You’re reading the Essential California newsletter <\/p>\n
San Franciscans told me they see fewer tents and shanties, a decrease in open-air drug use and somewhat cleaner streets. He won points for using quiet diplomacy to persuade President Trump not to send his immigration enforcement agents to the city. Most locals said there\u2019s a long way to go to return the city to its glorious past, one in which columnist Herb Caen justified every Golden Gate Bridge toll hike, saying outsiders were lucky to visit the City by the Bay. But they\u2019re hoping a turnaround has begun.<\/p>\n
SF\u2019s cleaner downtown<\/p>\n
On a brisk and sparkling Friday last week, Caen\u2019s old San Francisco felt within grasp. Locals in tweed and visitors in sweatshirts sipped espresso in outdoor cafes. The once moribund blocks around Union Square almost bustled with holiday shoppers. A young Union Park ambassador in a natty green uniform scrubbed graffiti off a pillar. A moment later, I got a reminder of the work left undone, as a bedraggled woman squatted beneath some bushes to wash her hair. With adequate affordable housing still rare, some locals worry the unhoused might merely be shuffled off to other neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
Lurie appeared at a news conference<\/a> to tout the city where he was born, the son of a rabbi and a mother who in her second marriage partnered with Levi heir Peter E. Haas. \u201cI am just so fired up about what\u2019s happening in our city,\u201d Lurie, 48, proclaimed, urging people to come to Union Square to shop. \u201cI want everybody to know, when you come downtown, you\u2019re gonna be safe.\u201d Police foot patrols in the neighborhood have been doubled, he said. \u201cWe have your back.\u201d<\/p>\n As he strode away from the news conference, artist Robert Hightower stopped the mayor for a selfie. Hightower told Lurie: \u201cMy family watches your Instagram every night!\u201d He added afterward: \u201cHe\u2019s not trying to overhaul all of San Francisco in a weekend. He\u2019s getting little wins here and there. That\u2019s how you get a bigger win.\u201d<\/p>\n Lurie, a late-vintage Gen-Xer, saturates the social media sphere like a millennial. In recent weeks, his feed has shown him cheerleading cops<\/a>, celebrating at coffeehouses, noodle shops<\/a> and myriad other businesses<\/a> and donning a slicker to clean out a storm drain after a downpour.<\/a> The posts dependably take credit and say more will be done.<\/p>\n Lurie\u2019s controversies<\/p>\n The centrist Democrat scored an apparent victory in late October when he dissuaded President Trump from an announced \u201csurge\u201d by immigration agents. The mayor did it not via the open contentiousness of some other Democrats, but working quietly with several tech magnates to suggest that improvements already were at hand. Trump backed down.<\/p>\n The mayor\u2019s most ham-handed move came in November, when he named former pet shop owner Isabella \u201cBaya\u201d Alcaraz to a vacant seat on the county Board of Supervisors. The clearly underqualified 29-year-old almost immediately had to step down after the media found evidence her business had been poorly run and, as Mission Local reported, that she paid workers under the table and skimped on taxes<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe missed a few things,\u201d Lurie conceded in a brief interview. He said he would do better. <\/p>\n Karla Scott, an insurance industry worker, said she voted for another candidate but has been won over by Lurie, forgiving his misstep with Alcaraz.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he came out immediately and said, \u2018I screwed up,\u2019\u201d Scott said. \u201cThere was a willingness to fix it and not make an excuse. I liked that. \u2026 He\u2019s always in a suit, like super-nerdy. I like him.\u201d<\/p>\n Today\u2019s top stories Crowds of holiday travelers inside the Tom Bradley International terminal at LAX on Nov. 25.<\/p>\n (Gina Ferazzi\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Thanksgiving air travel is expected to hit a 15-year highMore than 360,000 flights will take to the skies this week<\/a> through Dec. 1, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.In a chart posted on X<\/a>, the U.S. Department of Transportation estimated that 16.9 million people would fly throughout this holiday week.Los Angeles International Airport officials estimated that 2.5 million travelers would come through the airport from Nov. 20 through Monday. Sunday is expected to be the single busiest travel day, <\/a>with more than 230,000 people making their way through the terminals.California\u2019s job market is taking a hitCalifornia has shed 158,734 jobs through October,<\/a> the most of any state outside Washington, D.C., as layoffs ripple through the tech and entertainment sectors.Artificial intelligence is fueling a wave of cuts, cited in 48,000 job losses nationwide this year.The downsizing has contributed to California having the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 5.5% in August.<\/a> SoCal\u2019s wildfire crisisA court has ruled that a statewide Cal Fire program risks making fires worse<\/a> by removing native chaparral and allowing the spread of more flammable grasses.The program aims to use prescribed fire plus tree and brush cutting to reduce the risk of a wildfire igniting, exploding out of control and jeopardizing lives and property.After a massive hazardous materials fire ignited at the Port of L.A. last week, it took nearly six hours for an order to be issued<\/a> telling residents to shelter in place due to air quality concerns.Filming in L.A.Effects of early California stormsThe recent storms have filled reservoirs<\/a> and are building up snowpack in the Sierra.The early-season rain helped lift much of the state out of drought and significantly reduced the risk of wildfires.What else is going onCommentary and opinionsThis morning\u2019s must readsOther must readsFor your downtime Robert Therrien, \u201cNo title (folding table and chairs, dark brown),\u201d 2007, mixed media<\/p>\n (Joshua White \/ The Broad)<\/p>\n Going outStaying inAnd finally … your photo of the day A helicopter drops water on a fire threatening a home in Topanga Canyon on Jan. 9.<\/p>\n (Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Today\u2019s great photo is from Times photographer Genaro Molina of a helicopter dropping water on a fire<\/a> in Topanga Canyon on Jan. 9. The Los Angeles County Fire Department announced plans to order Topanga residents to shelter in their homes during extreme wildfires when evacuation through winding mountain roads isn\u2019t viable.<\/p>\n Have a great day, from the Essential California team<\/p>\n Jim Rainey, staff reporter How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com<\/a>. Check our top stories<\/a>, topics<\/a> and the latest articles<\/a> on latimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hugo Mart\u00edn, assistant editor
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
June Hsu, editorial fellow
Andrew Campa, weekend reporter
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters<\/p>\n