Date of Graduation

Spring 5-19-2017

Document Access

Restricted Project/Capstone - USF access only

Degree Name

Master of Public Affairs (MoPA)

College/School

College of Arts and Sciences

Department/Program

Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good

First Advisor

Kelly McBride

Second Advisor

Tim Redmond

Third Advisor

N/A

Abstract

As San Francisco grows and continues to draw more people to its shores, the question of how these changes will impact the city’s political identity is one that desires a lot of time, research, and attention. This paper seeks to provide some light on one of these questions; how are condo owners affecting San Francisco’s voting habits?

In political science, research points to the conclusion that property ownership tends to make a person vote more conservatively. In recent years, San Francisco has seen an increase in condo production. This increases the ability for people to buy property. If the conventional wisdom of political science holds up, then these voters should vote more conservatively. This paper looks at fifteen condo developments built in the last ten years to see if the above mentioned trend is occurring in a select number of voting precincts in San Francisco.

By using voter registration data, voter turnout data, and the Progressive Voter Index (PVI) my research shows that voters in these new condo developments are not making their voting precincts more conservative. In fact, some cases show the exact opposite is happening and these new property owners are making their precincts more progressive.

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