Plan to Save Downtown San Francisco from Doom Loop Approved by Lawmakers

No mention of the huge number of sick people stumbling around?

People don’t want to shop or work there, but sure, maybe they’ll want to live there in converted office buildings?

So, downtown SF has a lot of vacant commercial and office real estate. They'd like people to convert some of those vacant storefronts into businesses. Ok, now consider it from the perspective of a would-be businessperson considering set up shop in one of those storefronts. What will happen?

I think most would-be store openers will think of the famous ice cream shop: https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/heatherknight/article/s-f-... . The city bureaucracy of San Francisco has a reputation, and the reputation is that they will destroy you, Vogon-style. The same goes for building housing, or converting commercial space to housing, or doing anything else that involves the permitting process.

Legislation to reform the processes is nice, but I don't think SF can even credibly commit to follow the laws it passes, where bureaucratic obstruction is concerned. Solving the problem would require either much more drastic reform, or loudly announcing that staff in the relevant institutions have been 100% replaced.

Now solve the rampant shoplifting + smash and grab. Clean up some public shitting and you’re on the way! Maybe open a 1,000 bed drug treatment center in the north bay.

I last traveled to SF a couple years (I love SF and have been there many times over the past 25 yeara) ago and definitely noticed the dramatically increased prominence of the homeless population, but it was the "early 80's urban decay feel" of vacant spaces and pillaged stores that really changed the vibe for me. This was most prevalent in the downtown area, but less so outside of that zone.