Letters: YIMBY housing fantasies won’t work in California. Here’s the reality

Regarding “There’s no protecting California values without building more housing” (Open Forum, SFChronicle.com, Dec 13): The steady drumbeat of op-ed pieces from SPUR and YIMBY housing advocates is tiresome. Many Californians disagree with them.

Urban density and infill housing are supposed to remedy suburban sprawl. But urban density, in practice, simply creates overcrowded streets, with motorists circling in search of rare parking. 

Infill comes at the expense of historic buildings and districts, which are often demolished. A classic example is the enormous apartment buildings planned for the former California College of the Arts campus in Oakland.

Transit-oriented development? This fantasy assumes that public transportation is a fixed utility. Many bus lines that once served our communities have been cut.

How many voters will oppose a tax to support BART because of the agency’s plans to put apartments in its parking lots? How many people have quit taking BART because there is no secure place to park near the stations? 

The SPUR and YIMBY people want Soviet-style apartment blocks wherever they can be crammed in, extinguishing every vestige of charm from neighborhoods.

It’s time for the state to stop forcing draconian “density bonus” and “builder’s remedy” laws on neighborhoods that want to retain some breathing room.

Amelia Marshall, board member, Oakland Heritage Alliance

Mural not antisemitic

Regarding “Story ignores controversy” (Letters to the Editor, Dec. 12): Joshua Simmons gets it wrong in his letter. The mural at the upcoming San Francisco Palestinian restaurant Falasteen contains no Star of David. (An early version contained an Israeli flag, but after the mural was defaced multiple times, the latest version does not.)

The “violent symbols” in the mural are destroyed homes, hospitals and schools in Gaza and bombs paid for by the United States. These are not antisemitic images. They are truthful images of destruction wrought by a heavily armed nation, supported by the U.S. defense industry, on a helpless civilian population.

As a longtime Jewish resident of Noe Valley, I appreciate that the Chronicle featured news of the restaurant without mention of a manufactured controversy.

Deborah Frangquist, San Francisco

Overhaul health care

California’s Office of Healthcare Affordability proposes to reduce health care costs by setting a 3% cap on cost growth, which, if violated by health plans and providers, will result in fines.  


Such attempts at cost control only stick fingers in the dike of high costs and rampant hospital consolidation. 

Fines to multibillion-dollar for-profit private companies are wrist slaps; attempts to control their profiteering cannot address finely honed, loophole acrobatics. Fines to physician practices will disrupt patient-clinician relationships. 

By imposing fines, the state tacitly accepts middlemen who provide no medical care but do add to administrative complexity and waste. 


Hayward’s St. Rose Hospital was saved from closure by herculean local efforts. Not all are so fortunate. According to the National Rural Health Association, 683 other rural hospitals are at risk of bankruptcy. 

The misguided strategy of the state will halt further closures. 

A better solution, practiced by other industrialized democracies, is a universal, single-payer health care system, or Medicare for all, that protects hospital solvency and saves billions yearly.



Patty Harvey and Dr. Corinne Frugoni, co-chairs, Humboldt County chapters of Health Care for All-California and Physicians for a National Health Program

Firefighter saves day

I want to express my gratitude to Capt. Jonathan Baxter of the San Francisco Fire Department for the exemplary care I received.

I was at Ocean Beach on Dec. 1 when one of my two dogs was attacked and killed by another dog. I was panicked and lucky to run into Capt. Baxter when I was desperate for help. 

Capt. Baxter offered guidance. He gave us water and a phone charger and wrapped our beloved Rocco in a blanket. He stayed with me when I spoke with the man whose dog attacked my dog. 

Capt. Baxter went above and beyond and helped bolster my faith in humanity. He brought some light and goodness into a heartbreaking and devastating day.  

Maura Warren, Walnut Creek