We’reTexas

Best fried chicken in the city, change my mind.

Having some California cool kid Zin myself.

Hell yeah. Rosalind is good people too, will be doing a tasting with her in a few weeks.

Exaggerate much? This is limited to a very small part of the city. Yes, it is near the corporate hotels and yes, it is third-world bad but it should totally irrelevant to visitors unless you want awesome Vietnamese food. Get out to GGP next time.

It’s people realizing they don’t have to put up with shitty public transportation infrastructure five days a week and no one going to malls anymore.

Like in Union Square? Not much. Kin Khao is my favorite. John’s Grill is pretty iconic (Maltese Falcon), definitely a power lunch spot for the City Hall crowd. Top of the Mark for drinks of course. But right by you’ve got Tadich, Kokkari, Waterbar, Boulevard, Angler, Mister Jiu’s, Tosca Cafe - all great for business meals. Yank Sing used to be great for dim sum but I haven’t been since pre-COVID so don’t know how the lunch scene is these days. Been stopping by Maison Nico for coffee and breakfast quite a bit lately, long line on weekends but you can walk in during the week. Edit: forgot to mention Michael Mina opened a swanky Greek concept on California, Estiatorio Ornos. Have not been but have heard mixed reviews.

Ol’ Walgreens Bob.

My problem with this take is he conflates the narrative of violent crime often expressed by national media, generally hyperbolic, and the debate within San Francisco, which is focused on property crime and perceptions of public safety; by debunking the former he effectively denies the validity of the latter (he wrote a very similar column after the Boudin recall IIRC). I only point this out because it’s the same approach employed by S.F. progressives, and it fundamentally misread the room and cost them the recall (although Hiltzik, like the Boudin camp, has been huffing the copium that it was all a right-wing conspiracy). IMO the core issue is the inherent tension progressive DA’s face doing their jobs once in office and how they handle the messaging. He points out Pamela Price, but has he been following the news at all lately? The New Yorker had a pretty good take this week: Bob Lee’s Murder and San Francisco’s So-Called Crime Epidemic https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/bob-lees-murder-and-san-franciscos-so-called-crime-epidemic

Maybe some of the best footage so far.

Yes, they are pushing for more funding.

? That is not the anti-tech crowd, but you are correct they are running with this for their own narrative.

Neither of those statements is accurate, but totally agree with your below statement that no one city is going to solve homelessness.

Why do you think that?

Did we read the same NYT article? I thought summed up the discourse in the city fairly well.

Look at my guy Joe Eskenazi scooping the Chron.

No, when I worked on the Hill all accounts I heard about her were that she is an awful person and easily the worst member in the Texas delegation to work for, possibly the House.

Yes, the homelessness industrial complex is a thing. There is a massive amount of grift involved and the non-profits have the funds to exert significant political influence and litigate. They are not necessarily ill-intentioned, but they have a staunch idea of what the city’s approach should be (the status quo, but with more funding for the programs they happen to operate) and what the downtown should look like (not gentrified). The progressive camp is all about throwing money at quixotic ideas and opposing gentrification and the rest of the city doesn’t give a shit about the TL, so here we are. Michael Shellenberger is an idiot btw. Gary Tan is a good follow.

One of my favorite producers, they don’t get the hype they should and I’m glad.

I’m just explaining, as someone active in S.F. political circles, what I view to be specific political obstructions to changing what you see downtown when people visit. I wasn’t kidding when I said the homeless had one of the most powerful political advocacy groups in the city. I think we are on the same page from a policy perspective but I find the difficulties implementing the CARE court system disheartening. Doesn’t help that the city’s homelessness department threw its hands up yet again a few weeks ago.

You’re in LA so I know you know as well as I do that homelessness is a structural issue beyond the capacity of any one city to handle - Willie Brown and Gavin Newsom found out years ago, and I suspect Karen Bass will soon. In S.F. the progressive camp basically disagrees that the situation in the TL and SOMA is a quality of life issue and will actively resist efforts like the CARE Act. In any event the dynamic in those neighborhoods in so structurally entrenched I doubt it will ever change significantly. Is Skid Row similar? I’d guess.

lol i wish.

Oh you should laugh. Btw I’d say “drug workers” is my new favorite.