11 months later, Mayor Lurie has won over San Francisco

They once called this the City That Knows How. More recently, it felt more like the City That Wasn’t So Sure.

- JAMES RAINEY

SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR Daniel Lurie, pictured Nov. 10 at Union Square, has given some residents hope that a turnaround has begun.

Photographs by KIMBERLY WHITE Getty Images

With a downtown sagging beneath homeless encampments, sidewalks piled with garbage and addicts doubled over in fentanyl-extremis, most San Franciscans said, “Enough.” Their fervor for a fresh start became obvious in January when they elected Daniel Lurie mayor.

Lurie became the city’s 46th elected leader and a rarity in San Francisco, a first-time politician rather than a veteran of the city’s rambunctious and often self-involved political class.

Nearly 11 months later, the philanthropist and an heir to the Levi Strauss denim fortune continues to impress most San Franciscans. An astonishing 71% in a recent poll of 600 likely voters approved of Lurie’s performance, including 30% who strongly approved. On my recent one-day visit to The City, I had a hard time finding locals who weren't pleased with Lurie, even in the wake of his first serious blunder.