SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — It’s been a week since X, formerly known as Twitter, officially left its San Francisco headquarters.
This has many questioning the future of the Mid-Market neighborhood, which has struggled for decades.
The lobby, once bustling with Twitter employees, is now quiet and lonely.
The company, now known as X, was once the second-largest tenant in the Mid-Market neighborhood, occupying more than 450,000 square feet of space.
Perhaps no one misses his restaurant more than Market Street Gyro owner Ferit Uyar.
Read more: Gov. Newsom signs bill to boost homebuilding, expand affordable housing
“Of course, when they left it hurt us and the district. It made the situation even worse,” Uyar said.
X’s actions exacerbate a crisis in the area, where many small businesses have been forced to close due to rampant drug use and continuing criminal activity.
“In the last two months, they have broken the windows of my house three times and stolen my belongings. The centre is ruined. Everything is ruined,” Uyar said.
Foot traffic has thinned in the area, offices once filled with employees now stand empty as people continue to work remotely, and the area has been hit hard.
“The solution is for more people to come to the office to fill the vacant offices. The offices are empty,” Uyar said.
Read more: The iconic San Francisco Symphony is facing its toughest period since its founding in 1911
The Mid-Market neighborhood has struggled for decades, but things have gotten better since tech companies began moving into the area.
However, with working from home becoming the new norm, many businesses appear hesitant to bring employees back to the workplace full-time for fear of losing staff.
Salesforce recently announced that starting October 1, employees will have to work on-site four to five days a week.
They hope other companies will follow their lead.
“I hope so. We know that the new generation post-pandemic likes work-life balance. So what we want to do is make sure businesses are doing their part, however many days a week they can. I hope it’s at least four days,” San Francisco Mayor London Breed said.
Read more: New San Francisco proposal aims to ban RVs overnight on city-maintained roads
When Twitter moved here in 2012, many in the city saw it as a bastion of economic growth for the area. The city gave it tax abatements for six years. It lost $70 million in tax revenue, and revitalization plans never quite worked out as originally intended.
Last year, IKEA opened in the area, followed this year by SaluHall, a large food court.
Still, the empty spaces are evidence that the area has yet to recover.
Some mayoral candidates have proposed reopening Market Street to vehicle traffic to help businesses.
In early 2020, the downtown area became a car-free zone and now only public transportation and bicycles are allowed.
Read more: What San Francisco’s Tenderloin looks like one month after the encampment crackdown
However, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency reports that the number of bicycles in the city is declining.
The number of bicycles in the city reached 4.7 million in 2021, up from a record high of 10.8 million in 2019.
The agency can track bikes using sensors embedded in sidewalks — for example, there is one in front of the building where X used to live.
By 2:45 p.m., just 1,005 bikes and e-scooters had passed through the Mid-Market area that day.
Another initiative that could help revitalize the area is recent legislation to convert vacant office space into housing, aiming to attract developers by offering tax incentives.
Read more: Time for reform? San Francisco has operated under the same legislative rules for nearly 30 years
“This legislation has been signed, and we believe it will at least have an impact on the Mid-Market neighborhood in downtown San Francisco,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
But realistically, that could take years.
But for many businesses trying to survive here, help is urgently needed.
“Of course not anymore, that’s what I’m saying. It’s hard to survive, really hard,” Uyal said.
Copyright © 2024 KGO-TV. All rights reserved.