We Asked San Franciscans
This article is part of The Bold Italic’s We Asked San Franciscans series, where we pose interesting questions to interesting readers. If you have a suggestion for a burning question we should ask, email it to us at info@thebolditalic.com.
We’ve lost so much in the past 12 months. It’s been a nonstop reel of heavy mourning juxtaposed with bouts of simple gratitude for feeling your chest rise and fall. This past year has been a span of time defined by firm growth and heavy realizations for our city of San Francisco and its residents.
We’ve seen racist chaos, marginalized communities hit harder by the virus, and homelessness continue to run rampant. But hope has remained steady, with neighbors showing up to help others and housing becoming somewhat more affordable.
So while we’re nostalgic for the now incomprehensible moments we experienced before the pandemic, we hope some things about San Francisco will stay in the past and that we learn from this moment in order to make room for a better, brighter, more benevolent future.
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We asked San Franciscans what they hope for their city when Covid-19 enters the scholastic history books.
“I’m hopeful that post-pandemic San Francisco continues to embrace converting a few streets in popular districts of the city into pedestrian thoroughfares.These large communal spaces that have developed in areas like the Mission and Hayes Valley, where restaurants and people are spilling out onto the streets, have given a special liveliness to the city that I’ve seen as a silver lining of the pandemic.”
— Brendan DeBusk
“My hope after the pandemic is to see more unity within our community. I’m looking forward to getting back to doing the things I love with people. Like my naked dinner parties, hosting events at the club scene, and just sitting around my table laughing and eating.”
— Juanita MORE!
“I’m excited about restaurants, which have always struggled to make do in small buildings, to have additional tables in parklets. I’m excited for people to be outside more and stay out later and be loud. I’m excited about live drag. I’m excited about the roaring 2020s.”
— Joe Wadlington
“I’m optimistic! People can now move to better apartments in the city because rents are cheaper. There’s tons of empty commercial space that needs creative thinking to fill it. I foresee a resurgence of the arts. The people who are here really want to be here, and they are gonna imbue this city with the love they feel for it. Hopefully, this will once again be the refuge for people who don’t fit in anywhere else.”
— Broke-Ass Stuart
“That the vacuum the tech flight leaves attracts more culture back into the city. I know several businesses have failed, but I’m optimistic about all the new businesses that will inevitably be established.”
— Anonymous
“I really want us all to come out of this and keep our love for San Francisco’s parks strong and alive. These places have been important to so many of us, myself included, and I think they get overlooked a lot. Let’s keep on supporting and appreciating our parks more for the gems that they are.”
— Malory Ford
“I imagine a city that breaks free of its calcified fights. Builds a new dazzling green infrastructure, including lots of housing, top-notch transportation, beautiful parks, and good schools. I hope we can stop arguing about parking minimums and instead invite creatives and families and whoever wants to be here. Our emblem is the phoenix, and I’m really looking forward to the rejuvenated version that comes next.”
— Anonymous
“More arts and culture, fewer techies.”
— Anonymous
“These car-free streets! I can’t express how much my family, friends, and myself have enjoyed riding our bikes and walking along Ocean Beach. It’s so nice to see these Slow Street corridors, they’ve really transformed the whole road and makes living by Ocean Beach that much cooler. It’s now my favorite place to run and go on a lunchtime walk when I need to clear my head.”
— Jason Mulvany
“I just want people to stop attacking our seniors and Asian Americans in general. I want this city to be a better and safer place.”
— Viola Chen
“Fewer greedy techies who are only here to strike it rich and don’t care about the city or its culture.”
— Anonymous
“My hope for San Francisco is that empathy for others will become the societal norm. We’re seeing an uptick in Asian hate crimes, black hate crimes, elder abuse crimes, LGBTQA+ hate crimes. And if the city wants to lead itself back into normality, it needs to step up community effort to really shape a future in which SF has hope.”
— Anthony Rogers
