Financial expert and recently retired BART Director Debora Allen explains that increased ridership can’t save the agency's budget if its expenses continue skyrocketing year to year. (Here’s a two-word hint: Labor overtime.) From the SF Briones Society podcast.
Read MoreL.A. city officials say they're on target to create 6,000 new beds for unhoused Angelenos in 2025—however, some advocates think it's only 4,600. The excellent LAist reports.
Read MoreCity gets a C- grade on violent and property crime, though it scores better on other types of crimes. Geographic inequities abound. Crimegrade.org reports.
Read MorePirate Wires's Dean W. Ball predicts a wave of free market-ification in local jurisdictions like San Jose, when it comes to firefighting, education, and—yes—even police.
Read MoreSanta Cruz County finds homeless encampment ground zero for stolen e-bikes. Santa Cruz Sentinel and KSBW report.
Read MoreIn a free-flowing Substack essay, Samridhi Ranjan pays homage to all the things that don't have a formula. That don't turn out the same way every time. The joys of life that (like the Valley's market itself) get tousled by the wind, molded by human touch, and transformed into something unique before returning to us.
Read MoreElephants have always communicated with their feet (via bone conduction), but it took awhile for scientists to catch on—to see what was right in front of them. When it comes to local issues like housing and transit, we wonder if pols have fallen into a similar trap. From Discourse mag.
Read MoreThere were an estimated 363 homeless people per 100,000 residents in San Jose last year, according to insidermonkey.com. The only U.S. cities with higher homelessness rates were: NY; LA; and Eugene, OR.
Read MoreGov. Newsom applauds (LA County's) South Bay city for working constructively with state and regional gov'ts to bring median duration for homeless down to 14 days. South Bay regional gov't explains how it's done.
Read MoreSF's overhaul of its homelessness strategy is centered on adding 1,500 new shelter beds in the next six months and restructuring outreach teams and supportive service programs. SJ hopes to add 1,400 new beds over the next year. Planetizen reports.
Read MoreAccording to a report by WalletHub, multiple cities in the Bay Area are considered among the worst large cities to start a business (ranked 1, best to 100, worst). SJ ranks 99th out of 100. The reason? Sky-high labor costs. KTVU reports.
Read MoreFirst, DA Rosen slow-walks Prop 36 prosecutions. Now, Newsom defunds it. So much for the popular will expressing itself. CBS Sacramento reports.
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