San Francisco City Insider

Latest Episodes:

Finding the Tipping Point on Homelessness May 31, 2019

Show notes

Daniel Lurie is the CEO and founder of Tipping Point, an anti-poverty nonprofit in San Francisco. He tells Heather Knight that the solution to homelessness is homes, but also that we can all help the homeless by simply treating them as people.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Total SF Live! with Amanda Guest, Emily Silverman, Tara Ramroop and Eugenia Chien May 27, 2019

Show notes

A crossover episode of The Big Event and San Francisco City Insider podcasts, recorded live on May 16, 2019, at the Betabrand Podcast Theater in the Mission District. San Francisco Chronicle pop culture critic Peter Hartlaub and San Francisco columnist Heather Knight interview BFF.fm online radio founder Amanda Guest, The Nocturnists podcast host Dr. Emily Silverman and Muni Diaries co-hosts Tara Ramroop and Eugenia Chien.

Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks on the album "Community."

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Opioid Addiction: One Family's Story May 24, 2019

Show notes

When 33-year-old Jeffrey Choate’s parents saw their son, homeless and addicted to heroin and meth, in Heather Knight's San Francisco Chronicle column, they wanted to tell her about how he ended up that way. We also hear from Choate, now in jail.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I Left My Heart - and Wallet, iPhone and Sanity - in San Francisco May 14, 2019

Show notes

Joe D’Allesandro, director of S.F. Travel, took City Hall to task a year ago for doing so little to improve safety and quality-of-life on the city’s streets. Between poop, needles, tent camps and car break-ins, tourists are often shocked and disgusted and vow to never return. And that’s a problem for a city that relies on tourism. We’re talking to him again to see what, if anything, has changed and what tourists are saying now.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mid-Market: Vision and Reality May 10, 2019

Show notes

We're sharing this episode of the Chronicle's flagship Fifth & Mission podcast about the expiring “Twitter tax break,” created by San Francisco in 2011 to draw companies to the downtrodden Mid-Market neighborhood. Reporters Trisha Thadani, J.K. Dineen and Roland Li discuss its impact and effects, both good and bad. Subscribe to Fifth & Mission wherever you get San Francisco City Insider.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Francisco’s Deadly Streets - And What Could Help May 03, 2019

Show notes

Five years ago, city officials vowed to eliminate all traffic deaths in 10 years in a safe streets program dubbed Vision Zero. Halfway through those 10 years, San Francisco is making no progress in eliminating traffic fatalities. Already this year, 12 people have died in traffic including seven pedestrians, a bicyclist, a skateboarder and three people in cars. Jodie Medeiros, director of the pedestrian advocacy nonprofit Walk San Francisco, talks about why San Francisco can’t seem to get a handle on making its streets safe - and what changes are needed to make Vision Zero a reality.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Homeless Navigation Centers: Now What? Apr 30, 2019

Show notes

The city's plan to build a homeless shelter on the Embarcadero faces a legal challenge. Jeff Kositsky, director of San Francisco’s homelessness department, talks about the need to balance an emphasis on short-term shelters with permanent housing.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fixing SF's Behavioral Health System Is Difficult. Here's Why. Apr 12, 2019

Show notes

Something isn’t working within San Francisco’s behavioral health care system, but city officials don't exactly know how to fix it yet. City Hall reporter Trisha Thadani breaks down why it's so complicated, and what San Francisco is doing to add more coordination, focus and accountability to the system.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tribute to the Richmond District Apr 10, 2019

Show notes

A tribute to the Richmond District, recorded at the historic Balboa Theatre, before a #TotalSF screening of "So I Married an Axe Murderer." San Francisco columnist Heather Knight and The Big Event podcast host Peter Hartlaub interview Supervisor Sandra Fewer, former Green Apple Books co-owner Kevin Hunsanger, Balboa owner Adam Bergeron, Richmond resident and affordable housing analyst Sophie Hayward and Chronicle editor-in-chief Audrey Cooper.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

America’s Most Woke Library Apr 09, 2019

Show notes

A chat with Michael Lambert, San Francisco’s new city librarian. The title sounds pretty old-school, but the city’s libraries are anything but. They’re about to become fine free. They host drag queen storytimes. They were among the first to add social workers to the staff since libraries are also makeshift homeless shelters. And last year San Francisco was named the nation’s best library system.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices