San Francisco’s Downtown Faces New Phase of Crisis as Prominent Shopping Mall Goes Bankrupt

San Francisco’s downtown is facing another phase of its crisis, with the city’s biggest shopping mall, Westfield, going bust. The high living costs, which are 3 times the national average, have forced many residents to leave, while others are living in RVs or on the streets. With more housing not being built, the situation has become untenable for many, including teachers, nurses, and other workers. The consequences have started to show as the Westfield mall stopped paying its $558 million mortgage and is surrendering the namesake shopping mall to lenders. What happened? There are not enough people living and working in downtown San Francisco anymore. Nordstrom, an anchor tenant of the mall, is leaving, and foot traffic in the city has plunged since 2019. Nearby, there are more problems, with many retailers pulling out of the city’s downtown area. Despite some positive happenings, such as the sprouting of Generative AI startups and the new post-Covid energy in some parts of the city, the situation highlights the importance of regular people embracing the location to ensure an urban area thrives.