{"id":27741,"date":"2023-08-03T13:44:45","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T20:44:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=27741"},"modified":"2023-08-03T13:56:19","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T20:56:19","slug":"if-youre-going-to-san-francisco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/08\/03\/if-youre-going-to-san-francisco\/","title":{"rendered":"If you\u2019re going to San Francisco\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Getty Images; Alyssa Powell\/Insider<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott McKenzie\u2019s \u201cSan Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)<\/a>\u201d was a ballad for the exciting things occurring in the city when it was released in May 1967.<\/strong>

In reality, the song was produced by\u00a0people from Los Angeles<\/a>\u00a0looking to promote a concert they were planning in the area. But that didn\u2019t stop it from being a hit and serving as a defining song of the\u00a0Summer of Love<\/a>.

Nearly 60 years later, Elon Musk is also looking to woo young people to Northern California, albeit without a melody.

The billionaire tweeted on Monday that it\u2019s “important for more people to come to work in\u00a0San Francisco or the rest of the city can’t survive<\/a>.”

Musk\u2019s comments come just a day after he tweeted that he planned to keep the headquarters for the company formerly known as Twitter\u00a0in San Francisco<\/a>\u00a0(plans he announced in spite of a sign drama that prompted London Breed, the city\u2019s mayor, to say\u00a0Musk couldn\u2019t be \u201cabove the rules\u201d<\/a>).

The City by the Bay has had a tough go of it these past few years. Homelessness remains a major problem, and\u00a0commercial real estate<\/a>\u00a0has taken a massive blow in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Even the city\u2019s biggest mall\u00a0can\u2019t make ends meet<\/a>.

But the biggest threat to the city is simply how expensive it\u2019s become to live in. The median rent for a one-bedroom property in San Francisco is $3,000,\u00a0according to Zillow<\/a>, which is 84% higher than the national median.

And while that might seem like a drop in the bucket for\u00a0senior tech employees<\/a>, making that type of rent payment is no easy task for entry-level employees.

That\u2019s why Alistair Barr, Insider\u2019s global tech editor and a Bay Area resident for nearly two decades, believes the San Francisco ecosystem that\u2019s been a breeding ground for countless tech companies is at risk.

For decades, new grads headed to the Bay Area in search of jobs at startups or in Big Tech with dreams of hitting it big. And while only a fraction of them would achieve massive success, those who did would typically stay in the area to seed the next generation with angel investments. And on it goes.

But with the cost of living so high in the region, Alistair said the cycle is at risk of being broken.\u00a0

Instead, less cost-prohibitive cities are becoming more attractive. Take Raleigh, North Carolina, which is part of the so-called\u00a0Research Triangle<\/a>. Tech giants like\u00a0Google and Apple<\/a>\u00a0have come to the region, where the median rent for a\u00a0one-bedroom property is $1,437<\/a>.

Who wouldn\u2019t take that deal?\u00a0

Let us know what you think<\/a>.

Elon Musk says more people need to come to work in San Francisco or the city will struggle to survive

Sawdah Bhaimiya<\/a>\u00a0

Aug 1, 2023, 5:17 AM PDT Insider\u00a0(newsletter@insider.com<\/strong>)

\"A
Elon Musk said Twitter’s headquarters would stay in San Francisco.\u00a0
LUDOVIC MARIN\/POOL\/AFP via Getty Images; Tayfun Coskun\/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Elon Musk<\/a>\u00a0is encouraging workers to move to San Francisco to help the city survive its doom loop.

The billionaire said Twitter’s headquarters would remain in the city despite its ongoing struggles.

Other tech companies, including Meta, Snap, and Salesforce, have reduced office space in the city.

By clicking \u201cSign Up,\u201d you also agree to marketing emails from both Insider and Morning Brew; and you accept Insider\u2019s\u00a0Terms<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy<\/a>.\u00a0Click here<\/a>\u00a0for Morning Brew\u2019s privacy policy.

Elon Musk<\/a>\u00a0is encouraging people to move to San Francisco and work there because he says the “city can’t survive” unless it overcomes the urban doom loop.

The billionaire owner of Twitter\u00a0tweeted on Monday<\/a>\u00a0that it was “important for more people to come to work in San Francisco or the rest of the city can’t survive.”

Musk recently had the Twitter sign\u00a0removed from Twitter’s headquarters in San Fransisco<\/a>. The company recently changed its logo to X, and a giant sign was put on top of the building that has\u00a0irritated some neighbors<\/a>.

Musk tweeted on Sunday that he wouldn’t\u00a0move Twitter’s headquarters<\/a>\u00a0out of the city despite ongoing reports about the\u00a0city’s deterioration<\/a>.

He wrote in the\u00a0tweet<\/a>: “Many have offered rich incentives for X (fka Twitter) to move its HQ out of San Francisco. Moreover, the city is in a doom spiral with one company after another left or leaving. Therefore, they expect X will move too. We will not.
“You only know who your real friends are when the chips are down. San Francisco, beautiful San Francisco, though others forsake you, we will always be your friend.”
The urban doom loop refers to negative beliefs about a city deterring people from living there and causing those issues to proliferate. San Francisco is struggling with a\u00a0huge homeless population<\/a>\u00a0and increased crime,\u00a0including theft and assault<\/a>, according to retailers.

In May, Musk said that\u00a0downtown San Francisco<\/a>\u00a0was a “once beautiful and thriving” area but that it had become a “derelict zombie apocalypse.”

The city has seen retailers such as Walgreens, Whole Foods, Anthropologie, and Nordstrom close stores because of\u00a0rising crime<\/a>\u00a0and concerns about employee safety. Critics said these store closures were also a result of\u00a0changing consumer-shopping habits<\/a>\u00a0and retailers closing pricier locations.

Major tech firms such as Meta, Snap, Salesforce, and Paypal have also\u00a0reduced office space in the city<\/a>\u00a0because employees continued to work from home after the pandemic.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getty Images; Alyssa Powell\/Insider Scott McKenzie\u2019s \u201cSan Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)\u201d was a ballad for the exciting things occurring in the city when it was released in May 1967. In reality, the song was produced by\u00a0people from Los Angeles\u00a0looking to promote a concert they were… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[890,21],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27741"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27741"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27747,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27741\/revisions\/27747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}