San Francisco: Not Knowing or Caring that Business is Melting Away

Though it's tempting to comment on the issues of the day, your humble blogger refrains because they're all very thorny and not amenable to quick takes in a blog post. Whether we're talking about racism in all its manifestations by every racial group, or climate change, or artificial intelligence, or the coronavirus, or illegal immigration, or the rise of imperial China, they'll take decades to resolve.

One thing is certain, our government will waste $trillions; there's little agreement on defining these problems and how solutions will be measured. [For example, is global warming fixed when North America is buried in snow? Or is police violence against Black Americans solved when there are zero Black deaths in a year? (there are obvious answers to that one, such as completely disarming the police or not trying to arrest Black suspects.) ]

Ice cream entrepreneur gets the cold shoulder

Back on planet Earth, millions of ordinary people are just trying to make a living, like Jason Yu, who wanted to open an ice cream shop in San Francisco: [bold added]

Yu was featured in this [SF Chronicle] column in October after spending 16 months and $150,000 trying to open Matcha n’ More at 20th and Valencia streets and having little to show for it...

But sadly, there will be no grand opening for Yu and his ice cream shop — and no sweet ending to his bitter tale. After another six months and another $50,000, Yu has abandoned his plans.

It's difficult to imagine an American city that has more obstacles to starting a business:

Yu’s plans sounded sweet back in late 2018 when he decided to open a shop serving green-tea-flavored soft serve ice cream. He spent several months searching for the perfect space and landed on the 20th Street site in June 2019, signing a lease for $7,300 a month. He hired an architect to draw up plans to upgrade the electrical and plumbing systems, build a front counter and install kitchen equipment. He planned no structural changes or modifications to the building’s exterior...

Yu won approval, but then got stuck in the city’s never-ending web of securing permits. The Department of Building Inspection’s online permit tracker shows Yu faced 15 hurdles to secure his permits including getting the sign-off from a host of departments. The last to weigh in was the Department of Public Health, which said in December its review was complete, but that Yu owed more money in permit fees before the department could give the OK.

That’s when Yu started having second thoughts. Even after spending $200,000 on rent, an architect, a lawyer, equipment and fees, he’d still need to pay at least $120,000 in construction on his space. And he knew he’d have to hold his grand opening in the middle of a pandemic when capacity is still limited.

Was it even worth it? He finally decided it wasn’t.

San Francisco won't change because the Progressives who dominate the City haven't worried about political competition for half a century, and the bureaucrats who are beholden to them know that they'll never be fired (unless they speak out against Progressive rule).