The article quotes the Brookings Institution noting the income gap between San Francisco's rich and poor is accelerating faster than any other U.S. city. Then the Chronicle starts spewing more data from The Human Services Agency:For every 1,000 people over age 25 in San Francisco, 7.3 are worth more than $30 million, completely outstripping New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.More households are earning less than $25,000 and more earning more than $100,000. Almost triple the number of households made more than $200,000 a year in 2010 compared to 1990The middle class has dwindled from 45 percent of the city's population in 1990 to 34 percent in 2012.And of course, there must be a racial tinge to all of this data; “The shrinking middle class has meant fewer families with children and fewer African Americans.”The Chronicle notes: “Many San Francisco families are surviving by living doubled-up with another family in one unit. Among Latinos in San Francisco, 42.4 percent live this way and for Asians, 37.4 percent do. Twenty-five percent of African Americans live doubled-up, and 18 percent of whites do.”Gabriel Metcalf, executive director of SPUR (an urban planning think tank), sounded the alarm, saying income inequality was "the greatest threat to American democracy." He claimed income inequality in San Francisco is growing because of poor housing supply, offering the usual litany of socialist solutions, including raising the minimum wage. He confessed the obvious, saying:I think most people in San Francisco believe in the idea of equal opportunity, believe in the idea of a public realm that's more European and less American if you will...If we keep going down this path, San Francisco might still be beautiful, and it might still be walkable and might still be loved all over the world. But it will no longer be the cradle of progressivism in America. It will no longer be a place that is dynamic culturally.
Double down, that's the ticket!
This city run forever by your detested Freedom Haters has done pretty darned well in many folks' opinions. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-26/san-francisco-is-americas-best-city-in-2012
ReplyDeleteSo it has a "lively arts scene," lots of restaurants and bars, and lots of college graduates. It still suffers from the income inequality discussed in my post. I'd love to see how it ranks among cities for freedom, as measured by ordinances, regulations and taxes.
ReplyDelete