The median commute distance for people who work in San Francisco and earn less than $40,000 jumped from 9 miles in 2008 to almost 15 miles in 2013, according to a study by Zillow. The commute for those making more than $40,000 remained relatively unchanged over that period.
“Even with a booming economy and millions of dollars in new money coming in, San Francisco is facing a projected $99 million budget deficit next fiscal year. And nearly half of it can be chalked up to the city’s skyrocketing pension costs.”
But, what few Californians may know, is what will not count against that requirement: the rooftop solar units they put on their homes, businesses, schools or other public buildings.
Businesses in San Francisco’s Mid-Market district skirted nearly $34 million in city payroll taxes last year thanks to a controversial incentive program known as the “Twitter tax break” intended to keep tech firms from fleeing for Silicon Valley. . . Last year, six companies qualified for the program — a drop from 11 in 2013.
Benchmark egg prices in California have gone up by 150 percent in a year, from $1.45 per dozen large eggs last August to $3.61 today, according to the USDA. While the avian flu outbreak this spring that resulted in the killing of 48 million domestic chickens and turkeys, mostly in the Midwest, continues to have a ripple effect across the country, a perfect storm of additional factors in California, namely the rollout of Proposition 2 and higher chicken feed prices, are wreaking havoc on Bay Area supermarket egg prices and limiting the supply of eggs to local restaurants, ice cream shops and bakeries.
The median Bay Area home price rose to within a hair of its all-time high last month, as affordability continues to decline across the region, dipping close to an all-time low in San Francisco, according to new reports on the housing market.
According to WalletHub’s analysis, California has the 9th worst school system in the nation, thanks in part to low reading and math test results, a high dropout rate and an abysmal score (worst in the nation) for the high number of pupils per teachers in our classrooms.
he result has been an enrollment spike among both newly eligible people and California’s existing Medi-Cal population. In January 2014, the state estimated a total of 1.4 million people would be added to Medi-Cal at a cost of $390 million for one year. In reality, 3.7 million people joined, costing the state more than $1 billion, according to state figures for the 2014-15 fiscal year.
The “Coffee Break” ring, which allegedly took in $500,000 in fraudulent insurance claims, was broken up, officials said, when an alert California Highway Patrol investigator noticed that too many people in Santa Clara County were spilling too much coffee.
Thanks to a rebound in the economy and real estate values, county assessment rolls — and by extension property tax revenues — are going up between 5.2 and 8.7 percent in eight Bay Area counties this fiscal year.
An Uber driver is an employee, not an independent contractor, the California Labor Commission ruled this month, in a decision that foreshadows a big challenge to Uber’s business model and potential seismic changes to the nation’s classifications of workers.
Despite plunging prices in the last seven years, rooftop solar arrays remain an expensive home improvement, costing $15,000 or more. A 2013 study by the liberal research and advocacy group Center for American Progress found that 67 percent of solar arrays installed in California went to ZIP codes with a median household income between $40,000 and $90,000. Wealthier areas accounted for almost all of the rest.
But where it really gets interesting is the rankings measuring cities’ potential to be booming in 2024. And that’s where San Francisco comes out on top. Take that London, Boston and New York! (Nos. 2, 3 and 4.) And Beat L.A.? No problem. Those Dodgers lovers are at a mere No. 21.
The unusual new startup dangles the possibility of getting Draper’s seed funding — as much as $2-4 million — for putting an idea on the state ballot. But he says he’s also willing to provide seed for non-profits and for-profit ventures, or to help fund a campaign to push an idea through the legislature.
No newsflash here: San Francisco, after recently beating out Manhattan for both price and scarcity of offerings, has been crowned the worst city in the country for renters. But according to Forbes, the second worst city is not Manhattan. It’s Oakland. And the third worst: San Jose.