Under Lurie, affordability is in free fall - 48 hills

"Since Lurie has taken office, median rents have gone up 12 percent. That's largely the result of the AI boom, which Lurie has encouraged (the same way former Mayor Ed Lee encouraged the last tech boom, which also drove up housing prices). Evictions are also up, at their highest rate since 2018, MissionLocal reports, and have almost doubled in just the past year."

"Most of those evictions are for failure to pay rent, which makes sense: AI engineers are getting millions of dollars, but other jobs (hospitality, health care, and government are the city's largest employment sectors) are lagging way behind the cost increases in rent. Very little of the new housing the mayor hopes to see under his upzoning plan will be affordable to those workers."

Median rents in San Francisco have increased 12 percent since the mayor took office, pushed by a new AI-driven tech boom. Evictions have nearly doubled and are at their highest rate since 2018, mostly for failure to pay rent as high-paid tech workers out-earn hospitality, health care, and government employees. Proposed upzoning will produce few units affordable to those workers, and the city's economist estimates high-growth housing would reduce prices by at most 4 percent. Muni fares and parking rates are rising, bus service is being cut, poverty is increasing, and the mayor plans $400 million in service cuts for vulnerable residents.

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