San Franciscans Head for the Exit

San Francisco has succeeded, far better than many, in halting the spread of the coronavirus.

Zero Hedge reports the good news:

San Francisco first announced its residents should stay at home in March, leading to just 12,200 virus cases and 145 deaths among 900,000 residents since then. It is one of the lowest death rates in the country. Long Beach, which is about half the size, has had about 900 more cases and 100 more deaths.

The problem is the cost. In order to shut down the virus the city’s leaders shut down the city. And this is exacting its own cost; the city is dying. And residents are not at all certain that it will ever come back:

San Francisco has managed to curb the virus slightly in its city - but at what cost? Those paying sky high taxes to live in the Bay Area may soon be wondering why they are paying to live in a shut down city that state and local government officials have refused to allow to reopen due to a virus with a CDC-predicted infection fatality rate of between 0.00002 and 0.093. 

Why would anyone pay high taxes to live in a wasteland. The bloom is off the rose and the downtown area is now desolate:

The entire downtown area of the city, once vibrant with business and tourism, is now "empty" according to a new report by AP. Everything from food trucks to local workers used to be sights one would see on a daily basis in San Francisco. Now, the city has been all but abandoned.

Even the tech giants that San Francisco is known for have left the city, in favor of working remotely from elsewhere. Families have moved out of the city in favor of the suburbs. Rents in the city are crashing, as we highlighted about a month ago. Tourists, once part of the lifeblood of the city, are now "scarce". 

And, in the words of a former resident:

30 year old Deme Peterson, another former San Francisco resident, said: “The spark of living in the city just kind of burned out a bit with everything being closed. We kind of didn’t see when it would come back to normal.”

Many restaurants in the city have already closed permanently. Many others are on the brink. 

If only it were as simple as shutting the place down.