Slow to Build, Quick to Destroy

2003: Nordstrom's levels during the holiday season

20 years ago another building boom, fueled by tech, was about to start in San Francisco. (For historical perspective Google, 40 miles to the south, would have its IPO the following year and Apple's first iPhone would be released four years later.)

The San Francisco Centre, founded in 1988, reached its apex of development with the opening of high-end restaurants and stores, including Bloomingdale's. It looked like Market Street was on the verge of a long-awaited turnaround.

But the rot started later that decade with the refusal of the City to seriously address homelessness, drug use, and property crime. (Your humble blogger doesn't consider spending many millions of dollars while making no headway as being serious.)

This week Nordstrom's threw in the towel and is closing its flagship San Francisco store:

Nordstrom said downtown “changed dramatically over the past several years, impacting customer foot traffic to our stores and our ability to operate successfully,” without specifically citing public safety concerns in a staff memo.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, which owns the Westfield mall where Nordstrom is closing, was more blunt, with a spokesperson blaming the city for “unsafe conditions” and a “lack of enforcement against rampant criminal activity.”

I had been a cockeyed optimist but am coming to believe San Francisco's doom loop is irreversible.