Uncommon Knowledge
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City authorities permitted the construction of only 16 housing units in San Francisco, one of the most expensive markets in the country, in 2024 as of June—a far cry from what demand would require and what Mayor London Breed has promised.
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Preliminary 2024 data from the States of the Cities Data Systems (SOCDS) Building Permits Database shows that the total housing unit building permits for San Francisco between January and now was 16, split between seven single-family homes, six 2-unit and multi-family homes and three 3- and 4-unit multi-family homes. Among all types of units, six permits were given in January, one in February, seven in March and two in April.
Joseph Politano, an independent writer at Apricitas Economics who first shared the data on X, commented on the data saying that “it’d be hilarious if it weren’t such a nightmare.” Newsweek contacted Politano for comment by direct message on X on Tuesday morning.
The data will be subject to revision throughout the rest of the year and might change, but as they are now, they present quite a bleak picture for San Francisco.
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Home prices have been spiraling upward in San Francisco since the Great Recession of 2008-2009 followed the bursting of the U.S. housing bubble, making buying a home in the City by the Bay unaffordable for many. While home prices in the city dropped during the U.S. housing market correction of late summer 2022 and spring 2023, a chronic shortage of homes has kept them from totally plummeting.
As of April, according to the latest Redfin data, the median sale price of a home in San Francisco was $1,400,000, up 3.7 percent compared to a year earlier. It was considerably higher than the national median sale price, which in April was $432,903, up 6.1 percent year-over-year, according to Redfin.
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Last June, Breed introduced legislation boosting the building of new homes in the city by cutting fees and removing laborious requirements for conditional use permits and mandatory public hearings, among other moves. The legislation was designed to help the city meet the state-mandated goal of building 82,000 homes by 2031 to meet the serious need for housing in the city.
But in 2023, the city issued permits for the building of only 1,823 new units, according to the data from San Francisco Planning Department mentioned by the San Francisco Standard. That was about 1,000 short of the units authorized the year before, for a total of 2,701 in 2022.
The number of total new units completed in 2023 was slightly higher, at 1,983, down from 2,893 a year earlier.
In an update in April, Breed didn’t provide concrete details about how many housing units have been authorized in the city, but said that she was “proud to say that over the last year, we’ve started to move San Francisco in the right direction on housing.”
The mayor admitted that “we are not where we need to be, and there is much more work to be done,” adding that her administration continues “to encounter obstruction and delay as we push these solutions forward, but we have made progress. We will continue to make progress.”
Newsweek contacted Breed’s office and the San Francisco Planning Department for comment by email on Tuesday morning.
But the slow pace at which the city has approved new housing units permits this year doesn’t mean that it won’t pick up later in the year. In an article published in April, the SF Standard highlighted how in 2023, the city had approved only 12 units in the first two months of the year—but the number spiked later in the year.
Time will tell whether something similar will happen again this year.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
An 18-year-old along with seven juveniles, one as young as 12-years-old, have been arrested in connection with more than 20 retail thefts, San Francisco police announced Thursday.
According to officers, the investigation began following a robbery that took place Sep. 16 at the Walgreens on the 1100 block of Potrero Avenue. Police said several juvenile suspects concealed merchandise and ransacked the store.
When an employee asked the suspects to stop, the employee was attacked and suffered a serious head injury, police said.
During the investigation, officers from the Mission Station Anti-Vendor Enforcement Unit recognized five of the juvenile suspects while investigating an assault that also took place on Sep. 16 at 24th and Mission streets.
Police said the suspects were taken into custody for the incident at Walgreens.
Investigators reviewed other incidents and noticed similarities in suspect description, victims and motive. With the help of Walgreens Asset Protection, investigators identified eight suspects involved in at least 23 retail thefts at the pharmacy chain’s San Francisco locations.
In a statement Thursday, police listed some of the incidents allegedly linked to the suspects, including an Aug. 18 incident at the store on 1333 Castro Street where one of the suspects jumped over the front counter and stole a cash register and a Sep. 9 incident at the store on 2690 Mission Street in which one of the suspects brandished a firearm at a security guard.
The eight suspects are also linked to two Sep. 29 robberies at the Castro Street location. Police said $15,000 in merchandise was stolen during the first robbery, before the group returned with five additional accomplices and stole another $12,000 in goods about two hours later.
A total of $84,000 in merchandise was stolen, police said.
The only adult in the case, 18-year-old Brandon McClain of Hayward, was arrested on suspicion of four counts of second degree burglary, four counts of grand theft and four counts of organized retail theft.
Police said the youngest suspect is a 12-year-old boy from San Francisco. The 12-year-old has been charged with assault likely to produce great bodily injury, three counts of second-degree robbery, seven counts of second-degree burglary, seven counts of grand theft, 10 counts of organized retail theft and four counts of petty theft.
The additional suspects have been identified as a 14-year-old male from Pittsburg, two 14-year-old boys from San Francisco, a 15-year-old male from Oakland, a 15-year-old male from Oakley and a 15-year-old male from San Francisco. All of the remaining suspects are facing multiple charges, including second-degree burglary, grand theft and retail theft.
One of the 14-year-olds from San Francisco faces additional charges of assault with a deadly weapon, assault likely to produce great bodily injury and battery causing serious bodily injury.
McClain, along with the 15-year-old from San Francisco, have also been accused of carjacking following a Nov. 5 incident near Geneva and Cayuga avenues.
According to jail records, McClain is being held without bail and his next court appearance is scheduled for Friday.
The identities of the juvenile suspects are being withheld due to their ages.
Anyone with additional information about these cases is asked to call the SFPD tip line at 415-575-4444 or text TIP411, beginning the message with SFPD.
A jackknifed semi-truck blocked four lanes of eastbound Interstate 80 on the Bay Bridge Thursday, causing major delays during the rainy morning commute.
California Highway Patrol officers responded to a report of a solo truck collision at 5:12 a.m. just east of the First Street onramp, according to CHP logs. Officers arrived to learn the driver, who sustained head injuries and was seen limping, had lost control of the vehicle. The driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries and was in stable condition, the San Francisco Fire Department said in a statement.
The truck suffered major front-end damage but remained upright. Authorities warned it would take hours to clear the wreckage and encouraged drivers to use other routes.
As an atmospheric river makes its way into the Bay Area, flights at San Francisco International Airport have been drastically impacted.
According to Flight Aware, the airport saw more than 430 delays on Wednesday and more than 60 cancellations. With the storm not projected to clear up for a few days, aviation experts said it will impact those beginning their travel for Thanksgiving week.
“If we can’t get out of this weather, which it doesn’t look like we’re going to until sometime next week, all these people could be delayed and probably will be delayed to their destination,” said Mike McCaron, an aviation expert.
Donnie Pascal, who was flying to Florida, and their family had their flight delayed by two hours.
“I got snacks. I got my phone,” Pascal said.
Some passengers went to SFO to find out their flights were canceled.
As the storm progresses, more flights can be impacted, as the FAA continually reviews the number of planes the airport can accept per hour. Then, airlines have to respond accordingly.
McCaron said he recommends that travelers stay in touch with their carrier and check their flight status via an application.
According to the National Weather Service, several inches of rain have already fallen in the North Bay and are expected to spread further south in the region.
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