Opinion: As the Sunset goes, so goes San Francisco; I’m voting for Alan Wong for Supervisor

When walking down Irving Street near 19th Avenue, you will instantly find that it is full of life. Seniors spending mornings in Uncle Benny's, toddlers going on rope walks with their daycare, teens shopping at boba shops, and shoppers looking for a bargain at multiple grocery stores. It is a reminder that the Sunset’s identity as a place for families, is built into its DNA.

With the upcoming election on June 2nd, everyone is asking: what is the future of the Sunset?

The neighborhood is a place for all generations to come together, and it is at a turning point.

For decades, our zoning rules made it nearly impossible to build new homes here — and the consequences are showing. Adult children are moving to the East Bay because they cannot find a place in the neighborhood where they grew up. Young couples are giving up on raising kids in the city. Teachers commute hours each way to teach in our schools.

If we want the Sunset to remain what makes it special — a neighborhood where three generations of one family can still live within a few blocks of each other — we have to make room for the next generation to live here.

That is why I am voting for Alan Wong. One day after he was sworn in, Alan voted to approve Mayor Daniel Lurie’s Family Zoning Plan. It was the most important vote a new supervisor could have cast for our neighborhood, and he made the right one.

A Sunset success story

The son of Hong Kong immigrants, Alan went to San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) schools, including the Sunset's own Lincoln High School. In addition to getting his bachelors and masters from University of California San Diego and University of San Francisco respectively, he has served in the California National Guard since 2009 — making him the first supervisor with military experience in more than 30 years. His public service extends to two terms as President of the City College Board of Trustees, where he fought to protect the Cantonese language program. At the Children's Council of San Francisco, he spent his days helping working families find child care.

This is a Sunset success story. It is the story so many of our families recognize: parents who came to this country so their children could go to good public schools, work hard, succeed, and stay close to home. Alan has lived that story, and he understands what it costs our community when the children raised here, cannot afford to stay here.

Family Zoning is how we keep families here

Family Zoning lifts old restrictions on commercial corridors like Irving, Noriega, Taraval, and Geary, and removes density caps in residential blocks. It makes room for more homes — and more homes means more room for families.

This is also what saves our schools. There are over 14,000 empty seats within the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). We have a system built for 64,000 kids and only 49,000 are in it. Among the many challenges facing the school district, the cost of housing is a major drag on whether families can see themselves staying in the city, let alone whether their children can attend school here.

Mayor Lurie has been clear that supporting strong public schools means giving more families a way to move in and fill those classrooms. You cannot do that without building. Shirley Chisholm Village on 43rd Avenue — the city's first 100% affordable housing project for SFUSD educators — offers a glimpse of what is possible when we let the Sunset grow. The city has since broken ground on two more educator-housing projects, and Family Zoning makes the next one easier to build.

More homes means our teachers can live in the neighborhood where they teach. It means the families of our nurses, our firefighters, our police officers, and our small business workers have a chance to stay. It means the Sunset grows into an even stronger version of what it already is: the place where families in San Francisco put down roots.

The Sunset election is a citywide election

There is a reason the rest of San Francisco is paying attention to District 4. Mayor Daniel Lurie's housing agenda, his reforms at City Hall, and the economic vibes that have finally started to shift after years of bad news — all of it is in jeopardy without a Board of Supervisors willing to work with him.

74% of San Franciscans approve of the job the Mayor is doing. Two-thirds of city residents approve of the Family Zoning Plan, including a majority in District 4.

For the first time in years, more San Franciscans say the city is on the right track than the wrong track. This all came from a Mayor and a Board majority rowing in the same direction for the first time in years. That progress is real, but it is also fragile. Losing it would set our city back further than most voters realize.

The Sunset has a chance, on June 2, to send a supervisor to City Hall who will keep that progress going — for our neighborhood and for the city as a whole.

A vote for the future

Alan Wong told voters he wants to "restore trust in city government, keep neighborhoods safe, support working families, and expand housing opportunities." His first vote — for Family Zoning — backed that up. The Mayor has endorsed him. So should we.

A vote for Alan Wong is a vote to let the Sunset grow. It is a vote to keep this neighborhood a place where Chinese American families, immigrant families, working families, and all the families who built the Sunset can continue to call it home — for the next generation, and the one after that.

I'm voting for the supervisor who grew up here, who knows what it costs when our children have to leave, and who in his very first week showed he is willing to take the hard votes for our families.

I'm voting for Alan Wong.

___________________________________________________________________

Alex Wong is a resident of the Sunset District for over 4 years and has been in San Francisco for over 11 years. He and his wife are raising two young children, who attend Jefferson Elementary School where he chairs the School Site Council. He has also advocated for more housing, better schools and safer streets.