The Rise, Fall and Possible Rise Again of San Francisco’s Downtown | WSJ

San Francisco's downtown suffered an exodus of workers and businesses during the pandemic. These closures followed the disappearance or scaling back of some of the city’s most prominent corporate tenants like Facebook and Salesforce.

But recently there have been small signs of a turnaround. With the AI boom hitting the Golden Gate City and new government policies helping streamline the permitting process for new businesses, San Francisco’s economy could be making a turn.

WSJ explores whether these new city policies and fresh commercial interest can return San Francisco’s downtown to its former glory.

0:00 Exodus of workers and businesses
1:14 Vacant office space
2:27 AI boom in San Francisco
4:04 Local business owner
5:31 Revitalizing downtown San Francisco

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[AfterSkool]

The politicians are more concerned about the narrative than addressing the actual issues.

[andrewpagan]

I absolutely despise seeing Mayor London breed in this video. Get her out of office.

[jlg]

And yet nothing is done about the homelessness and crime. What don't they understand? People want to spend their hard-earned money in nice places, not drug-infested swamps.

[TG.]

Except for a small comment towards the end of this video, the narrative makes it seem like downtown being empty means the whole city is like that. It's 100% bustling like normal in the Mission, the Castro, Hayes Valley, the Haight, etc... that context is going to be very missed by those who don't know what it's like here - SF is still alive. And yes there are many social challenges, like I really do hope that turning downtown into more housing will help get people back on their feet and bring housing costs down overall.

[nicksincredibleopinion]

Left SF for Charleston 10 months ago, and I promise you, I left because it is so much worse in person than you can see in news reports.

[OOXX-oygg]

San Francisco is my second home since the year 2000 and I still believe in this beautiful city.

[lukasfoo]

The mayor said that there is a perception problem. Yeah, right. It’s her perception that is the problem.

[sungyang]

Unless you control crime and homelessness, these efforts will be futile.

[fengtianyuseven]

This mayor is absolutely the problem for SF. Comparing downtown SF to 1907 is just.. dumb

[waterbeauty]

I've lived in San Francisco for over 50 years, and downtown has always been sketchy. It's considerably worse now, but a bigger problem that the media ignores is that the once highly desirable, once good quality of life, once safe to raise a family in residential neighborhoods like the Richmond and the Sunset districts have seen a dramatic increase in homelessness and crime, and you can't walk more than 4 blocks without smelling urine. My neighborhood used to be the second safest neighborhood in San Francisco, but in the last year, seven houses on my block alone have been broken into (including my own), and within 5 blocks of my house, there have been 8 violent assaults that I know of and one murder. More and more neighbors are putting iron gates and bars on their front doors and windows and installing security systems, and several neighbors have posted signs warning criminals that the occupants are armed.

[cobyhong]

The mayor really just said SF is doing better than when it experienced the 1907 earthquake. Wow, what a hard expectation to beat lol.

[electricaltimelapsetest]

Of course that developer dude says it's about to take off😂

[EP]

Denial is not a solution, we need a new mayor who is NOT always in denial mode

[tunatony]

Goodbye California, AI companies can locate anywhere.

[jaehongsong]

I visited San Francisco as a foreigner in the early 2010s and it was one of the best moments in my life. I absolutely loved the city. I can't believe it has turned to this. I have never visited after that so it's hard to believe that such a great city collapsed like this within 10 years

[kristinacahojova]

I am a San Francisco resident. This year, I gave birth to my lovely daughter and learned that I cannot take Ubers with a baby (no car seat) or ride a bike with an infant. This made me dependent on sidewalks.

Let me tell you about the horror of using sidewalks in San Francisco. I am constantly spat on and verbally abused by people living in encampments. They verbally assault me and threaten me. I have complained to the city through 311 many times, but all of my cases for unwalkable sidewalks were closed as "solved."

I went to an in-person meeting with a Mission District representative. On the way there (walking), I was thrown empty bottles of alcohol by encampment inhabitants because I was taking a video of how I needed to enter a road (full of cars) because they would not let me through. I showed this video at the meeting and was dismissed as entitled by some random homeless NGO. I sent the video to city representatives, and they literally responded to me, "What can look like trash to you can be someone's property."

The mayor should be jailed, and this city should go bankrupt and get into management of some other system/city. We will move out as soon as the mortgage rates are better. I am ashamed of myself how ignorant to sidewalks I was before having a baby.

[fedebenavides]

I love when someone's argument of we're not doing terribly wrong is saying that there has been worst times. I've never understood what's the need to compare to the worse, and not strive for the best.

[d.akhtar]

Government allowed San Francisco to become completely unaffordable and relied heavily on keeping workers in the office. Now that the workers have more freedom and leverage there’s no reason to pay 4K for a one bedroom apartment anymore

[lisal]

We were in San Francisco about 12 years ago and we didn't encounter anything like this. Walked everywhere day and night and never had a problem or felt in danger. Shopped in stores in all different areas. It was a wonderful city to visit. Seeing it decline to the point that drug addicts and the homeless have taken over public spaces and have their crimes and harassment of residents excused away is sickening. And it's not helping anyone to allow this degenerate behavior. Property owners and tax payers need to vote the mayor and the council members out.

[mw]

I loved San Francisco in the 70s, 80s and 90s. It was a bustling “lived in city”. People worked, shopped, played and lived there.