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Why San Francisco’s city government is so dysfunctional

economist.com

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Re: Why San Francisco’s city government is so dysfunctional

#2
> SAN FRANCISCO boasts the lowest death rate from covid-19 of any big American city. An early shutdown, a culture of caution and mask mandates helped curb the spread of the virus.

Or more likely, SF's proximity to SFO meant we've had corona since 2019. The US received 100,000 passengers per week from China, with 50% going to SFO and LAX.

There was no shutdown of grocery stores, drug stores or anything food-related really.

I followed the Santa Clara Country hospital usage for most of 2020, and ICU usage was only from 10% to 20%.

The NIH admitted in summer 2021 that the actual rates of infection were 5x higher than reported.

Re: Why San Francisco’s city government is so dysfunctional

#4
>As it is, the city has been safely Democratic for 40 years and seems allergic to choosing a Bloomberg-type figure from one of the big tech companies to try something different.

San Francisco is what New York City would be like if it only had the UWS, Village, and Wall Street/Midtown.

To put another way, if the Bay area had been unified a century ago as "San Francisco" including the Peninsula and East Bay, things wouldn't be so dysfunctional there. Heck, just the Peninsula would be sufficient.

Re: Why San Francisco’s city government is so dysfunctional

#7
post #3

Per my own experience SF is not a bad place to live. But the homelessness has gotten worse so I had to get out.

> Per my own experience SF is not a bad place to live.

I have the opposite view. In SF, your risk of the following occurring is non-negligible and in some cases, shockingly quite likely:

  - Being mugged/robbed
  - Having your car broken into
  - Being harangued or even assaulted by someone who is mentally ill and/or under the influence
  - Witnessing public urination, defecation, drug use and grab and go retail theft
  - Stepping in human feces
I don't see how a place where these things occur on a regular basis, and where, in most cases, such crimes are not investigated and prosecuted, could ever be considered "not a bad place to live".

Re: Why San Francisco’s city government is so dysfunctional

#8
post #4

>As it is, the city has been safely Democratic for 40 years and seems allergic to choosing a Bloomberg-type figure from one of the big tech companies to try something different. San Francisco is what New York City would be like if it only had the UWS, Village, and Wall Street/Midtown. To put another way, if the Bay area had been unified a century ago as "San Francisco" including the Peninsula and East Bay, things wou…

The logic here implies an already dysfunctional government would fair better with more to govern.
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