Community
People standing in line at a public meeting at San Francisco City Hall.

Cannabis Dispensary and Lounge to Open in SF Bayview, Despite Residents’ Objections

05.03.2024
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The dispensary will be on one of the Bayview’s less developed streets, near low-income and senior housing. Over a dozen cannabis facilities already operate in the neighborhood, nearly all of which are used only to grow the plant.

Many residents, especially Chinese Americans, have opposed the new facility, which will sell cannabis products, out of fear that it will encourage drug use and make the area less safe. Despite their objections, the city’s Planning Commission approved the project Thursday because it did not violate city laws.

Community

In SF’s Chinatown, Conflict Over Outdoor Events Resolved — for Now 

04.18.2024
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A dispute among Chinatown businesses appears to be temporarily quelled, following a decision by San Francisco’s Board of Appeals to limit amplified sound at outdoor events along a major tourist artery for the next two months. 

Merchants had objected after a local dance company obtained the amplified-sound permit. It was the latest point of friction resulting from a gradual uptick in events, which have disrupted some businesses in the neighborhood.

Homepage Featured

Chinatown Merchants Frustrated as Outdoor Events Disrupt Business

04.12.2024
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Since the start of the pandemic, Chinatown groups have closed pockets of the neighborhood to vehicle traffic, making space for events that might draw people. As the closures increased over time, local merchants began to bristle. Those frustrations have boiled over in response to the latest attempt, by a dance company, to potentially expand events.

Arts & Culture
A large decorative yellow parade dragon head with multicolored accents appears with an open mouth featuring a pink and red paper mache tongue and large white teeth with fangs.

New Parade Dragon Carries on Local Legacy Dating Back Nearly 175 Years

02.20.2024
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There will be a brand new dragon in this year’s Chinese New Year Parade finale, celebrating the Year of the Dragon.

The Chinese New Year Parade, the festival’s pinnacle event, is scheduled this Saturday. Until then, the new dragon is on display at Three Embarcadero Center.

The parade’s organizer, the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce, has announced the roster of floats and entertainers who will participate, including a 289-feet golden dragon that debuted in public on Lunar New Year’s Day, Feb. 10, for a Taoist “awakening” ceremony.

Community
A woman with dark shoulder length hair, and wearing a purple pullover and glasses, sits at a small table reviewing a small stack of documents.

Volunteers Race to Preserve Culturally Significant Records in Chinatown

01.12.2024
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A volunteer group led by community historian David Lei and University of California, Berkeley lecturer Anna Eng is working on a week-long project to scan boxes of documents — memos, letters, photos and other archived items.

The scanning project is a collaborative effort between historians striving to increase access to alternative historical sources and community organizations wanting the history to be restored and told.

Homelessness
People stand and sit under and around a white shade structure. There is a table stacked with pizza boxes and other snacks, with three large bundles of bottled water underneath.

Berkeley Says It Was Aggressive in Homeless Encampment Sweeps, Promises Reforms

08.02.2023
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Berkeley is accelerating plans to more humanely deal with homelessness in the wake of a San Francisco Public Press report on a chaotic encampment raid in October, and city staffers say they will start collaborating with unhoused people and homeless advocates when planning to clean or clear large encampments.

Several city departments are changing procedures in response to complaints from those living in encampments and their advocates, and from residential and commercial neighbors.

Social Justice
A woman with a long black ponytail reaches up to straighten the frame of one of many black and white photographs displayed in a closely spaced array on a wall in an art gallery.

SF Reparations Plan Nears Submission, but Funding Not Yet Secure

05.26.2023
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After 2½ years of meetings, community discussions, historical deep dives and policy generation, a panel tasked with proposing how San Francisco might atone for decades of discrimination against Black residents is ready to ask the city to step up and support equity rhetoric with action.

San Francisco’s African American Reparations Advisory Committee is aiming to submit its final recommendations to the city by June 30, according to Brittni Chicuata, director of economic rights at the city’s Human Rights Commission. In the meantime, the city’s annual budget process is in full swing, which may affect funding and the timeline for whatever reparations policies the board decides to pursue.