[HN Gopher] 'I don't want to become San Francisco': Urban woes s...
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       'I don't want to become San Francisco': Urban woes spur state
       action on housing
        
       Author : imichael
       Score  : 35 points
       Date   : 2023-06-27 18:44 UTC (4 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.politico.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.politico.com)
        
       | yieldcrv wrote:
       | > "Every state in the country other than California is saying, 'I
       | don't want to become California,' and every other city is like,
       | 'I don't want to become San Francisco,'"
       | 
       | including cities in Socal
       | 
       | love this, never change SF, zoning reform (everywhere else) needs
       | you
        
       | belval wrote:
       | Imagine a reputation (real or imagined) so bad that everyone sees
       | you as a cautionary tale.
        
       | 8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote:
       | Is it simply the case of the majority of SF voters, who somehow
       | locked in real estate years ago, not wanting to increase supply
       | of housing in order to maximize their own wealth? Could one argue
       | that this is democracy working as intended, even if you don't
       | think it's "fair" to certain demographics?
        
         | ronsor wrote:
         | Their wealth will minimize when nobody wants to live there
         | anymore. Homes are only as valuable as there people willing to
         | buy them.
        
           | 8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote:
           | It's true, but what's the political solution to this short of
           | ignoring what your demos wants? Where do you draw the line as
           | far as overriding what the votes are telling you? It's one
           | thing when there's an autocratic central planner thinking 100
           | years into the future (with all of the dangers or a wise
           | benevolent dictator), and another when society moves one
           | electoral cycle at a time.
        
         | wnc3141 wrote:
         | I would hope their maximization includes other benefits of
         | living in a community such as presence of arts, local
         | restaurants, school teachers and first responders without
         | commute induced burnout etc.
        
           | 8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote:
           | It doesn't seem that things have gotten bad enough that those
           | services are no longer available and real-estate owners are
           | impacted by it.
           | 
           | Yes, teachers have to commute from out of town, but this
           | doesn't affect the local residents just yet, from what I can
           | tell, the educators are there when you need them, maybe
           | thanks to higher-paying private schools.
           | 
           | The restaurant scene is still strong, prices are through the
           | roof as always and people can afford it just fine.
           | 
           | First responder salaries are pretty good as well, although
           | there are plenty of vacancies:
           | https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/san-
           | francisco/?pa...
           | 
           | I don't see how the current status quo will change anytime
           | soon given that the residents don't feel that impacted
           | besides the inconvenience of not being able to shop on Market
           | St anymore.
        
       | BenFranklin100 wrote:
       | It's good some cities are looking towards reform, but I disagree
       | with thesis Democrat cities across the US see San Francisco as a
       | cautionary tale. Heavy Democratic areas like Boston metro are
       | stuck in the 1990s. Mayor Michelle Wu is proposing rent control
       | and other MA cities are maintaining onerous inclusionary zoning
       | regs that stifle new construction.
        
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       (page generated 2023-06-27 23:02 UTC)