San Francisco has taken a comprehensive approach to using city policy to support locally owned businesses. A centerpiece of that approach is a city ordinance that restricts “formula” businesses, and at the same time, works to promote commercial diversity and give citizens more of a role in shaping their neighborhood.
In this 30-minute talk, AnMarie Rodgers, Senior Policy Advisor in the City of San Francisco Planning Department, breaks down the nuts-and-bolts of San Francisco’s law. She talks about how the city implemented the policy, how it works and how well it works — and what advice she has for other cities that want to do it too.
Rodgers gave this talk in September at an event organized by Portland Buy Local, the independent business alliance in Portland, Me. The event was inspired in part by ILSR’s April 2016 report, “Affordable Space: How Rising Commercial Rents Are Threatening Independent Businesses, and What Cities Are Doing About It.”
Watch the video from Rodgers’s talk, below.
If you like this talk, don’t miss two more from the same event: ILSR’s Stacy Mitchell on why locally owned businesses are vital for cities, and ILSR’s Olivia LaVecchia on 6 specific policy strategies that cities can use to support locally owned businesses. Also check out our podcast episode featuring Stacy and Olivia in conversation with AnMarie.
