"A friend recently asked me: What do you think of the Marina Safeway? Depends on the question, I answered. So are you in favor or opposed? he insisted. That's the wrong question. When we have a crisis of housing affordability, of evictions, of homelessness, the media and politicians throw shiny objects at us as the answers, more fodder for the Yimbys and their detractors to engage in endless diatribe on social media and in the comments sections of the papers."
"Shiny objects are thrown at us to distract from the real issues. In the weeks that this story was getting all the ink in the local papers, there were other, less noticed, stories about how the city was failing RV dwellers and pushing them to the brink of homelessness, and stories about actual workforce housing - stories that should have been central to the public discussion on housing and development."
The Marina Safeway debate redirected attention away from core housing crises including affordability, evictions, and homelessness. Media and politicians promoted high-profile projects as distractions while less-noticed issues like displacement of RV dwellers and the need for workforce housing received insufficient focus. Political positions shifted when developments confronted local class interests, revealing overlap between YIMBY and NIMBY stances. Relevant evaluation questions include who could afford proposed units, whether projects include affordable housing, who would occupy the units, whether developments truly add housing, their effect on overall affordability, and the likelihood that projects will be built. Market comps show one-bedroom new units in San Francisco commonly cost around $1–1.5 million.
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