By Joel P. Engardio -- Monsters are becoming as ubiquitous as Democrats in San Francisco. Like the million shades of blue that define our Democratic spectrum, multiple monster images now illustrate our housing crisis.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- Grandma’s old sayings were riddles I solved while trying to finish a double-scoop ice cream sundae (“Your eyes are bigger than your stomach”) or discovering the taxes in my first paycheck as a steakhouse bus boy (“Don’t count your chickens until they’re hatched”). But there was one idiom I never fully understood until moving to San Francisco: “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.”
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By Joel P. Engardio -- To understand how a sleepy suburb spawned start-ups like YouTube and food truck restaurants like Curry Up Now, it helps to know where San Mateo’s economic development manager learned about cities. Marcus Clarke lived in San Francisco -- branded by SF Weekly as “The Worst-Run Big City in the U.S.” He knows what not to do when it comes to planning San Mateo’s future.
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Joel Engardio speech on why moderates are the true progressives in San Francisco. Engardio was the guest speaker at the Golden Gate Breakfast Club in August 2014.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- If we fear wealthy newcomers who drive up rents and alter neighborhood character, can we keep them out of San Francisco by making it difficult to build more housing? The problem with that strategy is that rich people, like water, always find their way. Without new housing supply, we risk losing residents like Brian Lee, 33, who grew up here and is married with a baby on the way. He's moving to San Mateo.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- There must be others like me in San Francisco who embrace liberal values but also crave a city that runs on common sense. Forward-thinkers who believe in progress and aren’t afraid of change. True progressives.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- For a town full of original hippies and 1970s liberals, it’s amazing how many San Franciscans in their golden years have adopted William F. Buckley Jr.’s conservative mantra to “stand athwart history, yelling stop!”
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By Joel P. Engardio -- Supervisor Katy Tang's approach to San Francisco's housing crisis is very different from her colleagues who are focused on stricter tenant protections without addressing the underlying supply problem. "I don't need to introduce quick-fix legislation five times a week," she said. "I'm trying to offer a different solution that addresses root causes."
Read MoreBy Joel P. Engardio -- We have a reactionary housing policy that plays whack-a-mole every time rent control creates another market distortion. Our gut always says, “Tighten rent control!” Perhaps it’s time to try a counterintuitive solution, like steering into the skid to avert a crash.
Read MoreBy Joel P. Engardio -- Students of history know that “Nixon in China” is a metaphor for difficult change that requires a push from an unexpected advocate. Maybe “Seniors on the Westside” will become a similar catch phrase for solving one of San Francisco’s most vexing problems -- not enough housing for everyone who wants to live here.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- You know it's a slow election year when a vote on a condo development along The Embarcadero becomes a referendum on all that is good and evil in San Francisco.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- By evolutionary standards, San Francisco should be headed for extinction. We have fewer children than any major American city. More dogs than kids live here. It's not that we aren't making babies. The first generation of Google and Facebook engineers are 30-somethings and starting families. Lots of gay couples are having children. The problem is many parents flee San Francisco when their kids reach ages four or five.
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By Joel P. Engardio -- There was a time when suntans were "healthy" and cigarette ads featured doctors. We found true health by questioning what we thought was good for us. The elixir that charms San Francisco today is rent control. It's the only tonic we trust in a housing crisis where a million dollars can't buy a modest home and renting costs thousands a month. Yet home prices continue to soar. Is our cure making things worse?
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By Joel P. Engardio -- Today's price to live in San Francisco is $1 million for a modest home or thousands a month for a market-rate apartment. That's the reality of supply and demand when 800,000 people want to live on a tiny peninsula where Tartine scones and a Bi-Rite Creamery can be found on the same Mission District block. It's especially tough on middle class families fleeing San Francisco. We have fewer children than any major American city and the ones we have are often relegated to sleeping in converted closets. We can do better.
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