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Well, if you don't have much there are plenty of govenment services available. And if you have the big bucks (or bought years ago) you can afford to live away from the riffraff.
It is those in the middle who (Imo) have been forced out. My guess is by 2040 Cal will truly be the land of the haves and the have nots.
Funny, because I've long felt California (and many other cities/states) are a "tale of two cities." If not all of America. Full of haves and have nots. Not by 2040, but already for a long time now...
I can take anyone into San Francisco (as I do often with visitors) and show them the most beautiful areas, bustling with tourists, expensive neighborhoods, upscale restaurants, high end shops and all the rest there is to enjoy. All of which the city has to offer in spades. Lots of the "haves." I can also show them the worst areas, full of the have nots, but I know where to go and where not to go.
If the problems are all because of liberals, what about all the beautiful, vibrant, upscale parts of the city?
I'm not one to deny the many problems or challenges cities like San Francisco face, or that they seem to be getting worse rather than better, but to dump it all on liberals like conservatives love to do is more than just a little irritating for more reasons than I've got time to get into now as I sign off. No point since no one wants to learn, hear or consider what doesn't jive with their political leanings anyway.
Funny, because I've long felt California (and many other cities/states) are a "tale of two cities." If not all of America. Full of haves and have nots. Not by 2040, but already for a long time now...
I can take anyone into San Francisco (as I do often with visitors) and show them the most beautiful areas, bustling with tourists, expensive neighborhoods, upscale restaurants, high end shops and all the rest there is to enjoy. All of which the city has to offer in spades. Lots of the "haves." I can also show them the worst areas, full of the have nots, but I know where to go and where not to go.
If the problems are all because of liberals, what about all the beautiful, vibrant, upscale parts of the city?
I'm not one to deny the many problems or challenges cities like San Francisco face, or that they seem to be getting worse rather than better, but to dump it all on liberals like conservatives love to do is more than just a little irritating for more reasons than I've got time to get into now as I sign off. No point since no one wants to learn, hear or consider what doesn't jive with their political leanings anyway.
Sure, but there has always been a thriving middle class in Cal, but now they (along with the lower middle class) appear to be the ones leaving.
I suspect by 2040 the State will be made up mostly of the working poor and/or those feeding off government services and the wealthy who live in beautiful/safe enclaves and foot the tax bills.
If the problems are all because of liberals, what about all the beautiful, vibrant, upscale parts of the city?
I don't think anyone would suggest SF doesn't have a lot going for it. You cannot beat the weather and Golden Gate Park is great to visit on Sunday.
However, without a serious change in policies businesses will continue to leave and the tax revenue will continue to slide. City Hall has been able to fund many programs over the past 20 years in large part because it had tax dollars to burn.
Unfortunately for the Mayor’s office... that seems to be ending.
I can appreciate his credentials though much of his credentials don't speak to his ability to properly assess all he goes on about in the video. I don't watch these kinds of videos very often for a variety of reasons, but given the feature here in this thread that I have stepped into, I thought to give it a full watch and listen. I also looked into more about Hanson for context.
The fact that Hanson is also a known conservative who has been employed by "conservative think tanks" makes pretty clear from where his perspective tends to lean, and it shows in the video. Again please...
After he describes SF in every negative way possible, again without any comments about the positives, he goes on to talk about the problem(s) in education, nationwide. All of which is more of the classic conservative way of describing the challenges in typical conservative ways. I can't catch all the quotes, but all this about not wanting qualified teachers, or teachers who want to indoctrinate instead of knowing anything about history. Anti-wokeness as if these are the real issues or problems?
No mention about how red and blue states compare in terms of education. Why I wonder? Do you?
Even more classic and oh so typical of these sorts of "talking head" videos, especially the ones the Fox News audience seems to love, the woman commentator tells the story of how her great aunt was sterilized as a result of Eugenics. She leans toward the camera and emphasizes that Eugenics was started in California? I mean really? And what does the audience do? They swallow all of it without thinking and some even pass this sort of thing along to others. More lies and damage done regardless the truth of these matters. Typical fodder for people who like to listen to Fox News commentary. Passing it along as if it's "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth." When in fact at best it's half-truths, misrepresentations of the truth and even absolute lies! Ala Tucker Carlson all over again, and to see those viewers now leaving Fox because Carlson is now gone. Talk about a reason for America going into "free fall." (If that too is what you want to believe).
Hanson puts the cap on all of it by calling all our problems and challenges "all self-induced." AKA conservative speak. As in all the fault of liberals and nothing else. Hanson also supported Bush, the war in Iraq and Trump BTW. Surprise surprise. No political agenda there.
My credentials? Well because I do my best not to let confirmation bias control what I learn about all this sort of thing, I did more than just listen and swallow what Hanson & Fox Co has to say. Always seems to me no one else bothers to get "the rest of the story." I've also lived in SF on two separate occasions for one year each, and I still live in the Bay Area and visit SF on a regular basis. In part because both my adult children work in SF. My daughter lives in the City too. I am not blind to the problems SF has always had to work on, but I'm also not stupid as to the reasons for them.
Again I'd only suggest that along with all the bad and ugly conservatives love to heap on SF, there is the good that needs to be factored in for balance too. Also the truth. Nothing more and nothing less.
Sure, but there has always been a thriving middle class in Cal, but now they (along with the lower middle class) appear to be the ones leaving.
I suspect by 2040 the State will be made up mostly of the working poor and/or those feeding off government services and the wealthy who live in beautiful/safe enclaves and foot the tax bills.
If the problems are all because of liberals, what about all the beautiful, vibrant, upscale parts of the city?
I don't think anyone would suggest SF doesn't have a lot going for it. You cannot beat the weather and Golden Gate Park is great to visit on Sunday.
However, without a serious change in policies businesses will continue to leave and the tax revenue will continue to slide. City Hall has been able to fund many programs over the past 20 years in large part because it had tax dollars to burn.
Unfortunately for the Mayor’s office... that seems to be ending.
Right. Lots of "good, bad and ugly" in the City, but to read so many of the comments in this thread, you'd think SF is only bad and ugly. Just not so. Lots of people who seem to suggest SF "doesn't have a lot going for it." More often than not, if not always, they are conservatives who just don't get blue states from the get go...
Hard not to agree with generalities like your comment here, but it's the "devil in the details" that tend to be the challenge. Just what -- exactly -- are these policies that need changing that can make a significant difference? Stricter laws and/or more jail time, for example, sounds like a simple answer, but the problem is an over crowded revolving door at the jails that doesn't seem to really prevent crime.
As I've commented before, if there were any real easy effective answers to some of these problems, they would have been implemented long ago and everywhere, and there wouldn't be these problems anywhere, because NO ONE wants to see the problem of homelessness, poverty, drugs or crime where they live. No one. Not liberals or conservatives. At a minimum, you can't blame these problems on liberal policies far as I can tell, because with all the bad and ugly, there is also the good and very good.
As for the middle class, I can't imagine a time or reason there won't always be a demand for blue collar workers, and I don't know what sort of policies would make a difference along those lines either, but the teachers striking in Oakland seem to think it has to do with insufficient pay and of course in high cost of living areas higher wages are necessary just to keep up with the basics. More often than not it comes down to money, money, money...
What could help solve San Francisco’s problems? Readers weigh in with ideas
There’s no shortage of ideas for how to fix things in San Francisco.
Last month, the San Francisco Chronicle published an investigation that shone a spotlight on one of the biggest challenges: The pandemic has depressed tourism and office attendance, hurting the downtown area’s local economy and putting the city’s long-term fiscal health in question.
The story struck a nerve. It was the Chronicle’s most read article the day it was published, and remained in the top 10 for a week. Digital readers didn’t just click it, they pored over it, our analytics show, and shared reactions in comments, tweets and emails. One person channeled a widely held sentiment: “I love San Francisco and hate to see it suffer.”
I notice no comment about all I pointed out that was wrong with the last video, so I won't bother with this one...
Fine.
Nevertheless, I provided a link showing the number of businesses which have closed in the downtown area since 2020. VH offers an explanation as to why 35% of downtown office space is empty. He believes city policies aren't helping and given businesses continue to close ..he might well be correct. https://www.city-data.com/forum/65245932-post209.html
No question is SF is a wealthy city but it is starting to lose serious tax revenue. Without addressing the concerns VH talks about companies will continue to close their doors. As far as not playing up the positives it goes without saying: SF has nice areas, and a lot of wealthy people choose to live there. I seriously doubt VH (a native Californian) would disagree.
With regards to Cal as a whole and why the middle class is shrinking. VH again provides a good explanation as to why this is happening. He is not out to bash the state or Sf. He’s attempting to explain why SF businesses are closing and why many in the Cal. middle class are fleeing. If you don't agree with him so be it. I'm sure many don't.
But the fact is SF cannot afford its massive city budget if tax revenue continues to fall. Nor is it healthy for the state to be made up of primarily the haves and the havenots.(Which is what I suspect Call will look like come 2040.)
What could help solve San Francisco’s problems? Readers weigh in with ideas
There’s no shortage of ideas for how to fix things in San Francisco.
Last month, the San Francisco Chronicle published an investigation that shone a spotlight on one of the biggest challenges: The pandemic has depressed tourism and office attendance, hurting the downtown area’s local economy and putting the city’s long-term fiscal health in question.
The story struck a nerve. It was the Chronicle’s most read article the day it was published, and remained in the top 10 for a week. Digital readers didn’t just click it, they pored over it, our analytics show, and shared reactions in comments, tweets and emails. One person channeled a widely held sentiment: “I love San Francisco and hate to see it suffer.”
Right. Lots of "good, bad and ugly" in the City, but to read so many of the comments in this thread, you'd think SF is only bad and ugly. Just not so. Lots of people who seem to suggest SF "doesn't have a lot going for it." More often than not, if not always, they are conservatives who just don't get blue states from the get go...
Hard not to agree with generalities like your comment here, but it's the "devil in the details" that tend to be the challenge. Just what -- exactly -- are these policies that need changing that can make a significant difference? Stricter laws and/or more jail time, for example, sounds like a simple answer, but the problem is an over crowded revolving door at the jails that doesn't seem to really prevent crime.
As I've commented before, if there were any real easy effective answers to some of these problems, they would have been implemented long ago and everywhere, and there wouldn't be these problems anywhere, because NO ONE wants to see the problem of homelessness, poverty, drugs or crime where they live. No one. Not liberals or conservatives. At a minimum, you can't blame these problems on liberal policies far as I can tell, because with all the bad and ugly, there is also the good and very good.
As for the middle class, I can't imagine a time or reason there won't always be a demand for blue collar workers, and I don't know what sort of policies would make a difference along those lines either, but the teachers striking in Oakland seem to think it has to do with insufficient pay and of course in high cost of living areas higher wages are necessary just to keep up with the basics. More often than not it comes down to money, money, money...
Well, SF voters took a big step in the right direction when they recalled DA Chesa Boudin.
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