>> good morning everybody! [applause] good morning. [applause] and welcome. [applause] there's my grandma. well come. welcome to san francisco james r herman cruz terminal at pier 27. the first stop for all most 300

thousand people who come here every year from around the world to our beautiful city. i want to tell you about another jewel of the san francisco port that just celebrated 125 years. the san francisco ferry building. [applause] in the 19th century, commuters and visitors traveled by train or ferry or both. a ferry terminal on the waterfront downtown was a practical necessity. it was the sfo of its day. grand central station. but as we so often do, san francisco built a practical space a world class beauty, with a 245 foot clock tower along arched arcade, and a interior worthy of a renaissance cathedral. at the foot of market street, a

beautiful bridge from water to land, the ferry building announced to every commuter, every traveller, this is san francisco. you have arrived. until that is, [applause] until that is, in the late 1930's when two new bridges the bay and golden gate and rise of the automobile made the ferry building seem outdated and unwanted. soon the grand interior converted to drab cuneals cubicles and in a act of urban planning catastrophes only the 1950 could respond, a double-decker slicing it from the city it served. for decades, this great landmark was isolated. nearly forgotten, a crumbling shell of its former glory. no one went there. no one bet on its future.

its time had passed, but then the freeway came down and the city created a new walkable grand embarcadero with the giants on one end and the restored ferry building at the center with patience, smart planning, investment and time. san francisco turned a discarded transit hub back into a global icon. a famous city most famous landmark as herb cane called it. today the ferry building hosts shops restaurant, artists and torests and locals and just a few month ago during apec hosted leaders from around the world. this one building at the heart of downtown says a lot about our downtown and about our city. first, beautiful places, world class desirable places are never forgotten for long.

second, our local government with the right vision and right investment and right support can spark monumental turn-arounds. third, and most important, never ever bet against san francisco. [applause] we never stay down for long. we have faced incredible challenges in the fast 5 years, two unparalleled health crisis. one in the form of covid, the other in the form of fentanyl and national reckoning on policing and sublic safety and some people inside and out of san francisco feel these challenges have overwhelmed us. i don't begrudge people frustrations. i don't dispute these have been a tough 5 years, but rather then destroying our city, the storms revealed our strengths,

our spirit and service to each other. i believe past is a precursor to our rise. this is a year of the dragon and we will soar again. [applause] we all know the story. shortly after i took office, we began to hear thisquiting reports of the new and deadly virus. soon enough, covid-19 would up end the world. san francisco declared a emergency february 2020 and then with our partners around the bay, issued the first shut-down or order in the country. my administration then marshaled department of emergency management, public health and staff throughout city government to mobilize and turn our convention center into a global command-covid command center. we cut through the bureaucratic red tape to set up testing

sites, community hubs and vaccination sites around the city. city workers fanned out to tend to our most vulnerable residents and as nursing homes across the country saw ballooning death rates, we protected our seniors at laguna honda and elsewhere. [applause] we were one of the first cities in the country to reach an 80 percent vaccination rate and as deaths climeed across the u.s. and the world, san francisco saw the lowest death rate of any large city in the country. [applause] people want to say our civic government is dysfunctional. we can't collaborate, we can't get hard things done. tell that to the thousands of san franciscans alive today because of what we did. [applause] our city faced a storm unlike

anything we have seen in a hundred years. is anybody here a hundred years old? you didn't see it either. [laughter] through hard work, collaboration, ingenuity and simple decency of people we orchestrated the most successful response in the country and as covid wane and vaccinations froze we entered the second phase of my tenure, recovery. the pandemic lead to a massive shift how our economy functions all most overnight. work from home, exposed to weakness in economies and big cities, especially tech forward san francisco, we were too dependent on fields that can work from home. our downtown had never been designed as a neighborhood with many homes and round the clock residents. downtown was office and office was hit hard.

simultaneously the pandemic constrained our efforts to house the homeless. then the murder of george floyd and ensuing national reckoning devastated police recruitment and staffing here in san francisco and around the country. even as they brought to light the systemic racism that many of us have known for far too long, the department of justice has called the police staffing shortage a national crisis. these are national challenges, exacerbated by local conditions. what did we do? we didn't throw up our hands we got to work, on public safety. we divertsed non emergency, 911 calls to free up officers while providing better overall responses for those struggling on our streets. i appointed a former hate crime prosecutor as our new district attorney and brooke jenkins began prosecuting crime.

[applause] we used bate cars and plain clothe officers to disrupt auto break ins . we coordinated every public safety agency you can name. local, state and federal. shareal miyamoto conducted deputies to conduct warrant sweeps. i appealed to governor newsom and he sent the california highway parole. delivered the u.s. attorney and drug enforcement agency to interrupt the sale and trafficking of fentanyl. [applause] and all of these efforts have paid off. we doubled the number of drug arrests in 2023.

retail theft and car breakens plummeted. the arrest was 25 points higher then the national average. our crime rate is the lowest it's been in 10 years. [applause] not including 2020 when we had to shut the city down. yes, these figures are accurate. they coincide with the arrival of the chp national guard, u.s. attorney office, da jenkins increased in prosecutions. i do recognize that some people don't feel the lower crime rate yet, and if you are someone you know is a victim of a crime, all the stats mean nothing. i understand that and i hear your concerns and that's exactly why we are not letting up.

we will roll out 400 automated license plate readers at a hundred intersections across the city this month. [applause] thanks to the voters approving proposition e on tuesday. [applause] we will be installing new public safety cameras in high crime areas, deploying drones and changing police department rules so our sworn officers are out in the field and not behind a desk. [applause] and yes, we are adding more police officers thanks to our effort san francisco is now the best paid major city in the region for starting police officers. retention is improving. officers are transferring here. we have the most police academy applicant in more then 5 years and the next academy class will

be the largest since before the pandemic with 50 cadets. [applause] with all that, we will add 200 more officers in the next year and get to full police staffing in three years. [applause] at the same time, we are not sacrificing our reform work. the san francisco police department is on track to reach the 272 department of justice reforms by april of this year. [applause] thank you to those who lead these efforts including our police chief, bill scott. [applause] of course, we can't talk about public safety without talking about the other health crisis.

this is a national tragedy, fentanyl is impacting our city both large and small, urban and rule. it is awful and heart-breaking and while i'm stepping up enforcementf oour laws because that is what our residents deserve and what pour city means, i remain absolutely committed to saving lives. our approach-- [applause] our approach is about accountability, resources and new pathways. this means arresting and prosecuting dealers, and when necessary arresting users who are a danger to themselves. it means expanding existing treatment options and creating new ones like abstinence based treatment solution. [applause]

yes, offering service is critical, but frankly we must compel some people into treatment. we will have a additional tool thanks to the voters who helped pass proposition f tuesday. [applause] and i directed the human service agency to create a action plan for prop f implementation. if we can provide cash assistance to more then 5 thousand people can screen recipients for substance use disorder and get them into treatment. [applause] and we have the services they need. including 15 free clinics across san francisco that can administer bupomor 15 day one. we are delivering the goal adding 400 new treatment beds and if governor newsom prop 1 passes we have a real opportunity to add hundreds more. we are not waiting, we are doing the work with supervisor mandelman so when the state

opens the pipeline for new beds, san francisco is ready and first in line. [applause] that brings me to homelessness, which also remains a key focus of our recovery. now, since ifen polk been mayor, we helped over 15 thousand individuals exit homelessness. we are the only county in the bay area to see unsheltered homelessness go down in the last point in time count. we did it by increasing shelter capacity by 66 percent and increasing housing for formally homeless people by over 50 percent. my office of invasion funded by bloomburg philanthropy is appointed new accountability tools to track data, outcomes and hold non profits we fund accountable. [applause] our encampment teams are

bringing people indoors and bringing down the tents, despite attempts by the court and by some advocates to obstruct or efforts with city attorney david chui we fought hard and helped more then 1500 people into shelter from encampment just over the past 6 months. [applause] the number of tents on our streets are down by 37 percent this past 6 months. at the lowest levels it has been since 2018. the other day a gentleman asked me, how can we help so many homeless people and still have thousands more? well, we know people fall into homelessness for many reasons and we have programs preventing homelessness for san franciscans every single day. but we also know we keep housing people and people do keep coming here.

the advocates and some elected officials want you to believe san francisco isn't a destination. they want you to believe people don't come here for drugs or other reasons. we all know that's not true. of those arrested for public drug use in the tenderloin and south of market over the last year, over half were not san francisco residents. half. i had enough of it and clearly the voters had enough too. we are not letting up. [applause] we are continuing to add new housing, new shelter. we are setting a new goal of a thousand people a year for homeward bound program. the program that provides unhoused people a ticket back to their home cities. [applause] and we have a new tool for those struggling with mental illness and addiction. for decades, state laws have prevented us compelling people

into treatment, even if their families are begging us to do so. the people truly suffering you see walking in and out of traffic or screaming at nothing in particular, the people who so desperately need help. i fought to change the state conservatorship laws for years and we finally succeeded. [applause] now we are implementing the changes faster then any county in the state. so far this year yee increased the number of people submitted for conservatorship by 170 percent compared to last year. that is how we make change. that is how we save lives. and of course, there is the pandemic related issues felt most acutely in san francisco. our downtown recovery. i have always believed we need to start with a question and if not, how do we make downtown

what it was, but rather, what do we want our downtown of the future to be? in 2022, 2023 we worked with trade groups, business owners, builders, neighbors and city departments to create the road map to downtown san francisco future. a comprehensive plan for a dynamic resilient downtown with resident night life and businesses. a neighborhood that keeps going around the clock, downtown 24/7. [laughter] the first year focused on stabilization, filling our empty store fronts, creating attraction and night life activity and delivering tax incentives. we recruit new businesses and continue to see new leases signed lead by ai which alone is projected to add 12 million square feet of office space by

2030. and it won't be ai alone. this is one of the most beautiful urban environments in the world with a unrivaled pool of talent and builders and dreamers and largest collection of deployable capital in the country, but downtown cant just be about jobs, it can't just be the 9 to 5 financial district. we also need more people to live and study there. so, our new initiative, 30 by 30, 30 thousand more residents and students downtown by 2030. [applause] to do that, we first need to create more housing downtown. we already passed the few local laws to reduce fees to office conversion. our first office conversion is happening now. 32 new homes at the warfield

building that would not be happening if we hadn't stepped in, and more are coming. [applause] now, we are working on state laws to change state laws with senator scott wiener to spur production and speed up housing production downtown. that is housing, but 30 by 30 is also about bringing students down down, and a lot of them. we are working with thought leaders, business folks and educational institutions to make downtown a hub, a center of excellence. we invited the university of california and historically black call jss and universities to join us and some are coming as early as this summer! [applause] we are working with other universities and existing anchors, uc law, usf and san francisco state university.

imagine, student professors researchers and employees working from dorm room to classroom to start up from the ferry building to city hall. cross pollinating ideas, cross pollinating companies. we will lead in ai, climate tech, bio tech and things we haven't imagined yet are. housing students, invasion, that is our future. tearing out the bike lanes on market street going backwards will not move us forward and it won't magically revive downtown. [applause] but 30 thousand more people living and going to school down there will. downtown has always been the economic engine that funds the services we care about, and it is post pandemic difficulties are the driving reason for the deficit we now face. we no laupger have the luxury

to penalize. we need to incentivize. so let me make two things clear, number one, the board of supervisors and i will close this deficit and we will not weaken our public safety to do so. [applause] number two, i have a clear vision for downtown future and my administration will make it happen. [applause] our vision is a vibrant mixed use neighborhood with transit, bar s, restaurants, venues, where people live, work, study, and play. we are through the valley of covid. we endered the slings and arrows of recovery, and now we rise to our next chapter on housing. we are changing our reputation. as a city of no to a city of

yes. yes. [applause] yes to reducing fees, yes to eliminating barriers and yes to any idea that overcomes obinstruction and builds the new homes we so desperately need. there is one housing no i will commit to, any piece of anti-housing legislation that comes across my desk i will veto. [applause] every single one. we have a state mandate, so let's build our projects like the power station where we broke ground last year and treasure island just this week we relaunched a new phase of housing. let's work with our land use chair, supervisor melgar to keep advancing pro-housing laws through the board.

and let's- [applause] and let's bring 30 thousand residents and students to the downtown. if we do that, more people and more neighborhoods will be able to afford to live here. more housing means more opportunity. and san francisco will remain the city of yes for our children and their children and it's not just a vision, our work is actually delivering change. crime is at record lows. san francisco is a ai capital of the world. the birthplace of the next economic boom. the la times reports in 2022, san francisco companies raised 5 times as much funding as the companies in florida and texas combined. [applause]

that is what they do to us. our small business reforms like first year free championing by supervisor ronan are filling empty storefronts across the city. [applause] we are a national leader in early child care and education. doubling the number of kids getting care and subsidies in 2018. [applause] and paying our educators a real wage that recognizes them for the work that they do. [applause] we just hosted leaders from around the world for apec, the biggest global stage for san francisco since the signing of the united nation charter in 1945. [applause] our parks are the best in the world and we massively expanded outdoor public areas from jfk

drive to india basin coming to the southern waterfront. [applause] muni is leading the bay area transit recovery, who would have thought, willie brown? carrying more riders then all of the other regional transit operators combined. we are on pace to hit our goal of zero green house gas emission by 2040. we are launching a wnba franchise hosting [applause] hosting the nba all star game, the super ball and fifa world cup! [applause] and i envision a san francisco of walkable, safe, thriving neighborhoods with great schools that teach algebra and a strong economy. [applause]

where people get the help they need and where everyone is welcomed. i want to thank the voters for supporting this vision on tuesday. by backing these various propositions and the strong rejection of proposition b. [applause] thank you supervisors engardio and matt dorsey on algebra and police staffing and conulateulations on scott wiener, matt haeny and [indiscernible] as well as all the new comers come bravely step forward to run for county committee. [applause] and let me say something to those in the press claiming tuesday election means san francisco is not a progressive city anymore.

building homes and adding treatment beds is progressive. [applause] wanting good public education and effective police force valuing the saturday safety of seniors from chinatown to bayview, immigrant and working families in the tenderloin, is progressive. [applause] we are a progressive diverse city living together celebrating each other. lgbtq, aapi, black, latino, palestinian and jewish. [applause] that is not changed and that will not change. so, i don't know about you but i'm tired of the negativity. i'm tired of the people who talk about san francisco as if our troubles are inevitable and our success a flukement our

successes are not a fluke, and they are not fleeing. they are the products of years of hard work, collaboration, investment, creativity, perseverance. they are the output of thousands of people in government and out who believe in service, not cynicism. [applause] i want to say something to those inside san francisco and out, who traffic in negativity. to sell ads to advance right wing causes to tear others down or to simply stroke fear for their political convenience. i want to say this on behalf of the real people who you have been disparaging, on behalf of the nurses, the gardeners, janitors, counselors, commissioners, engineers, emergency workers, teachers, the transit operators who

dedicate themselves to this city. [applause] on behalf-on behalf of our firefighters, 911 dispatchers, the sheriff deputies and police officer who do life-saving work under difficult circumstances. on behalf of the small business owners thrks bartendser, the artists. on behalf of the women. on behalf- [applause] on behalf of the women here who let women everywhere know that we trust them to make their own decisions and offer them a safe haven when they do so. [applause] on behalf of the housing

advocate said who started a movement here that has taken root all over the country. [applause] on behalf of the transgender activists and their families chosen or otherwise who made san francisco and outpost of hope. [applause] on behalf of the city i called home my entire life, which i'm proud to serve every single day, i offer these words from our 26 president of the united states, teddy roosevelt. you exceez me for updateing the pronouns. [laughter] it is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong woman

stumbles, or where the doer of deeds, could have done them better, the credit belongs to the woman who is actually in the arena. [applause] who strives valantly. who sends herself in a worthy cause. to those outside the arena watching from the side-lines, who offer only criticism, i have a message for you. san francisco is not wearing the shackles of your negativity any longer. [applause] i'll say it again, san

francisco is not wearing the shackles of your negativity any longer! [applause] to the public servants who have been here during the city's most difficult time, doing the work all along, thank you. thank you for your service. we will continue to move our city forward to be the city of yes. no longer will we allow others to define us, because we know who we are. we are a city on the rise. we are a dragon taking flight. now, let's soar san francisco! let's soar! thank you. [applause]

[music] >> san francisco is known as yerba buena, good herb after a mint that used to grow here. at this time there were 3

settlements one was mission delores. one the presidio and one was yerba buena which was urban center. there were 800 people in 1848 it was small. a lot of historic buildings were here including pony express headquarters. wells fargo. hudson bay trading company and famous early settlers one of whom william leaderdorph who lived blocks from here a successful business person. african-american decent and the first million airin california. >> wilwoman was the founders of san francisco. here during the gold rush came in the early 1840s. he spent time stake himself as a merchant seaman and a business person. his father and brother in new orleans. we know him for san francisco's

history. establishing himself here arnold 18 twoochl he did one of many things the first to do in yerba buena. was not california yet and was not fully san francisco yet. >> because he was an american citizen but spoke spanish he was able to during the time when america was taking over california from mexico, there was annexations that happened and conflict emerging and war, of course. he was part of the peek deliberations and am bas doorship to create the state of california a vice council to mexico. mexico granted him citizenship. he loaned the government of san francisco money. to funds some of the war efforts to establish the city itself and the state, of course. he established the first hotel

here the person people turned to often to receive dignitaries or hold large gatherings established the first public school here and helped start the public school system. he piloted the first steam ship on the bay. a big event for san francisco and depict instead state seal the ship was the sitk a. there is a small 4 block long length of street, owned much of that runs essentially where the transamerica building is to it ends at california. i walk today before am a cute side street. at this point t is the center what was all his property. he was the person entrusted to be the city's first treasurer. that is i big deal of itself to have that legacy part of an

african-american the city's first banker. he was not only a forefather of the establishment of san francisco and california as a state but a leader in industry. he had a direct hahn in so many things that we look at in san francisco. part of our dna. you know you don't hear his anymore in the context of those. representation matters. you need to uplift this so people know him but people like him like me. like you. like anyone who looks like him to be, i can do this, too. to have the city's first banker and a street in the middle of financial district. that alone is powerful. [music]gned by president wood --

>> it took the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire and 500 city blocks burning to the ground for the people of san francisco to realize they had an inadequate water supply. >> the earthquake allowed nation sin a neuropathy for san francisco. whatever this stricken city wants as a country, we should help them with it. >> years before, mayor james feland explored the sierra for a source of water for a city run water utility. his search led him to a pristine valley along the tuolumne river. >> hetch hetchy valley seemed to be the obvious place for this. it had steep perpendicular

walls, 2500 feet and a flat floor. all you would have to do is put a dam across it. >> however, hetch hetchy was in yosemite national park and in order to build the proposed system, san francisco needed federal permission. jon mural opposed the dam and blocked progress for years but in 1913, congressman john from money george would clear the way. signed by president wood row wilson, it created a relationship between yosemite national park and the city of san francisco that continues to this day. >> take them to the -- it's an imperative for collaboration with the national park service and the forest service for our ongoing work as well as maintenance projects and capital improvement projects. >> we have a strong partnership with the national park service aimed at protection of the watershed, it's for the natural values for it, and wilderness

area for the park service and protection of water quality. >> for a century now, this dam in a national park brought fresh water to the san francisco bay area which shared stewardship, it will continue to do so for generations to come. >> this will is the moment. it's made possible you are watching san francisco rising with chris manor. today's special guest is sarah phillips. >> hi, i'm chris manors and you are watching san francisco rising the show about restarting rebuilding and eare imagineing the city. the guest today is sarah phillips the executive director of economic workforce development. welcome to the show. >> thank you for having me.

let's talk about the city economic plan and specifically the city's road map to san francisco future. can you give a brief overview and update on progress? >> absolute e. in february 2023 mayor breed released the roadmap comprised to 9 strategies to move the city forward understanding there was structural and lang lasting changing by the covid impact. 134 were shorter term impacts how people using transit downtown and coming out and are using small businesses, some of them remember long-term structural impacts. the way we work. how often we are in an office and how much office space companies who had headquartered in san francisco need. some of those were structural impacts how we stop. there has been a long-term change as online shopping takes up a greater share how we

performs and covid-19 took a shift that would probably take 10 to 15 years happen and collapse what happened ofern the timeframe to 2 years so saw structural impacts how people shop. we have seen a lot of progress rchlt we are 9 months in and significant things we have seen is efforts creating permitinant services and homes for people experiencing homelessness is dramatic. we increased the number of shelter beds dramatically and take-up of the beds dramatically, and there is more work to do. on the safety side there are exciting things that happened. we increased our police pay among the highest in the bay area which is a important thing for recruitment. police recruitment across the country is down so recruiting the best we can means we need to give a high pay set.

august the highsh return in graduates. we see 75 decrease in retail theft and 50 percent reduction in car break ins which is quality of life crime san francisco experienced so there is real progresses we are seeing on clean and safe sides. one thing important in the mayor roadmap we are not trying to get back to 2020 vision. i think covid showed having a downtown with people sitting at offices isn't the best downtown it can be. i think it is a opportunity to bring 24 hour life use downtown. >> music and concerts is a great way to bring people to a specific location. golden gate park we had lots of events in plazas throughout the

city. can you talk about those and if there is upcoming events too? >> i think you touched on something key to the mayor road map. for san francisco and particularly san francisco downtown to move forward and be successful as a great american city, it is about bringing people together because they want to be together not because they center to be together and music is a strong part that. the planet concert sear ries coming up and happening throughout the city not just golden gate park but downtown locations are a great example. there are smaller examples as well. the landing at--is a new plaza we constructed in the mayor roadmap where two streets come together akwraisant to a couple restaurants closed to cars in daytime, chairs and seating and throughout the week they have lunch time and evening music to bring people together after

work. they participate in that. something we are working on setting up for next year which is really exciting is our sf live program and that will bring a full 2024 concert series where we match local venues bringing their work and partnership to useian square, music center plaza and embark cadero. we will be able to announce concert series through the sf- >> you mentioned vacant to vibrant, that program has a lot of attention lately. can you talk generally what exactly that program is? >> yeah. so, we opened a program where we put out a call for landlords willing to offer groundfloor space for free for 3 to 6 month jz small business or

storefront operators who had a proposal what they would do for 3 to 6 months. it is pilot. we had a incredible amount of interest. we had--i'm forgetting the number of landlords, but more then we expected because we are in a place where commercial real estate understands they need to come to the table to help make our groundfloor lively and resulting in a transition where the groundfloor is seen less as a money making operation, but more as a leader to lease upper floors. if you have a active ground floor yields better on the other 80 percent of the building you are trying to lease. that was great, a lot of cooperation scr over 700 small business or operators responded to that call. it is pop up. there is no intention this would result in forever small businesses, but there is certainly a hope and i think what we are hearing, i don't have the final data, but there

are 17 activators in 9 different spaces, some are colocated, which is why the difference, and out of those 9 spaces that are being leased for free, now 7 of them are in discussions for long-term leases so the spaces continue. it is the program. we are hopeful to have a second and third traunch and hoping to pilot in other neighborhoods with other partners. it is not an inexpensive program because there is a lot of capital that goes into popping up for short amount of time but what we are seen is they visit the businesses, the businesses are successful and san francisco want to support this activation so hopeful to expand it. >> that's great. can you talk a bit about why piloting programs and testing things is so important? >> absolutely. you know, i would say not only the important generally but important in san francisco specifically. the benefit of pilot programs in the reasons they are really

important here is, it allows us to try something and say, there may be consequence but let's understand those in real time rather then waiting to start a strategy while we think about them on paper and if they are too great we can modify the program as we go. mta has absorbed the strategy whether a bike lane or other to figure how best to use the street? is this working? is it working for bikes and cars and buses? maybe not, let's switch it around and pilots have been important to oewd to our office particularly because we tend to have the ability and the mayor's support through the budget process to pilot things through request for proposals or rfp process where we can put out a small amount of funding, try activation and small public

plaza, see if it works and i think the benefit there is, if it doesn't work we tried it and had the benefit of seeing real time and when it does work, we are able to uplift that and move into a permanent strategy and that is where our agency turns over something we piloted to another agency because it is part of the city operating procedure. pilots also give people hope. when we have the short-term whether it is physical public plaza or activation that shows change is possible and allows them to vote for what they like. >> lastly, in lith light of the current ai boom, do you think there is a way to leverage those new changes to take a bunch of san francisco's status as a tech hub? >> i do, i think they work together. san francisco right now has a

strong vacancy problem in our office space. and there is a back-story to that. our zoning downtown has not prevented other uses, in terms of permitting uses of the multi-story building has been open including allowing residential but we put other barriers, cost and code barriers et cetera and what happened also during the height of our preevious boom is that, the amount that tech companies were willing to pay for office space bid everything out so we-without intentionally zoning a single use downtown, we de facto became a single use downtown and thereat is the opportunity you are pointing out. now because downtown was so convertible from work from home, particularly as tech based downtown was and how much companies put at the market in the office spaces we are seeing high vacancy now, all most 30

percent so there is lot of square feet but that presents a lot of opportunity. we have the ability to absorb expansion of the tech industry we are so strong at. we have seen over 800 thousand square feet of ai space leased just in 2023 alone and there is still more demand out in the market, more ai companies looking for space so that is a growth spot absorbing some of the vac ancy. the opportunity too is prices for downtown lease s have also dropped and that opens up a breath of opportunity to a breath of companies that were priced out in 2018, 2019, 2020. san francisco has always been great at starting companies and allowing them to grow here. when our prices are too high it prevents that growth so now we are a super fertile ground for more start ups and invasion on the smaller end of the sector because they can come and enter our market and we have the

space to offer. to talk about san francisco's assets and the leveraging that, we sit at the epicenter of really great university and educational institutions. we are between uc berkeley and stanford. the graduates produced just from those institutions alone stay in the bay area and want to rise up and work here, provide a real opportunity for the start ups to build their companies and companies to grow here so we confident we will absorb a certain amount of office space with ai tech. with that, we are interested in increasing our human capital growing graduates. downtown university is something the mayor is open to pursuing and we are in conversations with uc berkeley we love to have as a partner in our downtown and then residential conversions are a great partner to that. as we build back the office space, people will want to live downtown again and we have a number buildings that can be converted to residential.

the costs are high. mayor breed and her partners on the board made significant changes to reduce the costs. we waived fees for change of uses in the downtown area. there are code changes that will make the conversions easier. there is a ballot measure on the march ballot that will attempt to reduce costs for those as well. it is ongoing process and none of those changes we talked about absent ai growth downtown, but institutional growth downtown, arts growth downtown and residential conversions downtown are long-term changes so one thing i want to say recollect i do think there is a opportunity per your question, but we also need to be patient because what we are talking about is is a real shift to the make-up of the downtown since from the growth it has been starting at since the turn of the century so that isn't a 2 year change, that is a 10 year change and we center to watch as it goes. >> thank you so much. i really appreciate you spending the time here today

and your creative vision and positivity, so thank you so much. >> thanks so much for having me and hope you all downtown and shop. >> that is it for this episode. for sfgovtv i'm chris manors, thanks

>> good afternoon and welcome to -- >> control room, can you zoom out on the interpreter bubble, please? other way.