How Burrowing Owls Lead to Vomiting Anarchists (Or SF’s Housing Crisis Explained)
"Inaction and self-absorption — very well could create the cynical elite paradise and middle-class dystopia that many fear."
What It’s About
Cutler examines San Francisco’s severe housing crisis, unraveling the historical, political, and economic factors behind the shortage and skyrocketing rents. She highlights how entrenched resistance to development, restrictive zoning laws, and unintended consequences of rent control and Proposition 13 have systematically failed moderate-income residents, who lack both the protections of the poor and the financial resilience of the wealthy.
Upshot
Cutler argues:
- Local Opposition Chokes Supply: Neighborhood groups and wealthy homeowners repeatedly block new construction, worsening housing shortages and escalating rents
- Policy Backfires Intensify Inequality: Measures like rent control and Proposition 13 inadvertently incentivize evictions and restrict new housing, worsening the overall crisis
- Structural Problems, Not Tech Boom: San Francisco's housing crisis stems from decades-old structural and regulatory obstacles, rather than merely the influx of high-income tech workers
Did you know? Over 80% of San Francisco's housing stock is either owner-occupied or rent-controlled, making market renters a small minority.
Why It Matters
San Francisco’s housing crisis — arguably the deepest in the nation — has become a stark example of how to squander and squash prosperity. It can serve as a cautionary tale for other cities.
Who Wrote It
Kim-Mai Cutler is an operating partner at Initialized Capital and a former journalist at TechCrunch.