Bay Area Updates
Bay Area’s Most Congested Freeway Opens New Express Lane
Bay Area Updates, Brand New Commuters traveling on one of the Bay Area’s busiest afternoon commutes should hopefully see some relief. A brand new express way on I-680 has just opened. Toll collection won’t start until spring 2021; for now, these lanes are functioning as HOV 2+ carpool lanes only from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. more...
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Reopens November 7th
Bay Area Updates, Fun & Games, Things to Do, What's Closed / What's Open Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, California’s oldest amusement park (est. 1907), will be the first theme park in the state to reopen, after a 7 month closure. Mayor Newsom announced recently that smaller amusements parks counties in Tier 3, with a capacity of less than 15,000 guests, can reopen at 25% capacity more...
Bay Bridge Traffic Returns: Nearly Back to Pre-Pandemic Levels
Bay Area Updates If you’ve driven over the Bay Bridge lately, you may have noticed there’s a lot more cars on the road lately. Unfortunately, ABC7 reported that traffic over the Bay Bridge has returned; it’s now about 90% of pre-pandemic levels. The increased traffic is likely due to the economy opening back up. more...
There is Only One Bay Area Holiday Ice Rink for 2020-21
Bay Area Updates, Outdoorsy, Things to Do, What's Closed / What's Open The holidays will look a little different this year. Sadly, it looks like most holiday ice rinks are not opening up this year, but we did find two seasonal outdoor ice rinks where you can still skate around for some holiday cheer. UPDATE – As of 11/6/20 Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk more...
SF Businesses Board Up Ahead of Election Night
Bay Area Updates, Election In a sight that’s too familiar in 2020, many San Francisco businesses are boarding up their windows in anticipation of potential civil unrest on Election night. While everyone hopes the election results come in smoothly, preparations are being made to prepare for potential looting and rioting that might occur. SF Chronicle more...
Most Bay Area Holiday Ice Rinks Won’t Be Opening This Year
Bay Area Updates, What's Closed / What's Open Sadly, it looks like most of the Bay Area’s outdoor ice skating rinks that typically pop up for the holidays won’t be opening this year. Many of the Bays seasonal ice rinks recently announced they won’t be opening due to the ongoing pandemic. Operators have noted that everyone’s health and safety more...
Goodbye to San Francisco’s Iconic 83-Year Old Coca Cola Sign
Bay Area Updates, Goodbye, Only in San Francisco Thanks to Broke-Ass Stuart for tipping us off that San Francisco is losing its iconic Coca Cola sign. San Francisco’s most famous billboard was installed in 1937 to coincide with the opening of the Bay Bridge. Although, it’s not the original sign (it’s been upgraded over the years), it’s stood 112 more...
SF & Oakland to End Verily COVID-19 Testing Sites
Bay Area Updates, COVID Testing Two of the most populous counties in California, San Francisco and Alameda counties, will be ending their partnership with Verily, Google’s health-focused sister company, who promised to vastly expand Covid-19 testing across the state. Verily’s platform screens symptoms, books appointments and reports test results. California spent $55 million in contracts more...
SF Taxpayers on $30 Million Hook to Fix Tilting Millennium Tower
Bay Area Updates Thanks to the SF Chronicle for letting us know that fixing the tilting Millennium Tower, which has vexed the city and lowered property values of the buildings residents, will cost taxpayers $30 million. The $30 million share from the taxpayers is just a portion of the overall settlement of $100 million from more...
SF Extends Outdoor Dining to June 2021. Could it Be Made Permanent?
Bay Area Updates, Outdoor Dining, What's Closed / What's Open More than 1,800 individual operators and counting are making the Shared Spaces Program a successful part of San Francisco’s economic recovery. Permits originally set to expire at the end of December may now be extended through June 30, 2021 and new applications are welcome. Shared Spaces allow merchants to use sidewalks, full or partial streets, and other more...
20-Year Wind Event Causes East Bay Parks to Close
Bay Area Updates, Fire Updates, Outdoorsy, What's Closed / What's Open Regional parks in the East Bay are closing in advance of the expected high winds for Sunday night. SF Gate reports that the wind event will likely be the biggest of the year with continual winds up to 35mph, with some gusts reaching 70mph. Take caution; the risk across the entire more...
SF Breaks 128 Year Old Heat Record
Bay Area Updates, Wow Last week San Francisco saw above-average temperatures due to offshore winds pushing warm air over from the inland valleys. The City experienced 3 days in a row of unusually high temperatures. It was in the low 90s Thursday through Saturday, October 15-17. Even more impressively, SFGate reported that on Friday, October 16, more...
SF Announces Lots of New Updates for Reopening
Bay Area Updates, Indoor Dining, Museums / Cultural Institutions, Outdoor Dining, What's Closed / What's Open San Francisco Continues Reopening with Expanded Business Operations and Activities Tuesday, October 20, 2020 Now that San Francisco is assigned to the State’s Yellow tier, the City will move forward on reopening offices and expanding capacity at business, including fitness, dining, places of worship, personal services, recreation, and more Mayor London N. Breed more...
Driverless Vehicles (Without Any Humans) Coming to SF
Bay Area Updates, Only in San Francisco General Motors’ Cruise autonomous vehicles will be soon be cruising the streets of San Francisco – sans humans. The California DMV issued a permit on Thursday, October 15, to allow their vehicles to drive without any human backup drivers. Cruise expects their cars to be on the roads driving solo by more...
Record High Temperatures Set in Oakland & Richmond on Thursday
Bay Area Updates, Wow Thursday, October 15 was a scorcher across in The Bay. It was unusually hot for an October day; five record highs were set or tied across the Bay Area. Downtown Oakland set a new record high for 92° F; the previous record was 90°F set in 1974. Richmond hit a new more...
