Monopoly Madness

March in San Francisco has most definitely come in like a lion. Twice today we’ve had torrential downpours and both times while I was driving. Within five minutes, there were little rivers I had to wade through. The morning was spent with the Men’s Group going over the upcoming ballot, with a long discussion about whether to vote to build affordable housing. Of course, housing should be affordable and to be homeless at any time is our culture’s grand tragedy, but made more alarming on a day like this. How does one survive a torrent like this living on the city streets?

 

Like everyone in San Francisco, I'm alarmed by the homeless situation. At the same time, I’m dead set against popping up high-rise housing randomly in the middle of neighborhoods where they don’t fit any sense of aesthetic, never mind tax the services, parking spots, density and such. The one exciting proposition was to convert all the pandemic-aftermath empty office space and create an actual living neighborhood downtown, complete with arts, culture, pedestrian walkways, all at affordable prices. But of course, that good idea was poorly framed in the proposition and looks like it won’t pass. A combination of the difficulty of converting office space to living space and proposing tax breaks for the wealthy who own the offices. 

 

And really, it all always boils down to “follow the money.” I don’t believe the problem is the lack of literal houses that now must be built to further make city living yet more dense and challenging and with these high-rise proposals, an aesthetic disaster. The problem is the astronomical cost of rents and mortgages precipitated by the dot.com explosion and the corporate capitalist ethos of “make the most money and people be damned.” I know this personally from trying to help my daughter buy a house from a neighbor who had been neighborly enough at our annual Christmas parties and such, but when I offered something significantly above asking price and wrote a sweet letter accenting my daughter’s meager teacher’s salary, her love of this neighborhood and such, he went with someone who bid higher because they could offer and he could choose to accept. In our thinking, most of us say, “Well, of course he would,” but in other parts of the world, people would be scratching their heads. Why would he do that? Especially with three more flats he has to sell. Monopoly is a cute board game, but a devastating real life practice.

 

Rain is predicted all week and in California, it’s always a blessing alongside a horror for the homeless. But according to the lore, we can look forward to March going out like a lamb. Perhaps the dot.com boom that roared into my beloved city like a lion will also gently calm down to a loving lamb and allow people to live sheltered in homes with reasonable prices. Wouldn’t that be nice.