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XPost: sac.politics

<https://news.yahoo.com/bob-lee-killing-highlights-san-150620856.html>

Bob Lee was part of the tech establishment. The former chief technical
officer of Square and founder of the $40bn payment app Cash App.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, he was killed in a stabbing, in a supposedly "safe" part of San Francisco.

His death has sent a chill through the tech community.

Twitter's former CEO, Jack Dorsey, called the killing heart-breaking.

His friend and fellow tech founder Joshua Goldbard tweeted: "Bob was like
a brother to me… Bob's energy was infectious. He made friends everywhere
he went."

Elon Musk also added his thoughts on the killing.

"Very sorry to hear that. Many people I know have been severely assaulted. Violent crime in SF is horrific."

Cash App founder killed in San Francisco stabbing

San Francisco has struggled with homelessness and drug deaths in recent
years. In a city reliant on the tech sector, the pandemic hit its downtown
more than any other in the US - it simply hasn't been able to bounce back.

I often hear downtown being described as "dead" or "quiet". And in certain neighbourhoods, the city can feel unsafe, something the city's mayor has previously acknowledged.

Areas around the Tenderloin (in the heart of the city) and Soma, which
stands for "South of Market" can feel dystopian, particularly at night.

Photo of Bob Lee smiling for portrait
Tributes poured in for Bob Lee
Many television crews take armed guards with them when gathering footage
in the city.

And with the streets so quiet, anti-social behaviour can sometimes feel
more threatening and obvious.

The police statistics suggest that San Francisco's murder rate is fairly consistent. Fifty-six murders last year. Fifty-six murders the year
before. It's on track for something similar this year.

The overwhelming majority of murder victims are black and Latino men,
according to police data.

So far there have been 12 murders in the city. In the first three months
of last year there were 10. The number of assaults is also similar.

And when you compare that to other cities, San Francisco compares
relatively well. This is not Gotham City.

But the view that Elon Musk articulates, that violent crime is up, is very common.

San Francisco is a relatively small city. Its population is around
800,000. And unlike cities like Chicago, many of the "problem"
neighbourhoods are interwoven throughout the central business district.

Twitter global headquarters, for example, is on Market Street, a few
blocks away from the Tenderloin. Mobile payment company Block is also
close by. San Francisco's problems are out in the open - right in the
heart of the city.

For its politicians, desperate to try and entice tech business back to the city, high profile killings like Mr Lee's are devastating.

If influential tech companies decide to stay away, and people begin to
leave, it could create what's been referred to as a "doom loop".

The city's influential paper, The San Francisco Chronicle, has recently
warned that the city could be in a negative spiral - and outlined how the
city could "die".

A deepening crisis on the streets of America

As companies leave, tax revenue falls. People use mass transit less until
it becomes bankrupt - making it more difficult for low and middle-income workers to get to work. Labour costs rise still further, and the city has
fewer funds to tackle things like crime and disorderly behaviour.

The city's mayor responded, saying: "It's easy to throw out dire
predictions about the death of downtown. But that's not our reality and
it's not going to happen."

San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

It has Silicon Valley on its doorstep. It is also excellently located to
take advantage of the new boom in tech - AI.

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, is based in San Francisco, along with a
myriad other AI tech start-ups.

The city boasts incredible talent. In many ways it has an awful lot going
for it. Yet still, many people are leaving. Last year the American Housing Survey found that about 18% of San Francisco residents plan on moving in
2023. Nearly half of them said they were intending to move to a different
city.

And unless San Francisco can stem that tide, it's in trouble.


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"LOCKDOWN", left-wing COVID fearmongering. 95% of COVID infections
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Donald J. Trump, cheated out of a second term by fraudulent "mail-in"
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Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
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Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.

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