Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

3 days ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

3 days ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

3 days ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

3 days ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

3 days ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

4 days ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

4 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

4 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

4 days ago
Who Do You Love to Hate More, LA or SF? Resentments May Decide Governor's Race.
Joe-Mathews
By Joe Mathews
Published 7 years ago on
March 1, 2018

Share

Which city — San Francisco or Los Angeles — do you love to hate more?
This is shaping up to be California’s question for 2018. Each of the top contenders for governor is a former mayor of one of those cities, and each embodies certain grievances about his hometown. And backers of both candidates are already playing to resentments about these two places.
Gavin Newsom, like San Francisco, is derided as too wealthy, too white, too progressive, too cerebral, too cold, and so focused on a culturally liberal agenda that you might call him out of touch. Antonio Villaraigosa, like Los Angeles, is derided as too street, too Latino, too instinctual, too warm,  and so unfocused in his economically liberal agenda that you might say he lacks a center.


Opinion
Joe Mathews
The interesting news of this contest of city loathing is that there is a contest at all.
For decades, Los Angeles has been second to none in the amount of contempt it feels from other Californians. The City of Angels — with its smog and traffic and gangs and phony Hollywood stars — represented everything the rest of the state was determined not to be. “Beat L.A.” was such a unifying chant — heard in stadiums and arenas from Sacramento to San Diego — that it could have replaced “Eureka” as the state motto.
San Francisco, on the other hand, was a place that Californians preferred to love. It was small and beautiful — the perfect weekend getaway.

Changing of the Pecking Order

But over the last generation, the relative positions of the cities have changed. Los Angeles has weakened — especially since the early 1990s recession — while San Francisco has become unimaginably wealthy and powerful.
In their study, “The Rise and Fall of Urban Economies: Lessons From San Francisco and Los Angeles,” UCLA’s Michael Storper and other researchers showed that the Bay Area and Greater L.A. were similar in the 1970s in household income, innovation, investment, education and creative jobs. But they have since diverged so that the Bay Area’s household incomes are 50 percent higher, and L.A. now lags in educational attainment and investment.

“Beat L.A.” was such a unifying chant — heard in stadiums and arenas from Sacramento to San Diego — that it could have replaced “Eureka” as the state motto.
The study found that San Francisco’s open culture encouraged the exchange of ideas that drive growth, while L.A.’s top-down economy, dominated by a few key players, translated into less intellectual ferment, and too much investment in the old economy.
But this new, advanced, San Francisco Bay Area has stirred more resentment. It is too expensive for most Californians to even contemplate living there. Its technology companies now reach into our intimate lives, disrupting our livelihoods.

San Francisco Dominates California Politics

San Francisco also has taken over the state’s politics. One of our U.S. senators, Dianne Feinstein, is a former San Francisco mayor, while the other, Kamala Harris, is a former San Francisco district attorney. This power is not just the product of a tough San Francisco political culture that breeds competitive candidates; it also reflects a public that participates more. Though the Bay Area has more than a million fewer voters than Los Angeles County, in some recent state elections the Bay Area has recorded nearly 300,000 more votes.
San Francisco, once famously open-minded, now faces the slur that it is unrepresentative —  too narrow in its thinking.  Peter Thiel, the conservative billionaire tech investor who backed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, is relocating his residence, business and foundation to L.A., because “Silicon Valley is a one-party state” that only tolerates liberals.

San Francisco, once famously open-minded, now faces the slur that it is unrepresentative —  too narrow in its thinking.

Crazy Ideas Abound in Both Cities

Of course, both cities are liberal places that have much in common, as do the two former mayors. Both Newsom and Villaraigosa are among America’s most progressive politicians, representing two of America’s most progressive places — though both have been friendly to business and development. Both are extraordinarily bright men who, perhaps because they struggled as students, sometimes betray insecurity about their intellectual faculties. Both endured personal scandals for which their cities have forgiven them.
And both come from cities facing similar challenges: sky-high housing prices, unrelenting homelessness, outdated infrastructure, and unbalanced economies that don’t produce high-enough working-class wages. Both cities have the power to create their own alternative realities — and spawn some pretty daft ideas.

Newsom or Villaraigosa?


Antonio Villaraigosa, left, and Gavin Newsom
Ideally, California would get a governor who brings lessons from both cities.
Newsom, having run San Francisco, has experience navigating freakishly Byzantine politics and governing in a one-party place, which is what Sacramento has become. And Villaraigosa, having run a sprawling state-sized city, understands how to seize the attention of an apathetic public in a place with weak civic institutions, which describes much of California.
I wish Antonio had more of Gavin’s Bay Area jones for data. And I wish Gavin had some of Antonio’s L.A. groundedness and horse-sense. But what I most wish is that, during this year’s political fight between two cities, we don’t forget just how lucky California is to be home to both.
About the Author
Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column for Zócalo Public Square

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

TikTok Building New Version of App Ahead of Expected US Sale, the Information Reports

DON'T MISS

Hamas Government Office Rejects US Accusation of Involvement in Gaza Aid Site Attack

DON'T MISS

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 78, Trump Plans Visit

DON'T MISS

Trump Calls Musk’s Formation of New Party “Ridiculous” and Confusing

DON'T MISS

Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99

DON'T MISS

Russia Downs 120 Ukrainian Drones Overnight, Defense Ministry Says

DON'T MISS

Israel Sends Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Talks Ahead of Netanyahu Trip to US

DON'T MISS

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to Nearly 80,000 Acres, 30% Contained

DON'T MISS

Musk Announces Forming of ‘America Party’ in Further Break From Trump

DON'T MISS

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 59, Including 21 Children

UP NEXT

Hamas Government Office Rejects US Accusation of Involvement in Gaza Aid Site Attack

UP NEXT

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 78, Trump Plans Visit

UP NEXT

Trump Calls Musk’s Formation of New Party “Ridiculous” and Confusing

UP NEXT

Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99

UP NEXT

Russia Downs 120 Ukrainian Drones Overnight, Defense Ministry Says

UP NEXT

Israel Sends Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Talks Ahead of Netanyahu Trip to US

UP NEXT

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to Nearly 80,000 Acres, 30% Contained

UP NEXT

Musk Announces Forming of ‘America Party’ in Further Break From Trump

UP NEXT

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 59, Including 21 Children

UP NEXT

California’s Politics Drifts Right While New York’s Leans Left

Trump Calls Musk’s Formation of New Party “Ridiculous” and Confusing

7 hours ago

Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99

13 hours ago

Russia Downs 120 Ukrainian Drones Overnight, Defense Ministry Says

13 hours ago

Israel Sends Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Talks Ahead of Netanyahu Trip to US

13 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to Nearly 80,000 Acres, 30% Contained

13 hours ago

Musk Announces Forming of ‘America Party’ in Further Break From Trump

13 hours ago

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 59, Including 21 Children

13 hours ago

California’s Politics Drifts Right While New York’s Leans Left

14 hours ago

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

2 days ago

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

2 days ago

TikTok Building New Version of App Ahead of Expected US Sale, the Information Reports

TikTok is building a new version of its app for users in the United States ahead of a planned sale of the app to a group of investors, The I...

7 hours ago

A logo is displayed over a door at the U.S. headquarters of the social media company TikTok in Culver City, California, U.S. January 17, 2025. (Reuters File)
7 hours ago

TikTok Building New Version of App Ahead of Expected US Sale, the Information Reports

Boxes of aid are stacked as Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it has commenced operations to begin distribution of aid, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 26, 2025. (Reuters File)
7 hours ago

Hamas Government Office Rejects US Accusation of Involvement in Gaza Aid Site Attack

A volunteer searches for flood victims after deadly flooding in Kerr County, Texas, U.S., July 6, 2025. REUTERS/Sergio Flores
7 hours ago

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 78, Trump Plans Visit

Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk listens as US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, DC, U.S. on November 13, 2024. (Reuters File)
7 hours ago

Trump Calls Musk’s Formation of New Party “Ridiculous” and Confusing

A 22-year-old suspected DUI driver crashed into a parked CHP motorcycle and tow truck on Highway 99 near Fresno, narrowly missing an officer and bystanders, CHP said Saturday, July 5, 2025. (CHP)
13 hours ago

Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99

A service member of a drone unit of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo of the Ukrainian Armed Forces controls a heavy combat drone while it flies over positions of Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine June 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
13 hours ago

Russia Downs 120 Ukrainian Drones Overnight, Defense Ministry Says

An Israeli tank maneuvers in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 6, 2025. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)
13 hours ago

Israel Sends Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Talks Ahead of Netanyahu Trip to US

The Madre Fire near New Cuyama has burned nearly 80,000 acres as of Sunday, July 6, 2025, morning, prompting widespread evacuation orders and warnings across three counties. (CalFire)
13 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to Nearly 80,000 Acres, 30% Contained

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend