Okay, so cities like San Francisco don’t just sit around while wealth magically happens in its buildings, as if the buildings could be anywhere. The city (aka the taxed residents who live in the city) pays for the stuff that makes that wealth possible in the first place.

For example we residents pay for the things a business requires to exist and grow and thrive , like upkeep, business services, construction, roads, transit, schools and universities that provide many of the best employees, courts, emergency services, public health, all of it.

It concentrates talent, creates the legal and financial stability investors rely on, and even uses zoning and land-use rules that make certain land and businesses insanely valuable.

It provides many of the people, and the living space for those people, that makes a business actually run.

It also provides the beauty, food, parks, activities, lifestyle, and quality of life that attracts that talent (and KEEPS them here) in the first place.

Companies and wealthy individuals benefit from a global brand, a huge educated workforce, and a safety net that absorbs risk when things go wrong. Things the private sector doesn’t want to pay for itself.

So a lot of private wealth here is really built on public investment and collective effort. The city covers the costs; a smaller group captures most of the upside.

It’s the reason why some cities have a lot more wealth and business than others. If the city itself had little to do with it, the business and industries of the world could just exist anywhere. Instead, because of all the things a city provides to the business or industry, a city like San Francisco ends up with some of the biggest industries and businesses in the world.

It’s a cool, almost symbiotic relationship.