The Frisc

Two years ago, we launched The Frisc to amplify voices and narrate the evolving stories of our city. You could describe it as being "in crisis." At a time when local news was declining, our city required more thorough reporting, diverse stories, and various perspectives. We have been addressing this gap by producing over 120 articles, features, and photo essays focused on San Francisco, all created by just two part-time journalists and a handful of freelancers who are dedicated to this mission.

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Fisherman’s Wharf Is SF’s Top Tourist Draw. More Locals Could Soon Make It Their Home

3 days ago | thefrisc.com | Adam L. Brinklow

If you think of Fisherman’s Wharf, and visions of clam chowder in a sourdough bowl and Pier 39 sea lions make you smile, then good news. San Francisco, desperate for a post-pandemic recovery, is leaning hard into the wharf’s status as its top tourist draw and huge economic engine. But wait, there’s more. San Francisco also sees Fisherman’s Wharf as a prime place to net potentially thousands of new homes.
Gay SF’s Heart Is In the Castro. The City Wants Thousands More Homes There Too

1 week ago | thefrisc.com | Adam L. Brinklow

Behind the plywood that covers the entrance of the historic Castro Theatre, a major renovation is underway. Berkeley-based Another Planet Entertainment, now the venue’s operator, has posted a notice asking the neighborhood’s forbearance (“please pardon our dust and noise”) and listing all the coming rewards: “much-needed” mural and plaster restoration, state-of-the-art heating and cooling, added bathroom capacity, and more.
SFUSD Has Had A Crazy Year. Here’s What to Expect After Summer Break

1 week ago | thefrisc.com | Ida Mojadad

Summer break for the San Francisco Unified School District starts in two weeks. A break sounds nice. The past year has been a whirlwind of controversies, changes, and uncertainty for everyone involved with SF’s public schools. For example, after months of layoff talk, the district announced on May 16 it would spare the jobs of 151 counselors and teachers’ aides — yet another rollercoaster moment. You’re forgiven if you haven’t kept pace.
Parkmerced Is a Giant Housing Fail. Can SF Avoid the Next One?

3 weeks ago | thefrisc.com | Adam L. Brinklow

In 2011, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors approved one of the city’s most ambitious housing plans, an overhaul of the 1940s-era Parkmerced, a small neighborhood next to San Francisco State University. The redevelopment was supposed to yield about 5,700 new homes and replace 1,500 more from Parkmerced’s aging stock, a remarkable bounty given how the city’s west side had for decades resisted new development. Fourteen years later – nothing.
SFUSD’s New Boss Got a 6-Month ‘Honeymoon.’ Now Deep Budget Cuts Are Coming

3 weeks ago | thefrisc.com | Ida Mojadad

Back in February, Maria Su, the newly minted head of the troubled San Francisco Unified School District, stood before an audience of business, nonprofit, and local government leaders and offered assurances about the future of the city’s public schools. “We will have to make really painful cuts,” Su said.
As SF Struggles With Its Drug Overdose Crisis, Here's A Harm Reduction Explainer

1 month ago | thefrisc.com | Ayla Burnett

For years, San Francisco has made harm reduction its standard drug policy. Keeping drug users alive, not punishing or shaming them, has been the overarching goal. But in the past year or so, unable to stem record overdose deaths driven by fentanyl, along with open drug use and sales in some neighborhoods, the city’s stance has started to change. It’s not just a Daniel Lurie thing.
SF Is Building Few New Homes Despite Looser Rules. Will One More Change Start the Flow?

1 month ago | thefrisc.com | Adam L. Brinklow

In 2024, San Francisco built only 1,735 new homes, the lowest figure in a dozen years. This year, economic uncertainty and Trump tariff pandemonium continue to suppress construction. It will take a miracle for SF to create the 82,000 new homes by 2031 that the city would like to see. A decade’s worth of changes to state law meant to promote more housing haven’t increased production, thanks in part to the pandemic and post-pandemic economic doldrums.
How a Single Mom in SF Fought To Go From Homelessness to 'Paradise'

1 month ago | thefrisc.com | Ayla Burnett

Two floors above an enclosed courtyard, three young girls press their hands against a set of large glass windows. The youngest, Titi, is jumping up and down, waving down at their mother, Danica Gutierrez. She smiles up at them, finally breathing easy. It’s March, and Gutierrez, 30, and her daughters — ages eight, nine, and 11 — just moved into a three-bedroom apartment at 600 7th Street, a brand-new building in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood.
Free CCSF Tuition Was Meant to Last 10 Years. It Might Need a New Deal

1 month ago | thefrisc.com | Ida Mojadad

After a two-year trial run, San Francisco agreed in 2019 to cover all City College tuition for SF residents, a notable move that drew national attention. The 10-year deal was meant to stabilize the beleaguered school, which had recently avoided a potential death blow from a state agency and was suffering from a years-long erosion in enrollment.
On Daniel Lurie's New Housing Map, Tall Buildings Aren't the Biggest Thing

1 month ago | thefrisc.com | Adam L. Brinklow

Last week, San Francisco planners unveiled a new map meant to make room for tens of thousands of new homes, especially in low-rise western neighborhoods and along busy commercial corridors. The plan comes two years after officials promised to make room for more than 80,000 new homes by the end of 2031, more than half of them affordable.