San Francisco's New Mayor on Homelessness, Unaffordability, and AI
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What are the biggest quality‑of‑life challenges facing San Francisco and how do they compare to New York City?
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Hello and welcome to another episode of the Oddlots Podcast. I'm Jill Weisenthal.
And I'm Tracy Alloway.
Tracy, we have a uh mayoral election coming up here in New York City.
Very exciting.
I think when this comes out, it'll be literally tomorrow. We're recording this October 28th. No one knows for sure what's going to happen, but I think it'll be like the day after this episode comes out.
Absolutely. And obviously a very heated mayoral election, I think. Uh one that's kind of taking national attention as well. Which, you know, New York is always important, but maybe it's always extra important. Maybe it's always very important. Maybe it's extra important.
It's always very important to the media. That's definitely the case. But you know what I think? There's obvious reasons why there's a lot of national interest besides the fact that as reporters, we like to report on our hometown. A lot of cities are dealing with the same challenges that New York is. New York City is a very expensive city to live in. There are a lot of cities that are very expensive, particularly any city that has some sort of Economic dynamism right now. New York City has a number of quality of life issues that frustrate voters, whether it's uh crime, which has come down way a lot, but you know, safety on public transportation, homelessness, et cetera, public drug use, which uh, in my opinion, has gotten a lot better over the last few years, but it was very prevalent.
I saw it a lot in the parks in 21, 22. These are not, by no means are these These issues that are sort of New York, oh, dealing with the Trump administration and the tensions they're in. These are not New York City specific issues at all.
No, and it's funny as we sat down to record this particular episode, right when we sat down, I got an email. The data behind Chicago's citywide housing shortage.
Chicago's another one. Yeah.
And I mean, there are so many commonalities between these cities. It's definitely worth comparing and contrasting. One thing I gotta ask, just for the New York election, are you still a single issue voter on rats?
Well, if I were, my candidate would no longer be available. So I have to find a uh number two issue. I'll do I'll I'll start to do some research over the weekend. Good idea. Anyway, you know, one uh obviously um one of the cities I've always been more of a Southern California guy, but I'm come really coming around on San Francisco. We were there last November. We had a great time. I loved using the Waymo's. It's a stunning city. And it's not just the Bay Area. It's San Francisco specific that is the beating heart of the AI boom right now. So the most important industry in the world is there. It's truly a lovely city. However, has many of the same quality of life and affordability. the questions that we face in anywhere else.
In fact, maybe in so some would say for at least a time, arguably worse.
Yeah. I mean, I remember from visiting it also has some very, very beautiful neighborhoods with historic buildings, very, very cute neighborhoods in many respects. And so you can imagine that efforts to boost housing affordability immediately run into that whole neighborhood vibe.
I I wa a few years ago I was visiting a friend and I said, I love this neighborhood. I love where you live and he was like a yimbi is like, Joe, you're not supposed to say that. This is the neighborhood He's a renter though, so of course he doesn't mind if his house gets torn down for new buildings. Anyway We really do have the perfect guest to talk about big city governance, all of these things.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are the biggest quality‑of‑life challenges facing San Francisco and how do they compare to New York City?
0:00–4:09
2
How is Mayor Daniel Lurie redefining the city’s approach to homelessness and the fentanyl crisis?
4:09–9:35
3
What is the “family zoning” plan and how will it change housing affordability in San Francisco?
9:35–15:07
4
How is the city improving public safety and reducing crime in downtown and Union Square?
15:07–20:11
5
How is the AI boom shaping San Francisco’s economy and what does it mean for local businesses?
20:11–24:45
6
What steps is the mayor taking to make the city’s budget more transparent and hold nonprofits accountable?
24:45–29:47
7
What advice does Mayor Lurie have for the incoming New York City mayor on housing, public safety, and tech growth?
29:47–33:57
8
How does the mayor measure success and what are the long‑term goals for making San Francisco the “greatest city in the world” again?
33:57–38:20
Speakers
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