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San Francisco, solid blue city of -- empty storefronts and missing young people
American Thinker ^ | 01/12/2020 | Monica Showalter

Posted on 01/12/2020 9:59:32 AM PST by SeekAndFind

San Francisco is getting to be a hellhole and not just because crooks are having a field day, or a vast homeless army has prompted new tech 'innovations' in poop-map apps.

It's actually becoming a city with a hollowed out look, redolent of some place like Steubenville, Ohio or maybe Utica, New York, during the bad years, empty storefronts and missing young people. So much for the trope that leftwing cities, with their walkable boulevards full of food trucks, handmade crafts, knitting shops, bookstores, artisan cheese shops, gourmet restaurants, and cafes are more lively and liveable than rightwing places. For awhile, that did seem to be the story. But it's coming to an end. Sure, there's vast wealth. But despite California being in an economic boom, the place is starting to look like Venezuela. 

The U.K. Guardian of all places has a haunting report:

It the beginning of this decade, one beloved block in San Francisco had a taqueria, a flower shop and a bookstore. Sparky’s diner, a favorite final hangout for night owls, queer teens and the blackout drunk, was open round the clock.

Today, this block of Church Street just south of Market has the kind of abandoned storefronts that are usually a shorthand for declining mill towns, not centers of the tech future. But all those closed shops are emblematic of today’s San Francisco, where even in upscale areas, the city’s economic boom can look surprisingly like an economic crisis.

What this represents is a strange, second-wave gentrification, in which an influx of well-heeled residents means not Blue Bottle coffee shops and Kinfolk-inspired interior design stores, but emptiness.

Nobody mentions that maybe people don't want to shop in some place where a drunk is puking in the doorway and the district attorney doesn't want to prosecute, so the pukes ...


(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: bluezones; businesses; exodus; sanfrancisco
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To: frog in a pot

I work in SF, and have been a resident of the Bay Area for most of my 60 plus years.

I used to live in SF and in the 80s it was POS. But, due to the extremely high salaries, it is worth it financially. Now, my commute isn’t bad it’s about 70-90 minutes.


81 posted on 01/12/2020 12:21:11 PM PST by ConsCA
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To: fuzzylogic

Go to any town in America and you’ll always find the poshest, ritziest mansions on top of the hills. Or down on the lake front.

It’s a good point that the bums don’t climb hills. They probably don’t have the strength or stamina.


82 posted on 01/12/2020 12:21:26 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Ouderkirk

When I was a kid, we left Utica (Whitesboro) in 1960 and moved to Ithaca. Stayed there five years. Moved to Syracuse (Fayetteville) and spent a year there. Ithaca was the nicest place of the three, but I got jumped and sucker punched by a city ghetto rat around 1964.

Even in the late 50s, Utica wasn’t much.


83 posted on 01/12/2020 12:24:53 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Truthoverpower
"...and it’s the most popular tourist city on the planet."

I highly doubt that when compared to New York, Miami, Paris, Rome, Venice, and many others. I doubt it's even the most popular tourist city on the West Coast. I believe that would be Los Angeles with the Hollywood appeal and various attractions like Disneyland, etc.

84 posted on 01/12/2020 12:26:33 PM PST by A Navy Vet (I'm not Islamophobic - I'm Islamonauseous. Also LGBTQxyz nauseous.)
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To: Stingray51

“and how far away from downtown is the 49ers stadium? It looks from Google to be 50 min from the Embarcadero with no traffic which I assume means it is often a a lot longer.”

It’s about 50 miles. Google is a bit closer at 35-40 miles.

I have to admit, I like the old Candlestick for football. The new stadium wasn’t well thought out with regards to sun exposure, and people bake during some games. When the 49ers were losing at the new stadium, and ticket prices dropped there was a thug like atmosphere among the fans. It’s changed now, for the better.


85 posted on 01/12/2020 12:26:45 PM PST by ConsCA
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To: olesigh

“I think CP was in the Bayview Heights area of the city of San Francisco. So San Fran is little further south”

Correct. I remember when people would go through the BayView district after a game, and there would be a logjam of traffic, and people would be robbed in their car while sitting in traffic.


86 posted on 01/12/2020 12:29:34 PM PST by ConsCA
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To: SeekAndFind
SanFran's economy is propped up by the multitude of companies based there, like Cisco, Google, Facebook, etc. These companies like being able to recruit smart young people who like the ambiance of working in a "hip" location.

Lose that, and San Fran's viability as a city goes down the toilet.

87 posted on 01/12/2020 12:30:43 PM PST by PapaBear3625 ("Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities." -- Voltaire)
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To: fuzzylogic; SeekAndFind
That said, at the lower parts, it’s astonishingly bad.

Just exit Powell Street BART ot Civic Center BART and get an eyeful.

88 posted on 01/12/2020 12:31:21 PM PST by thecodont
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To: Truthoverpower

“Yeah? But how about them 49ers!”

The D is pretty impressive. The D has been good for awhile, but the offense would almost be 3 and out - and the D spent a lot of time on the field and would exhausted.


89 posted on 01/12/2020 12:31:28 PM PST by ConsCA
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To: SeekAndFind

The poop did them in.

5.56mm


90 posted on 01/12/2020 12:32:57 PM PST by M Kehoe (DRAIN THE SWAMP! Finish THE WALL!)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
It’s amazing that a liberal city like SF can produce two powerhouse teams, the Giants in baseball and the 49ers.

Golden State Warriors. NBA champs 2015, 2017, 2018 and hold several NBA records.

91 posted on 01/12/2020 12:33:05 PM PST by roadcat
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To: NohSpinZone
Yes that’s true. I thought Candlestick Park was in South San Francisco, which is a separate city but I think I’m wrong.

You're wrong. Candlestick Park is well within the SF city limits. (Now redeveloped.) South San Francisco is well south of SF, in a different county, separated by Daly City, Colma and Brisbane cities.

92 posted on 01/12/2020 12:37:22 PM PST by roadcat
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

I left Utica, for Ithaca as well. For grad school @ Cornell.

I lived in Syracuse for most of my life (35 years) and then Ithaca/Cortland, then back to Syracuse after graduation and then to Rochester for the last 15.


93 posted on 01/12/2020 12:39:11 PM PST by Ouderkirk (Life is about ass, you're either covering, hauling, laughing, kicking, kissing, or behaving like one)
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To: ConsCA
I remember when people would go through the BayView district after a game, and there would be a logjam of traffic, and people would be robbed in their car while sitting in traffic.

Lol! Not far from the truth. While working with SFPD I did ride-alongs with cops, and they told me to slouch down in the seat while driving through BayView/Hunters Point district, because shots could be fired at them. Tactical equipment was stored at a secured warehouse there. Hoodlums would be openly selling drugs on corners, ignoring the nearby cops. Wasn't a nice neighborhood back then, but has improved in the last 20 years with asian influx.

94 posted on 01/12/2020 12:47:06 PM PST by roadcat
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To: ConsCA
I used to live in SF and in the 80s it was POS.
Agreed.

Now, my commute isn’t bad it’s about 70-90 minutes.
A 1-1/2 hr commute would be a deal breaker for many. Will speculate you are well-paid professional. Historically, the Atherton-Palo Alto area served as the desirable bedroom community, later the Marin County area. Hope you are comfortable.

95 posted on 01/12/2020 12:48:19 PM PST by frog in a pot ( "It's not enough to hold winning cards, ya gotta' know how to bet 'em.")
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Professional sports are fake life.


96 posted on 01/12/2020 12:53:19 PM PST by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) Progressives are existential American enemies)
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To: carriage_hill

Re: your tag line

Years and years ago, on our way west to Manila and my brand new job, we stopped to visit my grandfather in East Tennessee. He suggested that he and I should take a walk to see the farm. it had been a while since I had that opportunity.

He led me down and across the little creek to his new orchard. He planted it when he was 89


97 posted on 01/12/2020 1:01:24 PM PST by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) Progressives are existential American enemies)
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To: SeekAndFind

...the price of real estate would drop.
__________________________________________

It has. The ultra and nouveau riche put their savings into real estate, typically large mansions in the trendy urban areas of blue states. For years, now, the tabloids run stories of how some star has finally (after years on the market) unloaded one of these properties for less than they paid for it, after dropping the prices several times.

When you see a property listing, remember that the ask is only a wish. The realtor will always state it is ‘perfectly priced’, but will gently encourage the seller to cut the ask over time. To the buyer, they will add that the seller is ‘motivated’.


98 posted on 01/12/2020 1:09:45 PM PST by reformedliberal
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To: bert

God Bless Him.

I estimate that I’ve installed between 9,000 - 10,000 trees in my 35yrs of ownership in the nursery/garden center/landscape contracting business, and personally reintroduced 350+ of the Elm Beetle Resistant strain of The American Elm to PA & MD.


99 posted on 01/12/2020 1:12:22 PM PST by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
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To: ConsCA

I was in that log jam a few times and got flashed by some healthy young women.


100 posted on 01/12/2020 1:26:49 PM PST by olesigh
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