Living
San Francisco’s 35% Plunge in Rents Shows Effects of Tech Fleeing City
The rise of remote work in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic is remaking one of America’s priciest places to live.
Alamo Square Park in San Francisco, California.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Tech stocks are soaring and high-profile initial public offerings are set to mint millionaires. Yet in San Francisco, the boom times are over.
The resurgent coronavirus has thrust the tech hub back into lockdown. Offices sit empty as work-from-home policies stretch indefinitely. While this week’s share sales of hometown companies Airbnb Inc. and DoorDash Inc. would typically have the city girding for a flood of wealth, many workers have already fled for the suburbs, Lake Tahoe or beyond.