California Conservative

AP reports: “Anne Bakstad and Ed Cohen are starting to feel as if their family of four is an endangered species in San Francisco.

Since the couple bought a house five years ago, more than a dozen families in their social circle have left the city for cheaper housing, better schools or both.”

Could there be other reasons?

“It is no mystery why U.S. cities are losing children. The promise of safer streets, better schools and more space has drawn young families away from cities for as long as America has had suburbs.

San Francisco’s large gay population “estimated at 20 percent by the city Public Health Department” is thought to be one factor, though gays and lesbians in the city are increasingly raising families.

Another reason San Francisco’s children are disappearing: Family housing in the city is especially scarce and expensive. A two-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot starter home is considered a bargain at $760,000“.

Indeed, S.F. is the world’s homosexual mecca and housing is very pricey. But the greater truth is, well, not “politically-correct”: By and large, it’s a classic case of “white flight.”

Most of San Francisco’s straight, young, upwardly-mobile look to Marin County, just across the Golden Gate Bridge, as a place to raise a family. They may enjoy the City’s bohemian “scene” while they’re single, but as soon as they get married, they move. Chasing a white picket fence and a stronger sense of community. The examples are countless.

It’s certainly not because the housing is cheaper, because Marin is very expensive. But with affluent residents and very limited public transportation, it creates an environment of exclusivity - in the neighborhoods, the shopping centers, and the schools. And they keep it that way. Despite Barbara Boxer’s ties to Marin, it’s NIMBYism at its purest. (Guess it’s easy to be liberal from within a gated community)

What about “diversity?” The answer therein lies. Just see Mill Valley, Sausalito, Tiburon, San Anselmo, San Rafael, Novato, Ross or Corte Madera. Go by the numbers.

Not that this is a criticism. In fact, quite to the contrary. We are “tolerant” of people’s right to choose where to live. We merely recognize and present the facts, and encourage others to consider them. Why?

Perhaps a cause-and-effect conclusion can be drawn from this report and San Francisco’s status as the most liberal city in the nation. However, for most of our readers, we’d only be preaching to the choir.

RELATED:
S.F.: A City of Liberals Without Children

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 24th, 2005 at 10:12 pm and is filed under California, Culture, Liberals, San Francisco. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.