More San Franciscans believe the city is on the right track than last year, poll says
That's according to poll results released by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.
"The chamber's been doing this poll asking the same questions for 36 consecutive years. This year they're actually trending to the positive. And so, for two years in a row we're starting to see people favor, see favorability and the believe and trust in San Francisco," said Rodney Fong.
Rodney Fong is the President and CEO of the Chamber.
He said the polling shows 43% of San Franciscans believe the city is on the right track. That's up close to double from last year when only 22% of residents had the same feeling.
"This voter confidence in these polls coming back. We're seeing small businesses opening here in San Francisco and the nightlife is starting to pick back up," said Fong.
A huge focus for those polled remains on downtown. A majority of San Franciscans, 89%, agreed that a thriving downtown is critical to the region's economy,
With 87% saying improving or transforming underused malls and stores should be a top priority.
"I feel pretty optimistic about this area and Market Street looks amazing. I feel safer now walking down Market Street," said Paula Lari, a San Franciscan.
"I think a lot of people are trying to move things in the right direction, but we have a ways to go for consistency I think across the city," said David Ericksen, who works in the Financial District.
"I would say a bunch of the return to office mandates have helped to kind of like make it more lively, but yeah I think it's still not where it was in 2019," said Hansen Qian, a San Franciscan.
While the numbers are looking up, the fact remains that a majority of San Franciscans, 56%, still believe the city is on the wrong track.
Rodney Fong said he understands the lingering frustration with the city's recovery post-COVID, but truly believes a brighter future is on the horizon.
"This whole cycle, this whole ecosystem is so important to keep going. To build the construction of housing and transportation investments all need to keep firing and once we get off kilter, off cycle tough things can happen. So, we need to make sure we're thinking 10 years out and keeping the machine going," said Fong.
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