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The Planning Commission's hearing showed what happens when a well-funded narrative ignores common sense.
The developer-backed YIMBY lobbying group (Yes In My Backyard) showed up to support Mayor Lurie’s blanket upzoning plan — a plan that would green light luxury towers and density decontrol* across neighborhoods like the Richmond, Sunset, Marina, Cow Hollow, West Portal, Aquatic Park, North Beach and other cherished neighborhoods.
Make no mistake: this was not some organic groundswell of local residents.
This was a coordinated effort — led by lobbying groups backed by real estate and tech deregulation interests — whose members are coached to believe a simplistic narrative:
"If we just build, build, build, housing will magically become affordable."
But let's be clear —
Developers do not build affordable housing unless they are required to — they build for profit. The idea that developers will flood the market with so much housing that prices will crash is not only naive, but also ignores basic economics. No rational developer is going to oversupply the market to the point where they lose money. That is why we do not see cranes in the city. It is not because of zoning restrictions.
Blanket upzoning and density decontrol does not lower housing prices. Conversely, this will fuel speculation and demolition leading to displacement of tenants and small businesses.
And those new high-rise units on Geary or Lombard? They are not for the average resident but for whoever can pay top dollar. That is not cynical — that is the business model.
But here is what did not get lost in yesterday’s hearing:
Hundreds of letters have been sent to our city officials demanding a smarter approach to housing - keep them coming!
In an 8 hour commission hearing, residents from every district showed up to insist on thoughtful planning — housing policies that respect the scale, history, and identity of San Francisco’s neighborhoods.
Policies that require actual affordable housing be built on site, not "feeing out" (paying 20% of the price of an affordable unit) in the hopes that someday that money will produce affordable housing elsewhere.
There were moments of sanity when Commissioners spoke at the end. Here is a recording of yesterday's hearing, you can fast forward to these specific comments:
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Commissioner Kathrin Moore (start 6 hour, 53 min) - "You can't manage what you can't measure." We need data driven decision making and data driven accountability and we owe it to the people and to future commissioners and mayors. She also urges Planning to use industry standard interactive 3D mapping to show true impacts of increased heights.
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Commissioner Gilbert Williams (start 7 hour, 2 min) - "This is the opposite of democracy in action. We are being forced at gun point." He asks Planning to walk us through how we got to this point. He questions the housing mandate - shouldn't we have scrutinized these numbers? Where is the guarantee of affordability?
This is not about saying no to housing — it is about saying yes to smart, community-driven growth that protects residents, small businesses, and the future of our city.
It is about urging Mayor Lurie and our Supervisors to stand up to Sacramento’s overreach — rejecting unrealistic, unattainable housing mandates that are being used to justify this excessive and unmanageable upzoning plan.
San Francisco deserves better than a speculative land rush disguised as housing policy.
Tell City Hall: Planning should serve residents — not real estate investors.
* Density Decontrol - the sea of light blue on the city’s upzoning map removes limits on how many units a developer can build within the allowable height and bulk, and increases heights to 40 feet tall (and 65 feet on corners) — without requiring affordable housing on site.
Related articles:
Planning hearing on upzoning shows the two worlds of housing advocates, 48Hills
New S.F. plan to add 36,000 homes gets slammed and praised at marathon meeting, Chronicle
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