San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie: Past Leaders Took the City ‘for Granted’
If you believe Daniel Lurie, Mayor of San Francisco, there is no better place in the world to live than The City by the Bay. At WIRED’s Big Interview event on Thursday — which, not coincidentally, was held in San Francisco — the mayor told global editorial director Katie Drummond that he’s absolutely convinced that anyone looking to make fun of the city doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
Photography: Annie Noelker
Of course, Lurie said, things could always be better. While praising positive changes San Francisco has made since he took office 11 months ago, such as an increase in occupied office space downtown and a decrease in crime, he acknowledged that some of those changes could be due to corporate back-to-office policies and the AI boom. Still, Lurie said, if you survey San Francisco residents, 62 percent say their city is moving in the right direction, up from just 25 percent a year ago.
Lurie said part of what will help keep San Francisco on track is getting residents engaged. Former leaders, he said, “took San Francisco for granted,” thinking “that we could just keep going and our success would continue as well.” To make San Francisco resilient, able to withstand economic changes and technology booms and busts, Lurie said, its leaders must be “relentless in the fight to [their] city, defending [their] city and welcome people by telling them: “We want you here and we will create the conditions for your success. »
