July 24th, 2025. Japantown is jumping! Check it out!

A companion piece to yesterday's post.

SF is on the brink of a comeback. Other West Coast cities are watching.

By Alex Bastian, Freelance Writer Aug 12, 2025 - SFGATE

Something has been in the air in San Francisco for more than a year now — and for once, it’s not fog or hype about what’s next in tech. Instead, it’s clarity. After years of national headlines portraying the city as a symbol of dysfunction, San Francisco is quietly undergoing a course correction rooted not in ideology but in common sense. We’ve witnessed investments in law enforcement, a successful tax cut measure to support both small and large businesses, and, most recently, an end to the practice of distributing drug paraphernalia on our streets.

Today’s San Francisco isn’t abandoning progressive values but redefining what it means to be a Democratic city. It means prioritizing safety and working together to put the city first. It means ensuring that businesses can thrive and our tax base can grow. It means making space for working people, not just political slogans. And it means being unafraid to admit that the city had gone too far in the wrong direction. Instead, we’re leading the way forward again and showing the rest of the West Coast what recalibration looks like.

SF is on the brink of a comeback. Other West Coast cities are watching.

Greg