City for Sale: The Transformation of San Francisco

By Chester Hartman

Book Overview

San Francisco is perhaps the most exhilarating of all American cities--its beauty, cultural and political avant-gardism, and history are legendary, while its idiosyncrasies make front-page news. In this revised edition of his highly regarded study of San Francisco's economic and political development since the mid-1950s, Chester Hartman gives a detailed account of how the city has been transformed by the expansion--outward and upward--of its downtown. His story is fueled by a wide range of players and an astonishing array of events, from police storming the International Hotel to citizens forcing the midair termination of a freeway. Throughout, Hartman raises a troubling question: can San Francisco's unique qualities survive the changes that have altered the city's skyline, neighborhoods, and economy? Hartman was directly involved in many of the events he chronicles and thus had access to sources that might otherwise have been unavailable. A former activist with the National Housing Law Project, San Franciscans for Affordable Housing, and other neighborhood organizations, he explains how corporate San Francisco obtained the necessary cooperation of city and federal governments in undertaking massive redevelopment. He illustrates the rationale that produced BART, a subway system that serves upper-income suburbs but few of the city's poor neighborhoods, and cites the environmental effects of unrestrained highrise development, such as powerful wind tunnels and lack of sunshine. In describing the struggle to keep housing affordable in San Francisco and the seemingly intractable problem of homelessness, Hartman reveals the human face of the city's economic transformation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0520086058
• ISBN13: 9780520086050
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Length: 501 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Interesting Background on an Interesting City

SF is my adopted hometown and I love walking around the city, noticing little odds and ends. How come the prime real estate on top of Moscone Center is occupied by a Merry-go-Around and a (mostly deserted) playground? How come BART does not stop anywhere people in SF actually live (except for a lucky few in the Mission). What did SoMa look like 30 years ago? Hartman covers San Francisco's urban development history from the relocation of the produce market (to make room for Golden Gateway apartments), the development of South-of-Market (and the resistance), Harvey Milk's and George Moscone's assasination, up to the (now completed) redevelopment of the Presidio's Letterman complex into ILM studios. Reading this book gave me a new perspective on SF. It's possible that the book is not thorough enough for someone who studied urban planning or architecture, but for an interested local resident like me it provided a plenty of detail and insight.