Last time I was in SF, an odd thought just randomly popped into my head as I was walking around downtown: "San Francisco is someone else's house."
I've never been able to put my finger on that deep vibe the place has until then.
You have various groups that come and go -- hippies, hackers, techbros, whatever -- but beneath the surface there is this old property owner base that owns the city completely and does not want to see it change much. They are willing to let various groups of transients pass through and perhaps a few stay but most leave in the end, and they don't want that to change either.
SF is superficially liberal but deeply conservative in an odd and very specifically SF way. Reminds me quite a lot of Boston but with a West Coast and Bohemian veneer.
I don't know if my random insight is spot on or not, but that's what came to mind.
Most new property being built in SF proper is being used as secondary housing for rather wealthy folks. I'm sure some of it is also being soaked up in an attempt to expatriate money (kinda like what you see in Vancouver).
It's someone else's house in some sense but not likely what you're thinking.
https://sfist.com/2014/09/30/almost_half_of_newly_built_cond...
I don't think that's changed appreciably in five years.