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Mayor Lurie proposes denser, taller housing across San Francisco
\nCity, under state pressure, aiming to add 36,000 homes by 2031
\nSupporters of the plan say more supply will lower housing costs
\nCritics fear luxury development and loss of neighborhood character<\/p>\n
SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie<\/a> is trying to get more homes built for people like Liam Murphy: a fifth-generation city kid who found himself repeatedly outbid for tiny, two-bedroom houses that wound up selling for around $1.6 million.\n<\/p>\n Murphy, 39, now lives about an hour\u2019s drive away from San Francisco, which he serves as a firefighter. He says it\u2019s too late for his family to move back, but he hopes others can stay in a city where the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $3,500.<\/p>\n \u201cThat would just make for a better city overall,\u201d said Murphy, \u201cand the reason is because city kids just grow up being exposed to more. They\u2019re exposed to all the cultures of San Francisco, which makes a more well-rounded person.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Tiny, colorful San Francisco \u2014 just seven miles squared \u2014 embraces its image as a city that welcomes all. But its inability to add housing has put its diversity at risk.\n<\/p>\n Lurie hopes to change that with a plan to allow for denser and taller buildings throughout much of the city, including the westside Sunset neighborhood of single-family homes and the tourist friendly\u00a0Haight-Ashbury<\/a>, which is studded with classic Victorian and Edwardian homes.<\/p>\n The issue has roiled the city, and threats of recall loom over San Francisco supervisors who go along with Lurie. At a recent housing rally, the mayor who won a rare reprieve from\u00a0President Donald Trump\u2019s threats\u00a0to send in federal forces struggled to be heard over angry chants of \u201cshame\u201d and \u201cliar.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Protesters demanded the city invest in 100 percent below-market-rate housing and accused Lurie of being a gentrifier and a Republican.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI truly believe that this has San Franciscans\u2019 best interests at heart,\u201d said Lurie, who is a centrist Democrat. \u201cAre some people going to be fearful? Absolutely. I get it. Change is scary. But the status quo is not working. There\u2019s an affordability crisis right now.\u201d\n<\/p>\n The city\u2019s estimated 830,000 residents are passionate about both land use and equity. Housing projects have died as pressure to create more affordable units made potential developments unprofitable. Residents also want their stunning views.\n<\/p>\n But San Francisco is under pressure from the state to adopt a new zoning plan<\/a> allowing for 36,000 more homes by 2031 \u2014 or else the state will decide what gets built where \u2014 and the mayor likely has the votes to pass his \u201cFamily Zoning Plan<\/a>.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Supporters say it\u2019s a matter of supply and demand, and that more homes will bring down the overall cost of housing.\n<\/p>\n Critics say such trickle-down economics will not work in a city like San Francisco, which is in such global demand that some foreign investors buy properties sight unseen. They say developers will only build luxury housing that\u2019s too costly for most workers, while displacing tenants and destroying entire neighborhoods\u2019 character.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a herd of elephants in the room that no one will address,\u201d said Eric Jaye, a Democrat and a political consultant who opposes the plan.\n<\/p>\n