government that has literally created many of its problems.