The destruction of San Francisco in the late 1990s
A new generation of writers Rebecca Solnit, Mike Davis, and Gray Brechin are inspiring us into seeing our familiar surroundings with new eyes. They also offer a different perspective on the radical transformation that development and venture capital have brought to so many cities. San Francisco, formerly famous for taking a travelers heart away, is now reaching for the soul and the wallet. A dot com boom combined with the growing biotechnology industry have driven housing prices up and residents and local small businesses out.
Rebecca Solnit says she wrote Hollow City in a hurry to document the beauty and rich culture that was being destroyed, and to support the growing movement of resistance. The publisher Verso said about the book that it shows that wealth is just as capable of ravaging cities as poverty.
This re-broadcast is part of the tribute to Solnit’s fellow urban historian Mike Davis.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:00 — 39.8MB)
