Article in this week's (liberal) The Economist about the implosion of this once-great city.
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/08/28/why-san-franciscos-city-government-is-so-dysfunctional
It's behind a paywall, so I'll summarize:
- Schools have been shut since March, 2020. Those that can afford to have basically all moved to private school. Meantime, the school board has spent months trying to rename schools from racist names like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln (self-"parody," chortles the article).
- Net exits from SF rose 649% in the last 3 quarters of 2020.
- Commercial office space is empty at a rate 1.5 times greater than even Manhattan, which has had its own problems, and yet cost of living is 250% higher than the national average and 44% higher than NYC.
- Steep crime increases, especially burglaries and shootings (shootings have more than doubled in the last year). Daytime thefts videos with no legal consequences, due to insane policies of refusing to enforce criminal laws.
- Recovered only 46% of job losses from COVID; worst of any major city
- Despite all this, the city budget has doubled since 2010 and its bureaucrats (including the incompetent mayor) are the highest paid in the nation.
But hey, the COVID rate was low, so I guess it's all worth it.
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@sh76 saidTempting though it is to politicize this issue, I would suggest this was bound to happen sooner or later, no matter who was running California or San Francisco. The tech boom in California has driven costs of housing and office space to ridiculous levels. People making $15.00 - $20.00/ hr. are now living in their cars because even the cheapest apartments are beyond their means. This has also happened to a slightly lesser extent here in Seattle, where millionaires are now middle class, and homelessness abounds because the working poor have been pushed even further down the economic ladder.
Article in this week's (liberal) The Economist about the implosion of this once-great city.
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2021/08/28/why-san-franciscos-city-government-is-so-dysfunctional
It's behind a paywall, so I'll summarize:
- Schools have been shut since March, 2020. Those that can afford to have basically all moved to private school. Meantime, the schoo ...[text shortened]... the highest paid in the nation.
But hey, the COVID rate was low, so I guess it's all worth it.
Apple, Facebook, Google, Yahoo and other tech giants are under no obligation to give back to their communities, or in any way work to solve the economic situation they've created, and have only recently taken baby steps in that direction. California and San Francisco clearly have their bureaucratic mess's to clean up but blaming of State and City governments alone for this problem is not accurate.
I'm confident most of this problem will eventually solve itself as the tech giants continue to open offices in other states, with lower operating expenses. The laws of supply and demand move slowly, but they do move. For the next few years however, look for more of the same.
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@mchill saidThis, I rather think, is the central point of the problem. These are not companies that have grown up in the area, among the people. These are solipsistic, finance-based parasites, feeding off the area they settled in and giving nothing back except to the very few. The city is not the problem. The mega-corps are.
Apple, Facebook, Google, Yahoo and other tech giants are under no obligation to give back to their communities, or in any way work to solve the economic situation they've created,
I'm confident most of this problem will eventually solve itself as the tech giants continue to open offices in other states
That will not solve the problem at all. It will just spread it. The solution to the problem is to take down the big corporations. And not just in cybertech, either.
@mchill saidThey didn't have to close schools down all of last year or to stop enforcing the law. Those gaffes weren't forced on them.
Tempting though it is to politicize this issue, I would suggest this was bound to happen sooner or later, no matter who was running California or San Francisco. The tech boom in California has driven costs of housing and office space to ridiculous levels. People making $15.00 - $20.00/ hr. are now living in their cars because even the cheapest apartments are beyond their means ...[text shortened]... and demand move slowly, but they do move. For the next few years however, look for more of the same.
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@eladar saidOr you could move to Atlanta or Austin or Raleigh and have excellent high tech job prospects and live under sane government.
As far as I know, there are freeways that go to San Francisco. You could simply have a 45 minute commute, or take your life in your own hands and live in Oakland.
Edit: Or you could work remotely and live pretty much anywhere.
@eladar saidThere is some fine entertainment in Oakland. They have a restaraunt/movie theater that serves beer! And Jack London Square has excellent jazz.
As far as I know, there are freeways that go to San Francisco. You could simply have a 45 minute commute, or take your life in your own hands and live in Oakland.
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@sh76 saidEdit: Or you could work remotely and live pretty much anywhere.
Or you could move to Atlanta or Austin or Raleigh and have excellent high tech job prospects and live under sane government.
Edit: Or you could work remotely and live pretty much anywhere.
I think you'll find a major shift in that direction even after this pandemic. Office space will still be needed of course, but many people will have adjusted nicely to their remote work places, and won't be willing to fight rush hour traffic twice a day or put up with silly company dress codes simply to do the same job.
@earl-of-trumps saidIf we were still allowed to own blacks then we’d probably get fined for the slave crapping on the sidewalk; feral dogs don’t get fined for defecating.
Speaking of enforcing the law...
If a leashed dog craps on the sidewalk and you don't pick it up, the full brunt of the law will come down on you.
If a homeless person craps on the sidewalk, no problem! They just send their crews in to clean it up.
How f'd up is San Fran. Gawd.
@athousandyoung saidEvidently both black and white people can crap on the streets.
If we were still allowed to own blacks then we’d probably get fined for the slave crapping on the sidewalk; feral dogs don’t get fined for defecating.
Maybe San Francisco is anti dog ownership.