As a resident of SF, this was probably the best article about SF that I've read in years - it really captures a broad set of perspectives and paints an accurate picture of the landscape.
As a non-resident who has enjoyed going to tech conferences in SF in the past, taking along my family so they could explore the city while I was at the conference, this article did nothing to change my opinion of SF. There is no way in hell I would go to SF for a conference or take my family there.
Not OP, but I've seen SF in the news before coming here last week and it really looked bad.
It's sadly exactly as shown in the news - car break-ins and zombies around TL. It's just sad and not safe.
I don't know how the rest of the US looks like right now in terms of crime rate and drugs abuse - but as an european I have never seen anything this bad.
Meh. The article presents a rather disingenuous view of "both sides".
Gumps? Gumps went out of business in 2018 (Chapter 11). What Chachas is mourning is not a centuries old company, it's the less than a decade old plaything of an investment banker who bemoans the effect of remote work on his San Francisco business… from New York.
TogetherSF? They've put forth some rather dubious political positions and bankrolled the comically tone deaf "Fentalife" ads. Who cares about the opinions put forth by a group only interested in pulling cheap publicity stunts?
Otherwise it's a puff piece filtered through the perspective of tech. How droll.