Bob Lee killing highlights San Francisco crime fears

Bob Lee was portion of the tech establishment. The erstwhile main method serviceman of Square and laminitis of the $40bn outgo app Cash App.

In the aboriginal hours of Tuesday morning, helium was killed successful a stabbing, successful a supposedly "safe" portion of San Francisco.

His decease has sent a chill done the tech community.

Twitter's erstwhile CEO, Jack Dorsey, called the sidesplitting heart-breaking.

His person and chap tech laminitis Joshua Goldbard tweeted: "Bob was similar a member to me… Bob's vigor was infectious. He made friends everyplace helium went."

Elon Musk besides added his thoughts connected the killing.

"Very atrocious to perceive that. Many radical I cognize person been severely assaulted. Violent transgression successful SF is horrific."

San Francisco has struggled with homelessness and cause deaths successful caller years. In a metropolis reliant connected the tech sector, the pandemic deed its downtown much than immoderate different successful the US - it simply hasn't been capable to bounce back.

I often perceive downtown being described arsenic "dead" oregon "quiet". And successful definite neighbourhoods, the metropolis tin consciousness unsafe, thing the city's politician has antecedently acknowledged.

Areas astir the Tenderloin (in the bosom of the city) and Soma, which stands for "South of Market" tin consciousness dystopian, peculiarly astatine night.

Many tv crews instrumentality equipped guards with them erstwhile gathering footage successful the city.

And with the streets truthful quiet, anti-social behaviour tin sometimes consciousness much threatening and obvious.

The constabulary statistic suggest that San Francisco's execution complaint is reasonably consistent. Fifty-six murders past year. Fifty-six murders the twelvemonth before. It's connected way for thing akin this year.

So acold determination person been 12 murders successful the city. In the archetypal 3 months of past twelvemonth determination were 10. The fig of assaults is besides similar.

And erstwhile you comparison that to different cities, San Francisco compares comparatively well. This is not Gotham City.

But the presumption that Elon Musk articulates, that convulsive transgression is up, is precise common.

San Francisco is simply a comparatively tiny city. Its colonisation is astir 800,000. And dissimilar cities similar Chicago, galore of the "problem" neighbourhoods are interwoven passim the cardinal concern district.

Twitter planetary headquarters, for example, is connected Market Street, a fewer blocks distant from the Tenderloin. Mobile outgo institution Block is besides adjacent by. San Francisco's problems are retired successful the unfastened - close successful the bosom of the city.

For its politicians, hopeless to effort and entice tech concern backmost to the city, precocious illustration murders similar Mr Lee's are devastating.

If influential tech companies determine to enactment away, and radical statesman to leave, it could make what's been referred to arsenic a "doom loop".

The city's influential paper, The San Francisco Chronicle, has precocious warned that the metropolis could beryllium successful a antagonistic spiral - and outlined however the metropolis could "die".

As companies leave, taxation gross falls. People usage wide transit little until it becomes bankrupt - making it much hard for debased and middle-income workers to get to work. Labour costs emergence inactive further, and the metropolis has less funds to tackle things similar transgression and disorderly behaviour.

The city's politician responded, saying: "It's casual to propulsion retired dire predictions astir the decease of downtown. But that's not our world and it's not going to happen."

San Francisco is 1 of the astir beauteous cities successful the world.

It has Silicon Valley connected its doorstep. It is besides excellently located to instrumentality vantage of the caller roar successful tech - AI.

OpenAI, the shaper of ChatGPT, is based successful San Francisco, on with a myriad different AI tech start-ups.

The metropolis boasts unthinkable talent. In galore ways it has an atrocious batch going for it. Yet still, galore radical are leaving. Last twelvemonth the American Housing Survey found that astir 18% of San Francisco residents program connected moving successful 2023. Nearly fractional of them said they were intending to determination to a antithetic city.

And unless San Francisco tin stem that tide, it's successful trouble.