Walking home from work on a recent Wednesday evening, America Whitten was lost in thought. Between the climate crisis, presidential impeachments and rising inequality in the city, another question bothered her: could she really leave home?
Whitten was born and raised in the Mission. Now 29 years old, the tech industry worker said she’s still living with her parents but she is contemplating making a move across the bay. It’s becoming harder to live in the city, she said, and feels like the city has lost its way. When she was a kid, Whitten said, her neighborhood felt tighter knit and people spoke to each other a lot more. She doesn’t see that now.
“San Francisco as a whole has lost that sense of community, so I’m conducive to moving somewhere more community-driven rather than somewhere with $4,000 apartments,” Whitten said.
If people moved to SF because they want to live in SF, instead of just for a job, we’d have more community
If SF hadn’t been blocking housing for the last 20+ years, apartments wouldn’t cost $4k/month. This isn’t normal..
The federal government withdrew funds from HUD starting in the 80s and there was a massive reduction in federal housing funds, led on by both Dems and Republicans, causing today’s housing crisis.
I agree there is more SF can do to build affordable given our enormous wealth, but the billions lost in federal funding (coinciding with rising rents and homelessness) is the root of the problem.
Exactly!