City’s economy is threatened as employees work from home

Published

2 years ago

April 6, 2023

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close video San Francisco activist exposes drug crisis at city bus stops

San Francisco drug abstinence advocate Ricci Wynne discusses the open-air drug market unraveling in one of the country’s largest cities.

The San Francisco Chronicle's editorial board put out a dire warning about San Francisco's economy, emphasizing that the city needs to evolve as fast as possible to avoid a ‘doom loop’ from employees transitioning to remote work.

"Experts say post-pandemic woes stemming from office workers staying home instead of commuting into the city could send San Francisco into a 'doom loop' that would gut its tax base, decimate fare-reliant regional transit systems like BART and trap it in an economic death spiral," the editorial warns.

The editorial board also drew a comparison between San Francisco after COVID-19 and New York City after 9/11, as commuters feared returning to New York skyscrapers after the terrorist attacks.

But with enough subsidies, the article argues, Manhattan bounced back thanks to new train stations, public parks, malls and residential buildings in the Financial District. But San Francisco has yet to make structural changes.

SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR TORCHED FOR SEEKING FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO CURB CRIME CRISIS: ‘YOU NEED TO DEAL WITH IT’

A view shows the downtown skyline of San Francisco, Calif., June, 29, 2022. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria / Reuters Photos)

"Despite our housing crisis, it was years into the COVID pandemic before our leaders meaningfully questioned the logic of reserving some of the most prized real estate on Earth for fickle suburbanites and their cars," the editorial said.

"And so we wasted generous federal COVID emergency funds trying to bludgeon, cajole and pray for office workers to return downtown instead of planning for change," the piece continued. "We’re now staring down the consequences for that lack of vision."

CONCERNS ESCALATE OVER SAN FRANCISCO'S RISING CRIME HURTING BUSINESS

In this March 28, 2020, file photo, a small group of people walk in front of the Golden Gate Bridge at Baker Beach in San Francisco. ((AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) / AP Newsroom)

The editorial board suggested investing in office-to-housing conversions and demolishing office buildings for new projects, which would require financial help from the state government.

Last year, San Francisco topped a list of cities that homebuyers wanted to move away from. 24% of buyers in a Redfin report were looking to leave San Francisco.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities founder and CEO Joel Marcus had told Fox Business in January that redeveloping older office buildings into multifamily homes could solve the housing crisis.

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"This sits as a monumental opportunity, I think, for this country to take this stock of older office buildings," Marcus said on "Mornings with Maria." "Almost 996 million square feet by current account, and move that into a stock of housing because it sits there, and it just needs to be redeveloped."

An aerial view of the San Francisco city skyline in California, Oct. 28, 2021. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria / Reuters Photos)

Politics

Government takes first step in appealing court ruling banning asylum seekers from Epping hotel

Published

1 hour ago

August 22, 2025

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Government takes first step in appealing court ruling banning asylum seekers from Epping hotel

The government has taken the first step in appealing a court’s decision that asylum seekers cannot be housed in an Essex hotel.

The Home Office is seeking permission to intervene in the case, which, if granted, will allow it to appeal the interim judgment handed down last week.

Epping Forest District Council sought an interim High Court injunction to stop migrants from being accommodated at The Bell Hotel in Epping, which is owned by Somani Hotels Limited.

The interim injunction demanded the hotel be cleared of its occupants within 14 days.

In a ruling on Tuesday, Mr Justice Eyre granted the temporary block, but extended the time limit by which it must stop housing asylum seekers to 12 September.

Somani Hotels will now appeal against the court order blocking the use of the hotel as accommodation for asylum seekers, the company’s solicitors have said.

Meanwhile, security minister Dan Jarvis said on Friday that closing hotels housing asylum seekers must be done “in a managed and ordered way” as he unveiled government plans to challenge the High Court’s decision.

He told broadcasters: “This government will close all asylum hotels and we will clear up the mess that we inherited from the previous government.

“We’ve made a commitment that we will close all of the asylum hotels by the end of this parliament, but we need to do that in a managed and ordered way.

“And that’s why we’ll appeal this decision.”

An analysis by Sky News has found 18 other councils are also actively pursuing or considering similar legal challenges to block asylum hotels – including Labour-run Tamworth and Wirral.

Disquiet with the use of asylum hotels is at a high after the latest statistics showed there were more than 32,000 asylum seekers currently staying in hotels, marking a rise of 8% during Labour’s first year in office.

The number of small boat crossings in the Channel is also up 38% on the previous 12 months.

Following the Epping case, a wave of protests is expected outside of asylum hotels across the country in the coming days.

Stand Up To Racism is preparing to hold counter-protests outside the asylum hotels on Friday, including in Bournemouth, Cardiff and Leeds, with further demonstrations expected on Saturday.

In its case, Epping Forest District Council argued that the owners of the Bell Hotel did not have planning permission to use the premises to accommodate asylum seekers.

It argued that the injunction was needed amid “unprecedented levels of protest and disruption” in connection with the accommodation.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said the people of Epping who protested and its council have “led the way”, writing in The Telegraph that “our country’s patience has snapped”.

His Conservative colleague Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said on Thursday that people have “every right” to protest over asylum hotels in their areas.

Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, has urged councils to explore legal challenges – with Conservative-run Broxbourne Council announcing that it would do so.

Hillingdon Council, which is also controlled by the Tories, also said it was exploring its options.

Meanwhile, former Reform chairman Zia Yusuf told Sky News three councils run by his party had the power to mount legal challenges.

He said West Northamptonshire, which Reform seized control of in May’s local elections, would be doing so.

In a further headache for Sir Keir Starmer, Labour-controlled councils are also considering legal action, including Wirral and Tamworth.

Paula Basnett, the Labour leader of Wirral council, said: “We are actively considering all options available to us to ensure that any use of hotels or other premises in Wirral is lawful and does not ride roughshod over planning regulations or the wishes of our communities.”

Carol Dean, the Labour leader of Tamworth Borough Council, said she understood the “strong feelings” of residents about the use of a local hotel to house asylum seekers, and added: “We are closely monitoring developments and reviewing our legal position”.

Labour-controlled Stevenage council added: “The council takes breaches of planning control seriously and we’re actively investigating alleged breaches relating to the operation of hotels in Stevenage.”

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