The State of San Francisco: citys post-pandemic recovery [Video]

San Francisco is continuing to recover from yet another natural disaster. While COVID-19 didn’t level the city like the great San Francisco earthquake, it sure did hollow it out.

At the San Francisco Center Mall, which is now called the Emporium, about half of the shops have closed during and after the pandemic. A cable car ride up Powell Street takes us to Union Square, where Macy’s has announced it will close within a year. Some nearby storefronts are already vacant. One of them has boarded up black plywood. One has some stickers in the windows.

“It started with the pandemic, and then the city just allowed the situation on the street to deteriorate,” said one man who works for a Union Square landlord.  He’s seen most of the negative things you’ve probably heard about San Francisco — skyrocketing homelessness, shoplifting and drug use.

“Start enforcing laws, quality of life …