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San Francisco: An Elitist Bubble Ignoring a Crime Epidemic?

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Re: San Francisco: An Elitist Bubble Ignoring a Crime Epidemic?

#51

Post by PaulHoule »

sylens wrote: post #29

You're seeing this everywhere. Chicago, Philadelphia, and so on - although the problem may be worse in San Francisco. Cities are struggling in the post-pandemic era as the rising cost of living due to inflation in food and other essentials has driven more criminal activity, mostly around theft. This is happening at the same time where many cities are also trying more progressive, reform-based approaches to policing a…

It's rare that cops anywhere are motivated to track down stolen skis, bicycles and similar objects. See

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pee-wee%27s_Big_Adventure

Re: San Francisco: An Elitist Bubble Ignoring a Crime Epidemic?

#52

Post by georgeecollins »

f1yght wrote: post #28
fundad wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are in denial about aging out of city living.

Why would you age out of having amenities closer to you? If anything, as you get older things should be even closer.

One reason is that you have kids and you want to have more space. Also, your cost of living goes up because you need more resources for a larger family. You might spend more on education, food, vacations, and so want to reduce rents or mortgages. You can do all that stuff in any big city, many do. But kids are common reason to move out of a city center.

Re: San Francisco: An Elitist Bubble Ignoring a Crime Epidemic?

#53

Post by AlbertCory »

uoaei wrote: post #21
boredumb wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the thing holding back California is that they don't get enough taxes? There must be something more nuanced i'm missing, but it almost feels like a comedy sketch thinking of a California college professor explaining to people that California not taxing it's citizens enough is the thing holding it back.

Hi, welcome to the conversation, I can tell this is the first time you've engaged with this topic, so I'd love to introduce you to the economic dynamics at play. When property taxes don't rise, people are disincentivized from selling their home because if they buy a new home they must pay property taxes at the new rate, not the grandfathered one. This creates a bottlenecked supply of housing because no one sells. Gro…

Do a little research. If you move in CA and you're over 55, you can now keep your property tax bill. Previously it was only certain counties that honored that; now it's all of them.

https://www.financialplannerla.com/transfer-california-prope...

> All because they happened to have bought a home before this law passed.

Again, do some research. Prop 13 passed in 1978, 45 years ago. The number of current homeowners who bought before then is vanishingly small. House prices were escalating before 13 passed, and the jumps in property taxes were in fact a prime reason why it passed.

> they can use that and borrow against it to play financial games and make their money make money

Do you have any data at all to support that assertion?

> This creates a bottlenecked supply of housing

there are all kinds of reasons why there's too little building. Grandfathered house values are only one of them. Regulations and high costs are much more important.

Re: San Francisco: An Elitist Bubble Ignoring a Crime Epidemic?

#54

Post by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF »

forgetfulness wrote: post #49
bluefishinit wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Cities are struggling in the post-pandemic era as the rising cost of living due to inflation in food and other essentials has driven more criminal activity Wouldn't it make more sense and be potentially more cost effective if the focus was on giving people food and other essentials so they could survive without having to steal scooters? Police and prison are super expensive. You're going to be paying for the food,…

What would be stopping people from taking the aid and stealing the scooters anyway? You can only rely so much on the inherent goodness of humans. Add organized crime into the mix and you run into the problem that might makes right for plenty of people, specially if there's easy money and "respect" involved.

What is driving people to steal the scooters if not the need to pay for food and housing?

Re: San Francisco: An Elitist Bubble Ignoring a Crime Epidemic?

#55

Post by simonsaysso »

f1yght wrote: post #28
fundad wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are in denial about aging out of city living.

Why would you age out of having amenities closer to you? If anything, as you get older things should be even closer.

I would agree in principle, but from experience it seems people are less interested in the energy of the city as they age and acquire more things, and prioritize building their own space around them instead of utilizing the city around them.

Re: San Francisco: An Elitist Bubble Ignoring a Crime Epidemic?

#56

Post by probablyexists »

cantSpellSober wrote: post #31

> The Tenderloin is bad, and I had my scooter stolen Is there anything worth blogging about here? The linked article is more interesting. This person spent a few weekends in SF a decade ago and doesn't recognize their "once-beloved city".

This is entirely how I remember SF being 10 years ago as well. I don’t doubt that the pandemic has been hard on all cities, but I agree that the author is making a big assumption based on a tiny sample.

Re: San Francisco: An Elitist Bubble Ignoring a Crime Epidemic?

#57

Post by rco8786 »

sylens wrote: post #29

You're seeing this everywhere. Chicago, Philadelphia, and so on - although the problem may be worse in San Francisco. Cities are struggling in the post-pandemic era as the rising cost of living due to inflation in food and other essentials has driven more criminal activity, mostly around theft. This is happening at the same time where many cities are also trying more progressive, reform-based approaches to policing a…

> You're seeing this everywhere. Chicago, Philadelphia

From what I have seen (as someone who frequents and pays attention to American cities) making this comparison is unfair to both SF and the other cities in the comparison. It's not like "crime is kinda up and SF is leading the pack", it's more like "crime is kinda up and - holy shit SF is off the charts".

The problem is so much more acute in SF, and it needs to be singled out in order to get it fixed. The "Oh this is happening in all cities" is both false and also hand waves away the problem in SF specifically.

Re: San Francisco: An Elitist Bubble Ignoring a Crime Epidemic?

#58

Post by jakelazaroff »

JamesBarney wrote: post #35
sylens wrote: post #29

You're seeing this everywhere. Chicago, Philadelphia, and so on - although the problem may be worse in San Francisco. Cities are struggling in the post-pandemic era as the rising cost of living due to inflation in food and other essentials has driven more criminal activity, mostly around theft. This is happening at the same time where many cities are also trying more progressive, reform-based approaches to policing a…

> as the rising cost of living due to inflation in food and other essentials has driven more criminal activity This is a big assumption. Do you have anything that backs this up? I'd be incredibly surprised if the FED jacked up interest rates, the Federal government cut expenditures or increased taxes to curb inflation we'd see a large fall in crime.

What if we built a ton of free and low-cost housing, created a public healthcare system and made it easier for struggling people to get welfare assistance for staples like food and clothing?

Re: San Francisco: An Elitist Bubble Ignoring a Crime Epidemic?

#59

Post by Manuel_D »

f1yght wrote: post #28
fundad wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are in denial about aging out of city living.

Why would you age out of having amenities closer to you? If anything, as you get older things should be even closer.

Many of those amenities are not as relevant when you're older. Easy access to bars, restaurants, and clubs is not as important as a larger home and good school districts when you're a parent, for example. Access to things like healthcare, grocery stores, and target are not any more difficult and often easier to access in suburbs.

Basically, people's priorities change and the optimal living situation changes accordingly. On average, that is, I'm sure some people prefer city life into later adulthood, and some young people like suburbs.

Re: San Francisco: An Elitist Bubble Ignoring a Crime Epidemic?

#60

Post by Dig1t »

bluefishinit wrote: post #36
sylens wrote: post #29

You're seeing this everywhere. Chicago, Philadelphia, and so on - although the problem may be worse in San Francisco. Cities are struggling in the post-pandemic era as the rising cost of living due to inflation in food and other essentials has driven more criminal activity, mostly around theft. This is happening at the same time where many cities are also trying more progressive, reform-based approaches to policing a…

> Cities are struggling in the post-pandemic era as the rising cost of living due to inflation in food and other essentials has driven more criminal activity Wouldn't it make more sense and be potentially more cost effective if the focus was on giving people food and other essentials so they could survive without having to steal scooters? Police and prison are super expensive. You're going to be paying for the food,…

I don't know if you've met a lot of criminals, but many are not committing crimes purely for survival. They want phones, TV's, cars etc. Crime is a way to get those things. If there is no disincentive (i.e. punishment) for committing crime, then many will still do the crime.
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