How San Francisco Is Trying To Revitalize Its Central Business District

Tech professionals may be feeling a sense of deja vu — perhaps another dot-com bubble burst as tech stocks continue to fall. 

The industry’s biggest competitors, including Apple and Google, have announced that they are slowing their hiring. Others like Meta and Tesla have turned to more worrisome measures like layoffs, leaving tech professionals uneasy about what’s to come.   

This spells major trouble for San Francisco, the city that many of these companies call home.

In order to offset economic hits, the region is pushing forward initiatives to help boost its downtown businesses and lure consumers and workers back into the area.  

Mayor London Breed began this initiative by taking a trip to Europe in March to promote the city, which has seen its tourism approach pre-pandemic levels. However, its business market and real estate are still struggling.   

San Francisco city workers will be required to return to in-person work at least three days a week starting in early September while Mayor Breed encourages businesses to eliminate obstacles that come in the way of an office return. 

San Francisco saw the highest share of residents leaving the city during the pandemic as its high cost of living and crime rate made the region less enticing to usual business travelers and residents. 

The city’s central district accounts for a large portion of its economic stability and job market, but has consistently ranked towards the bottom for cities who have seen few of their office workers return to the workplace.  

“The only thing certain about the future of San Francisco’s economy is that the next several years are sure to be challenging ones,” economists at Wells Fargo said.  

“Lower-cost tech hubs, which are gaining in size and stature across the country, are quickly whittling away at the region’s tech workforce, San Francisco’s primary competitive edge.”