I’m not in San Francisco, but I’m curious about the current local zeitgeist.
What are the keywords, companies, or ideas that keep coming up in conversations?
Interestingly I have found many tech circles in SF would rarely discuss ultra local things like supervisor politics. I don’t even think it’s taboo, I just have found folks tend to not be super informed on any of it. Lurie does seem to capture plenty of political mindshare though.
That area still has some 'gold rush' mentality to it, where people want to get in, make their money and get out. That doesn't foster much of a long-term attitude that pays attention to local politics. Also some of the local politics are totally psychotic, like the guy harassing Scott Wiener.
So ridiculous that folks will spend millions personally to avoid paying their fair share in taxes.
Is the alternative really that bad Sergey? You would be paying a similar amount, and the money would actually go to some use, as opposed to being blown on a political fight.
People who want to use the current system to innovate and create jobs. The current system of venture capital often produces these situations when people have a huge amount paper "wealth". But this wealth is all pretty hypothetical. It's not like some of the "billionaires" can buy 1 billion things from the McDonald's Dollar Menu. It's all tied up in stock that can't be sold for a variety of reasons. Moreover, it's quite likely that the "billionaire" will end up with far less than $1b when he/she retires, even if everything is wildly successful.
Yet that big number encourages greedheads to try to tax something that doesn't really exist.
The “greedheads” are the ones wanting people to pay their fair share of taxes, and not the people who’ve hoarded billions in wealth, and are using some of that wealth to fight to continue tax avoidance?
Whenever someone uses the word "fair" about taxes, I assume they mean we should reverse course on the decades-long pattern of reducing the tax burden on companies and the wealthiest individuals here in America.
Fair taxation isn't a punishment. Paying taxes is what responsible citizens do. It's an act of patriotism and pride.
Muni is not doing well. They've adjusted service to address a huge budget deficit, and the buses are noticeably more crowded and less frequent.
Given how SF has a big global immigrant population, there's a lot of World Cup spirit in the air. Also because Santa Clara is a host stadium.
Housing demand is back up. Not just single family homes but also condos.
Bars are supposedly closing because the 20-somethings are drinking less. Yet at the same time apparently the youngins have discovered the charm of Vesuvio...? Anchor still has not reopened. Woods (IMO) is now the preferred beer spot for locals.
The recall of the Sunset supe was a big deal. Fight over cars on the Great Highway is ongoing.
Pride is in full swing this weekend. Bay To Breakers was great as always. Weather is decent. The "SF doom spiral" story is being discussed less. I.e. SF seems safer. It's a good time to live in SF.
> Housing demand is back up. Not just single family homes but also condos.
Hmmm, the median house price is $2.1M.
> It's a good time to live in SF.
It seems pretty K shaped.
Great time to live in SF and Bay Area iff you are an AI researcher, founder, VC, executive at one of the hyper-scalers, or a senior engineer with massive equity package in the few winning companies.
Not entirely sure if it's a great time to live in SF if you work at a bakery, are a Barista at Starbucks or even a mid tier SWE.
The Bay Area is slowly discovering an ongoing criminal conspiracy, wherein Larry Ellison leads a criminal organization that makes a structured and ongoing effort to inflict fraud, perjury, conspiracy, spoliation, and obstruction of justice upon San Mateo County Superior Court - see https://salanave-runyon.org/herbie.html#06oracle and https://ca-civ393104.org/ for details. Oracle's Legal Department is helpless because this is the unvarnished truth and because the company is no longer welcome in San Mateo County.
edit: autocorrect
New Waymo car models rolling out
The laser thing in front of city hall
Pride month, parades this weekend
Antisocial guy harassing Scott Weiner on social media at Dolores Park
Lurie administration, after initially making progress on crime and cleaning up the streets seems to be stalling out
Supervisor Jackie Fielder back from long mostly unexplained absence that was maybe due to her illegally leaking confidential information
Sergey Brin leading the fight against it, donating millions to try to kill it.
Is the alternative really that bad Sergey? You would be paying a similar amount, and the money would actually go to some use, as opposed to being blown on a political fight.
I am not a billionaire. But I don't want to risk losing my job or moving out of state so that the dialysis people can cash a paycheck.
Yet that big number encourages greedheads to try to tax something that doesn't really exist.
There also some good economic reasons that a “wealth tax” is a bad option compared to other types of taxes.
I pay taxes. These people spend copious amounts to avoid paying.
There is an economic threshold of money spent vs money not taxed. They spend within that threshold, but the money helps only them.
It sounds like you think billionaires should pay close to 0%?
Fair taxation isn't a punishment. Paying taxes is what responsible citizens do. It's an act of patriotism and pride.
Given how SF has a big global immigrant population, there's a lot of World Cup spirit in the air. Also because Santa Clara is a host stadium.
Housing demand is back up. Not just single family homes but also condos.
Bars are supposedly closing because the 20-somethings are drinking less. Yet at the same time apparently the youngins have discovered the charm of Vesuvio...? Anchor still has not reopened. Woods (IMO) is now the preferred beer spot for locals.
The recall of the Sunset supe was a big deal. Fight over cars on the Great Highway is ongoing.
Pride is in full swing this weekend. Bay To Breakers was great as always. Weather is decent. The "SF doom spiral" story is being discussed less. I.e. SF seems safer. It's a good time to live in SF.
Hmmm, the median house price is $2.1M.
> It's a good time to live in SF.
It seems pretty K shaped.
Great time to live in SF and Bay Area iff you are an AI researcher, founder, VC, executive at one of the hyper-scalers, or a senior engineer with massive equity package in the few winning companies.
Not entirely sure if it's a great time to live in SF if you work at a bakery, are a Barista at Starbucks or even a mid tier SWE.
Thoughts?