Here’s a transcript of the video: “Hey there.

I recently read that the Marina Safeway in San Francisco is about to be demolished—not by Trump, who seems to be a specialist in this—but by an equally greedy corporation that wants to put up a 790-unit apartment building, 85 of which are designated for low-income people.

That’s good news. But the plan they’ve put in place is this enormously high thing right there on the waterfront.

And I admit that my attachment to a grocery store is sentimental as much as anything, because Tales of the City began—the very first episode of Tales, the one that appeared in the Pacific Sun before I started writing for the Chronicle—hinged on a young woman going to the Marina Safeway, trying to pick up a guy, and ending up meeting a gay man there: Michael Tolliver.

So it’s got a very sentimental attachment for me. I mean, you know, over the years I’ve celebrated the Marina Safeway.

Some people are divided, rather, in San Francisco. Some people say, ‘Well, we need it. We need affordable housing,’ especially down there where you can’t get anything for less than $3,000 a month. And others are saying it’s a monstrosity that’s too big and too ugly and doesn’t need to happen.

I tend to side with people who don’t like greedy developers. I’ve learned that over the years. When they come in to do something, they can f**k up a place very badly.

On the other hand, Chris and I moved to London because the rental properties had gotten so out of hand. It’s far, far cheaper to live in London than it was to live in San Francisco. Londoners don’t believe that, but it was true for us.

So that was part of our motivation for leaving, and I sympathize with people who want more affordable housing in San Francisco.

It’s up to you to figure out what that means—especially those of you who live closer to the Marina Safeway than I do these days.

Ezra Klein tells us that he believes one of the problems with liberals—and I consider myself one, and he’s one too—is that we oppose housing projects. And one of the big issues we have is that there’s not enough affordable housing.

So there has to be an answer to that somehow or other, and for all I know, this could be it.

I’m not asking you to have a sentimental attachment to the Marina Safeway, but I think it’s worth discussing the whole thing. It is a bit of a monstrosity, from the pictures I’ve seen.

And so I’d like to know what you think. If you want to pipe up on that subject—if you’re a San Franciscan especially—let me know.”

Here’s an article on the proposed development: Marina Residents Erupt Over Giant 25-Story Tower Plan for Beloved Safeway

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