More than 6,400 backup generators – not counting the thousands of small engines in household garages and backyards – are littered throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, squatting at police stations, health care facilities, internet server farms and other places. Ninety percent use diesel, a fuel that when burned can emit high levels of asthma-inducing…
Workers at Potrero Hill’s Anchor Brewing Company – the production facility and Public Taps – voted to unionize last winter. The action made the “craft-brewery” – if it can be called that, under beer-giant Sapporo’s ownership – an early adopter of labor organizing in the industry. Anchor Brewing was founded in 1896 in San Francisco.…
Citing economic and neighborhood needs, the Golden State Warriors want to build a hotel and condominium complex instead of the retail building that was initially approved as part of Chase Center construction. The new facility, which’ll adjoin the Chase Center on the northeast corner of South Street and Terry A. Francois Boulevard, would feature 142…
San Francisco Port Commissioners want vaping company, JUUL, to relocate from Pier 70, by shortening the firm’s lease or enacting a municipal ordinance that bans vaping firms and firearm manufacturers from leasing or subleasing commercial property. The nicotine-supplying e-cigarette enterprise sublets offices in Building 102 on 20th and Illinois streets. As reported in the View,…
Improvements to the 22nd Street Caltrain station are on schedule, with work to remove the asphalt walkway and replace it with a larger concrete plaza – along with additional plantings and lighting – on the facility’s southbound platform starting this month. Covered scooter and motorcycle parking opened at Iowa and 22nd streets earlier this year.…
Most San Franciscans probably believe that if a neighborhood experiences a plethora of intermittent fires someone would attempt to find a way to stop them. But when it comes to blazes occurring between Highway 101 and Potrero Hill, overlapping jurisdictions amongst several state and municipal agencies has left oversight largely to nearby homeowners, who are…
In 2015, voters approved Proposition K to streamline the process of identifying surplus municipally-owned land that could be used for affordable housing. The voter guide indicated that there’d be specific reporting dates for public agencies, hearings and oversight by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (BoS). Three years later, the City has passed on the…
The San Francisco Unified School District held a briefing last fall to collect community reactions to a planned pre-kindergarten through fifth grade campus, to be built adjacent to the Owens Street traffic circle. The first of many anticipated public engagements, the meeting, held at the Mercy Housing Community Room on Fourth Street, was well attended by…
The Esprit Community Advisory Group (ECAG) was formed last year to recommend approaches to the San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department about how to best maintain and renovate Esprit Park. Members include Dogpatch resident Susan Fitch, Irma Lewis of Toes and Paws for Green Space, Green Benefit District executive director Julie Christensen, and Dogpatch Neighborhood…
Halfway into a three-year lease, the Dogpatch Neighborhood Association (DNA) is generally supportive of extending the Central Waterfront Homeless Navigation Center’s stay and expanding its number of beds from 63 to 68. A presentation last fall by the City’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) to DNA drew a positive response. DNA president Bruce…
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has floated a plan to deploy several types of parking management tools on Potrero Hill’s North Slope, including weekday time limits to discourage commuters from leaving their cars and parking meters to offer short-term options for shoppers, visitors, and other daytime users. If implemented the proposal would impact…
Last fall, Measure D, which’ll place an additional tax on cannabis businesses, garnered 65.7 percent of the municipal vote. City Controller Ben Rosenfield estimates that the tax will generate between $7 million and $16 million, with proceeds to be deposited into the general fund. Cannabis businesses and advocacy groups want some of these funds to…
Shamann Walton was elected to the District 10 Board of Supervisors seat last month. He’ll be sworn into office on January 1, 2019. As of election data available in mid-November, Walton received 8,891, or 42 percent, of first place votes cast in the District. “I’m definitely excited and ready to get to work,” said Walton.…
Casually discarded roaches or dropped bits of edibles, inside and outside homes, are increasingly being gobbled up by canines, with unpleasant results. The instances of dogs sickened from ingesting marijuana has more than doubled in recent years, according to the National Animal Poison Control Center of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to…
Closed in 2011, the Potrero Power Plant sits on more than 28 acres located on a central piece of waterfront property. It was purchased from NRG Energy by Associate Capital in 2016, which in 2017 started planning to develop the area into a multi-use complex that’d include 2,682 residential units, according to an environmental impact…
Starting last month, the 22nd Street and Fourth Street Caltrain stations are no longer open on weekends. The closings are to accommodate installation of a catenary rail system that’ll allow Caltrain to convert the majority of its line from diesel to electric trains, known as Electric Multiple Units (EMU). Until construction is completed, weekend train…
According to Inc., San Francisco is the country’s most expensive city. Business Insider recently reported that Northern California is among the most prosperous economies in the world. While this may be great news for young people engaged in the lucrative sectors fueling growth, such as social media, high living costs have made life challenging for…
A proposed merger between Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives has raised concerns about access to care for women, transgender, and low-income patients, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Nurses in Dignity’s California hospital system are also worried that the merger could disrupt labor union contracts and job security. At the same time, the…
According to SpotAngels, in 2017 San Francisco had the country’s highest average parking ticket cost – $97.40 – ahead of New York City, with an average price of $71.40. That same year, parking ticket revenues generated South-of-Market produced $11,383,000, the most in the City, with Downtown having the greatest number of tickets levied per available…
The first two decades of living in her home near the top of Arkansas Street were mostly peaceful for one Potrero Hill resident, but over the past year the quiet has been regularly shattered. According to the Hill dweller, who requested anonymity as she’s concerned about her property values, airplane traffic is more frequent and…
Despite an economy marked by high growth and low unemployment, motor vehicle repossession rates have risen in many parts of the country, including California. According to California Department of Business Oversight data, there were 44,897 auto repossessions in the state in 2017. In 2016, that number was 39,948, with 39,690 repos in 2015 and 41,492…
According to San Francisco Police Department data, between 2016 and 2018 the number of violent and property crimes in the City increased, the former jumping by 11.8 percent last year. In 2017, the number of homicides declined by 3.4 percent. Human trafficking – transporting and harboring people for forced sexual or labor services – was…
Last month, Mayor London Breed signed an $11.1 billion budget for each of fiscal years 2018-19 and 2019-20 that reflects greater emphasis on reducing homelessness, increasing housing affordability, and keeping streets clean and safe. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, much of the budget had been composed by former Mayor Mark Farrell, who negotiated with…
Starr King Open Space is slowly being returned to its indigenous flora, with the cultivation of a native plant garden and creation of a plot to be conserved by students at adjacent Starr King Elementary School. “We have been coordinating with Literacy for Environmental Justice, a nonprofit in southeast San Francisco that promotes environmental health,…
Last summer, Animal Care and Control (ACC) picked up an abandoned a dog at Progress Park that was so emaciated and dehydrated that staff had no choice but to euthanize him. Dubbed “Sweetie Boy” by ACC because “he seemed like a sweet dog and could use a boost,” ACC spokesperson Deb Campbell said the mastiff…