I pointed out earlier that my beloved city (San Francisco) openly hates business and does everything possible to keep new business out and to drive out business that is here. Nevertheless business wants to be here.
What we get are businesses that are skilled at big city manipulation (not necessarily direct bribery).
I counted the data. In the latest phone book. During the past decade San Francisco has blocked new stores for Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Sears, Ikea and Prada. We really missed out on Prada.
We only allowed Trader Joes one new store in a housing project and blocked several others.
All the while, Walgreens, a superb urban political warrior, has gone from a little over a dozen stores to 55 stores. Starbucks, outright banned in many neighborhoods, has opened most of its 68 retail stores. Over scientifically unsupported strong opposition to evil electrical radiation, two large wireless networks have been installed in San Francisco and both networks are growing.
So, San Francisco ends up getting the political sophisticates of the business world and misses out on the naïve innocents.
Not a smart move for labor or new jobs, but that’s what happens to an appealing but anti-commerce town.