San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie: ‘We Are a City on the Rise’

I archetypal met Daniel Lurie, San Francisco’s recently minted mayor, astir 5 minutes earlier we walked onstage astatine WIRED’s Big Interview event, held successful his metropolis past week.

Lurie’s squad fto maine cognize up of clip that his model for this speech was tight: He’d conscionable travel from announcing a caller metropolis constabulary chief, and had astir fractional an hr for maine earlier helium needed to beryllium connected to the adjacent thing. Which was? “No idea,” Lurie quipped, soon earlier we were foisted from backstage and into our speech successful beforehand of respective 100 attendees—a section crowd, who, judging from their boisterous reactions to Lurie’s each word, are among the 73 percent of San Franciscans who o.k. of the occupation he’s done since taking bureau successful January of this year.

To Lurie’s credit, the communicative of San Francisco close present is mostly a affirmative one. The metropolis is indisputably the planetary hub of AI innovation and the billions of dollars that travel it, with companies similar Anthropic and OpenAI, on with smaller startups, investors, and plentifulness of young, AI-focused technologists each calling San Francisco home. Yes, that means rents are up and lodging banal remains precariously low. But bureau vacancy rates are dropping, retail outlets are coming backmost to the city’s downtown, and arsenic Lurie’s bureau is speedy to tout, respective cardinal metrics measuring municipal crime—including homicides and car break-ins—are astatine historical lows.

I wanted to speech to Lurie astir each of that, but I was besides funny astir the bigger picture: his administration’s dynamic with the national government, peculiarly successful the discourse of President Trump’s October program to nonstop the National Guard into San Francisco—an endeavor that Lurie managed to thwart, according to The New York Times, by recruiting a almighty coterie of exertion executives to enactment the phones successful his favor.

Lurie wasn’t precisely forthcoming there, successful keeping with his diligent efforts to absorption conversations connected San Francisco, and possibly debar attracting the attention, oregon the ire, of the existent administration. It’s a antithetic tack than different Democrats governing progressive parts of the state person taken, from New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to California politician Gavin Newsom. But if the effect successful the country past week was immoderate indication, Lurie’s section fans don’t look to caput his “say less” strategy—at slightest for now.

This interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

KATIE DRUMMOND: Oh, wow. Some fans successful the audience. Someone has a 70-something percent support rating. Wow, god.

DANIEL LURIE: How are my socks? Oh, they're black. I usually person much amusive socks on.

They're not fun.

I know. Well, if I took 'em off, there's stripes each over.

Sure. Take disconnected your shoes. Woo! Oh, interesting.

[Speaking to the audience] Katie told maine that the manager of Wicked was present earlier.

I said, “It's a precocious bar.”

Then I was like, “What americium I doing here? And who are you?” And she's like, “I'm successful charge.”

He said, “Who are you?” and I was like, “I'm the boss.” It was embarrassing for him.

Yes.

I was going to bash a wind-up and present you, but you conscionable took your shoes disconnected and that took an full minute, truthful fto maine fast-forward.

You spent galore years moving extracurricular of City Hall. You were not successful politics. You ran a first-time campaign. You were elected politician successful 2024. You've been successful bureau a small nether a year. You person been precise publicly, successful a precise circumstantial way, focused connected San Francisco's recovery. It’s the comeback communicative of this metropolis from homelessness, nationalist safety, rebuilding the city's downtown.

You also, I'm definite galore of you present know, made headlines precocious for keeping the National Guard retired of the city. WIRED has a immense bureau here, and we’ve been present for implicit 3 decades. For me, sitting successful New York wherever I unrecorded and work, watching our squad successful San Francisco respond to that announcement from President Trump, and watching it unfold arsenic journalists and arsenic quality beings, was remarkable. A truly stressful 24 hours. So, I privation to perceive much astir that. But besides of paramount value to america astatine WIRED, you person a slayer societal media game, truthful we’ll speech astir that, too.

But we ever commencement The Big Interview podcast with immoderate rapid-fire questions, and we're going to bash the aforesaid close here. So are you ready?

I don't person a choice.

No. You person obscurity to run. It's excellent. What is San Francisco's champion kept secret?

Our neighborhoods. Whether you're talking astir North Beach … oh, this is expected to beryllium speedy answers.

It's excessively late. Just support going.

You know, we speech a batch astir Union Square. We speech astir downtown and the recovery. Sixty percent of our taxation gross and our jobs and our tiny concern were downtown. That's dropped to 40 percent successful presumption of our taxation revenue. I accent the value of the betterment downtown due to the fact that it drives everything other successful our city.

Our neighborhoods are truthful unbelievable. I went to the Vogue Theater connected Sacramento Street past night. It's been astir since 1912. We conscionable relit and redid the neon acknowledgment to immoderate large San Franciscans. We're revitalizing immoderate of our old-school theaters each astir our neighborhoods. The neighborhoods are our champion kept secret. Once we get radical downtown, they spell research the Mission, they spell research the Sunset, they spell research North Beach, and they're hooked.

If you weren't successful politics, what would you beryllium doing instead?

Doing what I did before, which is philanthropy successful the nonprofit satellite and/or sports.

Sports arsenic a participant?

No.

No offense, but I was surprised.

I’ve been complimented connected the societal media already, but if you’ve looked astatine it, I really threw a shot and radical were like, “Oh my God, you tin propulsion a shot decently well.” So spell ticker the societal media.

If you didn't unrecorded successful San Francisco, wherever would you unrecorded instead?

My 2nd favourite metropolis successful the state is New York.

What's the champion burrito successful this city? I'm allowed to inquire you. I don't unrecorded here.

I had Gordo past night, which was a staple for maine increasing up. La Taqueria. If you cognize San Francisco, similar you can't spell incorrect with La Taqueria. And, La Vaca Birria is present rising successful the ranks successful my list.

OK. What is your societal media hate-follow?

I don't adjacent cognize what that means.

It means you travel a clump of worldly connected societal media, but immoderate of the radical oregon the companies oregon whatever, you travel them truthful that erstwhile you're scrolling you tin beryllium like, oh God, I hatred that.

My idiosyncratic account, you know, I truly didn't usage earlier the campaign. We don't travel anybody. So I don't get the hatred stuff. I emotion seeing what my critics accidental astir me. It gets maine fired up.

Do you work the comments connected your Instagram?

No, I don't work the comments anymore. I utilized to, and that was a bad, atrocious thing.

What different politician bash you person the biggest nonrecreational crush on?

Oh wow. I deliberation Michelle Wu successful Boston is beauteous awesome.

OK. I privation to commencement backmost astatine the beginning. You were calved and raised successful San Francisco. You didn't request to beryllium doing what you're doing. You didn't request to tally for office. You don't request to beryllium the mayor.

People ever accidental that line, but I did. I was watching my metropolis spell successful a absorption that nary of america …

But that's the question: Did you conscionable look astir and think, I could bash a amended job? What inspired you to instrumentality that leap?

I ran an enactment called Tipping Point Community for a agelong time. It was ever successful work to the assemblage and tackling poverty, and it was my mode of serving.

I ran Super Bowl 50. The mayor, Ed Lee, and [San Francisco 49ers] owner, Jed York, asked maine 10 years agone to tally the Super Bowl, and I had specified a bully clip doing that. By the way, we're hosting Super Bowl LX successful astir 9 weeks present successful San Francisco.

Yes.

I was walking my kids to school, and we were each getting much and much frustrated astir the conditions that we were seeing connected the streets of San Francisco. We had benignant of conscionable said, “Oh, this is conscionable however it has to be.” We took everything for granted. Everyone took San Francisco for granted. Our elected officials took it for granted that we could conscionable proceed connected and that our occurrence would continue. That is not the case. You person to continually beryllium relentless successful warring for your city, lasting up for your city, and welcoming radical to your metropolis and saying, “We privation you here, and we're gonna make the conditions for your success.” And we forgot astir that. I cognize what it takes to enactment hard each azygous day. I saw a infinitesimal that required idiosyncratic from extracurricular the breached system.

Your bureau has shared immoderate singular statistics. Crime is down 30 percent, car break-ins astatine a 22-year low. Overdose deaths successful the metropolis are dropping. I could spell connected and on. Your communicative arsenic San Francisco's politician truthful acold is simply a turnaround story. It's a occurrence story.

It's a bully story. But, I'm curious, you've been successful bureau for 11 months. How overmuch of that occurrence communicative bash you instrumentality recognition for, bash you deliberation has to bash with the policies that you person implemented, and however overmuch of it is astir what was happening earlier you got into office? RTO mandates, oregon the earthy rhythm backmost from Covid. How overmuch of it bash you spot arsenic occurrence that you ain arsenic opposed to a trajectory that you inherited?

You'd person to spell speech to immoderate different beauteous accepted person for them to reply that by saying, “I did this, I did that.”

Well, that's wherefore I'm asking.

That's conscionable not however I'm wired. A twelvemonth ago, 25 percent of San Franciscans thought we were heading successful the close direction. Today, 62 percent of San Franciscans deliberation we're heading successful the close direction.

That is due to the fact that of truthful galore factors. You person to number the AI boom. You person to number tech. But you besides person to number our restaurateurs and our entrepreneurs successful the arts and civilization country who ever thrust our comeback. When you person bare storefronts and you capable them with section craftspeople. San Francisco's tone has truly shown done implicit the past year, the past 2 years, erstwhile everyone was knocking us.

Right.

Those that are existent San Franciscans, we stayed. We fought and we knew that it was a atrocious determination to stake against San Francisco. So this is not astir immoderate 1 person. I bash deliberation enactment matters, and that means each of the departments. That means successful our constabulary department, that means successful our—we person a occurrence main who came successful in February, who has done a singular job. We person a fig of caller section heads that are conscionable bringing a renewed tone and energy. So it's been a full squad effort.

But fto maine besides say, I conscionable came from a section caput meeting. We person 59 antithetic departments and we each stitchery erstwhile each mates months. Our ample agencies, we conscionable each week, 20 section heads, each of 'em. They utilized to conscionable each mates of months, and I got them each successful the country each azygous week. But we conscionable had an update meeting, and we went done the database of each the accomplishments for the year, and I ended the gathering and I said, “I truly convey you each for each of this, but I americium not satisfied. I americium not blessed with wherever we're at. We inactive person excessively galore radical dying connected our streets. We inactive person excessively galore pockets of our metropolis wherever radical are openly dealing drugs astatine night.” So we person a agelong mode to go, and I americium conscionable going to beryllium relentless. I americium not satisfied, but I americium arrogant of the trajectory we're on.

We are a metropolis connected the rise, and erstwhile we are astatine our champion this metropolis is the top metropolis successful the world.

You've seen this metropolis done a batch of antithetic eras. Right now, San Francisco is indisputably the epicenter of the AI boom, right?

Right.

How has that roar and the wealth and the radical and the startups it's brought to the city, however has that changed the civilization of San Francisco? What is different, close now, successful San Francisco arsenic a effect of this infinitesimal that we're in?

We are a metropolis that has gone done booms and busts. For our full history. We are perpetually changing. We are perpetually innovating. We are perpetually the halfway of the world. I privation to make a durable and lasting recovery. I don't privation to bash what we did successful the 2010s wherever we conscionable alert similar a rocket vessel and crash-land. That's wherefore we're trying to create, and support, and make the conditions truthful that it's not conscionable astir AI, due to the fact that it's not.

I mean, we're a fewer blocks distant from 1 of the large wellness attraction institutions, successful UCSF, connected the planet. Let's get into biotech. Let's get into wellness care. Let's get into, you know, our arts and culture, our restaurants. People forget. They ever speech astir AI, but our fig 1 manufacture is tourism, and we request to invitation radical backmost to San Francisco. I person to archer you, during the 10-day play the week earlier Thanksgiving, done this past Sunday, that 10-day play was the astir highly trafficked 10-day play successful our airport's history.

Wow.

Beating pre-pandemic levels. So 1.8 cardinal radical went done our airport, and that tells maine that this metropolis is connected a bully footing. So, we've seen this before, rents are going close up. Housing and affordability. We conscionable had our large legislative win, thing that has not been done successful decades successful San Francisco. We passed a caller zoning map, it's called the Family Zoning Plan, wherever we are committed to creating denser lodging on commercialized corridors and transit corridors.

Something that we've been talking astir passim this state is we request to make much housing, and San Francisco, connected Tuesday, showed the federation that we attraction astir affordability, that we are going to physique much lodging for families. So that the kids that are increasing up successful San Francisco really person an accidental to enactment successful San Francisco and rise their ain kids. So this roar is creating adjacent much affordability issues. It's costly to unrecorded and enactment successful San Francisco.

There was an urgency to lodging and affordability successful this metropolis years ago, right?

Yes.

Actually erstwhile I asked the WIRED staff, “What should I inquire the mayor?” It was housing, housing, housing, affordability. I'm funny astir however rapidly you tin move, and tin you determination rapidly enough?

Well, you know, we person a governmental people that is ideologically opposed to things for nary bully reason. But we've changed that.

Say a small spot much astir that.

We person radical chirping from the sidelines. In this metropolis always, but we had radical chirping wrong the gathering for a agelong time. What we person fundamentally changed successful City Hall is that present we person a politician successful myself that wants to enactment with each 11 supervisors nary substance what they say.

If we disagree connected 1 issue, the adjacent time I'm walking down the hallway and talking to them. I'm going to their offices. I'm saying, “How bash we get much lodging built? How bash we marque beingness easier for our tiny businesses?” We're stripping distant reddish portion near and close done a programme called PermitSF to marque it easier to tally a tiny business.

Now we person this household zoning plan. We're working, we’re gonna physique much housing, and there's already speech of lawsuits. There's radical that are stuck successful the past that don't privation our metropolis to determination forward. I person to accidental the Board of Supervisors is doing a tremendous job. It's a caller time there, and there's gonna beryllium radical trying to propulsion them back.

I'm thrilled by the advancement that we've made, but the lodging and affordability contented is truthful crucial. We gotta physique much housing. We gotta uplift our nationalist schools. We person to person world-class transit. Muni does a large job, but we're seeing a immense fund shortage adjacent year. I'm astatine enactment tirelessly implicit the adjacent 12 months to marque definite that we walk a gross measurement to bring backing and enactment to Muni and to prevention Muni, due to the fact that transit is important for our affordability docket present successful San Francisco.

Let maine rewind to October, and I'm going to recap this successful lawsuit anyone has forgotten. President Trump announced helium was sending the National Guard into San Francisco. You deterred the president from taking that step. What was peculiarly fascinating to me, though, was however that process unfolded. You had exertion executives who telephone San Francisco home, whose companies telephone the metropolis home, who played a relation reportedly successful some Trump's archetypal announcement, and reportedly successful his determination to telephone it off, and they reportedly worked with your medication to bash that.

I'm funny if you tin instrumentality america down the scenes a small bit. What prompted you to instrumentality that strategy, to leverage executives similar OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Salesforce’s Marc Benioff to get connected the telephone with the president?

Let maine conscionable beryllium clear, that it was not maine calling immoderate of those executives saying, “Do thing for me.” I was clear, conscionable successful the nationalist realm and successful talking points, that I did not deliberation that that was what was needed. I mean, we are astatine 22-year lows successful presumption of car break-ins. Crime citywide is down. I've told everybody that nationalist information is my fig 1 priority.

What I kept proceeding from the East Coast and what I heard from different leaders is [the medication was] utilizing talking points from a mates of years agone astir what was impacting our city. So I said this precise clearly, and erstwhile the president asked maine what's going connected successful San Francisco, I said to him, “Things are going truly well. We request assistance connected the fentanyl crisis. We request assistance with cause enforcement and operations, particularly successful the overnight hours, due to the fact that we've done an unthinkable occupation with truly shutting down open-air cause markets during the daytime hours. But past with our staffing issues and shortage, we person a pugnacious clip successful the overnight hours.”

Let maine beryllium clear, [we have] continued [our] concern with the FBI, the DEA, and the US Attorneys Office, which we've been doing for years and years, and we are continuing that.

We person immoderate historical numbers successful presumption of drugs. We've taken 20 pounds of narcotics disconnected the thoroughfare conscionable successful the past month. We made hundreds of arrests. Everybody thinks that determination was immoderate expansive plan, but I deliberation we conscionable laid retired the facts. We laid retired that we invited the continued partnership, and that's what we're doing.

It was reported, though, I deliberation it was The New York Times who quoted the politician of Chicago who said, “If the lone mode successful which you tin pass with this president is to beryllium a billionaire, that leaves retired the vast, immense bulk of mundane people.”

I deliberation that remark was circumstantial to the National Guard incident. To pb San Francisco, you are surrounded by these precise affluent executives who unrecorded here, who enactment here, and who besides hap to person the president of the United States connected velocity dial. How bash you navigate the powerfulness dynamics inherent successful that situation?

I deliberation what we made crystal clear, and I bash successful mean mundane conversations with CEOs, due to the fact that I spell sojourn these companies each the time, is that a beardown San Francisco helps make a beardown United States. If you commencement messing with that, and if you person an onslaught connected our city, and making america consciousness little safe, due to the fact that I deliberation that's what would've happened, we would've had a little harmless city, and would've created a existent situation connected our streets, alternatively of what radical are experiencing close now, which is simply a surging metropolis that is connected the rise. If our assemblage is nether onslaught oregon perceived to beryllium nether attack, businesses volition commencement shutting down. So conscionable making definite that radical recognize the consequences, due to the fact that you've seen it successful different cities and it does not spell well.

I'm funny what your attack is to governing San Francisco wrong the larger national context. You person taken a precise antithetic tack than different governmental leaders astatine a municipal level oregon a authorities level. California politician Gavin Newsom is 1 example. Zohran Momani, the mayor-elect of New York City, is different example. People who person truly travel retired swinging with regards to President Trump and the administration. What happens astatine a national level evidently affects the metropolis of San Francisco, right?

Just a fewer weeks agone determination was an investigation which recovered that the “Big Beautiful Bill” could permission San Francisco with a $400 cardinal spread successful its budget, peculiarly with regards to wellness attraction and nutrient assistance programs. You are precise focused connected San Francisco, but however bash you deliberation astir your strategy astatine a national level?

Let maine conscionable accidental this. When I got into office, erstwhile I was elected, I didn't cognize who was going to beryllium our president, and the radical of San Francisco, they wanted cleanable and harmless streets. They wanted a politician focused connected San Francisco. I deliberation that is thing that I've delivered on. Of course, erstwhile things emergence up, I'm going to not lone respond, but I'm going to beryllium connected the offensive. We've shown with my medication that focusing connected San Francisco and focusing connected nationalist information and focusing connected the cause situation connected our streets, and stripping distant reddish tape. That absorption is what the radical of San Francisco want.

Now, you referenced wellness attraction funding. That is going to beryllium devastating to our city. So we will, of course, enactment with anybody that wants to assistance San Francisco. All of my colleagues, successful presumption of different mayors crossed the country, person said wherever there's country to enactment together, we volition enactment together. But I gotta absorption connected what I tin control. I cannot power what's happening successful DC. I can't power what's happening successful Sacramento. I tin lone marque definite that we walk our dollars much efficaciously and efficiently.

We person a $16 cardinal fund present successful San Francisco. Last twelvemonth erstwhile I came successful office, we had a historical fund deficit, a never-before-seen $879 cardinal fund deficit, implicit 2 years. We closed that successful presumption of a two-year budget. But this year, due to the fact that of the wellness attraction cuts that are coming successful a year, it's gonna beryllium person to a cardinal dollars.

So past twelvemonth was bad. This coming twelvemonth is gonna beryllium worse, and I'm focused connected what I tin control, and of course, if we tin enactment with our national and authorities officials who tin spell to DC and assistance us, I volition bash that.

We're astir retired of time. I was going to inquire you each astir your societal media game—if you haven't checked it out, he's prolific—but I privation to adjacent by looking ahead. You're little than 1 twelvemonth into a four-year term. You've got a batch of runway. Let's accidental we travel backmost present successful 3 years. I'm interviewing you again, what bash you anticipation I'm asking you astir by then?

“Can you thrust transgression down adjacent lower? Can you capable up the remaining bare bureau abstraction downtown?” I anticipation that the retail abstraction and vacancy is each afloat successful 3 years successful Union Square. We're seeing specified demand, and radical returning to the market. We person Zara and Uniqlo and Pop Mart and each these retailers, galore of whom left, that are present coming backmost to San Francisco. I anticipation that you're asking me, “How bash you support your presumption arsenic the fig 1 metropolis successful the world?” That's what you should beryllium asking me.

“Can you inactive propulsion a football? Do you person the vigor near to bash it?”

“Do I inactive person hair?”

“Will you instrumentality your shoes disconnected again?”

That's gonna truly haunt me. I'm atrocious I did that to you.

This is being recorded. It’s connected video.

It’s connected video? Oh my goodness.

We're gonna clip it. We're gonna enactment it everywhere. Listen, we'll nonstop it to your team. You tin enactment it connected your Instagram.

Now, fto maine conscionable say, archetypal off, it's an grant to conscionable you. I've been a instrumentality of this work since you had the hard copy, the magazine.

We inactive person a magazine, OK? Spend a small much clip astatine your newsstands.

I'm going to favourite your podcast amusement now, and I'm gonna perceive to it. I autumn dormant astatine nighttime listening to podcasts, if you tin judge that. It's a problem. I've ne'er admitted that before.

Don’t archer maine you autumn dormant listening to our podcast, due to the fact that I deliberation we would person to propulsion you out.

I haven't listened to your podcast. Now I'm going to. So convey you for having me, and convey you for doing it successful San Francisco. And to your employees successful San Francisco: Go get progressive successful the community. We person play trash pickups successful 17 antithetic locations astir the city. A metropolis that is connected the comeback needs everybody engaged successful the community. Go sojourn your section creation assemblage and your creation institutions and get progressive successful the community. It's happening successful our city. It's truly coming back, and I couldn't beryllium much hopeful and optimistic.

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