[Goose]

Painful to see downtown SF sliding away. I lived in the City for a dozen years from my mid-20s to my mid-30s. It was a great place to be young and single and to have a nice job to afford the lifestyle. But when it became time to settle down and start a family, the choices were predictably clear. Hence the suburban flight we’ve seen so much of. 

And of course the snowballing homeless and generally grubby street population is the big deal now.

And first the retailers on Market St and Union Square, and now the big employers have responded.

SF is on life support, indeed.  Will it go through the rehabilitation and/or gentrification that some other downtowns have?

Back in the late 60's living in San Francisco was definitely not a goal. Great place to visit, no reason to live there. This was true among even the young and single (obviously not universally, but heavily). I never did understand the change. We have busses bringing young tech workers FROM SF to Silicon Valley. I never imagined that could happen. IMO the people leaving SF is merely a return to the status quo ante, not an apocalypse. Yes, running SF will get harder because there isn't money to burn. That doesn't mean the City is going to die, but it does mean it can no longer paper over its issues with cash.

[Goose]

Painful to see downtown SF sliding away. I lived in the City for a dozen years from my mid-20s to my mid-30s. It was a great place to be young and single and to have a nice job to afford the lifestyle. But when it became time to settle down and start a family, the choices were predictably clear. Hence the suburban flight we’ve seen so much of. 

And of course the snowballing homeless and generally grubby street population is the big deal now.

And first the retailers on Market St and Union Square, and now the big employers have responded.

SF is on life support, indeed.  Will it go through the rehabilitation and/or gentrification that some other downtowns have?

Back in the late 60's living in San Francisco was definitely not a goal. Great place to visit, no reason to live there. This was true among even the young and single (obviously not universally, but heavily). I never did understand the change. We have busses bringing young tech workers FROM SF to Silicon Valley. I never imagined that could happen. IMO the people leaving SF is merely a return to the status quo ante, not an apocalypse. Yes, running SF will get harder because there isn't money to burn. That doesn't mean the City is going to die, but it does mean it can no longer paper over its issues with cash.