Los Angeles Times

Commentary: Downtown San Francisco had a good run. Can it recover?

A worker pushes a cart as he walks by a First Republic Bank office on Monday, May 1, 2023, in San Francisco. Federal Regulators seized troubled lender First Republic Bank on Monday and sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase. First Republic becomes the second largest bank in U.S. history to fail since Washington Mutual failed in 2008..

Downtown San Francisco is in distress. Indicators of urban well-being point in the wrong direction: office occupancy, BART ridership and retail foot traffic are down, as is the city’s population. Every week brings news of another high-profile exit: Recent closures include a Whole Foods flagship and Nordstrom, which announced the end of its 35-year run on Market Street due to changes in the “dynamics” of downtown. First Republic Bank, another San Francisco success story, went under after it couldn’t retain its wealthy customers and was sold to JPMorgan Chase. The future of its branches, the familiar green-and-gold presence downtown, is uncertain.

Now barely a day passes without the San Francisco Chronicle or another publication referencing a

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