Ms. Babich has been using the Chronicle to advertise her bike shop for free. That is wrong and unfair to the companies who pay for and count on advertising for business. If Ms. Babich was elected to the City Council, it would be unrealistic for her to even think she could cover this city by bicycle to meet deadlines throughout the day. Her incessant braying about biking has really gotten shopworn and needs to be put to rest. Every Chronicle reader has gotten her single message.
Rents are too high for stores to be profitable.
Today's venture-funded downtown companies can pay any price short term. The shakeout of dot-coms has already begun. Gone are places to buy groceries, shoes, cars, clothes, luggage, books, hardware, paint, lumber, furniture, pets, fabrics, sewing machines, appliances, etc. Retail shoppers are mainly female, but the new downtown is mainly male. Commuters with no option other than driving are feeding meters in parking spaces that retail customers used.