Noah Baustin

1 week ago | sfstandard.com | Noah Baustin

The pandemic was devastating for San Francisco’s retail economy, but one green shoot was the garden-store business. But after a few thriving years, the bloom is off the rose — and then some. City sales tax data shows just how far the local horticulture industry has drooped: not just down from its pandemic-era peak but to its lowest point in 15 years.

3 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Noah Baustin |David Sjostedt

Something strange is happening in the Mission. Public drug use and intoxication have surged in recent months, infuriating neighbors and generating splashy news coverage. The neighborhood, especially surrounding the 16th Street BART transit hub, is awash in scenes of people lighting up pipes, passing around suspicious baggies, and stumbling down sidewalks. Residents perceive lawlessness and danger all around. But the data tells a totally different story.

3 weeks ago | sfstandard.com | Noah Baustin

Casandra Juarez was the youngest mom by a mile at the Berkeley parent-baby yoga class. It didn’t take long for that fact to get shoved in her face. Another mother turned to her and asked, “What kind of cream do you use? You look so young.” Juarez explained that she was 22. “Oh, my God, what happened?” the other woman said. Juarez understood the question to be the latest version of one she faces constantly as a young mother: Was her daughter an accident?

1 month ago | sfstandard.com | Noah Baustin

The city is far off pace to meet the state mandate — unless funding materializes for hundreds of stalled projects. California cities are facing a monster housing ultimatum: Greenlight the number of units the state says you need, or lose local control of real estate planning. New data compiled by The Standard shows just how deep of a hole San Francisco is in after sluggish development in 2024.

2 months ago | sfstandard.com | Noah Baustin |Jonah Owen Lamb

Loitering bookings rose 150% in the first three months of 2025. The DA contends it’s a new strategy. Experts say it doesn’t work. Drug possession. Public intoxication. Resisting arrest. At first glance, there was nothing unusual about the claims San Francisco police levied against 44-year-old Chaz Burnett during two February arrests near 6th Street that landed him behind bars. But among those run-of-the-mill offenses was a far rarer allegation: criminal loitering.