How San Francisco creates its own housing crisis

By Scott Wiener : sfgate – excerpt

A fight played out last month at San Francisco’s Board of Permit Appeals that was a perfect microcosm of why the city has a housing shortage: It demonstrated an aversion to new housing, coupled with an expensive planning process, topped off with arbitrary decisions…

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Many citizens in San Francisco disagree with the position that the author takes here. The entire point of the argument is that the project is seeking exceptions to the zoning and the Eastern Neighborhoods plan that were meant to protect the cultural and historical areas of the city. The developers are afraid of losing this fight. That along with passage of the waterfront height limits initiative would put a damper on the free-for-all building spree San Francisco is experiencing. Much of the argument centers on the disagreement in which should come first, the infrastructure to support an increase in population, or housing that will depend on it. The proponents of build now, insist that the money for the infrastructure will come with more people and more jobs. The opponents feel that the new sewer lines and water systems and transit should be built before inviting more people to move here Some of us would also like to the protect the views and cultural heritage we came here for in the first place. It looks as if the voters will decide. http://www.nowallonthewaterfront.com/