ABSTRACT
San Francisco's comparatively rosy circumstances might lead some to ask why its business community recently pooled together $600,000 to fund an in-depth study of the major problems threatening this city's future. San Francisco's strategic plan, being prepared for implementation, has thus far been an 18-month survey involving a partnership between business and government which concluded that this city's future is neither bountiful nor bleak. Between 1965 and 1979, San Francisco had only a seven percent increase in the number of new business establishments—slightly greater than that in Cleveland. The key industries for San Francisco's future are finance and headquarters, business-support service, retail, visitor and convention activity, and professional services. However, there is growing concern that San Francisco may have lost its competitive advantage to suburban communities in the retention of labor-intensive, back office functions of the headquarter companies. There is ample evidence that companies are making relocation decisions which could have a long-term impact on resident jobs and the economy.
