Bay Area Updates
Oakland Postpones 2021 Chinatown Street Fest
Bay Area Updates, Festival Updates, Oakland Sadly, the Oakland Chinatown StreetFest has been postponed. We look forward to when we can announce the festival’s return. Out of an abundance of caution due to rising COVID cases, the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce has made the difficult decision to postpone this year’s Oakland Chinatown 33rd StreetFest originally scheduled more...
SF is No Longer the Priciest Place to Rent in USA (Barely)
Bay Area Updates, Good News, Housing San Francisco just got demoted. Thanks to KRON4 for sharing the news that San Francisco is no longer the most expensive city for rent in the United States. According to data from the August 2021 Zumper report, New York just edged out San Francisco to take the number 1 spot with the more...
BART Gets $331 Million COVID Recovery Windfall
Bay Area Updates, Getting Help, Transportation Thanks to KRON4 for sharing the news that the U.S. Department of Transportation just granted BART $330.8 million from the American Rescue Plan funds. The funds were granted to help BART recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than $30 billion dollars of the American Rescue Plan Act budget has been reserved more...
SF’s New 18-Story 100% Affordable Housing in SOMA Breaks Ground
Bay Area Updates, Brand New, Housing Mayor London N. Breed today celebrated the groundbreaking of a new 18-story 100% affordable housing complex in the South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood. The development at 921 Howard Street will be one of the largest affordable housing projects seen in San Francisco in the last decade, with 40% of the more...
EPA Grants Nearly $3 Million To Fund Bay Area Wildfire Smoke Research
Bay Area Updates, Fire Updates Three Bay Area research projects will share nearly $3 million in federal grants to study how people can reduce their exposure to toxic wildfire smoke, according to an announcement Wednesday from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University and Oakland-based Public Health Institute were all awarded more...
This is What Stern Grove Looks Like Now
Bay Area Updates, City Insight, Festival Updates, Getting Help, What's Closed / What's Open Sunday‘s final show of the year for the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco has been canceled because of a water main break that flooded the site, festival organizers announced Wednesday. The rupture of the water main on Monday closed Stern Grove and nearby Pine Lake; however, the west end of more...
West Nile Virus Detected in Gilroy Mosquitoes
Bay Area Updates The Santa Clara County Vector Control District on Tuesday announced the discovery of mosquitoes that tested positive for West Nile virus in the Gilroy area and promptly began targeted spraying in neighborhoods. The mosquitoes were collected from portions of the 95020 ZIP code, the area targeted for treatment operations on Thursday. more...
SF’s “Leaning” Millennium Tower’s $100 Million Fix Halted
Bay Area Updates, Getting Help, Housing Oh no… San Francisco’s Millennium Tower, The City’s famously sinking apartment building, was on its way to being repaired, but work has now halted. Thanks to NBC Bay Area for sharing the news that after sinking 18 inches and leaning 14 inches, a $100 million solution was in progress when the more...
UC Berkeley Ordered to Freeze Enrollment
Bay Area Updates By Keith Burbank, Bay City News University of California at Berkeley officials must freeze campus enrollment at the 2020-21 level following a court decision on Monday over the university’s impact on nearby neighborhoods. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman found that rising enrollment has affected neighboring housing, causing displacement, and creating more...
Flooding Closes Stern Grove, Cancels Final Concert of 2021
Bay Area Updates, Festival Updates Oh no… Due to a nearby ruptured water main, the east end of Stern Grove will be closed until further notice while San Francisco Public Works and SF Water, Power, Sewer (SFPUC) fix the problem. East End of Stern Grove Closed & Stern Grove Festival Cancelled The east end of Stern Grove more...
SF’s New Waterfront Park Opens to Public For First Time Ever
Bay Area Updates, Brand New, New Parks, Only in San Francisco, Outdoorsy, Parks & Beaches Black Point Historic Gardens is the San Francisco Bay Area’s newest national park site, a one-acre hillside that connects San Francisco’s Aquatic Park to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) at Fort Mason. At Black Point Historic Gardens, an outdoor staircase connects to newly restored pathways, budding gardens and terraced more...
Rare Sight: 80 Ft. Blue Whales Spotted Swimming in Monterey Bay
Bay Area Updates, Outdoorsy, Wow Thanks to SFist for sharing the news that the largest animals on the planet have been seen swimming in Monterey Bay this week. The whale watching tour boat company, Monterey Bay Whale Watch, has seen more than a dozen blue whales out on one recent tour, in addition to two blue more...
SF School District Aims to Spend $2.9 Million for Air Purifiers
Bay Area Updates, Fire Updates, Only in San Francisco San Francisco Unified School District officials are looking into spending $2.9 million on portable air purifiers to combat poor air quality from wildfires, district officials said on Monday. Most classrooms rely open windows to prevent the spread of COVID-19 — a main concern as in-person learning resumed just last week — more...
SF’s Cliff House to Reopen as a New Restaurant in 2022
Bay Area Updates, Eat & Drink, Only in San Francisco, Reopening The National Park Service is looking for a new tenant to open up a restaurant at the iconic Cliff House, which will tentatively open in late 2022. In a News Release, the National Park Service noted: In an effort to find a new food and beverage provider for the Lands End Restaurant more...
BART & Muni’s Mask Rule Extended to 2022
Bay Area Updates, COVID-19 Updates, Transportation By Jonathan Streeter, SFMTA Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Muni customers have consistently demonstrated a strong willingness to comply with health safety mandates, in particular with wearing masks. As a reminder, the Federal requirement to wear a mask while riding, boarding and waiting for Muni vehicles remains in place, and has been more...
