Around 2007, a gentleman named Steve Jobs invented the iPhone and unleashed another tech boom, driven primarily by the increased adoption and use of the smartphone and apps within them.
The spoils from this boom primarily benefited companies and people based in and around the Bay Area. People there didn't realize that the rest of the country (and much of the developed world) were still struggling and haven't fully recovered from the 2008-10 recession. The increased prosperity and resulting tax base growth papered over the fundamental mismanagement and poor governance in that area. Some of the highest incomes and highest taxes in the country and yet some of the most dilapidated infrastructure, highest poverty rates and poorest quality of life in the country. "European taxes and third world quality of life" is how I describe the area to people.
Yet, people moved here for the jobs and then new jobs followed the people.
14 years (i.e. half a generation) since then and at the beginning of what is another major recession and economic reset, it's perhaps difficult for most people to imaging that the appeal of the area has diminished and that things aren't magically going back to 2019. People have moved out, companies are hiring elsewhere, the tax base is down >50% and budgets are deep in the red. The local governments can try and raise taxes to squeeze a few million more here and there, but fundamentally, they will have to cut waste and cut spending in the next few years to survive.
I'm not saying SF is going to become the next Detroit, but I remember NYC in the 70s or Seattle post-Boeing (also, early 70s) as an example of what happens to cities when a major industry leaves town. It's a death spiral of lower tax collection -> poorer services -> more people leaving.
>The increased prosperity and resulting tax base growth papered over the fundamental mismanagement and poor governance in that area
This applies to sooooo many cities. I think money beyond the level required to provide basic services just gets wasted and the citizens see nearly nothing from it. It's so common it seems like some fundamental law of the universe.
The spoils from this boom primarily benefited companies and people based in and around the Bay Area. People there didn't realize that the rest of the country (and much of the developed world) were still struggling and haven't fully recovered from the 2008-10 recession. The increased prosperity and resulting tax base growth papered over the fundamental mismanagement and poor governance in that area. Some of the highest incomes and highest taxes in the country and yet some of the most dilapidated infrastructure, highest poverty rates and poorest quality of life in the country. "European taxes and third world quality of life" is how I describe the area to people.
Yet, people moved here for the jobs and then new jobs followed the people.
14 years (i.e. half a generation) since then and at the beginning of what is another major recession and economic reset, it's perhaps difficult for most people to imaging that the appeal of the area has diminished and that things aren't magically going back to 2019. People have moved out, companies are hiring elsewhere, the tax base is down >50% and budgets are deep in the red. The local governments can try and raise taxes to squeeze a few million more here and there, but fundamentally, they will have to cut waste and cut spending in the next few years to survive.
I'm not saying SF is going to become the next Detroit, but I remember NYC in the 70s or Seattle post-Boeing (also, early 70s) as an example of what happens to cities when a major industry leaves town. It's a death spiral of lower tax collection -> poorer services -> more people leaving.