I’m tired of people saying how BART isn’t self sufficient and therefore deserves to go under but you guys need to realize that not everything is meant to make money. BART is the equivalent of public schools or hospitals, it’s there to provide a service. This obsession with everything needing to make money is ridiculous, we’re losing the plot.

Signed a transportation planner

I was crossing the street at Hayes and Laguna with my dog when an Amazon delivery driver turning right nearly hit us. There were already pedestrians crossing, but he kept inching forward to make his turn.

I had to stop in the crosswalk because he was getting dangerously close and so I looked at him lol. that’s when he shouted at me “hey you gotta look too, dumbass!”… like wtf? I WAS looking, which is why I stopped. you’re at a 4-way stop with crosswalks in the MIDDLE OF THE CITY, and there are literally people crossing in front of you.

How about yielding to pedestrians and paying attention instead? look.. I get that you're probably in a rush, but that's not an excuse to put pedestrians at risk and then yell at them for being in your way.

way to ruin a nice warm thursday night sigh 😔

"After an incredible 16 year run, House of Air will close its doors on February 15th. 🛩️

For years, House of Air at Crissy Field has been a place where gravity was optional. You came for birthdays, first flips, dodgeball rivalries, field trips, date nights and Tuesday afternoons that turned into something unforgettable. You filled this building with noise, sweat, and a whole lot of joy.

We’re not ending with a goodbye. We’re ending with a send off. Between now and February 15th, come jump with us one more time (or 10). Bring the friends who learned t backflip here, bring the kids that aren’t kids anymore.

Thank you for every bounce, it’s been the ride of a lifetime. 💙"

https://www.instagram.com/p/Deh7YNVgXsE/?hl=en&img_index=3

Great op-ed in the Chronicle:

When the WNBA debuted 30 years ago, I had just graduated from high school in New York City and checked out a New York Liberty game at Madison Square Garden. The excitement for the Liberty and for the league was palpable. Finally, women were going to have their own platform to show their skills on the basketball court. 

The game that night was a thrill, but in an important way, the environment still felt stifling and oppressive. Simply put, it was clear back then that it was not OK for the players to be out and gay in the WNBA. The vibe was: keep your authentic self hidden, and don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t show. 

Through the lesbian grapevine, I learned when someone was gay or dating someone in the WNBA, but it was still on the down low. As a young lesbian, it felt sad that players were pushed to hide their sexual identity lest they risk losing their livelihood, career, endorsements and brand reputation. 

After college, I moved to San Francisco, and, three decades later, I am happily married to my wonderful wife, and we have two fabulous sons. This is our second season as Golden State Valkyries season ticket holders, and we are incredibly excited to see our adopted hometown team play the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA Finalsstarting Saturday. 

In just two years since its inception, the Valkyries franchise is now worth over $1 billion, and the team’s fan base continues to grow. There are so many things to love about this team. Compared to other WNBA teams, the Valkyries aren’t built around star players. Coach Natalie Nakase’s strategy makes for a better game, a better team and more interesting plays because every Valkyries player has their own unique superpower. It’s like watching the Marvel Universe rather than a one-star superhero comic. The team’s value comes from the combination of different skills working collectively together with a deep bench rather than focusing on a single star delivering over and over. 

The Valkyries have once again sold out all of their home games this year, and their 32-12 regular-season record was the league’s second-best. Besides being great athletes with different talents, human authenticity is key to what connects fans with the Valkyries.

“They want us to be powerful and unapologetic,” team President Jess Smith said about the team’s supporters earlier this year. And they are. 

The vibe at “Ballhalla” is magical, created organically by fans, many of whom, like some of the players, are unapologetically queer. By far, that has been the most outstanding and awesome thing I’ve noticed when rooting for the Valkyries. At every home game, the “Lavender Lesbian” mafia comes out to cheer their team. The capacity crowd of 18,000-plus at Ballhalla is wonderfully diverse, super positive and high-energy, creating an electricity unlike any other sporting event in the Bay Area. I’ve overheard parents talking about how their sons and daughters feel watching games with these women heroes and just how inspiring and fun it is.

The team also reflects the culture and values of the Bay Area. Coach Nakase is the first Japanese American WNBA coach, and Kaitlyn Chen is the first player of Taiwanese descent. In my experience, San Francisco fans really appreciate their unique representation in the league. Some players are also unapologetically gay, which feels very welcome and needed, in particular now when LGBTQ+ freedom and liberty are under attack. On Pride Night in June, after scoring 13 fourth-quarter points to lead the team to a 78-75 victory, forward Gabby Williams unapologetically declared that the win was “for the gays!” As a team that represents the “Gay Area” to the world, I could not help but beam with pride.

In contrast, the San Francisco Giants on their Pride Night allowed players to show hostility and denigrate queer people as unworthy of respect. That behavior was a disgusting embarrassment and did not represent our city’s values. Queer San Franciscans are a vibrant and critical part of our city. Queerness is something that makes San Francisco great. It is a beacon of acceptance to the rest of the world. Here we show personal character and civic integrity by treating other people with the dignity and respect that all deserve. The Giants management need look no further than Ballhalla if it needs to figure out how to treat LGBTQ people...

“The 390-foot-tall structure is expected to yield around 443,050 square feet, including 51,770 square feet for the basement garage and 4,520 square feet of ground-level retail. Unit sizes will vary, including 105 studios, 209 one-bedrooms, 84 two-bedrooms, and 45 three-bedrooms. The project will provide parking for 108 cars and 180 bicycles.”

From a Goodyear tire store, to a BevMo (with historical storefront?) to a 36 story building with housing.

When I was apartment hunting, I noticed the asking rent for a lot of apartments changed almost every day (especially at big buildings). 

So last year I started tracking it: every day I recorded the price of every available apartment at a bunch of SF buildings. The result:

• 64% of apartments changed price by $25+ while they were listed. For apartments that changed, the difference between the high/low price was ~$250/month (or $3,000/year, depending on which day you sign!)
• Asking rents are up 25% since November, but flat since July. In the last month, price cuts outnumbered increases about 2:1, which is the widest gap I’ve seen all year. I was surprised by this!

The difference between renting on a “down” day vs. an “up” day can be huge (like, $1000s a year). So I put together a (free) tool to help everyone access this data! If this helps a few people save money on rent, that’d be awesome :) 

transparentrent.com 

Would love to hear any feedback or ideas for what else to pull out of the data. Will try and add other Bay Area cities soon!

TLDR; Google flights for SF rent

I live in a unit built after 1979 and therefore am excluded from SF rent control. In my lease, my landlord also claimed an exemption from California Rent control for single unit owners (under AB 1482).

We recently received a notice of a ~36% rent increase, which obviously wasn't welcome news.

After some back and forth, our landlord ultimately decided to only increase our rent by 8.8% -- the maximum under California state rent control. I think this is because they were worried that the exemption wasn't clear enough in the lease.

Sharing this because others should be careful when signing a lease for a "newer" unit from a small landlord.

Also, I'm just fed up with the rental market here after 8 years. Property owners like mine decry any new housing as luxury units, but are happy to gouge long term tenants / community members from their second homes. Get out and vote for pro-housing candidates.

Federal prosecutors asked a judge on Oct. 8 to seal criminal charges against OpenAI engineer Abdulrahman Alfozan because he, his wife and a third family member had booked one-way tickets to Saudi Arabia for four days later, according to court filings made public this week.

Alfozan, a Saudi national, was arrested by the FBI because he allegedly hid a recording device in an OpenAI conference room used by executives.

Read the full story here.

Hey everyone, I'm looking for a place with bar food! Originally from Western PA, where we're really good at drinking and eating greasy food. I've been hoping to find a place around town to get a cold draft beer and some bar food. I'm not looking for truffle fries and fancy eats, give me fried pickles or mozzarella sticks.

Update: I'm in the Richmond but will go anywhere 🤣

I've been dying everyday-- coughing, sneezing, congestion, lethargy. I'm new to the area-- are there any plants that start to germinate during this time?

ETA: I had COVID or a flu like 2 weeks ago and it was AWFUL. Holy hell. Get your vaccines!

This is also why I suspect allergies, since I was sick, got better, then had a new set of symptoms appear. A lot more sneezing and stuffy/itchy nose than I usually get when sick

Rents going through the roof, but even most tech jobs (don't even talk about non tech) are not doing that well. Outside of a few ai companies that are doing well, the job market does not connect with how rents are headed.

I don't get it, i know SF is only 7x7, but still, wtf is going on, and is it going to collapse like a house of cards soon?

I was here for dot bomb, covid, and other booms and busts, It just feels like we're on the verge of another bust

If you have a child that attends Hoover middle school and rides the 48 bus, you might be doing parenting right.

A group of boys got on the 48 bus and they immediately organized themselves in accordance with proper bus etiquette. They told each other to sit down on available seats as to not crowd the bus. But they also got up and insisted elderly sit down. They look like they play sports like soccer and were sharing healthy snacks with each other like apples, snap peas, and crackers. Most of them werent on a phone and they were very mindful of speaking in an indoor voice. One of the boys fell on me because he lost balanced and immediately apologized. There are grown adults that cant even apologize for an accident. Granted they are prepubescent so they might not stay this way forever.

This is what caring for community looks like. These children have better bus etiquette and manners than tech transplants do. Tech transplants that commute insist on sitting in the front while simultaneously blocking the doors hindering people from getting on and off the bus. I know this sub is full of transplants and non SF residents so I will be downvoted. But this is the essence of SF culture and the difference between being born and raised in SF versus transplants.

AP Giannini parents/kids need to take notes…..

Even though they are constantly breaking down and the PG&E CEO readily admits $5 billion in immediate deferred work is needed, this joke of a utility says that the power lines and substations that were just valued at $3.5 billion will actually cost SF $20 billion. I say let’s sue PG&E immediately for the same amount, expropriate them, and call it a day. We will even let Ms. Poppe her keep her two corporate jets.