Since when did AOL and TechCrunch inherit the mantle of the Bay Guardian? Just kidding, but they did commission this video from Stateless Media about San Francisco's housing crisis titled "You Can't Go Home Again."
It's got perspectives from the folks at Cozy, which one employee in the video likens to the "Uber of housing" (just stop with that), and Erin McElroy of the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project.
The doc isn't a bad primer for those unfamiliar with the goings-on of the Bay Area, which is home to more than half of the country’s 30 most expensive rental markets, as TechCrunch notes.And for those in the know, it's got nice shots of people and places you'll recognize.
As TechCrunch quotes filmmaker Peter Savodnik, “All our characters were sympathetic; all of them wanted good or reasonable things. But none of them really understood the other people in the movie, not because they didn’t want to but because, like everyone, they were busy or unaware.” In this spirit, the film cuts from criticism of wine bars and expensive restaurants to the Cozy team in just such an establishment (they probably didn't like that cut), and has footage of the protest at Google's I/O conference with way more Glassholes than you're likely to see in a year.
In an article introducing the film, TechCrunch writer Kim-Mai Cutler strangely notes that "many of the activists I’ve met are passionate and sincere. (They’re people too!)." Yah, thanks for that, Tech Crunch.
"Anyway," continues Cutler, "the whole issue is so serious that the San Francisco Planning Department even released its own video last week."
Yes, releasing videos is serious business, thinks TechCrunch. But, it's a start.