Leaving San Francisco

Now that our great nation is about to embrace San Francisco values, we are all curious to know how things are going in San Francisco. That would be, Nancy Pelosi’s home. 

Were it not for the fact that people who think like San Franciscans are about to take over our government, we would greet these facts with Schadenfreude. Under the circumstances we would do better to pray.

The Washington Examiner has the story. It’s about the cost of the lockdown policy that is being implemented in that city. By now we ought to know that lockdowns are the worst way to deal with the virus. See the prior post on this blog.

See also, this Zero Hedge column about lockdowns and the report that the WHO has concluded that lockdowns are not the answer. (via Maggie's Farm)

The California city has experienced a drop in public transportation ridership, weak online sales tax collection, a 20% drop in rent pricing, and an office vacancy spike over the past six months, which suggests a significant drop in population, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

“San Francisco’s bleak economic vital signs over the past six months strongly suggest residents are leaving amid record job losses, the entrenchment of remote work, and a coronavirus pandemic that shows no signs of ending,” the paper reports.

Nine Bay Area counties saw large drops in brick-and-mortar sales taxes as stay-at-home orders took effect, including a 53% drop in San Francisco. Most Bay Area counties saw a large increase in online sales tax revenue during that same time period, except for San Francisco, which only saw a 1% increase compared to jumps as high as 36% in other areas.

That 1% increase was the worst mark among all of California’s 20 largest counties.

“That’s a sign to me that people aren’t here,” Ted Egan, San Francisco’s chief economist, stated.

Happily, we have economists who tell us the truth-- namely that people have abandoned the city. Again, the lockdown is causing the most trouble:

Chris Thornberg, a founding partner of research firm Beacon Economics, says he believes the coronavirus lockdown measures are the driver of the economic declines.

“As soon as the virus is under control, the economy is going to bounce back like nobody’s business,” Thornberg said, adding that he believes excessive restrictions on reopening businesses were unnecessary. “I don’t think there’s any way to stamp this disease out by shutting down the economy.”

Whether or not the city is going to bounce back is anyone’s guess. But, how many inhabitants of San Francisco do you think will be rushing backing into that urban dystopia?

The story concludes with the fact that the lockdown has also produced a spike in drug overdoses. One suspects that, if the city is like New York, crime will also be spiking:

The city is also experiencing a significant spike in drug overdoses, which has been a trend nationwide over the past several months due in part to despair in response to coronavirus lockdown measures.

San Francisco is on track to lose 700 people to drug overdoses this year, roughly two each day, compared to 441 people in 2019 and 259 people in 2018.