San Francisco artist and muralist Sirron Norris has launched a fundraising campaign to redo his first-ever mural – a surreal cityscape intertwined with cartoon characters and machines – to be replaced with one that reflects the city’s current struggles with inequality and police brutality. He wants the “makeover” to reflect and connect to the city’s “current political landscape.” It will...
Update, 7/24/16: The San Francisco Examiner reports that the landlords and tenant have reached a settlement, though the tenant’s lawyer did not offer any additional details about whether she would be able to remain in place, saying only that both parties are happy with the deal. Protesters posted in front of the downtown office of a tech company on Thursday afternoon to call...
Mission tech workers reacted to a proposal for a tech tax to curb the city’s growing inequality with comments ranging from skepticism to wondering why such a tax had not been imposed earlier. Mission-based tech worker Erini Blakey said that while the tax would rightfully “force tech companies to be good citizens,” she questioned its efficacy since it targets only...
In a collaboration with local residents and KQED, Detour, a startup offering audio walking tours of 11 San Francisco neighborhoods launched its Mission District tour yesterday. The Mission’s tour offers insight into the lives of six locals and newcomers who share a love for the neighborhood but grapple with the question of belonging. The city package sells for $24.99, and...
A Federal judge said Thursday that he would deliberate on whether to approve a $100 million settlement that would end a class action suit brought on by Uber drivers who allege the rideshare company has misclassified them. The settlement was reached in April between Uber and the lead attorney representing the drivers, Shannon Liss-Riordon, but was met by opposition from the drivers who...
Startups hoping to secure seed funding in 2016 may find it more difficult as investors have become more cautious, but Mission tech workers aren’t expecting a crash and those in start-ups are more sharply focused on sustainability. While venture capital investments reached a record high in 2015, the year was also marked by a plummet in public tech stocks and...
Bitcoin, a digital “cryptocurrency,” is now being dispensed at a local grocery on 17th and Mission streets that installed a bitcoin ATM – the third of its kind in the Mission District, and the first to appear at a market. “At first I thought, what the hell is this?” said the nephew of the market’s owner, who gave his name...
Rent Masters, a startup offering to help tenants willing to move out of rent-controlled housing figure out what they would be owed in buyout money, came under fire last week by the city’s housing rights community. In a buyout, a tenant agrees to vacate a unit in exchange for a payout by the landlord. Negotiations involved in this process can be lengthy and taxing and...
San Francisco’s Municipal Transit Agency is tasked with moving shuttle bus stops citywide from small, neighborhood streets onto larger thoroughfares under the city’s new 12-month program regulating the hundreds of commuter shuttles that transport employees of Silicon Valley’s tech companies. The program takes effect April 1, but it may take longer than that to figure out where to put the new stops. In addition...
Nearby residents are upset over proposed changes to move tech shuttle stops from 18th Street to Dolores Street, a move that will remove coveted parking spaces during certain times of the day. The shuttles – some of which span 35 feet in length – are currently assigned a route that takes them on 18th Street halting at Muni bus stops to load and unload passengers...
After years of building a quirky community, bitcoin investor Jered Kenna last month purchased the building at the corner of Mission and 20th streets that houses art and technology creators. With the $7.3 million purchase, the site of the former T-mobile downstairs could become a brewery and pub, and the empty space a door down may become a laundromat and...
The San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency’s board of directors on Tuesday gave its stamp of approval to a deal negotiated between city leaders, tech companies and activists that extends the city’s disputed commuter shuttle bus program for 12 months. The agreement was made under the condition that the shuttles’ impacts are studied and that the program regulating them will be revised accordingly. With the transit authority’s sanction, the 790 shuttle...
Google announced plans last week to bring high-speed broadband internet to San Francisco to serve disconnected communities throughout the city by plugging in public and low-income properties at no cost to residents. The company will use existing fiber optic cables that are largely owned by third-party companies. It is also talking to the city about leasing access to some of the...
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted today to dismiss an appeal calling for an environmental review of the city’s commuter shuttle program. Instead, the Board approved several major modifications to the program including limiting the number of shuttle stops and establishing a six-month review of the program’s impacts on the environment, traffic, and housing. Opponents of the shuttle program and the tech...
Startup founder Justin Keller has come under a barrage of internet fire for posting an open letter to city officials with the complaint that he is forced to witness the struggles of homeless individuals on city streets. “The wealthy working people have earned their right to live in the city. They went out, got an education, work hard, and earned...
