San Francisco and what to do in it

based on historical norms demand is actually low. it's just high relative to even lower relative supply. inventory is running at about 30% of normal levels, so even if demand is, oh, let's say 50% of normal it's going to look like the end of days. which it does.

but every new unit helps. it's the NIMBY shit that makes it zero-sum.

I've come around to this way of thinking. Of course, a bit more gentrifying out here in the Excelsior couldn't hurt. We're all set on 99 cent stores.

definitely true that more housing is better than no housing, but demand is high enough relative to supply in sf that more luxury condos on the waterfront does not nec mean less house-flipping elsewhere in the city. the more supply = lower prices thing is mostly true for regions, but if you want more affordable units in the city proper you'll need them to be subsidized in some way

I have aesthetic preferences about how developments should work/look, but I am totally cool with building more housing in the city anywhere. It's stupid not to. There's a proposal to knock down the old Cellspace building down the street from me to build some new housing and my main issues with it are that the landlord/developer totally went about it in a dishonest/shitty way, not with the housing itself.

developers don't want to build affordable housing here at all (why would they? demand for higher priced stuff is off the charts) which is why they are forced to sell a percentage of anything they actually build at below-market-rates. Which is how I got my home fwiw.

more supply = lower prices eventually becomes the case even in san francisco if the numbers are large enough

idk, seems very plausible to me that sf will continue to become even more like manhattan than it already is. different places / regulatory atmospheres i know, but existing growth restrictions plus a 7x7 boundary in sf could easily prevent supply from ever being high enough to get to those large #s within that geography.

extremely plausible sure, almost certain that homeowners won't be fighting for policies that ultimately lower the value of their homes, esp when you can do it in the name of environmentalism

but a couple thousand units of 'affordable housing' for lottery winners also does basically nothing in the big picture

for sure, hence my skepticism of lee's new housing plan. market-driven housing sure as hell won't make much of a difference w/r/t affordability if you still have a million growth limits, and in order for subsidies to work they'd have to pump a completely unprecedented amount of $$ into things

The frustrating thing is, we wouldn't even have to build super high to get lots more housing. Six stories, like Berlin or Chicago, gives plenty of density.

^^ otm, u&k

Yeah. although it doesn't help that developers all want to be build mile-high glass monstrosities to compete with the Millenium Tower or whatever

'developers' would be pretty cool w/ redeveloping neighborhoods at berlin density too, that's just not among their options

yeah there's a new condo bldg going in at like 20th and Valencia (replacing a cherished neighborhood gem of an abandoned gas station/parking lot) that will def not be a mile high anything and I weep for the senseless loss of floors 5/6.

replacing a cherished neighborhood gem of an abandoned gas station/parking lot

lol yes

sometimes I wonder how it is that there's still so many of these in the city (there's another huge on on Potrero, there's an empty lot around the corner from my house etc.)

the abandoned gas station at 16th and South Van Ness is slated to become condos

xpost because it takes 5 years of hearings and payouts to neighbors and community organizers before you can break ground iirc

not that SF has made me cynical or anything

that lot on Potrero has literally been there since I moved to the city in '96. it's ridiculous that there's nothing there.

open space initiative!

passed this wreckage on the way to work this a.m.

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Two-die-in-SF-after-high-speed-chase-in-stolen-BMW-5578047.php

And that's why cops aren't supposed to engage in high-speed chases, fuck.

but they're so exciting!

holy shit 115mph! no wonder it burst into flames

This turned out to be a friend of mine

I hadn't seen him in years but was kinda shocking to read this article and then only find out later that it was him. He was a photographer so maybe that's why the HAZMAT. idk. :(

:(

geez things gettin kinda murder-y around here

do tell

there were a couple shootings in the last month that seemed like there was some gang-related retaliation stuff going on and then just over the last few days there have been a rash of shootings that left 4 dead.

:(

http://sf.funcheap.com/city-guide/robin-williams-mini-film-festival/

that radical faerie guy who was killed near Duboce Park... maybe it's not "post-gay" anywhere, huh

?

oh you are referring to this:

http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/family-friends-of-man-found-beaten-at-duboce-triangle-consider-removing-life-support/Content?oid=2873010

yeah I dunno what to make of this

if anyone needs a small piece of good news, DJ Sprinkles is playing F8 on Saturday night

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Driver-pulls-U-turn-and-shoots-man-near-USF-5728653.php

wtf

outlaw guns

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Arutuo-Galster-drag-performer-dead-at-55-5723994.php related to the Feather Lynn beating? Suspect photo was generic white guy in a hoodie.

Not watching video but this dude seems like the worst guy:

http://sfist.com/2014/09/02/centerplate_ceo_getting_ousted_over.php

yes. no SF connection other than ballpark concessions not exclusive to SF.

RIP my favorite food truck:
http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=0a32fdd2a618e5b16f246de11&id=10e21eb3b6

insane fire in my 'hood right now yikes

https://missionlocal.org/2014/09/fire-at-mission-and-22nd/

holy shit

some of you must be into Georgian cinema, right?

http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries/georgian

was just reading about their blood feuds, animal sacrifices and ritual haircutting so sure why not

Good luck getting San Franciscans to come to the east bay

it's pretty easy to get San Franciscans to come to the East Bay tbh, just double their rent or evict them! Har-de-har-har

hehe

I feel like we've almost reached the point where there is more going on culturally over here in Oakland/Berkeley than in SF

uh, yeah