In an aerial view, homes are seen at sunset in San Francisco, Monday, July 13, 2026. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via AP) I have spent much of my life going back and forth between San Francisco and Los Angeles. One is my hometown. The other has been my home for many chapters of my life. I love them both, and for decades their fortunes have felt intertwined. Together, they have shaped how much of the world sees California.
Today, however, they seem to be moving in different directions.
The city defying expectations today isn’t Los Angeles. It’s San Francisco.
Just four years ago, San Francisco had become the national symbol of urban decline. Headlines focused on crime, open-air drug markets, empty downtown streets, business departures, and a growing belief that the city’s best days were behind it. Eventually, that pessimism became a self-fulfilling prophecy. When residents lose confidence, businesses hesitate to invest. When businesses pull back, people lose hope. Civic pride fades, and decline accelerates.
I remember those conversations because I was having them every day. When I moved back to San Francisco from Los Angeles in 2022, many of my friends in LA thought I was making a big mistake. They were wrong.
Today, San Francisco feels fundamentally different. Even bigger than the cleaner streets, new investment and improving economic indicators is the fact that the city has regained confidence in itself. There is a growing belief that our problems are solvable — that government can work, that business is a partner rather than an adversary and that progress comes from collaboration rather than ideological purity.
That change in mindset has changed everything — and none of it happened by accident.
San Francisco benefited from leaders who understood that recovery required more than good intentions. Mayor Daniel Lurie has made economic recovery and public safety central priorities. District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, police Chief Derrick Lew, and U.S. Attorney Craig Missakian have demonstrated that local, state, and federal law enforcement can work together instead of operating in separate silos. Business leaders, some labor organizations, neighborhood groups, and civic institutions are increasingly pulling in the same direction.
The city’s Democratic establishment has also evolved. The local Democratic County Central Committee has increasingly embraced a much more practical approach to governing. It has elected a much more pragmatic chair, Nancy Tung, who recognizes progressive values and economic growth don’t have to be competing priorities. Supporting public safety, welcoming employers, and demanding accountability from government are no longer viewed as ideological compromises. They are increasingly understood as prerequisites for an equitable and thriving city.
That spirit of collaboration has become San Francisco’s competitive advantage. The city is attracting investment again instead of chasing it away. It is giving entrepreneurs confidence to build here. It is encouraging employers to grow instead of relocate. Most importantly, it is reminding residents that their city is worth believing in again.
But ironically, I now hear many of the same conversations in Los Angeles that I used to hear in San Francisco. People speak with resignation. They assume bureaucracy cannot change. They question whether employers and investors will continue looking elsewhere. Too many have begun lowering their expectations for what their city can become.
That mindset is dangerous because cities often become what their residents expect them to become. San Francisco proved that once. Today, it is proving the opposite.
This isn’t about becoming less progressive. San Francisco hasn’t abandoned its core values. It has rediscovered something simpler: local government exists to solve local problems. Cities can be compassionate without being permissive. They can support innovation while welcoming business. They can protect vulnerable residents while insisting on public safety. They can pursue ambitious goals while expecting measurable results.
Los Angeles remains one of the world’s great cities. Its creativity, entertainment industry, universities, ports, diversity, and entrepreneurial spirit remain extraordinary strengths. But too many of its institutions still appear to be pulling in different directions. Too many conversations begin with why something can’t be done instead of how it can be done. That is exactly where San Francisco found itself only a few years ago.
The encouraging news — for Los Angeles and every other American city — is that this trajectory is not permanent. Cities can change. Political cultures can change. Public expectations can change.
What changed in San Francisco was our attitude. We stopped asking whether recovery was possible and started asking what it would take to achieve it. We chose results over rhetoric, collaboration over division, and civic pride over cynicism. We put the city first.
That may be San Francisco’s most important lesson—for Los Angeles, and for other progressive cities across America. Because when people choose true progress over paralysis, remarkable things can happen.
Alex Bastian is president and CEO of the Hotel Council of San Francisco.
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