And thank 'god' for that. Do I? Because when I pointed the root cause, this was your response: So maybe don't lobby/bribe congress to change the law so elected officials don't "decide" in your favor at the detriment of society. That, or deal with those pesky unions extracting what you've stolen from them with your lobbying.
Meanwhile, other mall going gangbusters as they pivot to be more food-centric. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/westfield-valley-fair-mall-18155044.php Still, let's deconstruct it a bit since the site that launched in May decided to lie by omission: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/05/jimmy-finkelstein-the-messenger-hot-seat https://www.mediaite.com/news/scoop...p-gerbil-wheel-of-clickbait-at-the-messenger/ Source cited by article: https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/westfield-mall-crime-safety-18150656.php While crime is not the only problem facing the huge mall at Market and Fifth streets, and its continued decline appears to be driven largely by the broader economic headwinds facing downtown San Francisco, the records obtained by The Chronicle nonetheless underscore how public safety has been a frequent challenge as the shopping center has struggled to attract customers and keep its tenants. More recently, the persistence of remote work among major San Francisco employers has depressed foot traffic downtown while major brick-and-mortar retailers continue to compete against the popularity of online shopping. Westfield’s parent company said last year that it planned to sell all of its U.S. malls by 2024 to focus on its operations in Europe. Supervisor Matt Dorsey, whose district includes the San Francisco Centre, differentiated the departure of major retailers and the mall’s parent company from the loss of another store in his district, the Whole Foods at Eighth and Market streets. To Dorsey, the Whole Foods closure could be more directly linked to San Francisco’s open-air drug markets and erratic behavior on the streets by people with substance use disorder and other illnesses. Downtown retail, on the other hand, faces economic pressures that the city can’t solve on its own, he said. Still, Dorsey said Westfield leaders had been consistently outspoken about “issues involving street conditions and also some of the retail theft that they’re experiencing.” He said San Francisco can help by bolstering its public safety resources, including by hiring more police officers, even if that won’t solve every issue at the mall. “There are factors in play that include changing retail and online retail and remote work, and there are things that are beyond our control as a city. But there are also factors within our control that involve street conditions and safety and being an inviting, welcoming city,” Dorsey said.
So shoot the Messenger () and counter with The Chronicle, which essentially says the same thing with more political correctness. I remember many years ago I worked in a record store on Union street, in San Francisco. For those who don't know, it's one of the city's posh boutique street in a posh neighborhood. Even so, theft, or tentative, was significant (0nce every other week), and the stereotype portrait of the petty criminals would make liberals like me cringe. It was disheartening. But at least the business could manage these losses for several years beyond my time there, until increased rents shut it down. I can only imagine the level of brazen thievery in Westgate, in the middle of vagrants, drugs, tents and roaming kids looking for a thrill... The only thing to deter petty criminality there is to have a guard posted at each store with a taser in hand... Imagine the atmosphere... That's why they're closing down. These retailers and Westfield don't want to become some political punching balls of the right or the left while getting fleeced on a daily basis.
??? The messenger is literally The Chronicle which you accuse of being PC. Your source says and I quote: A mall in downtown San Francisco was plagued with shoplifting, robberies, and violence in the months leading up to its owner's decision this week to turn the property back to its lenders, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report. and no, they are not "essentially saying the same thing". As I bolded, the messenger lied by omission, leaving out what I bolded in my previous post.
I see you pick and choose what suits your argument, while in the same article you use I can pick and choose what suits my argument. Westfield's macro challenges are a result of 3 years of COVID shutdown, while its local challenge is the inability to drive traffic to their mall due to lack of police coverage of the streets and the mall at a time of ongoing, brazen petty criminality, drugs, vagrants, and everything in between around the mall. What stands out is your unwillingness to acknowledge that reality.
The reality is the "picking and choosing" was done by 'the messenger', who took the chronicle's report and highlighted what fit their narrative and omitted the other arguments made by the chronicle counter to the narrative. Should come as no surprise given the founders. Why would I just copy/paste text already covered in 'the messenger's' article if I'm pointing out the omissions? That makes no sense.
No need. I will be in SF in a couple of weeks and will see for myself how things have changed since I was last there 2 years ago. A reminder, it was really bad; the worst I'd ever seen the Market street shopping area. Remember, I knew SF in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 2009 to 2019.