Sitelab’s plan to end San Francisco’s “doom loop”

I now believe San Francisco’s worst enemy is itself. The bureaucracy is stifling.

Someone I know opened a gym. Took an empty retail space and made a few minor interior tweaks (like moving an electrical outlet). Well that required a “change of use”. No fewer than 9 city signatures, half a dozen trips to permit office, full on architectural drawings, multiple site inspections, plus being blamed for a previous tenant’s illegal bathroom.

If that’s what it takes for one small change, I can’t even imagine what a more ambitious plan would require. Someone with a lot of money, like a pet project of a billionaire.