SFNext: Fixing Our City

Latest Episodes:

Best of FOC: Elect a Mayor for Nightlife? Why Amsterdam Did It Nov 22, 2022

Show notes

There was a time when Amsterdam was sick of losing creative people to Berlin because of its vibrant and diverse round-the-clock cultural scene. Much more appealing than the “open air museum” that residents complained Amsterdam had become. So, the Dutch city tried something new, including electing a new night mayor — a liaison between night culture operators and city government who advocated for policies under which a diverse and varied nightlife scene could flourish. Mirik Milan, former night mayor who currently runs a nightlife consultancy, talks about what worked, the benefits to the city as a whole and what obstacles cities around the world face right now in revitalizing nightlife. (First published July12, 2022) |Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod

Fixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle's SFNext Project

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Cooking Up an On-ramp to Employment Nov 15, 2022

Show notes

When you’ve been out of the workforce for a while, the hurdles that stand between you and a job that can provide some stability can seem never-ending. Meanwhile, San Francisco is grappling with a shortage of restaurant workers. Farming Hope guides and pays people as they learn the ropes of working in the short-staffed food industry. Whether they’re experienced cooks or have never worked in a kitchen, by the end of the program they’ll have connections that could lead to a good job and skills that will serve them in the food industry. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod

Fixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext Project

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What San Francisco Can Learn From Portugal Decriminalizing Drugs Nov 08, 2022

Show notes

Portugal’s decision to decriminalize drug possession as of 2001 garnered international attention. But that move was just part of the nation’s broader public health strategy to curb the devastating effects of an opioid epidemic. At the time, on average, Portugal had an overdose death every day. Today, it’s dramatically reduced the number of overdose deaths, HIV infections associated with drug use, and problematic heroin use. Meanwhile in San Francisco, overdose deaths have exploded. Dr. João Goulão, Portugal’s national coordinator for drugs and drug addiction, explains how the country’s approach was shaped and what the results have been. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod

Fixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext Project

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Why Does Speeding Up Housing Construction Take So Long? Nov 01, 2022

Show notes

San Francisco is under pressure to pick up the snail-like pace of new housing construction. One research paper suggests the problem is local agencies having so much discretion over the process. Officials have tried to pare down the system to speed up production, especially of affordable housing, but things are still slow. Now two warring ballot measures — only one can become law — claim they’ll kickstart development by letting certain projects skip some steps. Experts lay out how we got here and why the need to streamline persists, and reporter Noah Arroyo gives an overview of what voters will have to consider. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod

Fixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext Project

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175 People Get In a Room to Fix San Francisco Oct 25, 2022

Show notes

For a whole day, nearly 200 San Francisco residents examined the top three local problems on our collective minds: Homelessness, crime and housing. They quizzed panelists and discussed among themselves. Meanwhile, a cohort of small groups participated in a structured brainstorming exercise to address specific elements of the three overarching topics. They presented their ideas to the crowd for scrutiny: Pilot programs for housing development. Staffing police precincts like firehouses. A “supervisor exchange program.” Now the Chronicle’s SFNext team — including this podcast — will look for ways to dive deeper into these proposals and continue the conversation. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod

Fixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext Project

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Understaffed, Overburdened City Workers “Just Need Help” Oct 18, 2022

Show notes

San Francisco’s top human resources official acknowledges the need for workers and the calls for reforms to a lengthy recruitment and hiring process. The money is in the budget to fill the open jobs, but the rules that govern how that happens are enshrined in the city charter, and they exist to guard against favoritism and other corruption. Meanwhile, most city employees do not live in San Francisco. Human resources director Carol Isen, Labor Council leader Kim Tavaglione and 911 dispatcher Burt Wilson lay out the consequences of the worker shortage and what is being done about it. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod

Fixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext Project

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How Ranked-Choice Voting Works And Why It’s Used In San Francisco Oct 11, 2022

Show notes

For local elections in San Francisco, voters don’t just choose their favorite single candidate. They ordered them from most to least preferred. Ranked-choice voting hgas eliminated the need for runoff elections since 2004. While some politicians, including former President Donald Trump, inaccurately insist ranked-choice voting favors one party over the other or propels unpopular candidates to victory, experts say that isn’t the case. We explain how the system works and hear some benefits and critiques. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod

Fixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext Project

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Correction: An earlier version of this episode contained an error about the ranking rules. As of Oct. 12, the episode has been updated to reflect that ranking multiple candidates first will invalidate a ballot.

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Think You Know San Francisco? The Numbers Might Surprise You Oct 04, 2022

Show notes

Simple questions in San Francisco don’t always have easy answers. But even imperfect data can offer insights and a shared set of facts for tackling problems like homelessness and crime. In compiling the SFNext Index, Chronicle data reporter Adriana Rezal and data editor Dan Kopf dig into city records, census results, survey responses and other sources to find answers to reader questions and challenge their own assumptions. What they find is often surprising. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod

Fixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext Project

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We Put Two People Who Disagree About Housing in a Room and Nobody Died Sep 27, 2022

Show notes

Nadia Rahman with YIMBY Action and Joseph Smooke with the Race and Equity in All Planning Coalition both agree it costs far too much to live in San Francisco and that this lack of affordability has serious consequences for the city’s diversity and equity. What they don’t see eye to eye on is the role of the market in influencing housing affordability. But when we all sat down to talk, it turned out they agree on the urgency of building affordable housing and creating a clear and detailed plan to produce it, while frontloading community input to minimize repetitive and exhausting battles about individual projects. So what would they say we should do about it? | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod

Fixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext Project

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Tell Me About Your Debt: An Inside Look at S.F.’s Free Financial Coaching Sep 20, 2022

Show notes

Poor financial health can keep people from accessing city services like affordable housing. Even if they otherwise qualify, bad credit can be an obstacle. So San Francisco has developed a program that provides anyone who lives in, works in, or gets services from the city with a financial coach free of charge. The Office of Financial Empowerment established Smart Money Coaching six years ago. Fixing Our City producer Cintia Lopez test-drives the program by talking to a Smart Money Coach about her own finances. | Unlimited Chronicle access: sfchronicle.com/pod

Fixing Our City is part of the San Francisco Chronicle’s SFNext Project

Got a tip, question, comment? Email us at sfnext@sfchronicle.com

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