[save_ferris]

It can't all fall on the shoulders of wealthy corporations here. Corporations operate throughout the entire country, not just SF.

The problem with some "progressives" is that they're not willing to make the necessary sacrifices to elevate the quality of life for others. The same thing is happening in Austin, TX, another liberal stronghold.

Most of the new construction going on in Austin is high-end, far out of financial reach for many. Neighborhoods are denying requests to build denser affordable housing because they want to have their cake and eat it too.

It's what happens in a society that's constantly told us that owning our home is the way to wealth generation for the middle class. People who already own homes are going to do everything they can to benefit themselves, and who can blame them? That's the system working the way it was designed to. It's just not sustainable.

On top of that, there are a lot of multi-family developers and brokers making an absolute killing it on buying and selling apartment complexes and making massive returns on their portfolio. Had a buddy who worked for a PE real estate firm in Austin that gave their employee of the year an Escalade a couple years back.

[heurist]

Auto companies promoting mass construction of roadways and suburbs last century are a big reason for urban sustainability issues today. Cities that grew around cars are struggling to shift toward a more economically sustainable pedestrian orientation.

Not the only reason for issues, of course. Austin could have had a slightly better code with CodeNEXT but the NIMBYs got to it and successfully sold the message that it would destroy neighborhoods, despite all the concessions they received.