$150M competition seeks innovators to improve San – Latest News
Ask not what San Francisco can do for you — ask what you are able to do for San Francisco.
This twist on the well-known JFK quote neatly describes a push to spark ingenuity for public gain in a single of California’s great cities.
Through an initiative known as Boundless San Francisco, a billionaire-backed basis pays up to three innovators up to $50 million apiece to improve life by the Bay.
Nice concept.
A billionaire enterprise capitalist and philanthropist has launched a world competition for corporations to come ahead with progressive concepts for “making San Francisco a better place to live.” AP
It’s great to see a call for civic-minded change directed not at City Hall and beleaguered taxpayers, however at private-sector teams and teachers in a place to develop viable plans for innovation.
Too typically, people assume authorities is the one “answer” — or that it’s a savior.
Not true.
And generally, fairly the other. (As Ronald Reagan famously quipped, ”The 9 most terrifying phrases within the English language are: I’m from the federal government, and I’m right here to help.”)
Billionaire Michael Moritz’s latest guess to rework San Francisco is being pushed by Crankstart – a non-public household basis. Getty Images for Vanity Fair
In the case of San Francisco, competition organizers need bold plans with robust prospects for enduring success.
Good. San Francisco is a hub of high-tech surprise. Plans for civic betterment ought to likewise be grand, dynamic and cutting-edge.
It’s additionally on the upswing. Mayor Daniel Lurie, elected in 2024, has helped steer town towards more reasonable, pro-business, common-sense insurance policies which have begun to make San Francisco a beacon as soon as again.
Boundless San Francisco can complement, and construct on, that success.
The competition is open to eligible organizations, comparable to nonprofits, companies and universities, worldwide. Entries may give attention to methods to improve town in areas comparable to housing, transportation, crime prevention or homelessness.
The normal method appears auspicious. Ditto the premise of aggressive benefit. And we love the call to civic-minded function.
Times have modified since President Kennedy known as for public service over personal gain in his 1961 inaugural tackle.
Let San Francisco, and the remainder of us, restore that spirit now.
