Can It Get Any Worse for San Francisco?

It seems like everyone — and everything — is leaving San Francisco.

The city that once captured headlines on booming tech markets and seemingly exponential opportunity has recently seen one negative story after another. Companies leaving. Crime and homelessness hitting new highs. Vacant office towers.

The bottom line is that people and businesses may not be able to survive the city's cost of living, which is reported to be 79% higher than the national average.

Just this week, Westfield San Francisco, dropped a $558 million dollar loan on the biggest mall in the city. This followed news of real estate investment group Park Hotel and Resorts ceasing payments on a $725 million loan secured by two Hilton hotels in the city.

Other major companies are leaving the city, including mobile gaming company, Skillz which is heading to Las Vegas, according to a press release.

Amidst the city's whopping $1.325 million median home price, homelessness in San Francisco has risen 35% since 2019, according to McKinsey, which reported that every night there are around 38,000 individuals homeless in the Bay Area. 

Some are coining the city’s changes as a “tech exodus” or with the even more bleak term "doom loop," used to describe the domino effect of negative events for a city attempting to stay afloat.

In February, the city released a “Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco’s Future,” which included initiatives such as a designation of a Arts, Culture and Entertainment Zone, improved transportation in the city’s downtown and a delay of a 50% tax increase this year.

Joel Engardio, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, said “we need to roll out the red carpet and cut the red tape for businesses in San Francisco."