Chronicle Cheerleads Mass Luxury High-Rise BoomPaul Hogarthbyline‚ May. 05‚ 2008If you’re upset about Rincon Tower, the worse may be yet to come. Last week, the San Francisco Chronicle lauded plans for South-of-Market – a future “Midtown Manhattan” that will include a 1,000-foot tower (along with six other high-rises) at the new Transbay Terminal. Despite the City’s proud history of battling high-rise development, now we’re supposed to support raising downtown height limits because it will mean “more housing.” But who in San Francisco needs this housing? Most of it will be luxury condos for millionaires and not for San Franciscans. Rincon sounded like a good idea when plans were approved three years ago – but despite some concessions, it’s clear that the city got the short end of the stick. Everyone wants a new transit center, but why sell our soul to these condo developers when the public sector should pick up the tab? Will housing activists fight this boom as the City’s real gentrification threat - after all, “who gets to live here gets to vote here” - or will they keep trying to stop smaller projects in the neighborhoods? |