SF could be in for a big 'doom loop' (San Francisco: live, restaurants)

[blameyourself]

I prefer not to read one sided propaganda and opinion pieces, but to each their own.

[AnythingOutdoors]

And here's another good article from your favorite source

These Companies Are Trying to Shed Massive Amounts of San Francisco Office Space

I dunno, overall very data oriented and factual.

[blameyourself]

Enjoy

[sav858]

Whole Foods to close San Francisco flagship store a year after opening

“To ensure the safety of our Team Members, we have made the difficult decision to close the Trinity store for the time being,” a Whole Foods Market spokesperson said in a statement via email. “All Team Members will be transferred to one of our nearby locations.”


Last November, the San Francisco Standard reported that the Whole Foods location at Trinity Place had limited its store hours following “high theft” and “hostile people,” according to a statement from a store manager who was granted anonymity by the outlet.

[john3232]

Originally Posted by AnythingOutdoors

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/artic...p-17846412.php

I'm not interested in people just hating on SF. If you just want to snipe then please go elsewhere. I've been concerned for a number of years, before the pandemic even, about the issues SF faces. Every city has problems, but it felt like the tech boom breed complacency. IMO, the number one issue SF (and the broader Bay Area) faces is an acute shortage of affordable housing. Homelessness is likely a result of lack of affordable housing. Onerous permitting and planning has tied the city in knots, both preventing new housing but also stifling businesses. Crime is also an issue, though I think this is often overstated, and there's a separate SF crime thread, so maybe leave that to its own thread.

I'd like to see more urgency among elected leaders in re-imagining what the city can be. Clearly, just hoping for a return to the pre-pandemic tech boom is wishful thinking. It ain't happening. At least, not without a lot of very intentional (and perhaps even undesirable) incentives to lure companies and their workers back to in-person offices.

This seems like a great opportunity to make SF more inclusive, more socioeconomically diverse. Convert office buildings to mixed used residential-retail. Make a lot of these small, efficiency apartments that are affordable by design. Make some loft/art studio units, would be great if artists could afford the city again. Convert some of the space to shelters and transitional housing.

While the challenges facing SF seem large and foreboding, I'm optimistic that this could end up being good for the city. It could increase economic diversity away from homogenized tech culture, with more folks thriving other than tech bros in Patagonia vests. But I think this will require courage for a new vision of the future along with a willingness to embrace change.

Oh, and BART... the political will likely doesn't exist in Washington to bail out BART if it comes to that. The state needs to be ready to step in. I get that CA is facing budget woes at the moment, so if the money can be found elsewhere then maybe it's time to pause spending on the High Speed Rail and redirect those monies to local transit agencies. It just seems odd to prioritize a speculative new system connecting two smaller cities in the Central Valley while established transit systems that are (in comparison) highly used go to waste.

I'm not hating as I grew up in SF. However, I do find what has happened depressing.
https://www.city-data.com/forum/65130761-post31.html

[AnythingOutdoors]

San Francisco office vacancy rate hits a new record high

“Vacancy will peak next winter,” Smith said. “… Tenants in the market are signing for less space than what they had previously. We’ll continue to see that through the rest of the year and into 2024. It’s a year of rebalancing.”

[sav858]

Why Whole Foods’ Mid-Market closure means S.F.’s potential ‘doom loop just got slightly more doomy’

Whole Foods cited the safety of workers as the reason for the closure, and Supervisor Matt Dorsey said Monday that the store was hit by “drug-related retail theft, adjacent drug markets, and the many safety issues related to them.”

As nearby Mid-Market office buildings empty out — Uber, Block and Reddit have left or plan to leave the neighborhood this year, and Twitter has laid off more than two-thirds of its staff — residential and retail activity is increasingly important for the area’s economic vitality. Whole Foods’ closure and its uncertain future — the company did not say when the store could reopen — is another worrying sign.

“Doom loop just got slightly more doomy,” Arpit Gupta, a New York University professor who co-wrote a paper on potential urban death spirals, posted on Twitter in reaction to the closure.

[AnythingOutdoors]

‘Death of Downtown’ study: San Francisco ranks last

Interestingly, there's no obvious Red vs Blue pattern in the list of downtowns.

[bostonguy1960]

Hmmm...my 27-yesr old nephew living in Boston had a biz trip to San Jose last week, then decided to visit San Francisco for the first time before returning home.

He spent three hours going around town...not sure if mainly walking or a combo or walking and the rental car. He sent me photos from the typical spots.

His assessment? "An awesome city. Only a few areas with the homelessness. A unique city."

So yes. There is hope for your city. So glad you hear he was impressed even with the current conditions I read about.

He loves Vancouver, so to hear about his praise for San Francisco is indeed special.

[blameyourself]

Originally Posted by bostonguy1960

Hmmm...my 27-yesr old nephew living in Boston had a biz trip to San Jose last week, then decided to visit San Francisco for the first time before returning home.

He spent three hours going around town...not sure if mainly walking or a combo or walking and the rental car. He sent me photos from the typical spots.

His assessment? "An awesome city. Only a few areas with the homelessness. A unique city."

So yes. There is hope for your city. So glad you hear he was impressed even with the current conditions I read about.

He loves Vancouver, so to hear about his praise for San Francisco is indeed special.

I know many who share the same perspective as your son. His opinion will not play well with the cast of characters in this thread. It will simply be ignored and they will go back to their "sky is falling" links and claim that people with a contrary viewpoint are just too sensitive (their standard MO).