City’s economy is threatened as employees work from home

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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)

Sports

Pirates ball-crusher Cruz accepts HR Derby invite

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3 hours ago

July 8, 2025

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Pirates ball-crusher Cruz accepts HR Derby invite

Field Level Media

Jul 8, 2025, 04:16 PM ET

Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Oneil Cruz accepted an invitation on Tuesday to compete in Monday’s Home Run Derby in Atlanta.

Cruz is the fifth player to commit to the competition, held one day before the All-Star Game. The others are Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves, Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals and Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins.

Cruz, 26, is known for having a powerful bat and regularly delivers some of the hardest-hit homers in the sport. His home run May 25 at home against the Milwaukee Brewers had an exit velocity of 122.9 mph and was the hardest hit homer in the 10-year Statcast era.

But Cruz has never hit more than 21 in a season, and that was in 2024. He’s on track to set a new high this year and has 15 in 80 games.

Cruz has 55 career homers in 324 games with the Pirates.

Cruz will be the first Pittsburgh player to participate in the Derby since Josh Bell in 2019. Other Pirates to be part of the event were Bobby Bonilla (1990), Barry Bonds (1992), Jason Bay (2005), Andrew McCutchen (2012) and Pedro Alvarez (2013).

Overall, Cruz is batting just .203 this season but leads the National League with 28 steals.

Among the players to turn down an invite to the eight-player field are two-time champion Pete Alonso of the New York Mets, Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies and 2024 runner-up Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals.

Defending champion Teoscar Hernandez of the Los Angeles Dodgers recently turned down a spot as a consideration to nagging injuries.

Top power threats Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers also are expected to skip the event.

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Yanks moving Chisholm back to 2B after 3B stint

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3 hours ago

July 8, 2025

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Yanks moving Chisholm back to 2B after 3B stint

Field Level Media

Jul 8, 2025, 01:40 PM ET

New York Yankees All-Star Jazz Chisholm Jr., after making 28 starts in a row at third base, is moving back to second base starting with Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners, manager Aaron Boone said.

Boone confirmed the change on the “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast on Tuesday.

Chisholm, who is batting .245 with 15 home runs, 38 RBIs and 10 steals in 59 games, has recently been bothered by soreness in his right shoulder, which he said is an issue only on throws.

He said he prefers to play second base and prepared in the offseason to exclusively play in that spot before injuries played havoc with Boone’s lineup card, starting with Chisholm’s oblique injury in May.

Third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera went down with a season-ending ankle injury on May 12.

DJ LeMahieu manned second base while Chisholm was at third, but Boone has a better glove option in Oswald Peraza, a utility man with a stronger arm plus defensive skills across the infield.

LeMahieu, 36, is batting .266 with two home runs and 12 RBIs this season.

Sports

Willie Mays’ personal collection going to auction

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3 hours ago

July 8, 2025

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Willie Mays' personal collection going to auction

Dan HajduckyJul 8, 2025, 02:40 PM ET
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The personal collection of Willie Mays, including a Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to the Hall of Famer by President Barack Obama, will head to auction via Hunt Auctions on Sept. 27-28 in San Francisco.

“Per Mays’ wishes, all proceeds from this auction will go to delivering education, training, and health services for youth through the Say Hey! Foundation which Willie Mays founded in 2000,” Hunt Auctions said in a statement.

Other items to be auctioned include Mays’ 1954 New York Giants World Series ring, his 1954 and 1965 NL MVP Awards, his Baseball Hall of Fame induction ring and his 1962 home San Francisco Giants uniform — photo-matched to that year’s MLB All-Star Game and two other games from that season.

There’s also a 1977 Stutz Blackhawk VI, custom made for Mays.

“We are deeply humbled and grateful to Willie Mays for having been selected to represent this important offering of his personal collection,” said David Hunt, president of Hunt Auctions, who also handled the auctioning of Bill Russell’s and Bill Walton’s personal collections.

“For all of his extraordinary achievements as a baseball player, Willie Mays wanted his enduring legacy to be helping children,” Jeff Bleich, Mays’ friend and the chair of the Say Hey! Foundation, said in a statement.

The collection’s first public display will be at the 2025 National Sports Collectors Convention, held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, from July 30 through Aug. 3.