Where Have All the Anti-Tech Protestors Gone?

"San Francisco’s antitech movement, it appears, has fizzled before it ever really took off," according to an article by Kristen V. Brown.

Brown cites a source from inside the protest movement to deliver a postmortem:

"'As it turned out, after the media had digested our actions, there was no groundswell of support from young people or everyday residents of San Francisco,' said a representative of the Counterforce, an anonymous collective and one of the Bay Area's most theatrical tech protest groups. 'By the middle of 2014, it was clear that only the same small groups would keep acting against the tech industry, and gradually the momentum was halted.'"

The anti-tech movement focused some of its ire toward planning related policy issues, such as Ellis Act evictions and the use of private, chartered buses at public transit stops. Brown notes that major policy initiatives supported by protest groups have, in large part, failed. For instance, "Proposition G, a ballot measure intended to curb real estate speculation that drives up housing costs, and an Assembly bid by Supervisor David Campos, probably the movement’s greatest political ally, both failed at the polls in November." There is also the poll announced earlier this month by the Office of Mayor Ed Lee finding widespread support for the tech industry among San Francisco residents.