Can we start calling Emily Hoeven our city’s Ezra Klein?

I get the pressure that reporters have to produce bait content, but this is just a really, really bad take.

Can we start calling Emily Hoeven our city’s Ezra Klein?

I get the pressure that reporters have to produce bait content, but this is just a really, really bad take.

Flyer for October 20 rally:

If you are wondering what you can do to help… email your supervisors, show up to a rally at City Hall steps on October 20 at Noon.

Give Public Comment at the Land Use committee on 10/20.

And let others know what’s going on.

Amplifying social media helps too. ❤️

/End

So what to watch for…. Will the Mayor and the Supervisors embrace amendments to this plan that address their constituents *legit* concerns…. or will we see full arrogance/gaslighting on display?

I have a hunch where this is headed and it’s not looking good 💁‍♀️

14/

None of this is a surprise. YIMBY has been celebrating the Nov 2024 election results which put their favored candidate in the mayor’s office and swung the Board of Supervisors rightward. YIMBY advocates are often prominently seated at the mayor’s public events.

13/

Proof of their complicity is that they have failed to push back on state mandates, failed to focus on the real need of affordable unit production, & have sidelined the legit concerns neighbors are articulating about displacement.

12/

The latest defense that the mayor and some supervisors are using is that their hands are tied… that the state threat of a builder’s remedy is worse.

This of course is a false choice. There should be a community process where neighbors are engaged in area planning.

11/

Historic preservationists also say there are ~1000 “A” historic resources that have not yet been landmarked on the map.

As I understand, the mayor’s plan apparently incentivizes preservation of some historic façades, but not the buildings themselves.

10/

Because of state law, SF cannot mandate that new construction have rent control. So by putting parcels on the map targeted for upzoning, there are legitimate concerns about people being pressured out of their homes to make way for new construction that commands higher rents.

9/

In *some* neighborhoods included on the mayor’s map, the proposed upzoning appears to have 80-90% of the parcels with multifamily unit rent control housing.

8/

Another legit concern is the fact that the parcels upzoned in the mayor’s proposal have a significant number of rent controlled units.

An example of this is a storefront that has 1-2 floors of housing above it.

7/

For restaurants in particular, the cost of build out can be $350,000-$1 million because of the necessary hood, floor & hand sinks, bathrooms, etc.

That’s if the building is even equipped with the proper chimney to allow for a food business to install a hood. Most don’t.

6/

Another issue is that the new construction has been largely hostile to small businesses…

An analysis of new buildings revealed that more than 50% have vacancies at the storefront level and 1/3 have what’s called a “cold shell”condition.

5/

One issue of the housing development in the last Housing Element plan is that while we slightly exceeded our overall housing goal, the units were disproportionately unaffordable and largely out of reach for working class San Franciscans. 4/

It’s also true that substantial parts of SF saw disproportionate new construction & there is a reasonable sense this hasn’t been equitable.

However, instead of learning from the lessons of the past decade the mayor’s plan fails to address the issues Eastern Neighborhoods upzoning revealed.

3/

Scott Wiener & other YIMBY state legislators have put through numerous laws mandating upzoning in the last couple of years…

And the SF’s state-mandated housing targets were substantially increased.

So… the state has *already* substantially upzoned SF.

2/

We are asking small businesses to put these signs up in their windows… Let me know if I can drop off some signs if you want to help us get them up. Most people don’t know about the mayor’s plan and we have an alliance website with a call to action to speak up. allianceforaffordableneighborhoods.com

In the long-term, SF and CA needs to meaningfully address the affordable housing crisis. Unfortunately we haven’t seen real leadership from this mayor or governor with a plan to stem the flow of new folks into homelessness. So until that changes, we will continue to see growing numbers.