Political Housing Evolution In San Francisco

In a landmark, 5-4 vote the Board of Supervisors will allow 5,700 housing units to be built on the sprawling 152-acre Parkmerced site in the southwest corner of the City, setting the stage for the even larger (8,000 units) proposal on Treasure Island to be voted on June 7.

"Months of political tip-toeing before (the Parkmerced vote) should demonstrate a simple lesson: There is no exact formula for predicting whether development plans become reality in San Francisco."

However, the tide has clearly changed in favor of dense, transit-oriented development. The debate centers on how what and how many community benefits the Board can extract from the developers. With Parkmerced, a key issue was protecting rights of those whose homes will be demolished.

"The developers have promised to uphold the rent-control rights of current tenants and provide them with modern replacement units in advance of demolition."