When a Metaphorical Can of Peas Says So Much About San Francisco’s Housing Politics
San Francisco politics can be a bit like that Mirror Universe in Star Trek, where there’s an evil version of each character that believes the opposite of what they do.
Basic, necessary ideas about housing and the law can suddenly seem quite sinister in the context of a City Hall hearing room. With few exceptions, almost everyone in San Francisco thinks people should have the right to safe and adequate shelter and to have housing options for themselves and their families. But as soon as the topic turns to building that housing, the blood runs cold in even the softest of bleeding hearts.
San Franciscans value environmental regulations, rent control, housing subsidies, protections for the poor and disenfranchised, and sheltering history and culture from ruthless, market-driven development. What we have, though, is a dysfunctional system that turns lofty language into a cover for a brand of politics — one that is overzealous at best and cynical at worst, setting off crises that put the city in the crosshairs of state housing regulators.
Take Monday’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Transportation Committee, which refines key planning considerations before they reach the full board. (Sometimes the committee stops ideas dead.) Yesterday, the committee took a second crack at a raft of ambitious code changes pitched by the mayor’s office meant to generate more housing. (The Frisc covered the meeting live here.)
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