For those living on the west coast, hearing that San Francisco is in dire straights may not be the most surprising news in the world.
But the San Francisco Chronicle still felt the need to shout such news from the rooftops in the form of an editorial board opinion piece in late March.
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What's Wrong With San Francisco?
In a piece titled, "Cities are struggling. San Francisco could be in for the biggest ‘doom loop’ of all," the San Francisco Chronicle outlays how "San Fransisco could die."
"Though many American cities are struggling in the wake of Covid, San Francisco is perhaps in the greatest peril of them all," the board writes, adding that the city is too heavily reliant on tech-heavy jobs which can be done remotely, so many people are leaving for good.
"In San Francisco, more than 7% of residents working in computer, engineering and science fields moved out of San Francisco from 2019 to 2021, U.S. census data shows," it continues, adding, "San Francisco’s recovery is also threatened by the flight of lower-wage workers. The city lost 55% of food-service workers from 2019 to 2021, 34% of service workers, 33% of people in sales and 26% of office administrative workers, to name a few. Many cannot afford to live in the city," and many don't want to.
And despite its progressive policies, "San Francisco has produced less low-income housing than state agencies mandated. More than 22,000 housing units were built from 2015 to 2021, city records show, but only about 9% of units were affordable for two-person households earning up to $55,450. "
In a subsequent post, the editorial likened San Francisco to New York City after the terror attacks of 9/11, claiming its inhabitants feel unsafe working in the city and fear for their wellbeing.
Rising Crime Rates Don't Make San Francisco Appealing, Either
To make matters worse, San Francisco has been grappling with an exploding crime rate in recent years.
The city's crime rate 111% higher than the national crime rate average and 91% higher than the California average, according to Property Club. San Francisco's violent crime rate is 40% higher than the national average.
As recently as Tuesday, Cash App founder Bob Lee was stabbed to death in San Francisco in what is being called an "earning morning mugging."
Tesla (TSLA) and Twitter CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he knows "many people" who have been attacked in the city.
"Many people I know have been severely assaulted," Musk wrote. "Violent crime in SF is horrific and even if attackers are caught, they are often released immediately."
