Wiener vs. Chan: Two very different urbanist visions in San Francisco’s congressional race – Mission Local

Wiener vs. Chan: Two very different urbanist visions in San Francisco’s congressional race  Mission Local

For years, Chan and Wiener have been on opposite sides of debates over housing, transit, parks and more. No local issue divides San Francisco congressional candidates Scott Wiener and Connie Chan more than land use. Urbanism is Wiener’s top focus. He has worked for his 16 years in office to create a San Francisco that has more transit, more bicycle lanes and far more housing. He was a YIMBY long before that stance was popular. Like most city moderates, he believes in a market-based solution to the affordability crisis. Chan, meanwhile, has been more cautious. She has advocated for avoiding changes that upset residents or risk displacement of existing San Franciscans.

Like most city progressives, she is skeptical private development will decrease housing and rent costs. That is not an unfamiliar divide. Land use has long been one of the city’s most contentious issues, to the point where it is often used as a de-facto litmus test for whether someone falls into the city’s progressive or moderate camp. Though in Congress neither Wiener or Chan would make local land use decisions, supporters and detractors alike feel that the two candidates’ records on housing and transportation show their priorities, and how they would approach governing at the federal level. Here are some of the decisions Chan and Wiener have made in