Merchant corridor doctor Vas Kiniris has a prescription for San Francisco’s historic West Portal: Embrace the future. “Millennials run the world now. But the rest of us can still be active participants in contemporary life. We can be perennials — always growing and blooming.”
Read MoreRiding a bike in San Francisco can be perilous. There are speeding cars and potholes. Then there is the politics of cycling, which can be as unforgiving as the road. Consider what Brian Wiedenmeier faces as director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.
Read MoreCan a Paris streetscape inspire us to create 10,000 new homes for middle-income families? Dom-i-city is a bold idea that solves land creation, financing, affordability and neighborhood quality of life in ways never considered in San Francisco.
Read MoreSmashed glass on curbs and sidewalks is the new normal in San Francisco with tens of thousands of car break-ins reported annually. Our criminal justice system needs the right incentives for offenders to change their behavior. Lawbreakers need to know they will be held accountable if they violate the terms of probation. And judges need to know citizens are watching. Read the full OpEd published in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Read MoreTwo generations of Iranian-Americans never gave up on the American dream even when they weren’t always welcome. Nima’s parents accepted discrimination as a cost for being here. But in the age of Trump, Nima isn’t buying it. How the young lawyer keeps fighting despite defeat.
Read MoreExactly 42 years after the San Francisco Police Officers Association declared gay people unfit to serve, Tony Montoya became the police union’s first openly gay president. Yet Montoya’s temperament is just as groundbreaking — when compared to the take-no-prisoners approach his predecessors took in local politics. “Our bombastic style doesn’t work anymore. It turns people off,” Montoya said. “I’ll be more thoughtful.”
Read MoreAfrican Americans arrested for being in a Starbucks and the Supreme Court deciding if businesses can deny LGBTQ customers. Today’s news reminds Angelic Williams of The Green Book that helped her grandparents travel safely in Jim Crow America. So she created an app that tells LGBTQ people of color where they’re welcome.
Read MoreWith all the challenges the world faces today, why do we need a $40 million memorial to World War I? Because today’s great grandchildren are still fighting it. And we still haven’t learned “what is past is prologue.”
Read MoreDistrict Attorney George Gascon and police Captain Robert Yick discuss the property crime epidemic in San Francisco with Stop Crime SF vice president Joel Engardio on a public safety panel. Solving this complex problem will require every part of the criminal justice system working hard together. Gascon answered many engaging questions from the Westside audience.
Read MoreThe Westside has good reason to fight an overreaching state law that aims to put apartment buildings next to single-family homes. But what about train corridors like West Portal Avenue and the empty parking lot behind Stonestown Mall? It’s time to build middle-income housing there — if we want to keep families in San Francisco.
Read MoreHeroin needles and broken glass from car break-ins litter San Francisco streets. Property crimes and housing prices continue to soar. Perhaps our city should turn its lonely eyes to Assessor Carmen Chu: "Think of me as your neighborhood assessor."
Read MoreThe community meeting I organized for Stop Crime SF led the local TV news on ABC. The epidemic of car break-ins was the topic and state Assemblymember Phil Ting spoke about legislative solutions. Stop Crime SF is a group of San Franciscans working together to reduce and prevent crime in our neighborhoods while holding public officials and the criminal justice system accountable. Join us at www.stopcrimesf.com
Read MoreRiding a tech bus to Silicon Valley has nothing to do with hepatitis B, but there's a good chance some of the passengers have the virus and don't know it. Why? Major risk factors include being millennial and Asian & Pacific Islander (APIs comprise nearly half of tech jobs and a quarter of the population in the Bay Area). Inaction can lead to death by liver cancer. That's why Arcadi Kolchak and Richard So are fighting to save their generation — and yours.
Read MoreSometimes a popcorn machine is not just about the popcorn. Residents at a block party didn’t realize their hot, buttery treat was actually a survival test. It’s how Miraloma Park became one of the safest places to be when disaster strikes San Francisco. How does your neighborhood measure up?
Read MoreI serve on the board of Stop Crime SF and we applaud Police Chief Bill Scott’s announcement to assign officers in San Francisco neighborhoods dedicated to car break-ins. Our members spoke at City Hall to express the frustration and fear we feel in the neighborhoods. Stop Crime SF supports a focused strategy to fight property crime that has reached epidemic proportions.
Read MoreHow did a lifeline for LGBT persecution in the Middle East start on the Google bus to Silicon Valley? Meet Kevin Steen, who wouldn’t let 7,500 miles get in the way of helping his Jordanian friend. “Mohammad’s dad threatened to shoot him,” Kevin said. “It was an honor crime waiting to happen.”
Read MoreIris Bonilla, 20, feels the pressure of being the only Latina in the room — in her college computer classes and at her tech company internship. But don’t call her a unicorn. Hard work, not magic, has gotten her this far. There’s a very real program that academically pushes and supports underserved public school students like Iris to get into and survive college. “Having to represent an entire community is a lot to put on one pair of shoulders,” Iris said. “It’s been nerve-wracking to prove that I can do it. But I think that I have so far.”
Read MoreWhat if there was an idea for housing that doesn’t just cherish neighborhood character but also makes the neighborhood a nicer place to live? This is the genius of Eugene Lew’s housing idea. The retired architect calls it Domicity, for Domiciles in the City.
Read MoreSeptember 17 doesn’t get much love. Yet it’s a day that should be as celebrated as Christmas or the 4th of July. Learn about Constitution Day, the most important holiday no one knows about.
Read MoreThey're leaders who influence San Francisco's future. She’s an urbanist who likes density and fewer cars. He’s devoted to preserving single-family homes and parking. They represent opposite sides of the housing debate. Yet Christine Johnson and George Wooding agree on more than you think. Meet the not-so-odd couple.
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