The Bay Area's Booms And Busts

Though long-term market fundamentals in the Bay Area are strong despite the current downturn, the region faces a number of challenges that could constrain growth.

1 minute read

September 30, 2003, 5:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"After growing at a breakneck pace during the late 1990s and 2000, the San Francisco Bay Area economy has been mired in a deep recession for more than two years. Job losses in the hundreds of thousands wiped out all the gains of recent years and returned the region’s employment base to its 1997 level. The pace of job losses is slowing, but employment in both the San Francisco and San Jose metropolitan areas will continue to slide through the end of 2003, according to Rosen Consulting Group, a Berkeley, California– based real estate and economics research and consulting firm. Oakland is faring better, posting slight job growth this year after losing jobs during 2001 and most of 2002."

Thanks to Urban Land Institute Email Newsletter

Sunday, September 28, 2003 in Urban Land Magazine

Young Professional

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

Get top-rated, practical training for planners

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

September 16, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

Passengers board an Amtrak train under a cloudy sky.

Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement

The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.

September 18, 2026 - Mass Transit

The Gross Reservoir, a large body of water surrounded by trees and mountains.

Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion

Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.

September 18, 2026 - Inside Climate News

A crowd of people boarding Boston's green line in an underground subway station.

Boston has spent millions making the Green Line more accessible — and there’s no end in sight

While the city has invested millions into expanding and adding platforms to the Green Line to make it more accessible, new train cars set to arrive next year will be too tall for disabled passengers to board without raising the current platforms.

1 hour ago - Boston Globe

Railroad tracks in Idaho passing a home by a river.

Idaho may see an 18% drop in federal surface transit funding — the largest estimated cut in the US

Transit systems in rural communities are much more reliant on federal funding to provide their services.

2 hours ago - Grist

A Florida family with their belongings in a wagon walks past a destroyed storm after a hurricane.

How ‘post-disaster gentrification’ alters neighborhoods after natural calamities

After hurricanes, fires or other calamities, the original residents of a community are often replaced by younger, wealthier residents.

3 hours ago - Inside Climate News