Van with anti-Chan housing message resurfaces on Market Street

A van reading, “I live in this van because Connie Chan hates housing,” was seen on upper Market Street, putting San Francisco’s housing debate directly in the path of pedestrians, drivers and office workers. The message targets Supervisor Connie Chan and folds a familiar street-level protest style into the city’s race to replace Nancy Pelosi.

Pelosi’s retirement opened San Francisco’s first House contest in nearly 40 years. State Sen. Scott Wiener and Chan will face each other in the general election on Nov. 3 after advancing from the June 3 primary, and housing has emerged as one of the sharpest lines of attack between the two.

The divide has already played out around an affordable housing complex at 383 Sixth Ave., formerly 4200 Geary Blvd., which became a vivid example of the split between Wiener and Chan over new housing. The van’s message leans into that fight, treating housing scarcity not as a policy nuance but as a political blame point that can be put on a windshield and rolled through the city.

Chan’s own written statements show a more layered position. In a Sept. 9, 2025 letter to the San Francisco Planning Commission, she wrote, “We can all agree that we need more new housing to accommodate San Franciscans now and into our future, specifically housing that is affordable to our workers, families, artists, seniors and students.” In an Oct. 20, 2025 letter on the mayor’s proposed upzoning plan, she said the city could build housing while also stabilizing existing communities and protecting small businesses.

Her campaign website describes her as a “progressive force inside City Hall” and a leader fighting for working families in California’s 11th Congressional District. Housing advocates have framed her differently. GrowSF described Chan as one of the most strident anti-development voices on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

That contrast explains why the van lands so sharply on upper Market Street. In a city where land use can shape elections, the vehicle works as more than a spectacle. It turns the housing squeeze into a visible argument over who is responsible for San Francisco’s shortage and how much new construction the city should allow.