Downtown San Francisco is at a tipping-point • Hacker News Board

Re: Downtown San Francisco is at a tipping-point

#21

Post by Mistletoe » Sat, May 27, 2023, 12:36 PM UTC

I feel bad for the poor people that moved there for the service industry that supported the startup zero interest rate gold rush. They can’t leave. They didn’t use their stock options to buy a house in the Hamptons or Aspen. They are waiting tables in an empty restaurant and have to make rent and can’t afford to move. The home prices look like this-

https://paragonpublic.blob.core.windows.net/dash-v2-blog-ima...

Re: Downtown San Francisco is at a tipping-point

#22

Post by paxys » Sat, May 27, 2023, 12:36 PM UTC

franklampard wrote: post #20

The amount of tax revenue and budget is still insanely high. Need to be more efficient

San Francisco spends more on homeless services than most cities its size spend on everything. And the homeless problem is getting worse every year.

Re: Downtown San Francisco is at a tipping-point

#23

Post by etothepii » Sat, May 27, 2023, 12:37 PM UTC

zulban wrote: post #11

I wish I could pay 2$ to read the article by clicking a button on an independent service, instead of giving all my info and signing up to a subscription which is probably a nightmare to cancel. Sigh.

This is exactly what the 402 HTTP code is for. Such a shame.

Re: Downtown San Francisco is at a tipping-point

#24

Post by idlewords » Sat, May 27, 2023, 12:37 PM UTC

Sadly at this point geology is the last, best hope for West Coast urbanism. Something like BART could not be built today unless the Bay Area was a pile of rubble. Reconstruction is the only way to get Japan-like high density housing and transit infrastructure.

Re: Downtown San Francisco is at a tipping-point

#25

Post by RhodesianHunter » Sat, May 27, 2023, 12:39 PM UTC

golemotron wrote: post #15

VWWHFSfQ wrote: post #7

San Francisco and Oakland are facing combined close to $500 million budget shortfall and are requesting a federal tax payer bailout. The second major federal bailout in eight years. Oakland has one of the highest violent crime rates in the entire country and they just cut more public safety and health jobs. I can't see how anyone can look at the situation in the Bay area and not anticipate anything other than continu…

This is why one party rule is bad.

Just look at the bottom ten states for any measurable statistic people care about.

Healthcare outcomes, standard of living, GDP per Capita, poverty, educational attainment, obesity, etc.

All deep dark red.

Re: Downtown San Francisco is at a tipping-point

#26

Post by spaniard89277 » Sat, May 27, 2023, 12:40 PM UTC

Make housing affordable with denser mixed-use zoning: You solved 50% of the problem.

Make public transport convenient. You solved another 30%.

People needs to be able to stay frugal in rough times and socialize. It feels to me that many US cities make this impossible.

If you had Spain levels of unemployment I have no idea how would you do.

Re: Downtown San Francisco is at a tipping-point

#27

Post by jimsimmons » Sat, May 27, 2023, 12:41 PM UTC

paxys wrote: post #16

SamoyedFurFluff wrote: post #6

Isn’t San Francisco a boom and best town all the way back to the gold rush?

Same problem with any region where people don't have roots but rather come for the opportunity. Turns out it's as easy to leave once the opportunity no longer exists.

Hotel California

Re: Downtown San Francisco is at a tipping-point

#28

Post by lucaslin » Sat, May 27, 2023, 12:42 PM UTC

zulban wrote: post #11

I wish I could pay 2$ to read the article by clicking a button on an independent service, instead of giving all my info and signing up to a subscription which is probably a nightmare to cancel. Sigh.

Why do you think newspapers/magazines don’t allow people to pay per article (obviously at a steep markup to subscription)? Do you think it’s because they’re afraid of cannibalizing their revenue?

Re: Downtown San Francisco is at a tipping-point

#29

Post by idlewords » Sat, May 27, 2023, 12:42 PM UTC

paxys wrote: post #22

franklampard wrote: post #20

The amount of tax revenue and budget is still insanely high. Need to be more efficient

San Francisco spends more on homeless services than most cities its size spend on everything . And the homeless problem is getting worse every year.

At the same time, there is a large municipality right next to San Francisco (Colma) that consists entirely of graveyards. Homelessness in SF is not just a housing problem, but the housing crisis amplifies it and could be instantly ameliorated by just building the hell out of things.

Re: Downtown San Francisco is at a tipping-point

#30

Post by bombcar » Sat, May 27, 2023, 12:43 PM UTC

zulban wrote: post #11

I wish I could pay 2$ to read the article by clicking a button on an independent service, instead of giving all my info and signing up to a subscription which is probably a nightmare to cancel. Sigh.

It seems such a perfect use of Apple Pay online - click a button, pay $1-2, the newspaper gets $0.50-$1 or so (way more than an ad impression) and they get the chance to convince someone to subscribe.