Techies aren't totally abandoning the Bay Area anytime soon, though mass layoffs continue wreaking havoc on residents at an avg of 3,000/month (as compared to 2022's 871/month). While the Silicon Valley still takes the top spot nationwide in venture-capital investments, other cities like Miami, New York, and Austin are starting to catch up, as the SV relinquishes more market share (and residents). The Washington Post breaks it down here.

In a 6.23 e-mailer, Reform California, summarizes why SJ's Housing First methodology is plain illogical: It's costly but doesn't actually combat homelessness, which is 50% more often associated with mental health/substance abuse issues than with economic displacement. The Bay Area needs other, creative, more holistic solutions to our homeless epidemic—not another tax hike to build more PSH.

Bay Area real estate broker Tony Xu is a board member at CA'ns for Equal Rights (CFER), the nonprofit that spearheaded the campaign against Prop 16 (which would have legalized race-based school admissions). In an Opp Now exclusive, Xu expresses that despite the Supreme Court's recent ruling against affirmative action, he expects CA universities to use workarounds to maintain discriminatory enrollment—until they're legally challenged.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) gives colleges' speech codes one of three ratings: green (no suppression of free speech), yellow (ambiguous wording that could be used to suppress free speech), or red (clear structural suppression). Along with myriad public CA'n universities, San Jose State gets a dismal yellow for prohibiting “[bias]ed” conduct. But who exactly gets to define what a bias-related incident is (and could that in itself be one sided)?

San Jose's rent growth, at 1.7%/yr, has slowed down significantly since Covid. And it's not the only city seeing a downward trend in median apartment rent due to increased housing supply and weakened tenant demand, concocting an unusually competitive landscape for landlords. The WSJ's Will Parker breaks down how 2023's turn in the market is forcing property managers to more affordably list apartments.

Educational expert Larry Sand writes in Front Page Magazine that myriad organizations on the Left remain worried about public school libraries “banning” (read: not offering to students) books deemed as developmentally inappropriate. Sand suggests a creative solution to preserve parents' right to raise their kids, while averting censorship dilemmas entirely: an organization-run book rating system, à la the Motion Picture Association's film classifications.

The loss of CA'n companies continues to take a toll on the Bay Area's once-vibrant economy, particularly in Downtown SF—where announcements of yet another closed shop have become a regular, and seemingly never-ending, refrain. The California Globe's Katy Grimes analyzes how CA's exorbitant income tax is forcing out businesses and individuals, who frequently relocate to friendlier states like Texas.

Homeless shelters without behavioral requirements are known to endure some gnarly treatment by residents who sidestep much-needed rehabilitation for mental illness/addiction (see: LA's Skid Row Housing Trust disaster). KQED reports that SF is expected to pay millions in property damage to Hotel Whitcomb, which housed people during the pandemic—and supervised “safer” (though noting 18 overdoses) hard drug use.

GrowSF reports that California plans to keep local transit agencies afloat, according to the latest budget revision. However, BART's essential problems—pervasive passenger drug use, violence, and unclean conditions—will remain. A sharp 180 turn is needed, says GrowSF, to ensure people are comfortable taking public transportation again in the Bay Area.