How We Can Write a Recovery Story for San Francisco

San Francisco’s downtown was once the beating heart of a city renowned for its innovation, diversity, and cultural vibrancy. It was an iconic epicenter for businesses, drawing employees and visitors from around the globe.

Today, however, our downtown is a shadow of its former self. San Francisco is facing one of the slowest post-pandemic recoveries in the country, with downtown recovery projected to take nearly two decades to return to pre-pandemic levels. 

Businesses and retailers are closing or fleeing at an alarming rate — 54 major headquarters have left San Francisco since the pandemic began. Commercial vacancies are at an all-time high (and growing), exacerbated by iconic retailers like Macy’s departing. Big tech companies like Uber and Meta are pulling back, significantly reducing their downtown office spaces. Large conventions have been canceled indefinitely, with no plans to return. Unfortunately, San Francisco is slated to host fewer conventions next year compared to this year.

Tourism remains below pre-pandemic levels, having dropped by 44% since 2019. To make matters worse, San Francisco only permitted 16 new housing units in the first half of the year, further hindering recovery. With a painfully low number of employees returning to the office, downtown is struggling to rebound, which further hampers tourism, city tax revenues, and local economic growth. Public safety remains a top concern for San Franciscans and visitors that directly impacts the vibrancy of our downtown.

I firmly believe we can reimagine San Francisco’s downtown and get our city back on track. We don’t need to look far to see how recovery is possible. Other neighborhoods in major cities like New York City’s Manhattan have come back from similar big challenges due to sound leadership, proactive plans, and thoughtful initiatives.

I believe San Francisco can have its own recovery story. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to completely reimagine the possibilities for downtown. My vision for downtown is safe, clean, and will create thriving neighborhoods.

First, I will create and implement a bold 20-year vision for a re-energized, resilient, and mixed-use downtown. This includes converting the barren brick and concrete open space of Embarcadero Plaza into a world-class, family-friendly downtown park, which will serve as a welcoming gateway for the thousands of new residents and visitors to our City. 

It also means building tens of thousands of new housing units to help create new neighborhoods downtown and make San Francisco a better place for families. By providing aggressive tax-increment financing and local incentives, we can speed up the production of housing and conversion of commercial office to residential housing. 

To boost foot traffic and revitalize our city’s core, we need to bring businesses and employees back to downtown. To do this, I will create new tax incentives for employers who mandate employees go into the office at least four days a week. I will also offer a city tax credit for new employers if they establish their business in a designated downtown zone and allow sales tax generated in Tenderloin and Mid Market to be kept in those neighborhoods for public safety infrastructure and services. 

Improving public safety is a cornerstone to making downtown more welcome to businesses, residents, and visitors alike. As mayor, I will expand SFPD foot patrol resources beyond Union Square to the core of downtown by growing the police force back to record size. I will also help streamline and integrate response protocols, training, and surveillance systems among Community Benefit Districts (CBDs), downtown area ambassador programs, and street teams. 

Finally, we must reimagine Union Square to encourage more new housing and mixed-use projects to create more vibrancy, visitors, and shopping. I see enormous potential to repurpose and redevelop underutilized buildings and incentivize new, marquee anchor projects that include housing, commercial spaces, opportunities for small businesses, open spaces, and more. 

With bold, creative, and proactive leadership, we can bring this vision to life and deliver meaningful change to San Francisco.