The tide turns for a Florida darling and California loser

ON A CHILLY night in San Francisco this summer, Persia, a drag queen in a gold dress, danced around a crowd gathered before a big screen to watch the World Cup. “Hopefully that energy will go to Team USA!” she wheezed, out of breath (it didn’t). As Daniel Lurie, the city’s mayor, talked about San Francisco’s recovery from the pandemic, he jerked his head around to check the score. “The city is on the rise,” he insisted, as he gestured at the party before him. “But it’s fragile.”Six years after the world locked down, San Francisco and Miami have seen a reversal in their fortunes. (REUTERS)Such a scene would have been unthinkable a few years ago. During and after the covid pandemic, tech workers toiled remotely, the Financial District was a ghost town and homelessness and public drug use wer