Is there an app that makes a city livable?
Does the economy serve the people? Or the other way around? Some contend that any interference with the free market leads to socialism, or worse. Others feel that technology has allowed unregulated markets to trample on the poor and the traditions of society, while ruthlessly disrupting all other businesses.
The free market economy and the role of technology as a stimulant, or an accelerant, is the subject of “San Francisco 2.0” (9 p.m., HBO), directed by Alexandra Pelosi.
Pelosi’s hometown has been all but transformed by the Bay Area’s digital gold rush. Recent tax incentives from the city have encouraged Silicon Valley companies to relocate to the City by the Bay, and Silicon Valley millionaires have turned the city into their commuter bedroom. Living in San Francisco is now seen as a “perk” of the tech boom, a trend that has made the city unaffordable for many longtime residents.
One city native gives Pelosi a tour of his neighborhood’s vanishing urban murals and vibrant streets, once filled with children and families, now replaced by restaurants selling $56 hamburgers.
In addition to this radical gentrification, “2.0” documents how whole business and merchant cultures are being bowled over by the arrival of tech money. The San Francisco flower market, a venerable institution and a key part of the floral industry for the entire West Coast, has been displaced to make way for a tech-financed high-rise.
Pelosi, the daughter of the former speaker of the House and director of the 2002 campaign travelogue “Journeys With George,” a sympathetic look at George W. Bush, uses her connections. She doesn’t merely interview activists; she also speaks to California Gov. Jerry Brown, current San Francisco mayor Ed Lee, former mayors Willie Brown and Art Agnos, as well as tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.
Agnos admits he can no longer afford to live in the city he once governed. Willie Brown worries about a city economy dependent on so many “incubated” start-ups. He’s concerned about what will happen to the tech dreamers when their next big thing fails, or runs out of “angel” investors. Will they become the city’s next generation of destitute and displaced people?
“San Francisco 2.0” offers no solutions or hard conclusions, but it does raise a lot of questions. Economist Robert Reich compares trends in San Francisco to the finance industry booms that distorted the economies and cultures of New York and London, turning vibrant, diverse cities into tourist attractions overly dependent on a single business, subject to booms and busts.
NEW ON ‘DAILY’
Trevor Noah replaces Jon Stewart as host of “The Daily Show” (11 p.m., Comedy Central), with Kevin Hart appearing as his first guest. Noah is perhaps the most unknown quantity to replace a popular host since Conan O’Brien took over David Letterman’s desk in 1993.
TONIGHT’S HIGHLIGHTS
Blind auditions on “The Voice” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
A prison break threatens the city on “Gotham” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
A lovelorn killer must be stopped on “Minority Report” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-14).
Cuba-bound on “Scorpion” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
April flees to Rome on the season finale of “Chasing Life” (9 p.m., ABC Family, TV-14).
Andrew Zimmern samples curious cuisine in Guatemala as “Bizarre Foods” (9 p.m., Travel, TV-PG) enters its ninth season.
Del Campo needs help on “NCIS: Los Angeles” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
A new tattooed clue on “Blindspot” (10 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
Jack Coleman guest-stars on “Castle” (10 p.m., ABC).
Producer Phil Rosenthal (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) goes on a gastronomic tour in the documentary “I’ll Have What Phil’s Having” (10 p.m., PBS, TV-PG).
“Booze Traveler” (10 p.m., Travel, TV-PG) enters its second season in Greece.
Leonard consoles Penny on “The Big Bang Theory” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG).
Theme song interpretation on “Dancing With the Stars” (8 p.m., ABC).
Contact Kevin McDonough at kevin.tvguy@gmail.com.