San Francisco plans to increase density and height limits in west-side neighborhoods including the Richmond District. A small group of roughly 20 residents at a local meeting indicated some support for the upzoning plan. A homeowner said she changed her mind after understanding that upzoning could bring more families and younger residents. The Richmond is dominated by single-family homes and duplexes and has produced only about 400 housing units in the past decade, compared with over 4,000 in the Mission. The city must build 82,000 housing units by 2031. Meeting attendees asked about tenant protections, small-business safeguards, projected population growth, and infrastructure readiness.
Yvonne Perez, a homeowner in the Richmond since 2017, said at the meeting that she understands her neighbors who are concerned about views being obstructed, or fear change. She used to be one of them. "I wasn't sure what to make of the upzoning plan. I didn't want the Richmond to become downtown with all the high-rises," she said. "But once I understood what it actually meant, more families, more younger generations, it changed my perspective."
The Richmond is known for single-family homes and duplexes, and has seen limited development in the past decade: Only some 400 units were completed in the Richmond, while the Mission contributed more than 4,000 units. The city is mandated to build 82,000 housing units by 2031. In the past, at hourslong City Hall hearings, the majority of the hundreds of public speakers have opposed the upzoning plan.
The meeting, sponsored by the local YIMBY chapter Grow the Richmond, invited planning department staffers to present the city's zoning plan and answer questions. The attendees asked: What's the protection for tenants and small businesses? How much more population growth is expected? Is the infrastructure ready? Chuong Vu, a tenant in the Richmond, moved there from the Panhandle just three weeks ago with his wife and 8-month-old baby.
Collection
[
|
...
]