News
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Two Ballot Measures Zero In on S.F. Affordable Housing Crisis

10.20.2014
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By Stephanie Martin Taylor, KQED News Fix
When Jane Kim first ran for San Francisco Supervisor in 2010, she made the creation of more affordable housing her top priority. “But I don’t think at that time, when we were at the bottom of a recession, I could have predicted the affordability crisis,” Kim said. Kim’s district is a microcosm of the city’s housing extremes. It includes the Tenderloin and Civic Center area — home to some of the city’s poorest residents. Meantime, gleaming new condominiums and apartments in SoMa, Rincon Hill and Mission Bay house some of the city’s wealthiest.

News
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San Francisco Schools Grapple With Common Core, New Technology

10.16.2014
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By Hana Baba, KALW Crosscurrents
Note: The San Francisco Unified School District owns KALW’s broadcast license. San Francisco Unified School District Superintendent Richard Carranza has headed San Francisco’s schools for the past two years. He came to San Francisco from Las Vegas where he was a superintendent. Before that, he was a high school principal. As a child, Carranza started school speaking only Spanish and says his success story strengthened his belief in equitable opportunities in education.

News
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Election 2014: San Francisco, Berkeley Consider Soda Taxes

10.15.2014
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By Lisa Aliferis/The California Report/State of Health
When it comes to the 2014 election, the Bay Area is ground zero on a fight being watched across the country. Both Berkeley and San Francisco voters are considering soda taxes. They are not the first cities to try to slap a tax on sugary beverages. In California alone, Richmond and El Monte tried similar measures in 2012 — and failed. New York City tried to ban large servings — and failed.

News
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New Vision Starts for Candlestick Point

10.14.2014
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by Rachel Diaz-Bastin, Bay Nature 
Just two years ago, Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, San Francisco’s only state park, was slated for closure. Vandals had caused $15,000 in damage to a community garden on site. It seemed that this rare example of an urban California state park was falling by the wayside. But Candlestick Point may be seeing brighter days soon. A recent infusion of a $1 million dollar grant from California’s Strategic Growth Council will allow Literacy for Environmental Justice,  a nonprofit environmental and community stewardship program in Southeast San Francisco, to fulfill its vision for the park.

News
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A Tale of Two Davids: Chiu and Campos Battle for District 17 Votes

10.13.2014
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By Amanda Stupi, KQED News Fix
San Francisco Supervisors David Chiu and David Campos faced off on KQED’s Forum today. The city leaders are in a tight race to win the right to represent District 17 in the state Assembly. The exchange, while polite, featured lots of tension and jabs between the two candidates. They answered questions on everything from affordable housing to governing styles to the video of a recent conflict over the use of a soccer field at a Mission District playground. Read the complete story at KQED News Fix. 

Economy & Business
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Heinberg: Localize Economy or Face the Consequences

10.09.2014
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As climate change continues to threaten California in myriad ways, policymakers face a tough dilemma: promote economic growth or protect the planet.
At first, these priorities seem incompatible, but some experts on the topic say the environment and the economy are intimately linked, and are calling for a radical restructuring of communities to make them more local and self-sufficient. » Read more

News
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San Francisco Bookstore Survival Guide

10.09.2014
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By Holly McDede, KALW Crosscurrents
So you want to open a bookstore? Excellent news. Here’s your guide to survival:
No. 1: Stock what your customers want. If someone wants “Pigeon Lofts of North America,” have it.

News
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Lack of Asian-Language Materials on Exchanges Leaves Many Uninsured, Say Health Care Advocates

10.08.2014
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By Viji Sundaram, New America Media
The lack of Asian-language materials on health care exchanges has left hundreds of thousands of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders uninsured, according to a report released last month by Action for Health Justice. “Sixty percent of our population are foreign-born and face language barriers and are in a range of immigration statuses,” said Doreena Wong, project director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice — Los Angeles’ Health Access Project, one of 70 community-based organizations and federally qualified health centers that are a part of organization. Yet “very little, if any, resources were directed to our communities,” she said. “We were not given in-person assistance funds and many of our groups didn’t receive navigator funds.”  
Read the complete story at New America Media. 
 

Housing
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List of S.F. Buildings Needing Earthquake Retrofits 60% Higher Than Original Estimate

10.08.2014
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The number of San Francisco buildings vulnerable to collapse in a major earthquake is far greater than the city estimated when it passed a sweeping mandatory housing retrofit law, according to new data from earthquake inspections.
Engineering and architectural inspections filed by building owners through mid-September, to comply with the city’s requirement to shore up older wood-frame buildings, show that 4,806 apartment buildings need to be retrofitted — about 60 percent more structures than the city estimated when drafting the law. » Read more

News
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What Does ‘Affordable Housing’ Really Mean?

10.07.2014
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By Liza Veale, KALW Crosscurrents
When we say “affordable housing,” we are actually using a precisely defined concept. “Affordable,” in this context, means housing that costs no more than 30 percent of a household’s income. Here in the Bay Area, almost half of us are living in housing we cannot, by this definition, “afford.” It has become so common that it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the economy did not used to work this way. Read the complete story at KALW Crosscurrents.