It's easier in San Fran than it is in Seattle! Here we have the "director's rules" that basically state that everyone in the area has to agree to allow an upgrade or the city will not allow it. Notice I said "has to agree" and not doesn't "disagree." You have to get people to agree. If a house or apartment is empty or you can't find the resident, it counts as a no vote. With all of the foreclosures and normal churn in rental properties, it's just about impossible to meet the minimum even with every person voting yes. Because of that, my building was blocked from getting Comcast TV and Internet, because one of the apartments was empty and without that vote we didn't have a high enough percentage voting yes for Comcast to be allowed to add a pedestal in front of our building. Literally, ever person has to vote yes or none of us get Internet access.
Thus, we're stuck with DSL that is typically less than 0.5 Mbps for most residents. The guys on the top floor can't even get that. They're stuck with dial-up. Seattle is a third-world shithole when it comes to Internet access.