Would you want to move to the areas that Walgreens has abandoned and Targets close at 6pm? It is logical to think that after those who are currently leaving increasingly crime impacted areas--and housing costs go down as a result of their leaving--that crime will be more rampant.
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Many people don't understand the target market for Walgreens. They are NOT located in nice quiet residential areas, full of SFHs. Their stores are deliberately small in size, higher in price than the "big pharmacy/drugstore chains", and they site them in very high density, mixed-use, lower income or business-only neighborhoods.
In SF's Financial District, where it's nothing but hotels and businesses of all sizes, there was literally a Walgreens sited every 3 blocks from another. The FiDi isn't large but up until just a few years ago, I'd say there were at least 10 stores within a 3 mile area.
CA is still growing in population, btw, just more slowly than some other states. Also, SF is
VERY SMALL. You can walk across it in a couple of hours: it's only 7 miles by 7 miles square.
Making blanket statements about SF is fine, but realize that they are not going to apply to most of CA, which is highly diverse socially and politically. SF is not even the largest city in Northern CA in population.
I have lived in the SFBA since 1969 and not a single middle-class person I know has ever bought a home in SF. A condo, yes; and many have done very well doing so. But a SFH? Not unless you're in the upper 5% in net income - and in CA, that is actually a very sizable #.
It might interest people to know that in every study done over the last 20 years, the people moving OUT of CA on average are less well educated and earn less than the people moving INTO California. It's just basic economics: people whose net worth is illiquid must sell RE to access that profit, while people whose net worth is higher have more options about where they live/work.
Trust me, LeBron James knew full well he was going to pay several million $$$$ more in taxes coming to live in CA compared to living in Cleveland and Miami.
Edited to add: Apropos article today in local paper discussing Walgreen's closures. Walgreens has about 10,000 locations across the US, and already announced back in 2019 their intentions to close 200 stores.....and remember, this # was announced BEFORE the pandemic and lockdown happened.
I think SF can afford to lose a good # of their Walgreens, frankly. And I say this being a fan of shopping at Walgreens, because they ARE smaller which makes things easier to find.
