San Francisco Politics and Urbanism Daily
San Francisco’s Reform Test: Build Homes, Open Shops
Thursday, June 11, 2026 · 8 min
San Francisco housing reform is moving from political veto points toward state-driven approvals, while small-business relief runs into the harder problem of permitting delays, no-bid tech fixes, and charter-level bureaucracy.
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Show notes
San Francisco housing reform is moving from political veto points toward state-driven approvals, while small-business relief runs into the harder problem of permitting delays, no-bid tech fixes, and charter-level bureaucracy.
In this episode
- San Francisco’s old housing policy regime was a world-historical failure. What comes next? — The Urban Condition
# [The Urban Condition](/) # San Francisco’s old housing policy regime was a world-historical failure. What comes next? ### The city is stepping into the urban planning unknown, with the rest of California following close behind. [Benjamin Schneider](https://substack.com/@urbenschneider) Nov 28, 2023 The proposed tower at 530 Howard, which would be the fourth-tallest in San Francisco, will…
- Step Back — City Hall is pitching business tax reform and fee waivers as ways to make San Francisco easier for small businesses — but for a neighborhood shop, what are the biggest government-imposed costs and delays between idea and opening day, and which reforms would actually move the needle rather than just sound pro-business?
Background sources
- S.F. relaxes parts of permitting process for restaurants — St. John Barned-Smith
- Mayor Lurie Unveils PermitSF Portal, Speeding Up the Permitting Process to Drive Economic Recovery | SF.gov — SF.gov
- 5 takeaways from The Standard’s investigation into Lurie’s permit project — Sfstandard
- San Francisco Prop C - Small Business Tax Cuts | SPUR — SPUR
- Streamlining San Francisco’s Permitting Process: Q&A With Annie Fryman | SPUR — SPUR
- These SF neighborhoods are rejecting city plan to speed permitting — Aldo Toledo