SAN FRANCISCO – In San Francisco, gasoline stations are slowly being transformed into high rise apartments and other office buildings, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Since 2010, developers have begun housing projects that will replace nearly two dozen gasoline stations in the city. Add to that, the 13 gas station sites that have been re-purposed or are under construction, and within three years, San Francisco will lose 40% of its service stations compared to 2007.

“Replacing gas stations with housing and retail makes sense,” City Supervisor Scott Wiener told the Chronicle. “For many years we had too many gas stations.” However, Wiener isn’t proposing to get rid of all gasoline stations. “If you have too few gas stations, it creates congestion issues with people crowding into a small number of stations,” he said.

Part of the drive behind the switch from gasoline stations to residential buildings has to do with the way these projects are centered around walkable living. “It is no secret that cars are becoming less useful in San Francisco. We are overdue for such a tipping point,” said Arden Hearing, managing director of Trumark Urban, a residential builder, in the news report. “We need gas stations less and car washes less.”

In addition, retailers have razor thin margins selling gasoline. “Obviously you are going to get a much higher return on investment by selling it to a developer for housing or retail,” said Sam Hariz, president of the Service Station Franchise Association.