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From Our Members: Observations & Opportunities
June 11, 2020
Join us every other week as ULI San Francisco leaders and members share their experiences and perspectives in this ever-changing world. Their views represent various real estate industry segments and delve into both professional and personal thoughts and ideas in this snapshot in time, and what positive opportunities can be found today, and in the future.
This time, we’ve asked our contributors to share their thoughts around three questions.
Meet this week’s contributors:
Diane Oshima
Deputy Director, Panning and Environment, Port of San Francisco
Q: After almost three months of sheltering in place, what have you reflected on, both personally and professionally?
It is ironic that as I shelter at home, I am more exposed and mindful than ever of what is happening in our world and our role in it. I am proud of San Francisco and the Bay Area for its proactive and methodical approach that has averted public health chaos and lays the groundwork for recovery. As San Francisco employees, we are City Disaster Service Workers who can be assigned to any emergency duty no matter our knowledge or background. Whether it’s building COVID testing facilities or housing to quarantine the homeless, site monitors to serve these needy residents, developing the next round of public health guidance or other myriad needs, I am inspired by the resolve and resilience, and a genuine esprit de corps in the eye of a hurricane.
Q: What has surprised you during this time?
This is not the only storm. George Floyd’s murder triggered another pandemic. Like the race for a COVID-19 vaccine, I am moved and hopeful that the instant reaction and demand by people of all colors, income brackets and political backgrounds will lead to reforms to replace racism with rules of equity, fairness and true opportunity for all. That this movement is being led by our youth and Gen Y’ers is the most inspirational because there could be no more powerful call to active citizenry, to turn up and vote for actual leaders that will enact these changes.
Q: Where do you see the opportunities as we look to the future?
As land use and economic development professionals, ULI San Francisco is on the front lines to take risks and try new ideas to lead transformations that realize these changes. If we are true in our commitment, we must take the time to listen and learn, to contribute meaningfully to the continued reinvention and evolution of our cities and communities. Let’s look to what we can do now: hire, mentor and train more brown and black interns and employees; invest time and funding for community organizations to include them in the design process to learn their needs and desires; partner with minority-owned businesses. Let’s tap this ULI SF brain trust for more ideas!
As land use and economic development professionals, ULI San Francisco is on the front lines to take risks and try new ideas to lead transformations that realize these changes. If we are true in our commitment, we must take the time to listen and learn, to contribute meaningfully to the continued reinvention and evolution of our cities and communities. Let’s look to what we can do now: hire, mentor and train more brown and black interns and employees; invest time and funding for community organizations to include them in the design process to learn their needs and desires; partner with minority-owned businesses. Let’s tap this ULI SF brain trust for more ideas!
Nate Hanson
Project Coordinator / Development Associate, Related CA NorCal Affordable
Q: After almost three months of sheltering in place, what have you reflected on, both personally and professionally?
What was once conveniently hidden is now impossible to ignore. We can no longer refuse to recognize the extent to which we are interconnected. Nor can we conveniently opt to look past the systemic failures that reinforce and exacerbate inequality, both growing economic inequality and the foundational racial disparity upon which much of the wealth in this country has been built. Technology has cleaved our world into two lived realities: a digitized world for those able to work remotely, unsettled but relatively unscathed, and another, undoubtedly physical and brutally uncertain, for those who have no choice but to expose themselves to disease to provide for themselves and their families. The ladder for mobility between these worlds is becoming increasingly tenuous, which should concern all of us at every level of society.
My personal reflection has been the extent to which this is unsustainable and tragic. The great divide is widening, and, with it, there is widespread unrest and a valid sense of outrage. The S&P500 has been flirting with all-time highs while our country burns and entire industries are furloughed or left unemployed. The dissonance between these worlds is impossible to ignore and is approaching a breaking point. If ever there were a time to dismantle systems of injustice, it is now.
Q: What has surprised you during this time?
I am encouraged by the emergence of a new shared sense of civic duty and collective responsibility that continues to diffuse into the cultural mainstream. This has only grown in the wake of George Floyd’s death, the latest in a horrific series of brutal viral video clips that force us to wrestle with our connection to an unequal system of justice. This moment calls us to understand the context of disparate structures of accountability and the biases, implicit and explicit, that guide an individual’s unchecked discretion in extreme circumstances.
We can no longer look away, nor should we want to.
However painful, I believe that this is ultimately a good thing for the soul of our society. While media attention, incentivized by pursuit of clicks, views, and shares, often amplifies and directs to the scariest, angriest, or most chaotic outgrowths of this collective response, I am thankful to see enormous peaceful demonstrations and a shared cathartic mourning that speaks to the humanity and goodness that I firmly believe sits at the core of the American spirit. Treating and healing a wound requires the sting of an astringent. It has been a long time since I can say that I have had hope in this regard.
Q: Where do you see the opportunities as we look to the future?
Looking past amorphous feel good social media statements about “doing better” and woke-capitalist advertising campaigns, I believe that the opportunity presented to us in this moment boils down to the responsibility of those who have benefitted from this system to adopt two simple methods of tangible action: make the hire and write the check, each without the expectation of receiving external recognition or praise.For those of us who are more junior in our careers, this translates to lifting up the diverse voices of our peers to ensure they are substantially represented among the next generation of leaders. For those of us who may have more to give, this means thinking carefully about how personal and corporate philanthropy might be able to support this shift to awareness into concrete and pragmatic results.
Looking past amorphous feel good social media statements about “doing better” and woke-capitalist advertising campaigns, I believe that the opportunity presented to us in this moment boils down to the responsibility of those who have benefitted from this system to adopt two simple methods of tangible action: make the hire and write the check, each without the expectation of receiving external recognition or praise.For those of us who are more junior in our careers, this translates to lifting up the diverse voices of our peers to ensure they are substantially represented among the next generation of leaders. For those of us who may have more to give, this means thinking carefully about how personal and corporate philanthropy might be able to support this shift to awareness into concrete and pragmatic results.
Dicko Ba
ULI Debra Stein Fellow
Q: After almost three months of sheltering in place, what have you reflected on, both personally and professionally?
Being a student during the first months of SIP kept us busy, as we still had classes and finals to complete, and, most importantly, graduation to look forward to. At the end of the semester, the magnitude of what was happening began to sink in. I pondered on the importance of effective governance paired with the need for knowledgeable leadership. Thank you to the Governor, mayors, and all essential workers for keeping us safe!
I also understood the implication for all of us as graduates: finding our next step will be tougher than we could’ve ever imagined. I could not believe that I, once again, graduated during the start of a recession. It is time to show resilience, creativity, and intentionality in the type of work I engage in.
Q: What has surprised you during this time?
Confined at home, I started going on long walks in my neighborhood and hikes in the Berkeley hills. As I discovered new paths, the shelter-in-place order allowed me to become better acquainted with my community, forge relationships with my neighbors, and even meet local artists.
In addition to the pandemic, we started a fight against racism and for basic human rights: the right to live and live without fear. When I arrived in the United States 12 months ago, I was astounded to see how expensive the healthcare system is and how racially and economically segregated communities are. This is different from my experience in Dakar, London, and Paris where there is a strong sense of curiosity towards other cultures. Never could I have imagined that I would witness so many historical events in such a short period of time.
Q: Where do you see the opportunities as we look to the future?
During this time, we have seen a drop in consumerism and a refocus on core values including family, communities, and solidarity. I hope these values are here to stay and that we, as actors in the built environment, will integrate them into our professional lives. Today, I am looking to draw upon my international experience and diverse real estate background to build creative mixed-use and mixed-income developments in service of a truly more equitable and resilient urban environment. Developments that will take into account healthy human interaction with the public realm will create a better built environment where communities can form strong relationships and learn from one another. As a developer, I will continue to focus on the experience of the people, the ultimate end-user who will live, work, and play in our communities.
During this time, we have seen a drop in consumerism and a refocus on core values including family, communities, and solidarity. I hope these values are here to stay and that we, as actors in the built environment, will integrate them into our professional lives. Today, I am looking to draw upon my international experience and diverse real estate background to build creative mixed-use and mixed-income developments in service of a truly more equitable and resilient urban environment. Developments that will take into account healthy human interaction with the public realm will create a better built environment where communities can form strong relationships and learn from one another. As a developer, I will continue to focus on the experience of the people, the ultimate end-user who will live, work, and play in our communities.
Alan Mark
Founder, Alan Mark Company
Q: After almost three months of sheltering in place, what have you reflected on, both personally and professionally?
I’ve been consulting for the past two years. We’re all used to Zoom meetings now. However, connecting by Zoom was pretty powerful when we were all seriously SIP and seeing virtually no one. I’ve found that it has resulted in us being more passionate and dedicated to our project goals and teamwork.
We have moved from the shock and fear of the virus to the gradual understanding and acceptance of altering our lives. Eyes were, until recently, mainly focused on how we slowly and safely re-enter the world. Now it ranges from sorrow, to rage, to protest, and hope… and back. I am horrified by the death of George Floyd. We all have to recognize the pervasiveness of racial inequity and discrimination.
Q: What has surprised you during this time?
There is a heightened sense of time, of issues and now injustices. When was the last time that we have witnessed so many people who urgently want something radically different? Each day passes quickly and I try to listen to the voices of our community and to make a difference. We all have to recognize this time as an inflection point.
Q: Where do you see the opportunities as we look to the future?
It’s no longer a time for spectators. There is an opportunity to make changes, and to create a difference. Systemic racism is real. For the most part, the real estate industry is far from being diverse. Each firm needs to question what needs to change, both within the company and in the greater community.I challenge companies to make a commitment to hire a minimum of one person of color as a paid intern, either each term or during the summer. Hire a Guardian Scholar from SFSU or a student from CCSF or a public high school — and give them exposure to the real estate industry. This is only a start.
It’s no longer a time for spectators. There is an opportunity to make changes, and to create a difference. Systemic racism is real. For the most part, the real estate industry is far from being diverse. Each firm needs to question what needs to change, both within the company and in the greater community.I challenge companies to make a commitment to hire a minimum of one person of color as a paid intern, either each term or during the summer. Hire a Guardian Scholar from SFSU or a student from CCSF or a public high school — and give them exposure to the real estate industry. This is only a start.