Community: Restaurants, cafes, bars and venues are the meeting places where people interact in our neighborhoods. They are where families meet each other, where long-time San Franciscans connect with new ones and the people who work at these establishments, where newcomers to SF find communities, where service workers create connections to neighborhoods, where visitors create emotional connections to our great city, and much more. Restaurants, bars and venues have to thrive for our communities to thrive.

There has been plenty of research done into “3rd Places” – the places that people need besides home and work and the mental health benefits they provide. With remote work and the pandemic, many San Franciscans don’t even have a 2nd space anymore. We believe this erosion leads to people leaving San Francisco and decreased demand for these 3rd Places as a cyclical problem.

The Rising Tide: When SF small-and-medium businesses succeed, communities are healthier. To thrive, these businesses need to be profitable and sustainable which requires a delicate ecosystem on issues like landlord-tenant balance, supply costs, labor balance and consumer demand. All of these pieces require partnership from the city and county. When any one of these legs break down, they hurt the others. If rent or labor costs go up, prices need to go up and consumer demand can only meet it if those consumers who want to frequent these businesses still live, work and visit San Francisco. Current local and state policies have caused rents and labor costs to rise while the city’s population has decreased by tens of thousands resulting in billions in lost income. 

SFSVA’s stance is to increase customer demand through city policy that makes San Francisco a more attractive place to live and an easier place to run a business so that both workers and landlords can share in that growth with proprietors. Keeping people employed in this labor-heavy service industry also relieves poverty in the city.

Equity of Economic Opportunity: Even with some changes made during the pandemic, it is still too hard to open a business in San Francisco. San Francisco and the Bay Area at large is more adept at addressing equity versus other cities. Good intentions are all around. Where we fall short in practice is in access and information, and this alliance will work to bridge those gaps. It is hard to open a successful business in San Francisco, and even harder if you don’t know or don’t have guidance around navigating the policy and community hurdles inherent in being a local entrepreneur. That lack of information and access is particularly apparent with diverse owners. By providing access to information as well as to peer members who have done this navigation successfully, the SFSVA can create a more diverse community of entrepreneurs in San Francisco.

Creativity: San Francisco is not like every other community, and creativity and independent approaches to entrepreneurship are part of what makes it special. Lots of current and prospective proprietors have great ideas they want to put into action. We want to break down the barriers to that action. Too many times archaic legislation and slow bureaucracy compel owners to minimize their visions. Communities want and need input on their local businesses, and a healthy partnership is vital to mutual success. By highlighting how creative business adds to the community and breaking down policies that no longer make sense, we aim to grow that capacity.

Appreciating our Institutions: While all of our social venue businesses are valuable to San Francisco and to San Franciscans, some are indelibly tied to the fabric of the city. These institutions bring visitors and tourists and make San Francisco a truly special and world-class city.