Life is Luxury
Late afternoon on Sunday, I walked down Market St. in San Francisco along the BART route. It was an apocalyptic scene. It is not an exaggeration to say thousands of people were walking around haphazardly without a plan; destitute, run down and run out.
Many elderly and disabled were trying to get warm under piles of blankets. Entire families loitered around remnants of human feces. Forgotten and completely excluded, they have little left to lose.
Above all this misery, tower the new shiny buildings — towers with plush and shiny decor. Promising the “Experience of Luxury.” At nightfall, it’s evident that these buildings have few inhabitants. Only a few scattered lights can be seen through the glass.
San Francisco reminds me of a city which has been ravaged by some kind of war. These scenes are reminiscent of post WWII movies where throngs of people moved around to find shelter and food. It is a sight that leaves one thinking and questioning:
What brought us here? What is to be done? How can this human tragedy be rectified?
We were told that we needed to build, build, and build some more to take care of the supposed overpopulation crisis in the city. At this point even a passerby could see that these buildings were never meant for the average San Fransiscan. What happened to all the hype and urgent need to push out the inhabitants of the old buildings to build newer, fancier, market rate units?
As recent statistics tell us, the vacancy rates of the buildings in the city soar to over 15%*. According to the report released October 2022 by the city’s budget and legislative analyst, one out of every ten units in San Francisco is vacant. There are four times more empty homes than houseless people on the streets of the city.
The need to keep building better, newer, more luxury market rate apartments seems to be yet another facet of the extractive nature of the marketplace. The units built benefit the builders, the realtors and the asset managers of yet another multi-millionaire or billionaire’s portfolio. Hollowing out the culture, the community, the vibrancy…on the road to fulfilling the need to extract more wealth from what we, the community, build in our spaces through long years of human toil.
It goes without saying that the high prices of real estate and the illusion that there is a shortage had everyone in a frenzy to build for the highest bidder. Meanwhile, our trusted political leaders all sang the tune “supply equals demand.” This simple equation conveniently leaves out the most constant variable: greed. Following the Regional Housing Needs Allocation quotas that needed to be met. We are being told the same stories here in Berkeley.
Our downtown is now host to many cranes busily building yet another shiny new tower. Yet as I pass by The Parker with its retro-modern exterior I find few lights on. A large sign outside the Equinox gym on the ground floor shows a water skier with the large words “LIFE IS THE LUXURY” plastered over it.
Thankfully vacancy tax legislation overwhelmingly passed in both Berkeley and San Francisco in the recent election. This indicates that people are becoming aware of the fundamental need for protecting our cities from further hoarding of our housing and our spaces. We are still a long way from balancing the need for shelter with the financialization of the housing market. This is why it is more important than ever to question our elected leaders, their rhetoric and their decisions.
This article was first published in the Berkeley Times on December 15, 2022.
