THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2025
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Housing forever wars are back
by Mike Ege
Editor in Chief, The Voice of San Francisco
Tax day has come and gone, and the price of eggs is high enough that neighbors are considering using potatoes and rocks as a substitute for Easter egg hunts.
In City Hall, tax day also beckons more public discussion of the budget. Mayor Daniel Lurie needs to submit a budget proposal to the Board of Supervisors by June 1. San Francisco is facing a budget deficit of at least $820 million; an increasingly unpredictable Washington may further cut emergency COVID aid reimbursements along with regular funding, raising that deficit up to $2 billion. Unions and department heads are already pushing back.
But first, there’s a new skirmish in San Francisco’s housing forever wars.
Lurie recently introduced new changes to San Francisco’s zoning map, which further increase density, and in some cases heights, along the city’s main drags, particularly on the westside. Considering the city’s adoption of pro-housing legislation under previous Mayor London Breed and ongoing pressure from Sacramento, the changes seem more incremental than revolutionary.
Nevertheless, the Telegraph Hill Dwellers, one of the more high-profile neighborhood associations, declared a “red alert” in a mass emailing, urging members to speak out against the plan at a Planning Commission informational hearing on April 10. Other allied groups did the same. San Francisco’s anti-growth juggernaut of neighborhood and homeowner groups, nonprofit housing developers, and building trade unions were mobilized.
That hearing garnered almost five hours’ worth of public comment; at two minutes apiece, you can do the math.
But something was different.
Close to half of the testimony was in support of upzoning, mobilized by the city’s more recent pro-growth movement, which has grown in fits and starts since the 2010s. Mentioned by multiple media outlets, residents of Bernal Heights, often seen as a bulwark of antigrowth sentiment, urged commissioners to upzone their neighborhood.
It’s a significant change. And now that City Hall’s anti-growth lobby has diminished, with its primary leader, former Supervisor Aaron Peskin, out of office, its tactical position has pivoted from one of likely-to-pass legislation to nothing-to-lose lawsuits and petitions, like a plan for having all of North Beach declared as a historic district.
Now that anti-growthers are on the back foot (for now), the tone has also changed. North Beach resident Jordan Angle recently told us he ran into Peskin on Columbus Ave. and asked him “if he would like to meet to find a compromise for the North Beach historic district and his direct quote was, ‘you’ve s**t talked me for 10 years, I’m retired, no, f**k off!”
But even with a sea change in sentiment, and a higher ceiling for housing units, there will still be obstacles to building over 80,000 new homes in the city between now and 2031. But hopefully, eventually, your neighborhood beat cop, your mom’s home care worker, and maybe even your favorite barista will eventually find a foothold in the city instead of commuting from Turlock.
For a more cordial debate on the future of San Francisco’s skyline, check out my conversation with host John Rothman on the Voice of San Francisco podcast.
Check out links to our latest content below, or just bookmark our homepage to see the latest.
Top News
REYNOLDS RAP
Malcolm in the middle
Ethics complaint alleges Chinatown Community Development Center Executive Director Malcolm Yeung failed to report ownership interest in 18 entities tied to organization.
by Susan Dyer Reynolds
Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC) Executive Director Malcolm Yeung is potentially using holding entities tied to CCDC and city money for self-enrichment through weak points in a dense corporate structure, according to a complaint filed with the San Francisco Ethics Commission on March 19, 2025.
EDUCATION
San Francisco public schools plan for more layoffs
Dr. Su’s latest dose of budget medicine will cut 205 central office administrators, staff.
by John Trasviña
DRUGS
Coalition on Homelessness attempts triage center takeover
Organization puts up posters to oppose city’s new drug policy.
by Erica Sandberg
Quote of the week
“You should see this street at 5 a.m., before [the center] opens,” the officer said. “It’s scary… If it wasn’t for the coffee, no one would come in.”
—Anonymous beat cop describes the area around Mayor Lurie’s Triage Center on Sixth St., in Coalition on Homelessness attempts triage center takeover
Nomi toon
In Case You Missed It
OPINION
Family values are Asian values: public safety
Public safety isn’t something we debate. It’s something we expect.
by Forrest Liu
A&E
Balloon Museum brings ‘EmotionAir: Art You Can Feel’ to the Palace of Fine Arts
Exhibition features large-scale inflatable artworks to connect art and emotion.
TRANSIT
Muni riders flood transit agency with operator praise on Transit Driver Appreciation Day
Muni riders showed up in a big way last month for transit operators.
by Jerold Chinn
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EVENTS
Out and about April 17–23, 2025
What to do this week and beyond.
By Lynette Majer
Managing Editor, The Voice of San Francisco
Hope you’ve had a good week. Here are my picks from a night market, and parade to culminate the Cherry Blossom Festival, to a fun-silly event, some music, and more.
Thursday, April 17
Formerly the Art Market San Francisco, the San Francisco Art Fair will present 85 galleries from around the world in addition to special programming, such as “Art and Impact in the East Bay,” a panel discussion in which the artist of the above image will participate to discuss the roll of art in shaping the social and cultural landscape. Through Sunday. Tickets from $35.
Join the opening celebration of Project Dastaan (“story” in Urdu and Hindi), which features colorfully animated retellings and personal narratives recounting the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan, one of the largest forced migrations in human history. “Child of Empire” is an immersive animated virtual reality docudrama. 5 p.m. Tickets from $14
Friday, April 18
Following the successful inaugural night market last December, tonight is Fort Mason’s Spring Night Market. Enjoy more than 20 food and beverage options from Off the Grid, live music, workshops, over 100 retail vendors, and more. 4–9 p.m. Free
I’m happy to see the Startup Art Fair has returned to the Hotel Del Sol, where rooms are turned into individual galleries — such a clever concept. Browse over 60 artists from Mexico and South America to Europe and China while enjoying food, drinks, and poolside music. Through Sunday. Tickets from $20.
Saturday, April 19
Just a reminder if you didn’t catch the 57th Annual Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown last weekend, it’s still on this weekend, and includes the new-this-year Children’s Cherry Blossom Village. The bonus this weekend, which caps the festival, is the Grand Parade on Sunday. Free admission.
Listen to our podcasts
- Three cheers for Newsom and Bonta plus the Oakland race for mayor and the proposed recall of an S.F Supervisor
- Picture this…Dr. Sally Martin Katz Curator of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
- Homelessness, rank choice voting and California fights back!
- A spectacular interview with Editor-In-Chief Mike Ege
- Plus more (and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible or everywhere else you get your favorite podcasts)
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