Mayor Lurie on San Francisco: ‘We Are On Our Way Back. But We Still Have Work To Do.’

San Francisco is on the rise, but prices need to come down and affordability remains a problem, according to the city’s Instagram influencer-in-chief, Mayor Daniel Lurie.

Speaking at Rossi Park in the Richmond District, a year after he took office, the mayor on Thursday delivered an optimistic assessment of how things are trending in San Francisco. In his first State of the City Address, Lurie boasted that pride in the city is rebounding just as well as the economy, but stressed that too many working families are still struggling to make ends meet.

“Affordability has been a challenge in San Francisco for a long time, but as the federal government cuts support and drives up costs on everything from the price of groceries to insurance premiums and child care, the pressure is building,” Lurie said to a who’s who of California politics, including former Mayor London Breed, Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis and State Controller Malia Cohen. “Families are being forced to make impossible choices, delaying having children, sacrificing savings or leaving the communities they call home. I will not let that be the future of San Francisco.”

Affordability has been a central issue for Democrats. Lurie said he spoke to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, after his recent election and wished him success. When asked by this reporter if he would support a proposed state wealth tax to drive his affordability agenda, Lurie said he “has concerns” that the plan would drive wealthy residents and their tax dollars away.

Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune who had never held public office before becoming mayor, has earned a reputation for coining taglines like “Let’s go, San Francisco,” which he employs in a steady flow of social media videos promoting the city’s recovery. On Thursday, he underscored how longstanding public safety challenges have eased in the last 12 months.

Citywide, crime is down nearly 30% and homicides are at an all-time low since 1954. Like many municipalities, San Francisco has struggled to recruit and retain police officers over the last five years. Lurie, who prioritized public safety in the city’s most recent budget, said applications to join the police department are up 54% and ranks are growing for the first time since 2018.

“Public safety is the foundation for San Francisco’s recovery, and it will always be my north star as mayor,” Lurie said.

Lurie campaigned on promises to clean up the city’s streets and find solutions to the ongoing overdose epidemic and outdoor drug use, which has been a point of friction for residents and business owners alike.

His office has taken controversial moves to change the way the city addresses street-level challenges, including increasing arrests of drug users and dealers, ramping up tent encampment clearings and shifting some funding reserved for long-term homelessness solutions toward temporary shelters to move people off the streets faster.

While those moves were met with criticism from some homeless advocates, Lurie touted the changes.

“Homelessness has been a challenge in San Francisco for as long as I can remember. But fentanyl changed everything and caught our city flat-footed,” Lurie said. “Under my administration, we have changed our approach. We stopped freely handing out drug supplies and letting people kill themselves on our streets. It is not a basic right to use drugs openly in front of our kids.”

The city is currently working to open a facility, called a RESET Center, staffed by law enforcement and health workers, to provide an alternative to jail and emergency room beds for people struggling with addiction.

Those changes to street conditions, Lurie said, have helped draw businesses and conferences to the city, and encouraged other major events, like a Dead and Company concert series over the summer and the recent announcement that Vanderbilt University will open an outpost in San Francisco on the California College of the Arts campus after it closes next year.

“Foot traffic is expanding from Japantown to Stonestown,” he said, referring to bustling shopping centers. Lurie did not, however, mention the empty San Francisco Centre mall on Market Street, which has remained a sore spot for downtown recovery advocates.

Despite major fundraising efforts by groups like the nonprofit Downtown Development Corporation and boosts from Lurie’s philanthropic ties as founder of the Tipping Point Community, many storefronts remain empty downtown.

“Downtown is the centerpiece of our recovery,” he said. “Yes, we are on the way back. But we still have work to do.”

A big part of that work ahead, Lurie said, is continuing to make the city more affordable. He underscored the need for MUNI and BART funding, accessible City College programs and streamlined permitting for small businesses.

“I spent some time last week with the members of Local 38. One of the plumbers—a guy born and raised in San Francisco—he’s got two kids, loves the city, loves his job. He came up to me and said, ‘We couldn’t make it work. Now, I’m commuting over an hour each way five days a week. What has to change so families like mine can live here?’” the mayor shared.

The city is expanding child care subsidies, and Lurie pointed to efforts to add affordable housing across the city. One of his key legislative wins so far was passing a controversial rezoning plan that allowed for taller and denser buildings across the city.

Supporters say the plan will help cut red tape to make building more housing for all income levels easier while meeting state housing requirements.

But critics point to how critical rent-controlled units could be demolished under the plan to make way for market-rate housing that many low-income residents can’t afford.

“We will continue to fight to bring down the cost of utilities for those families. And we will maintain a range of down payment and loan support programs to assist educators and first responders striving to become homeowners and build generational wealth in the communities they serve,” Lurie said.

Without naming President Donald Trump, whom Lurie has avoided naming since taking office, the mayor also said the city is facing a time of “unprecedented fear and insecurity.” In the fall, the Trump administration called off plans to send the National Guard to San Francisco as part of an immigration enforcement blitz.

The mayor leaned on his connections to billionaires like Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff to get through to the president. On Thursday, the mayor received a standing ovation when pointing out that the city managed to stave off the federal law enforcement action.

The mayor, who was later expected to head to Fisherman’s Wharf to cut the ribbon at the opening of a new Taco Bell Cantina, wrapped up his speech with the same sign-off he uses for his prolific Instagram posts.

“We’re just getting started, and we are not going to leave anyone behind,” he said. “Let’s go, San Francisco.”