How relevant is this to average people? I.e., seems this only affect the rich?
It might be a canary for the general state of the economy. It might not though!
Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F
71–80 of 527 posts
Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F
#72Are Progressive mayorships in places like SF and New York the right mentality at the right time when it's an economic catastrophe to be averted? The Mayor of NYC said a few days ago, 'Midtown is not the center of the universe' when asked about sudden new squalor and economic catastrophe. Unfortunately it is the center of jobs for the region. Is SF run like this as well?
... Wait, what would you expect the mayors to do about it? Use their dictatorial mayoral powers to force people to extend leases or the city’s infinite funds for a stimulus or bailout?
The federal government and to some extent the states have the money and power; expecting a mayor to wave a magic wand and fix it is, well... optimistic.
Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F
#73Are Progressive mayorships in places like SF and New York the right mentality at the right time when it's an economic catastrophe to be averted? The Mayor of NYC said a few days ago, 'Midtown is not the center of the universe' when asked about sudden new squalor and economic catastrophe. Unfortunately it is the center of jobs for the region. Is SF run like this as well?
> sudden new squalor and economic catastrophe Billionaires suddenly losing their tenants is now economic catastrophe? Is this another variant of ‘too big to fail’? Those buildings won’t be going anywhere regardless of anything else.
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Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F
#74Are Progressive mayorships in places like SF and New York the right mentality at the right time when it's an economic catastrophe to be averted? The Mayor of NYC said a few days ago, 'Midtown is not the center of the universe' when asked about sudden new squalor and economic catastrophe. Unfortunately it is the center of jobs for the region. Is SF run like this as well?
... Wait, what would you expect the mayors to do about it? Use their dictatorial mayoral powers to force people to extend leases or the city’s infinite funds for a stimulus or bailout? The federal government and to some extent the states have the money and power; expecting a mayor to wave a magic wand and fix it is, well... optimistic.
Seriously? How about do what mayors have done for centuries: find ways to encourage investment and movement into the city.
Business seems to be moving to places like Austin. Why do you think that is?
Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F
#75I live in a state where we are suddenly inundated with California’s refugees, fleeing the state now that they don’t have to physically live there. Reasonable taxes, a much less stressful work-life balance, bigger homes all make it very appealing to ditch the once0golden state. Our company has decided not to reopen a majority of it’s office space. Ironically, the Bay Area office is remaining open while other offices a…
Which state? I thinking of moving and would like to know good states to move into
Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F
#76How relevant is this to average people? I.e., seems this only affect the rich?
Depends on if it totally crashes the economy or not. It's not like 2007 recession only affected mortgage lenders.
Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F
#77Still not moving back. Seeing those empty Walgreens shelves was it for me. Even the social programs and tolerance of the squalor is not that real, it is simply that the transient population is not affected: students and programmers. The same population that just left. I appreciate all the optimism for San Francisco but it just seems to lack context from the mid-atlantic cities that are carcasses of an industrial era…
You seem to be hinting at interesting things here but its hard to follow, the writing feels like a disjointed short hand with unstated context that requires experience to unpack. What are "those empty Walgreens shelves", not having been there I don't know what you mean. Further, SF was not unique in experiencing that. I experienced it in North Carolina and Utah. What do you mean "squalor that is not that real?", what is the "context from mid-atlantic cities" and how is that relevant or informative to SF in particular? What is obvious when you leave? Where did you go and what did you experience?
Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think a quote from Bernie Sanders encapsulates the problem: "in the US, we have socialism for the rich, and rugged individualism for the poor". Corporate lobbyists know the government is a cash cow, and they take advantage of this. They will always get relief if they ask for it. Direct payments are the opposite of this.
When you dramatically expand the money supply you make the rich richer. It doesn't matter how the money is distributed, it tends to inflate asset prices, and the people who own the most assets (the rich) reap the rewards in the end. If you wanted to stop that, you'd have to actually pay for your spending, perhaps by implement some sort of wealth tax or dramatically increasing income taxes. Of course, nobody wants to…
What you just said is factually incorrect. Expanding the monetary supply does not "make the rich richer."
Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F
#79A close relative of mine is a top real estate appraiser based in San Francisco, and she's terrified about what happens in Q2 2021, when leases will start terminating en masse. She's had a call with the St. Louis Fed, as they're trying to get an idea of what this will look like. She thinks it will be a bloodbath, and deal a death blow to corporate real estate (and other capital markets by extension).
Why will leases be terminating in Q2 2021 in particular?
Because that's when businesses stopped signing new ones, I imagine.
Re: Nearly 12M Square Feet of Vacant Office Space in S.F
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think a quote from Bernie Sanders encapsulates the problem: "in the US, we have socialism for the rich, and rugged individualism for the poor". Corporate lobbyists know the government is a cash cow, and they take advantage of this. They will always get relief if they ask for it. Direct payments are the opposite of this.
When you dramatically expand the money supply you make the rich richer. It doesn't matter how the money is distributed, it tends to inflate asset prices, and the people who own the most assets (the rich) reap the rewards in the end. If you wanted to stop that, you'd have to actually pay for your spending, perhaps by implement some sort of wealth tax or dramatically increasing income taxes. Of course, nobody wants to…
The number of people who are homeless, in medical debt, and unable to work or make any money due to limited skillsets and COVID is astounding. These people need some type of immediate help, and if they don't receive it, the effects will be far more detrimental than the effects of fiscal stimulus.
And I think you're confusing monetary stimulus with fiscal stimulus.
> It doesn't matter how the money is distributed, it tends to inflate asset prices
For the US, that's not true. The US Dollar is the world's reserve currency, and the Fed isn't worried about inflation, but a lack of money supply. The pandemic has led to a huge demand for safe assets, including Treasury bonds, which has led to incredibly low interest rates on Treasury bonds, and a stronger dollar. See, for example, this article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/05/what-2-tr....