What the Chronicle termed the Downtown “doom loop” has been getting national coverage, but here’s a compelling counterpoint – three of San Francisco’s neighborhood commercial corridors: Haight-Ashbury, Hayes Valley and Japantown, all in Democratic Socialist Supervisor Dean Preston’s District 5, are actually thriving. This is not in spite of him being a socialist Supervisor, but because of the corridors’ close partnership with him.

If you’ve been to downtown San Francisco in recent months, it will come as no surprise that the once bustling FiDi is no longer, and it’s been replaced by a skyscraping ghosttown. 

And if you haven’t been, you probably still know this. The Daily, a New York Times podcast, published an episode a few months ago, bleakly titled The Most Empty Downtown in America; a number of publications have penned articles on why SF is unique in its struggle to return its downtown to pre-pandemic bustle; and local politicians are putting their heads together in a desperate attempt to figure out how in the world to revitalize downtown SF.

BY TOUTA BAHER I wanted to write about an Indian and Pakistani restaurant in the Tenderloin, but had a hard time deciding which one to focus on. There are so many delicious options within two blocks, but I decided to talk about Shalimar Restaurant, the place that inspired me to

BY CASEY BENNETT  Happy endings aren’t all that they are cracked up to be. What’s so good about characters riding off into the sunset and living “happily ever after”? Boring.   What is not boring is Happy Endings, the monthly reading series, held the second Tuesday of every month at The

San Francisco is not Detroit (no offense to Detroit). -by Alen Nye   San Francisco is where you go to get sexy. And be queer. To get high while getting by. To get hip living on tips. To get paid for getting laid. And get lost on the edge of

BY MATTHEW BELD A bright (ish) new light now graces downtown San Francisco —the Transamerica Building has started a multi-year facelift. A pyramidal blue glow has been spotted emanating from its upper point, signaling the beginnings of a head-to-toe renovation that is part of San Francisco’s vision for a more

  Written by M.T. Agha What was once known as Oakland’s largest homeless encampment has now mostly disappeared. The encampment on Wood Street in West Oakland, which previously spanned several blocks and had housed hundreds of people in the past has been cleared out indefinitely. The only semblance of what

BY ANTONY FANGARY There’s an upscale chain restaurant, we’ll call it “Fancy Applebee’s,” with a location in downtown San Francisco that reeks of fratboys at a nightclub. Like most places that aren’t worth the money, they have a dress code. I don’t think that we need to debate the obvious