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"slug": "oaklands-alysa-liu-gives-the-us-its-first-womens-figure-skating-olympic-gold-in-24-years",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12072038/2026-winter-olympics-how-to-watch-bay-area-athletes-tahoe-figure-skating-skiing-snowboarding-cortina\">Oakland figure skater Alysa Liu\u003c/a> delivered the U.S. its first women’s figure skating Olympic gold medal in 24 years, performing a near-flawless free skate Thursday night in a glittering golden dress to upstage Japanese rivals Kaori Sakamoto and Ami Nakai at the Milan Cortina Games.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 20-year-old San Francisco Bay Area native, who had walked away from the sport after the Beijing Games four years ago only to launch a remarkable comeback, finished with a career-best 226.79 points. Nakai and Sakamoto, skating right behind her, each made a mistake on a combination sequence, and that made the difference in the medals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sakamoto had 224.90 points to earn a silver to go with her bronze from Beijing. Nakai finished third with 219.16 points.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The moment Nakai’s score was read after the final program of the night, teammate Amber Glenn jumped onto the kiss-and-cry stand and raised Liu’s hand in triumph. Liu sheepishly turned and applauded the 17-year-old Nakai, who raced over and hugged her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the first gold medal for an American woman since 2002, when Sarah Hughes stood atop the podium in Salt Lake City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glenn finished in fifth behind Mone Chiba of Japan, a stunning rebound from a disastrous short program Tuesday night. Her season-best free skate gave a score of 214.91 points, and just about landed her on the podium as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073928\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073928\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women’s figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. \u003ccite>(AP Photo/Francisco Seco)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Glenn pumped her first and fought back tears when her score was read, then she took a seat in the new “leader’s chair.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wound up sitting there for quite a while.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through an ice resurfacing. And through eight programs by other skaters, including American teammate Isabeau Levito, whose fall on her opening triple flip in an otherwise elegant performance kept her from taking over the top spot herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adeliia Petrosian, the 18-year-old Russian competing as a neutral athlete at the Milan Cortina Games, tried the only quadruple jump during the women’s competition but fell on the quad toe loop. She was clean the rest of the way, but the points Petrosian lost on that fall ended up leaving her less than a half-point behind the leader.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was Chiba — the ninth skater to follow Glenn — that finally took over first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That didn’t last long with Liu next on the ice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee told KQED Thursday that the skater is an inspiration to youth in her city, and cited Liu’s history as a former student of Oakland School of the Arts, as well as her early days skating at the Oakland ICE Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re so excited about this historic win and excited for her,” Lee said. “She is a wonderful young lady who has a very promising future. And once again, she is an example of Oakland, and our town, and what we do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/jgeha\">Joseph Geha \u003c/a>contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The moment Nakai’s score was read after the final program of the night, teammate Amber Glenn jumped onto the kiss-and-cry stand and raised Liu’s hand in triumph. Liu sheepishly turned and applauded the 17-year-old Nakai, who raced over and hugged her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the first gold medal for an American woman since 2002, when Sarah Hughes stood atop the podium in Salt Lake City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Glenn finished in fifth behind Mone Chiba of Japan, a stunning rebound from a disastrous short program Tuesday night. Her season-best free skate gave a score of 214.91 points, and just about landed her on the podium as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073928\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073928\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1706\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26050789844739-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alysa Liu of the United States competes during the women’s figure skating free program at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. \u003ccite>(AP Photo/Francisco Seco)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Glenn pumped her first and fought back tears when her score was read, then she took a seat in the new “leader’s chair.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wound up sitting there for quite a while.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Through an ice resurfacing. And through eight programs by other skaters, including American teammate Isabeau Levito, whose fall on her opening triple flip in an otherwise elegant performance kept her from taking over the top spot herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adeliia Petrosian, the 18-year-old Russian competing as a neutral athlete at the Milan Cortina Games, tried the only quadruple jump during the women’s competition but fell on the quad toe loop. She was clean the rest of the way, but the points Petrosian lost on that fall ended up leaving her less than a half-point behind the leader.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was Chiba — the ninth skater to follow Glenn — that finally took over first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That didn’t last long with Liu next on the ice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee told KQED Thursday that the skater is an inspiration to youth in her city, and cited Liu’s history as a former student of Oakland School of the Arts, as well as her early days skating at the Oakland ICE Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re so excited about this historic win and excited for her,” Lee said. “She is a wonderful young lady who has a very promising future. And once again, she is an example of Oakland, and our town, and what we do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/jgeha\">Joseph Geha \u003c/a>contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "big-storms-boost-california-water-supply-but-snowpack-lags",
"title": "Big Storms Boost California Water Supply, but Snowpack Lags",
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"headTitle": "Big Storms Boost California Water Supply, but Snowpack Lags | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Ever since \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> was pummeled by a series of storms in fall and early winter, experts have said the state’s water supply is looking strong for this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those storms — with a potential bump from the ones hitting much of the state this week — have helped refill reservoirs and eased immediate drought worries in many parts of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But experts also say that a few wet storms don’t mean we’re out of the woods. That’s because this winter is a “classically climate-change-flavored one,” according to Daniel Swain, a weather and climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that’s not because it’s been a particularly dry winter, he explained. It’s because it’s the warmest winter the West has ever seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the Western U.S., the snowpack is, on average, terrible,” Swain said. “It’s about as bad as it’s ever been in observed history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073622\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12073622 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/DonnerPassGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1498\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/DonnerPassGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/DonnerPassGetty-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/DonnerPassGetty-1536x1150.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of trucks piled up during heavy snow near Donner Pass in Truckee, California, on Dec. 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This warm winter creates a wrinkle: While the season’s rain has turned hillsides green, temperatures haven’t been cold enough at low enough elevations to bring as much snow as usual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that has some climate scientists and water managers concerned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what to know about California’s water outlook as we head into the last months of the wet season.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Snowpack is key — and it’s way behind\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Snowpack — the snow that accumulates in the mountains — is responsible for \u003ca href=\"https://water.ca.gov/Programs/All-Programs/Climate-Change-Program/Climate-Change-and-Water\">as much as a third\u003c/a> of California’s annual water supply. Think of it like a giant, frozen reservoir that sits above the snowline, or freezing line — the elevation where temperatures are low enough for it to snow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s snowpack builds up in winter, then slowly melts throughout spring and summer, feeding rivers, moistening soil and vegetation and refilling reservoirs downstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073713\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12073713 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Snow covers a street sign on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Truckee, California. \u003ccite>(Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But that freezing line is changing, according to Michael Anderson, a climatologist with the California Department of Water Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In past decades, many storms in the Sierra saw snow starting around 3,500 to 4,000 feet above sea level, according to Anderson. Now, he said, an ideal storm brings snow around 4,000 to 5,000 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, warm temperatures kept that snowline even higher — around 7,000 feet — in many parts of the Sierra.[aside postID=news_12073690 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP1.jpg']That brings challenges, according to Anderson. “In the Northern Sierra Nevada, there’s not a whole lot of watershed above 7,000 feet for snow to accumulate,” he said, meaning “there’s not much land for that snow to build up on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The potential consequences of lost snowpack put experts on edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For starters, there’s the possibility of greater fire risk. As the snowpack melts, water running down the Sierra helps keep vegetation and soils moist when the weather dries out. The ecosystem has grown to rely on that replenishment; without it, dry vegetation could become fuel for wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snowpack also refills reservoirs as it melts. Without it, we don’t have that steady stream to replenish our water supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, reservoir levels are at more than 100% of their historic average overall, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://cww.water.ca.gov/\">California Department of Water Resources\u003c/a>. That’s thanks to plenty of rain and solid snowpack from previous winters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if a warm winter like this one follows after a few dry years, experts say a weak snowpack could force Californians to curtail water use in the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sierra Nevada snowpack lagging far behind normal in parts of the state\" aria-label=\"Column Chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-FpdUz\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/FpdUz/2/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"500\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a year where we really might need it, if it’s not there, that is the kind of situation where people everywhere in California are gonna notice,” Swain said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, the statewide snowpack is sitting at 69% of the normal for this time of year, with the Northern Sierra lagging the most, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action\">Department of Water Resources\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking ahead, Anderson said he’s hoping for a run of colder storms later this month and in March, with lower freezing elevations that can rebuild a healthier snowpack. If dry or warm stretches drag on for two weeks or longer, he warned, “you’re backsliding a little bit” and possibly losing ground on snowpack, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The current storm could help snowpack — but don’t celebrate yet\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The storm moving through the state may bring the Sierra snowpack closer to normal. But this year’s warm weather is part of a pattern that experts expect to continue, thanks to climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fortunately, as Desert Research Institute climatologist Dan McEvoy points out, California is still benefitting from a few good years of snowpack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In particular, a cold, wet winter in 2023 produced a solid snowpack that put the state in strong shape heading into the current season. All of that stored water acts as a buffer, helping California ride out a year when snowpack is weaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073837\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12073837 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AN2_3834-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AN2_3834-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AN2_3834-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AN2_3834-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AN2_3834-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AN2_3834-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Department of Water Resources (from right) Engineer Jacob Kollen, Hydrometeorologist Angelique Fabbiani-Leon and Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Unit Manager Andy Reising, take measurements during the second media snow survey of the 2026 season at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada, on Jan. 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But experts aren’t ready to say that the 2026 water outlook is worry-free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just missing two or three [storms], not having those [cold] storms show up during the winter, can make or break a drought year,” McEvoy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As UC climate scientist Swain put it, this season’s high temperatures, high freezing line and low snowpack “would be less concerning if this were just a totally aberrant anomaly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, he said, our changing climate means “it’s part of a sustained trend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So while things may be looking better after this week’s storm, the bigger problem isn’t going away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "This week’s storms, preceded by downpours in December and January, have been good for California’s water supply. But as warming temperatures mean less snow, the picture is complicated.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Ever since \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> was pummeled by a series of storms in fall and early winter, experts have said the state’s water supply is looking strong for this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those storms — with a potential bump from the ones hitting much of the state this week — have helped refill reservoirs and eased immediate drought worries in many parts of the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But experts also say that a few wet storms don’t mean we’re out of the woods. That’s because this winter is a “classically climate-change-flavored one,” according to Daniel Swain, a weather and climate scientist with UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that’s not because it’s been a particularly dry winter, he explained. It’s because it’s the warmest winter the West has ever seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the Western U.S., the snowpack is, on average, terrible,” Swain said. “It’s about as bad as it’s ever been in observed history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073622\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12073622 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/DonnerPassGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1498\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/DonnerPassGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/DonnerPassGetty-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/DonnerPassGetty-1536x1150.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of trucks piled up during heavy snow near Donner Pass in Truckee, California, on Dec. 24, 2025. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This warm winter creates a wrinkle: While the season’s rain has turned hillsides green, temperatures haven’t been cold enough at low enough elevations to bring as much snow as usual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that has some climate scientists and water managers concerned.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what to know about California’s water outlook as we head into the last months of the wet season.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Snowpack is key — and it’s way behind\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Snowpack — the snow that accumulates in the mountains — is responsible for \u003ca href=\"https://water.ca.gov/Programs/All-Programs/Climate-Change-Program/Climate-Change-and-Water\">as much as a third\u003c/a> of California’s annual water supply. Think of it like a giant, frozen reservoir that sits above the snowline, or freezing line — the elevation where temperatures are low enough for it to snow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s snowpack builds up in winter, then slowly melts throughout spring and summer, feeding rivers, moistening soil and vegetation and refilling reservoirs downstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073713\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12073713 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Snow covers a street sign on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Truckee, California. \u003ccite>(Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But that freezing line is changing, according to Michael Anderson, a climatologist with the California Department of Water Resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In past decades, many storms in the Sierra saw snow starting around 3,500 to 4,000 feet above sea level, according to Anderson. Now, he said, an ideal storm brings snow around 4,000 to 5,000 feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, warm temperatures kept that snowline even higher — around 7,000 feet — in many parts of the Sierra.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That brings challenges, according to Anderson. “In the Northern Sierra Nevada, there’s not a whole lot of watershed above 7,000 feet for snow to accumulate,” he said, meaning “there’s not much land for that snow to build up on.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The potential consequences of lost snowpack put experts on edge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For starters, there’s the possibility of greater fire risk. As the snowpack melts, water running down the Sierra helps keep vegetation and soils moist when the weather dries out. The ecosystem has grown to rely on that replenishment; without it, dry vegetation could become fuel for wildfires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snowpack also refills reservoirs as it melts. Without it, we don’t have that steady stream to replenish our water supplies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, reservoir levels are at more than 100% of their historic average overall, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://cww.water.ca.gov/\">California Department of Water Resources\u003c/a>. That’s thanks to plenty of rain and solid snowpack from previous winters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if a warm winter like this one follows after a few dry years, experts say a weak snowpack could force Californians to curtail water use in the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sierra Nevada snowpack lagging far behind normal in parts of the state\" aria-label=\"Column Chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-FpdUz\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/FpdUz/2/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"500\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a year where we really might need it, if it’s not there, that is the kind of situation where people everywhere in California are gonna notice,” Swain said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, the statewide snowpack is sitting at 69% of the normal for this time of year, with the Northern Sierra lagging the most, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/sweq.action\">Department of Water Resources\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking ahead, Anderson said he’s hoping for a run of colder storms later this month and in March, with lower freezing elevations that can rebuild a healthier snowpack. If dry or warm stretches drag on for two weeks or longer, he warned, “you’re backsliding a little bit” and possibly losing ground on snowpack, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The current storm could help snowpack — but don’t celebrate yet\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The storm moving through the state may bring the Sierra snowpack closer to normal. But this year’s warm weather is part of a pattern that experts expect to continue, thanks to climate change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fortunately, as Desert Research Institute climatologist Dan McEvoy points out, California is still benefitting from a few good years of snowpack.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In particular, a cold, wet winter in 2023 produced a solid snowpack that put the state in strong shape heading into the current season. All of that stored water acts as a buffer, helping California ride out a year when snowpack is weaker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073837\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12073837 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AN2_3834-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AN2_3834-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AN2_3834-2000x1333.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AN2_3834-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AN2_3834-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AN2_3834-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Department of Water Resources (from right) Engineer Jacob Kollen, Hydrometeorologist Angelique Fabbiani-Leon and Snow Survey and Water Supply Forecasting Unit Manager Andy Reising, take measurements during the second media snow survey of the 2026 season at Phillips Station in the Sierra Nevada, on Jan. 30, 2026. \u003ccite>(Andrew Nixon/California Department of Water Resources)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But experts aren’t ready to say that the 2026 water outlook is worry-free.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just missing two or three [storms], not having those [cold] storms show up during the winter, can make or break a drought year,” McEvoy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As UC climate scientist Swain put it, this season’s high temperatures, high freezing line and low snowpack “would be less concerning if this were just a totally aberrant anomaly.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, he said, our changing climate means “it’s part of a sustained trend.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So while things may be looking better after this week’s storm, the bigger problem isn’t going away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-rise-and-fall-of-bay-area-streetcar-transit-system",
"title": "The Rise and Fall of the Bay Area Streetcar Transit System",
"publishDate": 1771498844,
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"headTitle": "The Rise and Fall of the Bay Area Streetcar Transit System | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the turn of the 20th century, streetcars crisscrossed the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\"> Bay Area\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many people, they were the primary way to get around town —and to San Francisco for work. People would walk out their doors in Berkeley, Alameda, Oakland, hop on a streetcar that would take them to a ferry and be in downtown San Francisco in about 40 minutes. Remnants of these lines can be seen in many Bay Area streetscapes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious listener Vanessa Boehm grew up in Germany with efficient public transportation, and as she looked around her neighborhood near the UC Berkeley campus, she wondered: “What happened to the streetcars that used to be around Oakland and the East Bay?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s not the first or the last to ask questions along those lines. The history and disappearance of the Key System, which once served East Bay residents, has captured the imagination of many transit aficionados. And among the many similar questions we’ve gotten are some from people who want to know whether it would be possible to recreate the streetcar networks that have long since vanished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without knowing it, perhaps, Vanessa and other listeners have touched on a disputed piece of both East Bay and national transportation history, a conspiracy theory that involves some of the nation’s most powerful corporations and the role they played — or didn’t play — in the disappearance of streetcars in the East Bay. The story also encompasses a real-estate development scheme that shaped Oakland and Berkeley, the rise of suburban sprawl, and the dawn of the motor vehicle age.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Streetcars fundamentally shaped urban development\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Streetcars were essential to the growth of cities in the Bay Area and across the United States in the final years of the 19th century and the opening years of the 20th. Electric railroads — either streetcar networks connecting neighborhoods or interurban lines connecting towns and cities — served all nine Bay Area counties in the early 20th century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The place where that electric streetcar legacy is most obvious is San Francisco, where several electric lines that operated in the 1920s — Muni’s J, K, L, M and N routes — are still essential parts of the city’s transportation system. Two other lines, the E and the F, feature tourist-oriented service using historic streetcars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073776\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 990px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-05-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073776\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"An electric train crossing the lower deck of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.\" width=\"990\" height=\"796\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-05-KQED.jpg 990w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-05-KQED-160x129.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 990px) 100vw, 990px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Key System “A” line train on a test run across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco to Oakland in 1939. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of \u003ca href=\"https://www.foundsf.org/Key_System_and_March_of_Progress\">FoundSF.org\u003c/a>)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the first four decades of the 20th century, the East Bay was served by two major electric streetcar systems: one run by Southern Pacific and a competitor known popularly as the Key System. Southern Pacific’s system, initially called the Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley Lines, ran transbay service using ferries that left from long causeways, or moles, in West Oakland and Alameda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Key System was a collection of East Bay streetcar and transbay lines built or purchased and consolidated by Francis Marion Smith, known as “Borax” Smith because of his success mining and marketing the all-purpose mineral in the deserts of Nevada and southeastern California. Starting in the 1890s, Smith created a network of lines that eventually stretched from Richmond to San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But creating a transit system wasn’t Smith’s main objective. He and partner Frank Havens had purchased about 13,000 acres, more than 20 square miles, under the aegis of a separate enterprise known as The Realty Syndicate. The streetcar and transbay train system Smith created was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11925112/idora-park-and-playland-at-the-beach-bay-area-amusement-parks-of-a-bygone-era\">designed to serve the new neighborhoods\u003c/a> that would be developed on the syndicate’s properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland historian Mitchell Schwarzer said the streetcar network fundamentally changed the shape of the city. In his 2021 study of Oakland’s development, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucpress.edu/books/hella-town/paper\">\u003cem>Hella Town,\u003c/em>\u003c/a> he said that by 1912, property subdividers had created more than 50,000 new residential lots close to streetcar routes.[aside postID=news_12068602 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251204-EARTHQUAKECOTTAGES00030_TV-KQED.jpg']The effect on what had been a compact East Bay community focused on downtown was dramatic, with streetcar lines triggering a sprawl of new neighborhoods in every direction and the creation of commercial districts like Grand Lake, Rockridge, Piedmont Avenue and along stretches of San Pablo Avenue and East 14th Street, now International Boulevard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The streetcar “affected everything — it affected where the residential areas developed, it affected where the commercial areas developed, it affected where industry moved pretty much,” Schwarzer said. Alongside the automobile, streetcars shaped the form Oakland took to this day, “both where things are located, how they’re distributed, how they’re built, what’s built, where they’re built,” Schwarzer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He adds that this early episode of sprawl also helped shape Oakland’s future demographic and class profile. The city’s vast residential expansion “allowed for the wealthier people to live on larger lots and to live separately and to erect barriers to minorities moving into their communities. Without the streetcar, they couldn’t have done that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Financial failures\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Although the Key System and other streetcar operations were useful in driving real estate development and despite the fact that they carried more than 100 million passengers a year at their peak in the 1920s, they were, for the most part, failures as money-making enterprises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Key System was in deep financial trouble by 1913. According to the late transportation reporter and historian Harre W. Demoro, the Key’s early money troubles could be traced directly to Borax Smith’s risky and chaotic business practices. With the company deeply in debt, Smith was forced out in 1913. A series of crises ensued, with the company teetering on the edge of failure and being foreclosed on and reorganized in 1923 and 1930.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By this time, private automobiles had become a major presence in cities across the country, including those in the Bay Area. The growing popularity of car ownership is reflected in a steep decline in ridership for both the Southern Pacific and Key System after a peak recorded in the mid-1920s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drivers weren’t the only ones who were drawn to new motorized modes of transport. Starting before 1920, transit systems began to convert some of their train service to bus lines. By the mid-1920s, the Key System had joined in that trend, which accelerated through the U.S. entry into World War II in 1941.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Demoro found in \u003ca href=\"https://archive.org/details/bulletinnational446nati\">a 1979 study\u003c/a> of the Key System published in the National Railway Bulletin that by 1937, its buses accounted for more than half of the company’s business in terms of miles of service delivered. “From then on, the bus dominated” Key’s operation, Demoro wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://archive.org/embed/keyroutetransbay0000demo\">his two-volume history\u003c/a> of the transbay service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073773\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-02-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073773\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A two-car, orange-and-silver electric train shown in a car barn at the Western Railway Museum in Solano County.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Key System Bridge Unit 187, part of the fleet that provided service across the Bay Bridge from the East Bay to San Francisco between 1939 and 1958, at the Western Railway Museum in Solano County. \u003ccite>(Dan Brekke/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The decline accelerated after the Bay Bridge opened to drivers in November 1936. The planned railroad service on the bridge wasn’t ready when the bridge opened, creating an opportunity for East Bay residents to enjoy the ease of car travel. When train service on the bridge’s lower deck finally began in January 1939, it did little to reverse the ridership slump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s right here that the conspiracy theory mentioned earlier becomes part of the Key System story. Because as the car was becoming king, companies related to the automobile industry bought up dozens of streetcar lines and replaced them with buses. That effort was intended, the story goes, to undermine mass transit to such an extent that riders would desert it in preference for automobiles.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A kernel of truth to the myth\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>General Motors, Standard Oil of California (now known as Chevron), Firestone Rubber and Phillips Petroleum really did invest in a company called National City Lines and a pair of subsidiaries that were in the business of buying mostly financially troubled streetcar systems and immediately converting them to bus systems. That happened in 46 cities across the country, including a few big ones, like Los Angeles, St. Louis, and yes, Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The government really did take National City Lines, GM, its partners and their executives to court. In 1949, a jury in Chicago really did convict them of one count of violating federal antitrust law by conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses, fuel, tires and other supplies to the transit systems that National City Lines and its subsidiaries had taken over. The companies were acquitted on a second count alleging they had conspired to block competitors from doing business with the National City companies. In other words, the defendants were found guilty of trying to control the purchase of supplies that newly “motorized” transit agencies would need, not of any broader conspiracy to wreck mass transit.[aside postID=news_12065901 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251016-NIMITZHOUSE-38-BL-KQED.jpg']The penalties the judge imposed were trivial: $5,000 for each corporate defendant — about $68,000 in 2026 dollars — and $1 for each of the executives who had played a part in the conspiracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the story is more complex than the National City Lines case, said Ethan Elkind, who directs the climate program at UC Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment. “It’s really a story of technology change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The electric streetcar systems that started appearing everywhere in the 1890s were a big leap in speed and performance compared to the horse-drawn omnibuses and cable cars they replaced. But then the next big innovation in transportation arrived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the early 20th century, the big, disruptive technology was the automobile, and people adopted it en masse very rapidly, and it made these streetcars for a vast majority of the population essentially obsolete,” Elkind said. Cars not only competed for riders, they also competed for space on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you throw the automobile into that, and everybody’s driving now, these streetcars are getting stuck in traffic,” Elkind said. “They’re not really enjoyable for people to ride. And people are frustrated by the poor service, high fares, and they wanted the freedom and mobility that automobiles, private automobiles, represented.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The argument that GM’s National Cities gambit was chiefly responsible for the collapse of electric railways across the county has been widely criticized as little more than a myth, one that ignores other factors that made many streetcar systems vulnerable by the 1930s, including their often poor physical and financial condition and the fact that, as shown by the Key System, bus transportation was becoming steadily more popular and economical well before National City Lines appeared on the scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The Key System’s slow demise\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After struggling through most of the 1930s, a surge in wartime ridership had made the company profitable and by 1945, it was sitting on a sizable surplus. Although it had struggled to upgrade its cars and tracks before the war, it had begun making plans to revamp service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company began to follow through on all of these initiatives, contracting for new streetcars and moving ahead with the purchase of trolley buses to run on College Avenue and on the Arlington Avenue-Euclid Avenue service in the Berkeley Hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073797\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1020px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/494425878_1249028317224906_1645347311867449341_n-2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073797\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/494425878_1249028317224906_1645347311867449341_n-2.jpg\" alt=\"Black-and-white image of people lined up to board commuter bus about 1960 in San Francisco's Transbay Terminal.\" width=\"1020\" height=\"734\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/494425878_1249028317224906_1645347311867449341_n-2.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/494425878_1249028317224906_1645347311867449341_n-2-160x115.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Berkeley-bound commuter line up to board a Key System “F” bus after San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal was reconfigured for bus service in 1959. AC Transit would take over the service the following year. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Western Railway Museum)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then suddenly, all that work stopped. In May 1946, Key System management sold the company to National City Lines for $3 million ($52 million in 2026 dollars). By the end of the year, the company’s new owners decided to scrap all the remaining streetcar lines and replace trains with motor buses. The only trains the Key System still operated were the half-dozen transbay lines operating across the Bay Bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1955, the company applied to the state Public Utilities Commission to abandon transbay service. The last trains ran over the bridge to San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal in April 1958. The Key System, now an all-bus operation, was purchased by a new public transit agency — AC Transit — in 1960.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The evolution of the Bay Area’s transit system\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Looking back on those events in 1979, Demoro speculated that without the National City Lines takeover, the East Bay’s transit system would likely have evolved into a hybrid featuring streetcars, trolley buses along with motor buses. Whether the transbay service would have survived was less clear, he said, because of the state’s interest in reconfiguring the bridge to accommodate more motor vehicles — a goal realized when the Key System tracks were removed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he also marveled that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11986396/when-bart-was-built-people-and-houses-had-to-go\">the region managed to build BART\u003c/a>, an agency created in the 1950s as the Key System trains were in their twilight years and both California and the rest of the United States went all in on highway spending. “That accomplishment … seems astounding today, he wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073772\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-01-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073772\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Black-and-white image of 1940s streetcars and automobiles in a traffic jam in Oakland, California.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1048\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-01-KQED-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-01-KQED-1536x805.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As automobile traffic grew, streetcars — and streetcar riders — often found themselves tangled in traffic jams like this 1940s faceoff between Key System trains and cars at 47th Avenue and East 14th Street (now International Boulevard) in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Western Railway Museum)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But in one sense, the Key System hasn’t gone away. When AC Transit took control of the Key’s bankrupt all-bus operation in 1960, it continued an East Bay transit legacy that stretched back nearly a century. AC Transit continues to be a vital transportation link for hundreds of thousands of East Bay residents, much the way the Key System was in its peak years. And for those who travel between the East Bay and San Francisco, BART now serves the riders the way the Key System’s trains and ferries once did, although maybe a lot less romantically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s still possible to ride some of the few surviving Key System trains at Solano County’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.wrm.org/\">Western Railway Museum\u003c/a>, on Highway 12 between Fairfield and Rio Vista. Muni offers \u003ca href=\"https://www.streetcar.org/rider-information-map-2/\">a daily vintage streetcar experience\u003c/a> on its F trolley car line, running along Market Street between the Castro and Steuart Street downtown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>At the turn of the 20th century, streetcars crisscrossed the Bay Area. Nowadays, though, you rarely see them. So you might even be thinking to yourself, what even is a streetcar?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Think of those old trolleys like the F line on Market Street in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Trolley dinging\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>It’s not a cable car, it’s not modern light rail. It’s an old-fashioned train, usually one or two cars, that runs above ground on a track, often with electric wires overhead to provide power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric streetcars were big in the East Bay before the automobile took off. For many people, they were the primary way to get around town – and to San Francisco for work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival video clip: \u003c/strong>Geared to the needs and dedicated to the service of the East Bay, Key System became one of the largest single businesses in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>People would walk out their doors in Berkeley, Alameda, Oakland, hop on a slick orange and silver Key System streetcar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival video clip: \u003c/strong>Transportation to San Francisco was by ferry, a convivial mode of travel that, particularly in the evening, had elements of fantasy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>That was the daily commute of many for decades. Our question asker this week, Vanessa Bohm, grew up in Germany and has seen some remnants of the Key system all around the East bay. She’s wondered…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Vanessa Bohm: \u003c/strong>What happened to the streetcars that used to be around Oakland and the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Vanessa is not alone. We get questions about what happened to the key system a lot. Some people even wonder if those old streetcar lines could be put to use again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here to help us understand the rise and fall of Bay Area streetcarts is the man, the myth, the legend, recently retired, but back, because he just can’t quit, KQED’s transportation editor emeritus, Dan Brekke. Hi Dan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Hi, Olivia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Can you start by painting a picture for us at its height? What would the East Bay have looked like during the streetcar era?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Well, you would have had dozens of streetcar lines, either running from neighborhood to neighborhood or from neighborhoods to downtowns, and you would’ve had a collection of trains that were starting at various nodes in the East Bay, like North Berkeley or Downtown Berkeley, University of California, Downtown Oakland, East Oakland, running to a little rail line that ran out into the middle of the bay where people would climb off their trains and catch ferries into the city. And those trains would get you from point A to point B in 35 or 40 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>We know electric streetcars became common across the country and in all nine counties of the Bay Area starting in the 1890s, but tell us more about how the key system in particular got started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Early in the 20th century, in the very first years, real estate investors, led by somebody named Francis Marion Smith, whose nickname was Borax Smith, because he’d made a fortune in borax mining in the southwest. He was part of what was called the Realty Syndicate. And they owned something like 20 square miles of East Bay real estate. And it would make this property so much more valuable if there was an easy way for people to get to and from these areas that would then be ripe for development. And pretty much that’s what happened. These streetcar lines got built, and if you see a route map, there are tendrils stretching throughout what we think of as East Oakland today and north into Berkeley, with many lines that were both neighborhood lines where people could ride, say, from their neighborhood to downtown Oakland, and many lines that were traveling from the East Bay to San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>So sort of a situation where if you build it, they will come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>They built it and they did come and much of the streetscape and the way neighborhoods are put together in Berkeley and Oakland really comes from that early streetcar development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>One thing I find interesting is that these were not public works projects in the sense that the public owned them or they were, you know, done with tax dollars. These were private companies running these these streetcars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Yeah, that’s right. Those streetcar lines we’re talking about and wherever we’re talking about them, you know, it would be hard to go to a town of any size in the early 20th century and find no street railroad, right? And, of course, Los Angeles was one of the places where they were most prevalent. But all of this was done through private capital that had some kind of investment goal in mind. And often it had to do with developing real estate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>They didn’t own the street, so logistically, how did that even work?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Yeah, they would get a license from the cities where they wanted to operate and part of the license would be access to the street and also some agreement about who would take care of the tracks in the street because as you know, if you’ve been anywhere where there’s a railroad track in a street, there are usually some kind of pavement problems and so that would be part of the deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Tell me about the experience of actually riding one of these cars. What would it have been like as a commuter to step foot on one?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>If you want to experience what these trains were like, you don’t have to rely on imagination. If you go out to the Western Railway Museum, which is near Rio Vista, there’s an amazing collection of streetcars from all different eras.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke in scene: \u003c/strong>This is so cool. This one used to run in Oakland, going to the ballpark. And this is a Key System one too, this one that says E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>When they heard what I was up to, what I was interested in finding out about, they said, well, we can take one of those bridge units out and run it for you. Unbelievable. They roll out this retro, streamlined, two-car, orange and silver train, which is instantly a throwback to what people would have experienced their first day riding on the Bay Bridge in 1939. So then you know we’re on the platform waiting for this train to start up, we climb aboard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Conductor:\u003c/strong> Welcome aboard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>First thing I notice is the windows don’t open, but that’s okay. There’s ventilation through a front door and we roll out down this, kind of beautifully recreated streetcar line, electrified streetcar line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Trolley bell\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>In the middle of nowhere, but here’s this train going through this kind of pristine-looking ranch environment, and you come to a little crossroad, you have to slow to a stop, sound the horn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Horn blares\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Conductor: \u003c/strong>Hey, we’ve got a car for once!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Because you don’t want to interfere with any crossing ranch traffic, and then you proceed to a little stop really out in the middle of nowhere. And get off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Conductor: \u003c/strong>Okay, thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>The motorman changes ends of the car and then you head back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>That sounds pretty fun. We’re going to take a quick break here, but we’ll get into why this system started to fall apart when we come back. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sponsor message\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>So, Dan, the scene that you’ve painted so far, it’s very idyllic with all these streetcars whisking people from Berkeley and Oakland to Ferries and maybe taking them into the city. And that goes on for what, 40 odd years? When does it all start to change and what factors were behind the changes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Well, the 1930s were a very rough decade for streetcar companies in general. You had the Great Depression, of course, that started in 1929 and deepened throughout the first half of the decade. The transit industry itself either recovered very slowly or not at all. A lot of that was because they were private companies that were locked into pretty disadvantageous contracts with the cities they served. Right? They could only raise fares so much. And they didn’t receive public subsidies. There was a big shift going on toward private automobiles that was also taking away some of their customers. In the Bay Area itself, you know, the relationship between the East Bay and the city of San Francisco changed dramatically in 1936 with the opening of the Bay Bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival video clip: \u003c/strong>A six-lane double deck bridge, eight miles long, connecting San Francisco with the Oakland-Berkeley area, spanning the largest major navigable body of water ever bridged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>I mean, there was an incredible influx of traffic across the bridge into San Francisco, basically as soon as the bridge opened, and it just didn’t slow down. And one of the unfortunate things that happened at the same time was that while part of developing the Bay Bridge was to build railroad tracks across it so that these interurban trains could come in from the East Bay, but it wasn’t ready to use until early 1939. One of the factors that people point to in the demise of the key system, is that delay of more than two years where people got to experience that it was much easier to drive into the city and faster, perhaps, than it had been to take the train. Their habits changed, and the key systems never really recovered. And we also had this phenomenon of the slow transition in the key-system itself away from streetcars for their local service to buses. And by the late 1930s, buses were carrying most of the ridership. So all of those things together really started to dim the outlook for the streetcar companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>One narrative that I’ve heard over and over is that a big reason that streetcars failed was that essentially car companies bought the key system and then would intentionally run the company into the ground so people would be forced to buy more cars. Is there any truth to that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>There’s a kernel of truth to it. You know, when I talked to Ethan Elkind from UC Berkeley, you know, he talked about the effect of one particular movie in the 1980s on this view of history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ethan Elkind: \u003c/strong>Well, in L.A., the conspiracy was really put on steroids by the movie who framed Roger Rabbit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Judge Doom from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”: \u003c/strong>I see a place where people get off and off the freeway. On and off, off and on, all day, all night! Soon, where Toon Town once stood will be a string of gas stations, inexpensive motels, restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food, tire salons, automobile dealerships…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oh, it’s so great to hear Christopher Lloyd in that. He was so good! And the character he was playing was Judge Doom and his masterplan was to destroy Toon Town, where Roger Rabbit lived, and a key part of the plot is to kill the streetcar system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Who Framed Roger Rabbit clip: \u003c/strong>C’mon, Nobody’s gonna drive this lousy freeway when they can take the red car for a nickel. Well, they’ll drive. They’ll have to. You see, I bought the red car so I could dismantle it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ethan Elkind: \u003c/strong>Not an exaggeration that, you know, this 1989 semi-cartoon really fed this idea that it was highway interests that gobbled up the streetcar lines. And the story is much more complex than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>The complexity people are talking about and the grain of truth to Roger Rabbit is because of a lawsuit that was filed against a company that was called National City Lines and some of its investors in the 1940s. And National City Lines was a company that went around the country buying up streetcar systems and they would convert those to bus systems, basically. That’s the long and the short of it. And by doing that, they were really helping out their investors who were General Motors, Standard Oil of California, Firestone Rubber, Phillips 66, companies like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>National City Lines showed up in Oakland in 1946 and took control of the Key System. And while the Key system had laid plans to sort of keep streetcars going and also keep them running into San Francisco. Across the Bay Bridge, the national city lines scrapped most of these development plans, let’s call them, right away. So within a very short amount of time, the streetcar lines in the East Bay turned into bus lines. The streetcar lines were abandoned. The exception was the inter-urban line into San Francisco. That continued running until the late 1950s, but it ran at a loss. It ran with fewer and fewer passengers every year, and the last key system cars ran across the Bay Bridge in 1958.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>When we start talking about public transportation, I’ve noticed that people are often very nostalgic for the past, and it can, you know, sort of become a little idealized, you know, oh, dreaming about riding across the Bay Bridge and the train, but there were some realities to the Key System that people forget about. Can you tell us about some of the drawbacks of the Key System, even when it was sort of at its height?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>So there’s very definitely a paradise lost tone to the way people discuss the Key system. If we only hadn’t abandoned this beautiful streetcar system, just think how much better our world would be. I think that ignores the reality that they had huge power plants to supply the electricity for their systems. In the case of the Key System, they had a huge powerhouse in Emeryville. Kind of close to where Ikea is today. There was a gigantic smokestack there and they were burning coal. Sure, electric trains were much cleaner in terms of the environment around the lines themselves, but they still had an environmental footprint as all of our transportation choices do. And I talked to Mitchell Schwarzer, who’s a professor of architectural and urban history at the California College of the Arts about the social effects of the streetcar system. He wrote a book a few years ago called \u003cem>Hella Oakland\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mitchell Schwartzer: \u003c/strong>What the technology allowed for was a vast residential expansion outside of the inner areas of Oakland. And that allowed for the wealthier people to live on larger lots and to live separately and to erect barriers to minorities moving into their communities. Without the streetcar, they couldn’t have done that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>I will say also that there was some outrage about the lack of safety for streetcars. The years I’ve looked at were between 1906 and 1910. It’s absolutely hair-raising to see how many people were getting killed in streetcar accidents. The newspapers relished these stories. I mean, they were told in sometimes excruciating detail what happened to the victims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Definitely not insignificant safety and environmental concerns that you’ve brought up. But I do wanna say times are different now, right? We know how to run trains on green energy. We know to put safety protocols in place that will keep people more safe. One of our question askers wanted to know, could the old Key System sort of be a model for public transportation of the future?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Well I talked to Ethan Elkind from UC Berkeley Law School about this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ethan Elkind: \u003c/strong>Well, I think you run into the same problems that the streetcars were running into in the old days, which is that a lot of them ran down highway medians. They would get stuck in traffic. They would hit red lights. They would have to wait for cars to pass. And they weren’t necessarily that fast. You need to have a dedicated separate right of way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>You have to deal with all the other street traffic. That’s a real problem in imagining streetcar lines flourishing again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ethan Elkind: \u003c/strong>And then to really make transit make sense, you have to be able to serve dense concentrations of jobs and housing where people can easily walk or bike to the rail station. And unfortunately, what we’ve seen too often, especially in the higher income areas in the Bay area, they don’t allow new development. They don’t wanna see new apartment buildings come into their neighborhoods. And that’s what you would need to have to have the ridership really make sense. And so that these streetcar lines could actually have enough ridership where they wouldn’t require as much public subsidy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>The other thing is they’re really damn expensive to build. Lots of transportation experts say that the workaround is right in front of us if we only had the political will to do it. And that is to dedicate more street space as bus only space, right? Mostly we’re talking about bus rapid transit where you have dedicated lanes for buses. You have signals that are set so they prioritize the bus traffic. Those are much, much less expensive to build, but they take a lot of planning, and there is an upfront investment that sometimes is difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Dan Brekke, thank you so much, as always, for reporting on this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>You’re very welcome. And as I conclude here, I want to make a couple of acknowledgements. One is, there’s kind of an amazing community of transit historians in the Bay Area, including some who are very painstakingly documenting some of this history of the key system. So that’s one acknowledgement. The other one is, thanks to you and Katrina. You guys are wonderful to work with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Listeners should know that Dan was one of my first editors here at KQED when I started out as a wee baby reporter. And, he’s reported some of my favorite Bay Curious episodes over the years. Like those mysterious East Bay walls, why there are so many crows in the bay area and he’s answered dozens of your transportation questions over the years. We’ll link to a few of his stories in our show notes, so go check those out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dan, thank you, thank you, thank you. You are the best. I hope you have a happy retirement, but also, I have a feeling you’ll be back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you value what you hear on our show, consider becoming a KQED member. You can choose the level of support that works for your budget by going to \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/donate\">kqed.org/donate\u003c/a>. Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, and me, Olivia Allen-Price. Extra support from Maha Sanad, Katie Sprenger, Jen Chien, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and the whole KQED team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a great week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the turn of the 20th century, streetcars crisscrossed the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/bay-area\"> Bay Area\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many people, they were the primary way to get around town —and to San Francisco for work. People would walk out their doors in Berkeley, Alameda, Oakland, hop on a streetcar that would take them to a ferry and be in downtown San Francisco in about 40 minutes. Remnants of these lines can be seen in many Bay Area streetscapes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious listener Vanessa Boehm grew up in Germany with efficient public transportation, and as she looked around her neighborhood near the UC Berkeley campus, she wondered: “What happened to the streetcars that used to be around Oakland and the East Bay?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s not the first or the last to ask questions along those lines. The history and disappearance of the Key System, which once served East Bay residents, has captured the imagination of many transit aficionados. And among the many similar questions we’ve gotten are some from people who want to know whether it would be possible to recreate the streetcar networks that have long since vanished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without knowing it, perhaps, Vanessa and other listeners have touched on a disputed piece of both East Bay and national transportation history, a conspiracy theory that involves some of the nation’s most powerful corporations and the role they played — or didn’t play — in the disappearance of streetcars in the East Bay. The story also encompasses a real-estate development scheme that shaped Oakland and Berkeley, the rise of suburban sprawl, and the dawn of the motor vehicle age.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Streetcars fundamentally shaped urban development\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Streetcars were essential to the growth of cities in the Bay Area and across the United States in the final years of the 19th century and the opening years of the 20th. Electric railroads — either streetcar networks connecting neighborhoods or interurban lines connecting towns and cities — served all nine Bay Area counties in the early 20th century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The place where that electric streetcar legacy is most obvious is San Francisco, where several electric lines that operated in the 1920s — Muni’s J, K, L, M and N routes — are still essential parts of the city’s transportation system. Two other lines, the E and the F, feature tourist-oriented service using historic streetcars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073776\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 990px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-05-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073776\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"An electric train crossing the lower deck of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.\" width=\"990\" height=\"796\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-05-KQED.jpg 990w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-05-KQED-160x129.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 990px) 100vw, 990px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Key System “A” line train on a test run across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco to Oakland in 1939. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of \u003ca href=\"https://www.foundsf.org/Key_System_and_March_of_Progress\">FoundSF.org\u003c/a>)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For the first four decades of the 20th century, the East Bay was served by two major electric streetcar systems: one run by Southern Pacific and a competitor known popularly as the Key System. Southern Pacific’s system, initially called the Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley Lines, ran transbay service using ferries that left from long causeways, or moles, in West Oakland and Alameda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Key System was a collection of East Bay streetcar and transbay lines built or purchased and consolidated by Francis Marion Smith, known as “Borax” Smith because of his success mining and marketing the all-purpose mineral in the deserts of Nevada and southeastern California. Starting in the 1890s, Smith created a network of lines that eventually stretched from Richmond to San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But creating a transit system wasn’t Smith’s main objective. He and partner Frank Havens had purchased about 13,000 acres, more than 20 square miles, under the aegis of a separate enterprise known as The Realty Syndicate. The streetcar and transbay train system Smith created was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11925112/idora-park-and-playland-at-the-beach-bay-area-amusement-parks-of-a-bygone-era\">designed to serve the new neighborhoods\u003c/a> that would be developed on the syndicate’s properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland historian Mitchell Schwarzer said the streetcar network fundamentally changed the shape of the city. In his 2021 study of Oakland’s development, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ucpress.edu/books/hella-town/paper\">\u003cem>Hella Town,\u003c/em>\u003c/a> he said that by 1912, property subdividers had created more than 50,000 new residential lots close to streetcar routes.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The effect on what had been a compact East Bay community focused on downtown was dramatic, with streetcar lines triggering a sprawl of new neighborhoods in every direction and the creation of commercial districts like Grand Lake, Rockridge, Piedmont Avenue and along stretches of San Pablo Avenue and East 14th Street, now International Boulevard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The streetcar “affected everything — it affected where the residential areas developed, it affected where the commercial areas developed, it affected where industry moved pretty much,” Schwarzer said. Alongside the automobile, streetcars shaped the form Oakland took to this day, “both where things are located, how they’re distributed, how they’re built, what’s built, where they’re built,” Schwarzer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He adds that this early episode of sprawl also helped shape Oakland’s future demographic and class profile. The city’s vast residential expansion “allowed for the wealthier people to live on larger lots and to live separately and to erect barriers to minorities moving into their communities. Without the streetcar, they couldn’t have done that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Financial failures\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Although the Key System and other streetcar operations were useful in driving real estate development and despite the fact that they carried more than 100 million passengers a year at their peak in the 1920s, they were, for the most part, failures as money-making enterprises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Key System was in deep financial trouble by 1913. According to the late transportation reporter and historian Harre W. Demoro, the Key’s early money troubles could be traced directly to Borax Smith’s risky and chaotic business practices. With the company deeply in debt, Smith was forced out in 1913. A series of crises ensued, with the company teetering on the edge of failure and being foreclosed on and reorganized in 1923 and 1930.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By this time, private automobiles had become a major presence in cities across the country, including those in the Bay Area. The growing popularity of car ownership is reflected in a steep decline in ridership for both the Southern Pacific and Key System after a peak recorded in the mid-1920s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drivers weren’t the only ones who were drawn to new motorized modes of transport. Starting before 1920, transit systems began to convert some of their train service to bus lines. By the mid-1920s, the Key System had joined in that trend, which accelerated through the U.S. entry into World War II in 1941.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Demoro found in \u003ca href=\"https://archive.org/details/bulletinnational446nati\">a 1979 study\u003c/a> of the Key System published in the National Railway Bulletin that by 1937, its buses accounted for more than half of the company’s business in terms of miles of service delivered. “From then on, the bus dominated” Key’s operation, Demoro wrote in \u003ca href=\"https://archive.org/embed/keyroutetransbay0000demo\">his two-volume history\u003c/a> of the transbay service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073773\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-02-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073773\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A two-car, orange-and-silver electric train shown in a car barn at the Western Railway Museum in Solano County.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Key System Bridge Unit 187, part of the fleet that provided service across the Bay Bridge from the East Bay to San Francisco between 1939 and 1958, at the Western Railway Museum in Solano County. \u003ccite>(Dan Brekke/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The decline accelerated after the Bay Bridge opened to drivers in November 1936. The planned railroad service on the bridge wasn’t ready when the bridge opened, creating an opportunity for East Bay residents to enjoy the ease of car travel. When train service on the bridge’s lower deck finally began in January 1939, it did little to reverse the ridership slump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s right here that the conspiracy theory mentioned earlier becomes part of the Key System story. Because as the car was becoming king, companies related to the automobile industry bought up dozens of streetcar lines and replaced them with buses. That effort was intended, the story goes, to undermine mass transit to such an extent that riders would desert it in preference for automobiles.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A kernel of truth to the myth\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>General Motors, Standard Oil of California (now known as Chevron), Firestone Rubber and Phillips Petroleum really did invest in a company called National City Lines and a pair of subsidiaries that were in the business of buying mostly financially troubled streetcar systems and immediately converting them to bus systems. That happened in 46 cities across the country, including a few big ones, like Los Angeles, St. Louis, and yes, Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The government really did take National City Lines, GM, its partners and their executives to court. In 1949, a jury in Chicago really did convict them of one count of violating federal antitrust law by conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses, fuel, tires and other supplies to the transit systems that National City Lines and its subsidiaries had taken over. The companies were acquitted on a second count alleging they had conspired to block competitors from doing business with the National City companies. In other words, the defendants were found guilty of trying to control the purchase of supplies that newly “motorized” transit agencies would need, not of any broader conspiracy to wreck mass transit.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The penalties the judge imposed were trivial: $5,000 for each corporate defendant — about $68,000 in 2026 dollars — and $1 for each of the executives who had played a part in the conspiracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the story is more complex than the National City Lines case, said Ethan Elkind, who directs the climate program at UC Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment. “It’s really a story of technology change.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The electric streetcar systems that started appearing everywhere in the 1890s were a big leap in speed and performance compared to the horse-drawn omnibuses and cable cars they replaced. But then the next big innovation in transportation arrived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the early 20th century, the big, disruptive technology was the automobile, and people adopted it en masse very rapidly, and it made these streetcars for a vast majority of the population essentially obsolete,” Elkind said. Cars not only competed for riders, they also competed for space on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you throw the automobile into that, and everybody’s driving now, these streetcars are getting stuck in traffic,” Elkind said. “They’re not really enjoyable for people to ride. And people are frustrated by the poor service, high fares, and they wanted the freedom and mobility that automobiles, private automobiles, represented.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The argument that GM’s National Cities gambit was chiefly responsible for the collapse of electric railways across the county has been widely criticized as little more than a myth, one that ignores other factors that made many streetcar systems vulnerable by the 1930s, including their often poor physical and financial condition and the fact that, as shown by the Key System, bus transportation was becoming steadily more popular and economical well before National City Lines appeared on the scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The Key System’s slow demise\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>After struggling through most of the 1930s, a surge in wartime ridership had made the company profitable and by 1945, it was sitting on a sizable surplus. Although it had struggled to upgrade its cars and tracks before the war, it had begun making plans to revamp service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company began to follow through on all of these initiatives, contracting for new streetcars and moving ahead with the purchase of trolley buses to run on College Avenue and on the Arlington Avenue-Euclid Avenue service in the Berkeley Hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073797\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1020px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/494425878_1249028317224906_1645347311867449341_n-2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073797\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/494425878_1249028317224906_1645347311867449341_n-2.jpg\" alt=\"Black-and-white image of people lined up to board commuter bus about 1960 in San Francisco's Transbay Terminal.\" width=\"1020\" height=\"734\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/494425878_1249028317224906_1645347311867449341_n-2.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/494425878_1249028317224906_1645347311867449341_n-2-160x115.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1020px) 100vw, 1020px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Berkeley-bound commuter line up to board a Key System “F” bus after San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal was reconfigured for bus service in 1959. AC Transit would take over the service the following year. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Western Railway Museum)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Then suddenly, all that work stopped. In May 1946, Key System management sold the company to National City Lines for $3 million ($52 million in 2026 dollars). By the end of the year, the company’s new owners decided to scrap all the remaining streetcar lines and replace trains with motor buses. The only trains the Key System still operated were the half-dozen transbay lines operating across the Bay Bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1955, the company applied to the state Public Utilities Commission to abandon transbay service. The last trains ran over the bridge to San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal in April 1958. The Key System, now an all-bus operation, was purchased by a new public transit agency — AC Transit — in 1960.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>The evolution of the Bay Area’s transit system\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Looking back on those events in 1979, Demoro speculated that without the National City Lines takeover, the East Bay’s transit system would likely have evolved into a hybrid featuring streetcars, trolley buses along with motor buses. Whether the transbay service would have survived was less clear, he said, because of the state’s interest in reconfiguring the bridge to accommodate more motor vehicles — a goal realized when the Key System tracks were removed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But he also marveled that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11986396/when-bart-was-built-people-and-houses-had-to-go\">the region managed to build BART\u003c/a>, an agency created in the 1950s as the Key System trains were in their twilight years and both California and the rest of the United States went all in on highway spending. “That accomplishment … seems astounding today, he wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073772\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-01-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073772\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Black-and-white image of 1940s streetcars and automobiles in a traffic jam in Oakland, California.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1048\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-01-KQED-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260218-KEY-SYSTEM-01-KQED-1536x805.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">As automobile traffic grew, streetcars — and streetcar riders — often found themselves tangled in traffic jams like this 1940s faceoff between Key System trains and cars at 47th Avenue and East 14th Street (now International Boulevard) in Oakland. \u003ccite>(Courtesy Western Railway Museum)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But in one sense, the Key System hasn’t gone away. When AC Transit took control of the Key’s bankrupt all-bus operation in 1960, it continued an East Bay transit legacy that stretched back nearly a century. AC Transit continues to be a vital transportation link for hundreds of thousands of East Bay residents, much the way the Key System was in its peak years. And for those who travel between the East Bay and San Francisco, BART now serves the riders the way the Key System’s trains and ferries once did, although maybe a lot less romantically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s still possible to ride some of the few surviving Key System trains at Solano County’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.wrm.org/\">Western Railway Museum\u003c/a>, on Highway 12 between Fairfield and Rio Vista. Muni offers \u003ca href=\"https://www.streetcar.org/rider-information-map-2/\">a daily vintage streetcar experience\u003c/a> on its F trolley car line, running along Market Street between the Castro and Steuart Street downtown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>At the turn of the 20th century, streetcars crisscrossed the Bay Area. Nowadays, though, you rarely see them. So you might even be thinking to yourself, what even is a streetcar?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Think of those old trolleys like the F line on Market Street in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Trolley dinging\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>It’s not a cable car, it’s not modern light rail. It’s an old-fashioned train, usually one or two cars, that runs above ground on a track, often with electric wires overhead to provide power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Electric streetcars were big in the East Bay before the automobile took off. For many people, they were the primary way to get around town – and to San Francisco for work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival video clip: \u003c/strong>Geared to the needs and dedicated to the service of the East Bay, Key System became one of the largest single businesses in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>People would walk out their doors in Berkeley, Alameda, Oakland, hop on a slick orange and silver Key System streetcar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival video clip: \u003c/strong>Transportation to San Francisco was by ferry, a convivial mode of travel that, particularly in the evening, had elements of fantasy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>That was the daily commute of many for decades. Our question asker this week, Vanessa Bohm, grew up in Germany and has seen some remnants of the Key system all around the East bay. She’s wondered…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Vanessa Bohm: \u003c/strong>What happened to the streetcars that used to be around Oakland and the East Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Vanessa is not alone. We get questions about what happened to the key system a lot. Some people even wonder if those old streetcar lines could be put to use again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here to help us understand the rise and fall of Bay Area streetcarts is the man, the myth, the legend, recently retired, but back, because he just can’t quit, KQED’s transportation editor emeritus, Dan Brekke. Hi Dan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Hi, Olivia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Can you start by painting a picture for us at its height? What would the East Bay have looked like during the streetcar era?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Well, you would have had dozens of streetcar lines, either running from neighborhood to neighborhood or from neighborhoods to downtowns, and you would’ve had a collection of trains that were starting at various nodes in the East Bay, like North Berkeley or Downtown Berkeley, University of California, Downtown Oakland, East Oakland, running to a little rail line that ran out into the middle of the bay where people would climb off their trains and catch ferries into the city. And those trains would get you from point A to point B in 35 or 40 minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>We know electric streetcars became common across the country and in all nine counties of the Bay Area starting in the 1890s, but tell us more about how the key system in particular got started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Early in the 20th century, in the very first years, real estate investors, led by somebody named Francis Marion Smith, whose nickname was Borax Smith, because he’d made a fortune in borax mining in the southwest. He was part of what was called the Realty Syndicate. And they owned something like 20 square miles of East Bay real estate. And it would make this property so much more valuable if there was an easy way for people to get to and from these areas that would then be ripe for development. And pretty much that’s what happened. These streetcar lines got built, and if you see a route map, there are tendrils stretching throughout what we think of as East Oakland today and north into Berkeley, with many lines that were both neighborhood lines where people could ride, say, from their neighborhood to downtown Oakland, and many lines that were traveling from the East Bay to San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>So sort of a situation where if you build it, they will come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>They built it and they did come and much of the streetscape and the way neighborhoods are put together in Berkeley and Oakland really comes from that early streetcar development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>One thing I find interesting is that these were not public works projects in the sense that the public owned them or they were, you know, done with tax dollars. These were private companies running these these streetcars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Yeah, that’s right. Those streetcar lines we’re talking about and wherever we’re talking about them, you know, it would be hard to go to a town of any size in the early 20th century and find no street railroad, right? And, of course, Los Angeles was one of the places where they were most prevalent. But all of this was done through private capital that had some kind of investment goal in mind. And often it had to do with developing real estate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>They didn’t own the street, so logistically, how did that even work?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Yeah, they would get a license from the cities where they wanted to operate and part of the license would be access to the street and also some agreement about who would take care of the tracks in the street because as you know, if you’ve been anywhere where there’s a railroad track in a street, there are usually some kind of pavement problems and so that would be part of the deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Tell me about the experience of actually riding one of these cars. What would it have been like as a commuter to step foot on one?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>If you want to experience what these trains were like, you don’t have to rely on imagination. If you go out to the Western Railway Museum, which is near Rio Vista, there’s an amazing collection of streetcars from all different eras.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke in scene: \u003c/strong>This is so cool. This one used to run in Oakland, going to the ballpark. And this is a Key System one too, this one that says E.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>When they heard what I was up to, what I was interested in finding out about, they said, well, we can take one of those bridge units out and run it for you. Unbelievable. They roll out this retro, streamlined, two-car, orange and silver train, which is instantly a throwback to what people would have experienced their first day riding on the Bay Bridge in 1939. So then you know we’re on the platform waiting for this train to start up, we climb aboard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Conductor:\u003c/strong> Welcome aboard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>First thing I notice is the windows don’t open, but that’s okay. There’s ventilation through a front door and we roll out down this, kind of beautifully recreated streetcar line, electrified streetcar line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Trolley bell\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>In the middle of nowhere, but here’s this train going through this kind of pristine-looking ranch environment, and you come to a little crossroad, you have to slow to a stop, sound the horn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Horn blares\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Conductor: \u003c/strong>Hey, we’ve got a car for once!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Because you don’t want to interfere with any crossing ranch traffic, and then you proceed to a little stop really out in the middle of nowhere. And get off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Conductor: \u003c/strong>Okay, thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>The motorman changes ends of the car and then you head back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>That sounds pretty fun. We’re going to take a quick break here, but we’ll get into why this system started to fall apart when we come back. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Sponsor message\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>So, Dan, the scene that you’ve painted so far, it’s very idyllic with all these streetcars whisking people from Berkeley and Oakland to Ferries and maybe taking them into the city. And that goes on for what, 40 odd years? When does it all start to change and what factors were behind the changes?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Well, the 1930s were a very rough decade for streetcar companies in general. You had the Great Depression, of course, that started in 1929 and deepened throughout the first half of the decade. The transit industry itself either recovered very slowly or not at all. A lot of that was because they were private companies that were locked into pretty disadvantageous contracts with the cities they served. Right? They could only raise fares so much. And they didn’t receive public subsidies. There was a big shift going on toward private automobiles that was also taking away some of their customers. In the Bay Area itself, you know, the relationship between the East Bay and the city of San Francisco changed dramatically in 1936 with the opening of the Bay Bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Archival video clip: \u003c/strong>A six-lane double deck bridge, eight miles long, connecting San Francisco with the Oakland-Berkeley area, spanning the largest major navigable body of water ever bridged.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>I mean, there was an incredible influx of traffic across the bridge into San Francisco, basically as soon as the bridge opened, and it just didn’t slow down. And one of the unfortunate things that happened at the same time was that while part of developing the Bay Bridge was to build railroad tracks across it so that these interurban trains could come in from the East Bay, but it wasn’t ready to use until early 1939. One of the factors that people point to in the demise of the key system, is that delay of more than two years where people got to experience that it was much easier to drive into the city and faster, perhaps, than it had been to take the train. Their habits changed, and the key systems never really recovered. And we also had this phenomenon of the slow transition in the key-system itself away from streetcars for their local service to buses. And by the late 1930s, buses were carrying most of the ridership. So all of those things together really started to dim the outlook for the streetcar companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>One narrative that I’ve heard over and over is that a big reason that streetcars failed was that essentially car companies bought the key system and then would intentionally run the company into the ground so people would be forced to buy more cars. Is there any truth to that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>There’s a kernel of truth to it. You know, when I talked to Ethan Elkind from UC Berkeley, you know, he talked about the effect of one particular movie in the 1980s on this view of history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ethan Elkind: \u003c/strong>Well, in L.A., the conspiracy was really put on steroids by the movie who framed Roger Rabbit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Judge Doom from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”: \u003c/strong>I see a place where people get off and off the freeway. On and off, off and on, all day, all night! Soon, where Toon Town once stood will be a string of gas stations, inexpensive motels, restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food, tire salons, automobile dealerships…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oh, it’s so great to hear Christopher Lloyd in that. He was so good! And the character he was playing was Judge Doom and his masterplan was to destroy Toon Town, where Roger Rabbit lived, and a key part of the plot is to kill the streetcar system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Who Framed Roger Rabbit clip: \u003c/strong>C’mon, Nobody’s gonna drive this lousy freeway when they can take the red car for a nickel. Well, they’ll drive. They’ll have to. You see, I bought the red car so I could dismantle it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ethan Elkind: \u003c/strong>Not an exaggeration that, you know, this 1989 semi-cartoon really fed this idea that it was highway interests that gobbled up the streetcar lines. And the story is much more complex than that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>The complexity people are talking about and the grain of truth to Roger Rabbit is because of a lawsuit that was filed against a company that was called National City Lines and some of its investors in the 1940s. And National City Lines was a company that went around the country buying up streetcar systems and they would convert those to bus systems, basically. That’s the long and the short of it. And by doing that, they were really helping out their investors who were General Motors, Standard Oil of California, Firestone Rubber, Phillips 66, companies like that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>National City Lines showed up in Oakland in 1946 and took control of the Key System. And while the Key system had laid plans to sort of keep streetcars going and also keep them running into San Francisco. Across the Bay Bridge, the national city lines scrapped most of these development plans, let’s call them, right away. So within a very short amount of time, the streetcar lines in the East Bay turned into bus lines. The streetcar lines were abandoned. The exception was the inter-urban line into San Francisco. That continued running until the late 1950s, but it ran at a loss. It ran with fewer and fewer passengers every year, and the last key system cars ran across the Bay Bridge in 1958.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>When we start talking about public transportation, I’ve noticed that people are often very nostalgic for the past, and it can, you know, sort of become a little idealized, you know, oh, dreaming about riding across the Bay Bridge and the train, but there were some realities to the Key System that people forget about. Can you tell us about some of the drawbacks of the Key System, even when it was sort of at its height?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>So there’s very definitely a paradise lost tone to the way people discuss the Key system. If we only hadn’t abandoned this beautiful streetcar system, just think how much better our world would be. I think that ignores the reality that they had huge power plants to supply the electricity for their systems. In the case of the Key System, they had a huge powerhouse in Emeryville. Kind of close to where Ikea is today. There was a gigantic smokestack there and they were burning coal. Sure, electric trains were much cleaner in terms of the environment around the lines themselves, but they still had an environmental footprint as all of our transportation choices do. And I talked to Mitchell Schwarzer, who’s a professor of architectural and urban history at the California College of the Arts about the social effects of the streetcar system. He wrote a book a few years ago called \u003cem>Hella Oakland\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mitchell Schwartzer: \u003c/strong>What the technology allowed for was a vast residential expansion outside of the inner areas of Oakland. And that allowed for the wealthier people to live on larger lots and to live separately and to erect barriers to minorities moving into their communities. Without the streetcar, they couldn’t have done that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>I will say also that there was some outrage about the lack of safety for streetcars. The years I’ve looked at were between 1906 and 1910. It’s absolutely hair-raising to see how many people were getting killed in streetcar accidents. The newspapers relished these stories. I mean, they were told in sometimes excruciating detail what happened to the victims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Definitely not insignificant safety and environmental concerns that you’ve brought up. But I do wanna say times are different now, right? We know how to run trains on green energy. We know to put safety protocols in place that will keep people more safe. One of our question askers wanted to know, could the old Key System sort of be a model for public transportation of the future?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>Well I talked to Ethan Elkind from UC Berkeley Law School about this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ethan Elkind: \u003c/strong>Well, I think you run into the same problems that the streetcars were running into in the old days, which is that a lot of them ran down highway medians. They would get stuck in traffic. They would hit red lights. They would have to wait for cars to pass. And they weren’t necessarily that fast. You need to have a dedicated separate right of way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>You have to deal with all the other street traffic. That’s a real problem in imagining streetcar lines flourishing again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Ethan Elkind: \u003c/strong>And then to really make transit make sense, you have to be able to serve dense concentrations of jobs and housing where people can easily walk or bike to the rail station. And unfortunately, what we’ve seen too often, especially in the higher income areas in the Bay area, they don’t allow new development. They don’t wanna see new apartment buildings come into their neighborhoods. And that’s what you would need to have to have the ridership really make sense. And so that these streetcar lines could actually have enough ridership where they wouldn’t require as much public subsidy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>The other thing is they’re really damn expensive to build. Lots of transportation experts say that the workaround is right in front of us if we only had the political will to do it. And that is to dedicate more street space as bus only space, right? Mostly we’re talking about bus rapid transit where you have dedicated lanes for buses. You have signals that are set so they prioritize the bus traffic. Those are much, much less expensive to build, but they take a lot of planning, and there is an upfront investment that sometimes is difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Music starts\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Dan Brekke, thank you so much, as always, for reporting on this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Dan Brekke: \u003c/strong>You’re very welcome. And as I conclude here, I want to make a couple of acknowledgements. One is, there’s kind of an amazing community of transit historians in the Bay Area, including some who are very painstakingly documenting some of this history of the key system. So that’s one acknowledgement. The other one is, thanks to you and Katrina. You guys are wonderful to work with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Listeners should know that Dan was one of my first editors here at KQED when I started out as a wee baby reporter. And, he’s reported some of my favorite Bay Curious episodes over the years. Like those mysterious East Bay walls, why there are so many crows in the bay area and he’s answered dozens of your transportation questions over the years. We’ll link to a few of his stories in our show notes, so go check those out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dan, thank you, thank you, thank you. You are the best. I hope you have a happy retirement, but also, I have a feeling you’ll be back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you value what you hear on our show, consider becoming a KQED member. You can choose the level of support that works for your budget by going to \u003ca href=\"http://kqed.org/donate\">kqed.org/donate\u003c/a>. Thank you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale, and me, Olivia Allen-Price. Extra support from Maha Sanad, Katie Sprenger, Jen Chien, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and the whole KQED team.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Olivia Allen-Price: Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco Northern California Local.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a great week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"slug": "8-skiers-confirmed-dead-1-still-missing-after-tahoe-avalanche-heres-what-we-know",
"title": "8 Skiers Confirmed Dead, 1 Still Missing After Tahoe Avalanche. Here’s What We Know",
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"content": "\u003cp>Eight people were killed, and one is still missing, after an avalanche buried a group of 15 backcountry skiers in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/tahoe\">Tahoe\u003c/a>’s Donner Summit region on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is now the deadliest avalanche in California’s modern history, surpassing the 1982 avalanche in Alpine Meadows that killed seven people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following a 911 call from the survivors around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, about 50 people from surrounding search-and-rescue teams responded, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a press conference Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Six of the skiers, who were part of a three-day backcountry skiing group staying at the Frog Lake huts near Castle Peak, were rescued amid extreme weather conditions Tuesday night, Moon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First responders used snowcats to get 2 miles from the site of the avalanche before skiing in to rescue survivors, who were trying to shelter amid the storm with the equipment they had on hand. Two were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and one has been released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to: \u003ca href=\"#Whattodoifyourecaughtinanavalanche\">What to do if you’re caught in an avalanche\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“Due to extreme weather conditions, it took several hours for rescue personnel to safely reach the skiers and transport them to safety, where they were medically evaluated by Truckee Fire,” a sheriff’s spokesperson wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three people were immediately identified as dead on the scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The search for the remaining missing person and recovery for the eight deceased are ongoing Wednesday, pending weather conditions, Moon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073788\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12073788 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26049704726526.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1485\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26049704726526.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26049704726526-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26049704726526-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon updates media on rescue efforts following an avalanche at a news conference in Nevada City, California, on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tran Nguyen via AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s not a resource issue as we speak,” Moon said. “It is a weather condition and safety condition for our response teams.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initial reports said 16 people went on the trip, but a statement from \u003ca href=\"https://blackbirdguides.com/pages/live-incident-updates\">Blackbird Mountain Guides\u003c/a>, the guiding company involved in the incident, confirmed the group was actually 15 — comprising 11 clients and four guides. Among the survivors, one is a guide and five are clients. All had emergency beacons, and rescuers were communicating with some survivors via text message, according to first responders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nine women and six men were on the trip, with five women and one man among the survivors. Their identities have not been released, but Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said one of those who died is the spouse of a member of the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team, a volunteer team that responded to the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has not only been challenging for our community, it’s been a challenging rescue,” Woo said. “It’s also been challenging emotionally for our team and our organization.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11940130\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11940130\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/GettyImages-157677589.jpg\" alt=\"A creek running through a forest where trees are covered in snow.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1388\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/GettyImages-157677589.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/GettyImages-157677589-800x578.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/GettyImages-157677589-1020x737.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/GettyImages-157677589-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/GettyImages-157677589-1536x1110.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fresh Winter Snow near where the Donner Party saga unfolded. \u003ccite>(Ron and Patty Thomas/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073593/heavy-rain-and-snow-shut-down-roads-across-bay-area-and-sierra-nevada\">A major storm hit the Lake Tahoe region this week\u003c/a>, producing high avalanche danger. While crews continue their search, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/forecasts/avalanche#/all\">Sierra Avalanche Center\u003c/a> issued an avalanche warning starting Tuesday morning that expires on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The warning notes high avalanche danger — the fourth level on a five-point scale — and says travel in or around backcountry avalanche terrain is not recommended.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rapidly accumulating snowfall, weak layers in the existing snowpack, and gale-force winds that blow and drift snow have created dangerous avalanche conditions in the mountains,” the warning reads. “Natural avalanches are likely, and human-triggered avalanches large enough to bury or injure people are very likely.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wendy Antibus, education manager at the Sierra Avalanche Center, said the dry conditions all January allowed weak layers to form at the surface of existing snow, creating a slippery surface that’s prime for avalanches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then this week’s sheer volume of snowfall, with more than an inch falling per hour for the past two days, piled on top, said Brian Brong, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Reno office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As the slope gets steeper and steeper, that snow doesn’t tend to want to stick — it wants to kind of slide down the hill, so that’s where we get the avalanche threat,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And with temperatures in the single digits on the mountaintops, that produces light, fluffy snow that can get blown around easily — even a 30 mph wind can create whiteout conditions, he said. The lighter snow leads to more snow drifts, piling up on one side of a mountain and creating a steeper-than-normal slope, prime for avalanche risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073703\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12073703 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/SnowStormSierraNevadaAP1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/SnowStormSierraNevadaAP1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/SnowStormSierraNevadaAP1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/SnowStormSierraNevadaAP1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A vehicle is buried in snow during a storm on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, in Truckee, California. \u003ccite>(Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This slide was around a football field in length, said Chris Feutrier, forest supervisor of the Tahoe National Forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It resulted when a persistent weak layer had a large load of snow over the top of it,” he said at the press conference. “That persistent weak layer is still there and has reloaded with another three feet of snow. So the hazard remains high.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The slide occurred just one mile away from \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/article/avalanche-kills-snowmobiler-near-lake-tahoe-21279131.php\">another in January\u003c/a>, which killed a person snowmobiling in the backcountry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Bothwell, chief avalanche educator for the Bay Area-based Outdoor Adventure Club, warned that people often have trouble assessing risk in the backcountry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just have to be really, really meticulous about the terrain that we choose to travel on,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Wednesday’s press conference, Woo warned that travel in the Sierra Nevada is not safe right now. “Please avoid the Sierras during this current storm and in the upcoming days,” he said. “Avoid mountain travel — it’s treacherous. Avoid the backcountry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Whattodoifyourecaughtinanavalanche\">\u003c/a>What to do if you’re caught in an avalanche\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you’re planning on heading up to the mountains this winter, keep reading for what to know about avalanches — why they happen, how to prepare for the worst, and what to do if you’re caught in an avalanche yourself.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How to be prepared for avalanches\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you’re venturing into the backcountry — which means beyond the boundaries of a ski resort — then you need to take \u003ca href=\"https://avalanche.org/avalanche-courses/\">an avalanche safety course\u003c/a>. This will give you far more detail in understanding avalanche conditions and rescue protocols.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re planning to stay primarily in a resort or mountain park, then you should still know the basics — many of which you can learn through the National Avalanche Center’s \u003ca href=\"https://avalanche.org/avalanche-education/\">free course videos and educational materials on avalanches\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073713\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12073713 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Snow covers a street sign on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Truckee, California. \u003ccite>(Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The most important rule is not to venture into closed areas of the resort and not to “duck” under out-of-bounds ropes. Pay attention to any alerts or warnings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/sac-daily-flow-user-guide\">The Sierra Avalanche Center has also created a daily flow guide\u003c/a> for a simple way to understand the best practices when skiing and snowboarding in the Sierra. This includes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Skiing with other people and knowing their abilities in advance\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Knowing the conditions and avalanche risk before you go\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Having a safety and rescue plan and bringing avalanche equipment\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>How do I know what the avalanche conditions are?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Check, check, check the forecasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sierra Avalanche Center, along with a number of avalanche experts and offices around the West, puts out \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/forecasts/#/central-sierra-nevada\">daily forecasts with predicted avalanche dangers\u003c/a> and conditions to watch out for. They also put out \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/state-of-the-snowpack/current\">weekly overall updates on the state of the snowpack\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/how-to-read-avalanche-advisory\">reading an avalanche advisory\u003c/a> in detail does require some background knowledge. If you plan to stay within the resorts, then the “bottom line” information (which is listed at the top) supplied in the advisory forecasts should give you the main takeaways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A good rule is to pay attention to the warning signs that an avalanche could happen when you’re out in the snow. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/sac-daily-flow-user-guide\">the Sierra Avalanche Center’s daily flow guide\u003c/a>, these include:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Recent avalanche activity in the area\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Signs of instability in the snowpack\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Recent “loading” (i.e., storms)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Rapid warming or weather changes\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Terrain with a slope greater than 30 degrees\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Terrain or hillsides that match the advisory warnings\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>How do avalanches happen?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/avalanche-problems\">different kinds of avalanches\u003c/a> that come with different kinds of warning signs and frequency. The two main kinds are dry-loose or sluff avalanches — which are made up of soft snow that collects as it moves — and slab avalanches, which occur when a cohesive layer of snow breaks and moves as a slab downhill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/quest/19193/the-science-of-snow\">The science of how snow layers form and break\u003c/a> is complicated, but in essence, avalanches occur when there’s a surface bed of snow at the bottom, with a weaker layer of snow on top — and then new snow on top of that weaker layer.[aside postID=news_12073593 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/DonnerPassGetty.jpg']This creates \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/anticipate-conditions\">conditions\u003c/a> where the weaker layer can collapse, and the mass of snow on top can fracture and slide. While this can happen naturally, human activity almost always triggers avalanches, causing the weaker layer to collapse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Things that can affect the likelihood of an avalanche occurring are, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5444915.pdf\">according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (PDF):\u003c/a> The instability of the snowpack, the recent weather and snowfall, and the terrain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Avalanches are most likely to occur immediately after a large storm when there has been significant snowfall. Heavy wind that quickly blows in large amounts of snow on top of an existing layer can also cause dangerous conditions. Slight melting and refreezing each night can stabilize the snowpack — but extended periods of out-of-the-ordinary weather changes can cause instability. Whether or not a slope faces the sun, and the steepness of that slope, can affect the probability of an avalanche.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within resorts, ski patrols monitor these conditions and conduct avalanche controls — deliberately setting off small avalanches to keep the potential for larger ones from building up. In the backcountry, it’s important to be aware of all these changing variables since you won’t have ski patrols around to do it for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is avalanche equipment?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the backcountry, avalanche equipment includes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>An avalanche beacon and receiver\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A probe to stick in the ground to locate someone trapped\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A shovel to dig someone out\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Many jackets and ski pants also now come with \u003ca href=\"https://recco.com/technology/\">a RECCO reflector\u003c/a> built in. This small transmitter looks like a label or tag on your coat, pants, helmet or backpack, which transmits to receivers operated by patrols or rescue crews. This is not considered a replacement for an avalanche beacon, but it can augment rescue efforts and is an easy add-on to have inbounds at a resort.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What should I do if I get caught in an avalanche?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>First and foremost, try to get off the slab or out of the oncoming avalanche track. This is, of course, not always easy to accomplish since avalanches can travel between 60 mph and 80 mph.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sierra Avalanche Center \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/FAQ\">recommends two techniques for escaping the path of an avalanche\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>If you’re skiing or snowboarding, try to head straight downhill to build up some speed, and then angle off to the side to get off the slab.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you’re snowmobiling, use the momentum and power to your advantage and continue in the direction you’re going to try to get out of dangerous snow.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073709\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1998px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073709\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1998\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP2.jpg 1998w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1998px) 100vw, 1998px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Trucks are lined up along Interstate 80 during a storm on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, in Truckee, California. \u003ccite>(Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The reason people die in avalanches is that carbon dioxide in the area around their mouth, where they are buried, builds up. If they’re rescued within the first 15 minutes, there is a nearly 93% survival rate, according to stats published by \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/avalanche-victim-resuscitation\">the American Avalanche Association\u003c/a> — but it drops drastically with every additional minute. This is why it’s crucial to take steps to increase the likelihood that you can be found and rescued quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>If you get caught in an avalanche and can’t escape, you can try to grab onto a tree. But you’ll have to do this very quickly because avalanches pick up speed within seconds — and getting carried at speed into a tree or boulder is a common source of fatal trauma in an avalanche.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you can’t escape or grab onto a tree, then you need to “swim.” Because people are likely to sink in the avalanche debris, it’s important to swim hard to try and keep yourself near the surface.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Clear a space for air in front of your mouth as the avalanche slows down just before it comes to rest. This will give you slightly longer before the carbon dioxide builds up.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Push a hand up (or your best guess of what “up” is) because any clues will help people find you faster.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Remember: All of these things must be done while the debris and snow are still moving — because once the snow stops, it will instantly be too thick and heavy for you to move.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If you see someone caught in an avalanche, do not try to ski or snowmobile over to them while it is occurring — no matter how strong your instinct is to reach them to help out. Instead, you are likely to get caught in the avalanche yourself. You should try to note their starting position and where they end up, and then immediately start searching for them after the avalanche stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/mbolanos\">\u003cem>Madi Bolaños\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Eight people were killed, and one is still missing, after an avalanche buried a group of 15 backcountry skiers in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/tahoe\">Tahoe\u003c/a>’s Donner Summit region on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is now the deadliest avalanche in California’s modern history, surpassing the 1982 avalanche in Alpine Meadows that killed seven people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following a 911 call from the survivors around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, about 50 people from surrounding search-and-rescue teams responded, Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a press conference Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Six of the skiers, who were part of a three-day backcountry skiing group staying at the Frog Lake huts near Castle Peak, were rescued amid extreme weather conditions Tuesday night, Moon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First responders used snowcats to get 2 miles from the site of the avalanche before skiing in to rescue survivors, who were trying to shelter amid the storm with the equipment they had on hand. Two were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and one has been released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to: \u003ca href=\"#Whattodoifyourecaughtinanavalanche\">What to do if you’re caught in an avalanche\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“Due to extreme weather conditions, it took several hours for rescue personnel to safely reach the skiers and transport them to safety, where they were medically evaluated by Truckee Fire,” a sheriff’s spokesperson wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Three people were immediately identified as dead on the scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The search for the remaining missing person and recovery for the eight deceased are ongoing Wednesday, pending weather conditions, Moon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073788\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1980px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12073788 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26049704726526.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1980\" height=\"1485\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26049704726526.jpg 1980w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26049704726526-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/AP26049704726526-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1980px) 100vw, 1980px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon updates media on rescue efforts following an avalanche at a news conference in Nevada City, California, on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tran Nguyen via AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s not a resource issue as we speak,” Moon said. “It is a weather condition and safety condition for our response teams.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initial reports said 16 people went on the trip, but a statement from \u003ca href=\"https://blackbirdguides.com/pages/live-incident-updates\">Blackbird Mountain Guides\u003c/a>, the guiding company involved in the incident, confirmed the group was actually 15 — comprising 11 clients and four guides. Among the survivors, one is a guide and five are clients. All had emergency beacons, and rescuers were communicating with some survivors via text message, according to first responders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nine women and six men were on the trip, with five women and one man among the survivors. Their identities have not been released, but Placer County Sheriff Wayne Woo said one of those who died is the spouse of a member of the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team, a volunteer team that responded to the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This has not only been challenging for our community, it’s been a challenging rescue,” Woo said. “It’s also been challenging emotionally for our team and our organization.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11940130\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11940130\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/GettyImages-157677589.jpg\" alt=\"A creek running through a forest where trees are covered in snow.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1388\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/GettyImages-157677589.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/GettyImages-157677589-800x578.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/GettyImages-157677589-1020x737.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/GettyImages-157677589-160x116.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/02/GettyImages-157677589-1536x1110.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fresh Winter Snow near where the Donner Party saga unfolded. \u003ccite>(Ron and Patty Thomas/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073593/heavy-rain-and-snow-shut-down-roads-across-bay-area-and-sierra-nevada\">A major storm hit the Lake Tahoe region this week\u003c/a>, producing high avalanche danger. While crews continue their search, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/forecasts/avalanche#/all\">Sierra Avalanche Center\u003c/a> issued an avalanche warning starting Tuesday morning that expires on Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The warning notes high avalanche danger — the fourth level on a five-point scale — and says travel in or around backcountry avalanche terrain is not recommended.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rapidly accumulating snowfall, weak layers in the existing snowpack, and gale-force winds that blow and drift snow have created dangerous avalanche conditions in the mountains,” the warning reads. “Natural avalanches are likely, and human-triggered avalanches large enough to bury or injure people are very likely.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wendy Antibus, education manager at the Sierra Avalanche Center, said the dry conditions all January allowed weak layers to form at the surface of existing snow, creating a slippery surface that’s prime for avalanches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then this week’s sheer volume of snowfall, with more than an inch falling per hour for the past two days, piled on top, said Brian Brong, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Reno office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As the slope gets steeper and steeper, that snow doesn’t tend to want to stick — it wants to kind of slide down the hill, so that’s where we get the avalanche threat,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And with temperatures in the single digits on the mountaintops, that produces light, fluffy snow that can get blown around easily — even a 30 mph wind can create whiteout conditions, he said. The lighter snow leads to more snow drifts, piling up on one side of a mountain and creating a steeper-than-normal slope, prime for avalanche risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073703\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12073703 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/SnowStormSierraNevadaAP1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/SnowStormSierraNevadaAP1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/SnowStormSierraNevadaAP1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/SnowStormSierraNevadaAP1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A vehicle is buried in snow during a storm on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, in Truckee, California. \u003ccite>(Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This slide was around a football field in length, said Chris Feutrier, forest supervisor of the Tahoe National Forest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It resulted when a persistent weak layer had a large load of snow over the top of it,” he said at the press conference. “That persistent weak layer is still there and has reloaded with another three feet of snow. So the hazard remains high.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The slide occurred just one mile away from \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/renotahoe/article/avalanche-kills-snowmobiler-near-lake-tahoe-21279131.php\">another in January\u003c/a>, which killed a person snowmobiling in the backcountry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Bothwell, chief avalanche educator for the Bay Area-based Outdoor Adventure Club, warned that people often have trouble assessing risk in the backcountry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We just have to be really, really meticulous about the terrain that we choose to travel on,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Wednesday’s press conference, Woo warned that travel in the Sierra Nevada is not safe right now. “Please avoid the Sierras during this current storm and in the upcoming days,” he said. “Avoid mountain travel — it’s treacherous. Avoid the backcountry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Whattodoifyourecaughtinanavalanche\">\u003c/a>What to do if you’re caught in an avalanche\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you’re planning on heading up to the mountains this winter, keep reading for what to know about avalanches — why they happen, how to prepare for the worst, and what to do if you’re caught in an avalanche yourself.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How to be prepared for avalanches\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you’re venturing into the backcountry — which means beyond the boundaries of a ski resort — then you need to take \u003ca href=\"https://avalanche.org/avalanche-courses/\">an avalanche safety course\u003c/a>. This will give you far more detail in understanding avalanche conditions and rescue protocols.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re planning to stay primarily in a resort or mountain park, then you should still know the basics — many of which you can learn through the National Avalanche Center’s \u003ca href=\"https://avalanche.org/avalanche-education/\">free course videos and educational materials on avalanches\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073713\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12073713 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP3-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Snow covers a street sign on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026, in Truckee, California. \u003ccite>(Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The most important rule is not to venture into closed areas of the resort and not to “duck” under out-of-bounds ropes. Pay attention to any alerts or warnings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/sac-daily-flow-user-guide\">The Sierra Avalanche Center has also created a daily flow guide\u003c/a> for a simple way to understand the best practices when skiing and snowboarding in the Sierra. This includes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Skiing with other people and knowing their abilities in advance\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Knowing the conditions and avalanche risk before you go\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Having a safety and rescue plan and bringing avalanche equipment\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>How do I know what the avalanche conditions are?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Check, check, check the forecasts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sierra Avalanche Center, along with a number of avalanche experts and offices around the West, puts out \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/forecasts/#/central-sierra-nevada\">daily forecasts with predicted avalanche dangers\u003c/a> and conditions to watch out for. They also put out \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/state-of-the-snowpack/current\">weekly overall updates on the state of the snowpack\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/how-to-read-avalanche-advisory\">reading an avalanche advisory\u003c/a> in detail does require some background knowledge. If you plan to stay within the resorts, then the “bottom line” information (which is listed at the top) supplied in the advisory forecasts should give you the main takeaways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A good rule is to pay attention to the warning signs that an avalanche could happen when you’re out in the snow. According to \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/sac-daily-flow-user-guide\">the Sierra Avalanche Center’s daily flow guide\u003c/a>, these include:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Recent avalanche activity in the area\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Signs of instability in the snowpack\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Recent “loading” (i.e., storms)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Rapid warming or weather changes\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Terrain with a slope greater than 30 degrees\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Terrain or hillsides that match the advisory warnings\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>How do avalanches happen?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/avalanche-problems\">different kinds of avalanches\u003c/a> that come with different kinds of warning signs and frequency. The two main kinds are dry-loose or sluff avalanches — which are made up of soft snow that collects as it moves — and slab avalanches, which occur when a cohesive layer of snow breaks and moves as a slab downhill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/quest/19193/the-science-of-snow\">The science of how snow layers form and break\u003c/a> is complicated, but in essence, avalanches occur when there’s a surface bed of snow at the bottom, with a weaker layer of snow on top — and then new snow on top of that weaker layer.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This creates \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/anticipate-conditions\">conditions\u003c/a> where the weaker layer can collapse, and the mass of snow on top can fracture and slide. While this can happen naturally, human activity almost always triggers avalanches, causing the weaker layer to collapse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Things that can affect the likelihood of an avalanche occurring are, \u003ca href=\"https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5444915.pdf\">according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (PDF):\u003c/a> The instability of the snowpack, the recent weather and snowfall, and the terrain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Avalanches are most likely to occur immediately after a large storm when there has been significant snowfall. Heavy wind that quickly blows in large amounts of snow on top of an existing layer can also cause dangerous conditions. Slight melting and refreezing each night can stabilize the snowpack — but extended periods of out-of-the-ordinary weather changes can cause instability. Whether or not a slope faces the sun, and the steepness of that slope, can affect the probability of an avalanche.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Within resorts, ski patrols monitor these conditions and conduct avalanche controls — deliberately setting off small avalanches to keep the potential for larger ones from building up. In the backcountry, it’s important to be aware of all these changing variables since you won’t have ski patrols around to do it for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What is avalanche equipment?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the backcountry, avalanche equipment includes:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>An avalanche beacon and receiver\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A probe to stick in the ground to locate someone trapped\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A shovel to dig someone out\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Many jackets and ski pants also now come with \u003ca href=\"https://recco.com/technology/\">a RECCO reflector\u003c/a> built in. This small transmitter looks like a label or tag on your coat, pants, helmet or backpack, which transmits to receivers operated by patrols or rescue crews. This is not considered a replacement for an avalanche beacon, but it can augment rescue efforts and is an easy add-on to have inbounds at a resort.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What should I do if I get caught in an avalanche?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>First and foremost, try to get off the slab or out of the oncoming avalanche track. This is, of course, not always easy to accomplish since avalanches can travel between 60 mph and 80 mph.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Sierra Avalanche Center \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/FAQ\">recommends two techniques for escaping the path of an avalanche\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>If you’re skiing or snowboarding, try to head straight downhill to build up some speed, and then angle off to the side to get off the slab.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you’re snowmobiling, use the momentum and power to your advantage and continue in the direction you’re going to try to get out of dangerous snow.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073709\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1998px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073709\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1998\" height=\"1332\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP2.jpg 1998w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/CaliforniaAvalancheAP2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1998px) 100vw, 1998px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Trucks are lined up along Interstate 80 during a storm on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, in Truckee, California. \u003ccite>(Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The reason people die in avalanches is that carbon dioxide in the area around their mouth, where they are buried, builds up. If they’re rescued within the first 15 minutes, there is a nearly 93% survival rate, according to stats published by \u003ca href=\"https://www.sierraavalanchecenter.org/avalanche-victim-resuscitation\">the American Avalanche Association\u003c/a> — but it drops drastically with every additional minute. This is why it’s crucial to take steps to increase the likelihood that you can be found and rescued quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>If you get caught in an avalanche and can’t escape, you can try to grab onto a tree. But you’ll have to do this very quickly because avalanches pick up speed within seconds — and getting carried at speed into a tree or boulder is a common source of fatal trauma in an avalanche.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you can’t escape or grab onto a tree, then you need to “swim.” Because people are likely to sink in the avalanche debris, it’s important to swim hard to try and keep yourself near the surface.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Clear a space for air in front of your mouth as the avalanche slows down just before it comes to rest. This will give you slightly longer before the carbon dioxide builds up.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Push a hand up (or your best guess of what “up” is) because any clues will help people find you faster.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Remember: All of these things must be done while the debris and snow are still moving — because once the snow stops, it will instantly be too thick and heavy for you to move.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>If you see someone caught in an avalanche, do not try to ski or snowmobile over to them while it is occurring — no matter how strong your instinct is to reach them to help out. Instead, you are likely to get caught in the avalanche yourself. You should try to note their starting position and where they end up, and then immediately start searching for them after the avalanche stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/mbolanos\">\u003cem>Madi Bolaños\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "California Democrats Ask Kristi Noem Not to Reopen FCI Dublin as an Immigration Jail",
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"content": "\u003cp>Three California Democrats are speaking out against the idea that the Trump administration could \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12067566/dublin-council-takes-stand-against-turning-closed-prison-into-ice-detention\">turn a shuttered women’s prison\u003c/a> in Alameda County into a new immigration detention facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff and East Bay Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, whose district includes the former Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, sent a letter late Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem voicing strong opposition to repurposing the facility as an immigration jail and asking pointed questions about whether there are plans in the works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though they did not cite specific new evidence that DHS is moving to open the facility, the members expressed a mounting sense of urgency to block the expansion of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention at a time when in-custody deaths are spiking, and watchdog groups and state officials have described conditions as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062774/conditions-at-massive-new-california-immigration-facility-are-alarming-report-finds\">“alarming”\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-warns-dangerous-conditions-california-city-detention\">“dangerous.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an emailed statement to KQED on Feb. 18, an unnamed ICE spokesperson said: “ICE does \u003cstrong>not\u003c/strong> have plans to use the FCI Dublin for immigration detention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With funding for ICE in last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Secretary Noem “aims to work with officials on both sides of the aisle to expand detention space to help ICE law enforcement carry out the largest deportation effort in American history,” the statement reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Padilla and Schiff \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12070519/california-senators-visit-immigration-jail-ahead-of-looming-ice-funding-bill-deadline\">recently visited\u003c/a> the California City Detention Facility, a privately run operation that ICE opened in late August, and said they spoke to detainees who described inadequate medical and mental health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034002\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034002\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Alex Padilla speaks at a press briefing in San Francisco on June 1, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Padilla told KQED on Tuesday he believes conditions there and in other facilities across the country are “deplorable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“DHS has no business expanding their detention capacity while the currently operating detention facilities have been so problematic,” Padilla said Tuesday. “A federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073215/judge-orders-ice-to-provide-medical-care-in-largest-immigration-jail-in-california\">judge recently ordered DHS\u003c/a> and the operators to comply with the minimum standards. We’re talking about basic things like clean water, like timely medical attention. A federal judge shouldn’t have to require this of an administration. It’s the law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ICE has previously denied that conditions in detention are insufficient.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE,” spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a recent statement. “ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In December, the Dublin City Council voted unanimously to oppose reopening \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/federal-correctional-institution-in-dublin\">the shuttered prison\u003c/a> for any purpose, including as an immigration jail. FCI Dublin \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11984115/women-forced-to-relocate-from-fci-dublin-prison-report-traumatizing-journey-seek-compassionate-release\">closed in scandal\u003c/a> in 2024 amid allegations of rampant sexual assault and mistreatment of inmates by staff. The facility also reportedly has serious infrastructure problems, including asbestos and mold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/prison-union-concerned-fci-dublin-could-be-turned-ice-detention-center\">reports\u003c/a> that ICE officials had toured the facility last February, community members rallied against a potential pivot and urged local officials to take preemptive measures.[aside postID=news_12070519 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/AlexPadillaAdamSchiffAP.jpg']In the letter to Noem, the lawmakers said the Dublin prison “is not suitable to be reopened for any purpose and would endanger the lives of both detainees and staff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They went on: “Although [Federal Bureau of Prisons] Director William K. Marshall III reportedly guaranteed that there are no plans to transfer use of FCI Dublin’s facilities to ICE, President Trump’s mass deportation agenda coupled with reporting that indicates ICE’s interest in the facility have left us gravely concerned that this facility could be utilized to detain individuals in unsafe conditions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They asked Noem to detail whether ICE is considering — or has considered — using the prison for immigration detention, and whether it has done a cost analysis, toured the site or received briefings on reopening requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time of the Dublin City Council vote in December, DHS told KQED it had “nothing to announce about new detention facilities.” But the federal Bureau of Prisons, which owns the property, told the council that it plans to turn the Dublin facility over to the U.S. General Services Administration, which handles federal real estate, because the property is too expensive to keep up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Community advocates said at the time they feared that could be the first step in handing the property over to ICE or a private prison company to run it as an immigration detention center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Padilla told KQED his concern is heightened because DHS has not been transparent in how it is spending the unprecedented infusion of funds it received in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047037/a-betrayal-bay-area-leaders-react-to-us-house-passing-trumps-tax-and-welfare-cuts\">One Big Beautiful Bill Act\u003c/a> last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069309\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069309\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/KristiNoemGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/KristiNoemGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/KristiNoemGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/KristiNoemGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference on Jan. 7, 2026, in Brownsville, Texas. \u003ccite>(Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He said Noem refused to testify last year before the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which he and Schiff are members, as part of Congress’s regular oversight of DHS.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve been anything but transparent and forthcoming,” Padilla said Tuesday. “When Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Judiciary committee, complains that she has not accepted his invitations to come before the committee, that just tells you how afraid they are of oversight and having to answer for their conduct.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grassley’s office recently announced that Noem would appear before the committee on March 3.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Democrats’ letter comes at a time when ICE is rapidly expanding detention, holding a record of roughly 70,000 people in immigration jails, up from about 39,000 when President Donald Trump took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046564\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046564\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Core Civic detention facility in California City on June 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In recent months, ICE has bought warehouses to turn them into “mega” detention centers, has opened a massive tent camp on the Fort Bliss U.S. Army base, near El Paso, Texas, and has expanded contracts with private prison companies, such as CoreCivic, the operator of the California City facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of that has been facilitated by a $45 billion, four-year appropriation in last summer’s reconciliation bill, which effectively quadrupled ICE’s annual detention budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Congressional Democrats have refused to fund a regular budget appropriation for DHS, leading to a partial shutdown last week, without reforms to how ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents carry out immigration enforcement, such as wearing body cameras and not wearing masks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Padilla also sent a separate \u003ca href=\"https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2026-02-13%20Letter%20to%20DHS%20ICE%20re%20Deaths%20in%20Detention.pdf\">letter\u003c/a> to Noem on Tuesday, along with 20 other Senate Democrats, raising alarms over the steep increase in deaths in ICE detention — including 32 deaths in 2025, a two-decade record, and six so far this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Three California Democrats are speaking out against the idea that the Trump administration could \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12067566/dublin-council-takes-stand-against-turning-closed-prison-into-ice-detention\">turn a shuttered women’s prison\u003c/a> in Alameda County into a new immigration detention facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff and East Bay Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, whose district includes the former Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, sent a letter late Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem voicing strong opposition to repurposing the facility as an immigration jail and asking pointed questions about whether there are plans in the works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though they did not cite specific new evidence that DHS is moving to open the facility, the members expressed a mounting sense of urgency to block the expansion of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention at a time when in-custody deaths are spiking, and watchdog groups and state officials have described conditions as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12062774/conditions-at-massive-new-california-immigration-facility-are-alarming-report-finds\">“alarming”\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-warns-dangerous-conditions-california-city-detention\">“dangerous.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an emailed statement to KQED on Feb. 18, an unnamed ICE spokesperson said: “ICE does \u003cstrong>not\u003c/strong> have plans to use the FCI Dublin for immigration detention.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With funding for ICE in last summer’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Secretary Noem “aims to work with officials on both sides of the aisle to expand detention space to help ICE law enforcement carry out the largest deportation effort in American history,” the statement reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Padilla and Schiff \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12070519/california-senators-visit-immigration-jail-ahead-of-looming-ice-funding-bill-deadline\">recently visited\u003c/a> the California City Detention Facility, a privately run operation that ICE opened in late August, and said they spoke to detainees who described inadequate medical and mental health care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034002\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034002\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/034_SanFrancisco_AlexPadillaMissionKids_06012021_qed-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Alex Padilla speaks at a press briefing in San Francisco on June 1, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Padilla told KQED on Tuesday he believes conditions there and in other facilities across the country are “deplorable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“DHS has no business expanding their detention capacity while the currently operating detention facilities have been so problematic,” Padilla said Tuesday. “A federal \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12073215/judge-orders-ice-to-provide-medical-care-in-largest-immigration-jail-in-california\">judge recently ordered DHS\u003c/a> and the operators to comply with the minimum standards. We’re talking about basic things like clean water, like timely medical attention. A federal judge shouldn’t have to require this of an administration. It’s the law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ICE has previously denied that conditions in detention are insufficient.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE,” spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a recent statement. “ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In December, the Dublin City Council voted unanimously to oppose reopening \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/federal-correctional-institution-in-dublin\">the shuttered prison\u003c/a> for any purpose, including as an immigration jail. FCI Dublin \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11984115/women-forced-to-relocate-from-fci-dublin-prison-report-traumatizing-journey-seek-compassionate-release\">closed in scandal\u003c/a> in 2024 amid allegations of rampant sexual assault and mistreatment of inmates by staff. The facility also reportedly has serious infrastructure problems, including asbestos and mold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following \u003ca href=\"https://www.ktvu.com/news/prison-union-concerned-fci-dublin-could-be-turned-ice-detention-center\">reports\u003c/a> that ICE officials had toured the facility last February, community members rallied against a potential pivot and urged local officials to take preemptive measures.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In the letter to Noem, the lawmakers said the Dublin prison “is not suitable to be reopened for any purpose and would endanger the lives of both detainees and staff.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They went on: “Although [Federal Bureau of Prisons] Director William K. Marshall III reportedly guaranteed that there are no plans to transfer use of FCI Dublin’s facilities to ICE, President Trump’s mass deportation agenda coupled with reporting that indicates ICE’s interest in the facility have left us gravely concerned that this facility could be utilized to detain individuals in unsafe conditions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They asked Noem to detail whether ICE is considering — or has considered — using the prison for immigration detention, and whether it has done a cost analysis, toured the site or received briefings on reopening requirements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time of the Dublin City Council vote in December, DHS told KQED it had “nothing to announce about new detention facilities.” But the federal Bureau of Prisons, which owns the property, told the council that it plans to turn the Dublin facility over to the U.S. General Services Administration, which handles federal real estate, because the property is too expensive to keep up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Community advocates said at the time they feared that could be the first step in handing the property over to ICE or a private prison company to run it as an immigration detention center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Padilla told KQED his concern is heightened because DHS has not been transparent in how it is spending the unprecedented infusion of funds it received in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12047037/a-betrayal-bay-area-leaders-react-to-us-house-passing-trumps-tax-and-welfare-cuts\">One Big Beautiful Bill Act\u003c/a> last summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12069309\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12069309\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/KristiNoemGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/KristiNoemGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/KristiNoemGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/KristiNoemGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference on Jan. 7, 2026, in Brownsville, Texas. \u003ccite>(Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He said Noem refused to testify last year before the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which he and Schiff are members, as part of Congress’s regular oversight of DHS.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ve been anything but transparent and forthcoming,” Padilla said Tuesday. “When Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Judiciary committee, complains that she has not accepted his invitations to come before the committee, that just tells you how afraid they are of oversight and having to answer for their conduct.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Grassley’s office recently announced that Noem would appear before the committee on March 3.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Democrats’ letter comes at a time when ICE is rapidly expanding detention, holding a record of roughly 70,000 people in immigration jails, up from about 39,000 when President Donald Trump took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12046564\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12046564\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/CORECIVICCALCITY1-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Core Civic detention facility in California City on June 28, 2025. \u003ccite>(Saul Gonzalez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In recent months, ICE has bought warehouses to turn them into “mega” detention centers, has opened a massive tent camp on the Fort Bliss U.S. Army base, near El Paso, Texas, and has expanded contracts with private prison companies, such as CoreCivic, the operator of the California City facility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of that has been facilitated by a $45 billion, four-year appropriation in last summer’s reconciliation bill, which effectively quadrupled ICE’s annual detention budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Congressional Democrats have refused to fund a regular budget appropriation for DHS, leading to a partial shutdown last week, without reforms to how ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents carry out immigration enforcement, such as wearing body cameras and not wearing masks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Padilla also sent a separate \u003ca href=\"https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2026-02-13%20Letter%20to%20DHS%20ICE%20re%20Deaths%20in%20Detention.pdf\">letter\u003c/a> to Noem on Tuesday, along with 20 other Senate Democrats, raising alarms over the steep increase in deaths in ICE detention — including 32 deaths in 2025, a two-decade record, and six so far this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "heavy-rain-and-snow-shut-down-roads-across-bay-area-and-sierra-nevada",
"title": "Heavy Rain and Snow Shut Down Roads Across Bay Area and Sierra Nevada",
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"headTitle": "Heavy Rain and Snow Shut Down Roads Across Bay Area and Sierra Nevada | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000043/winter-is-coming-storms-soak-bay-area-next-week-drop-2-feet-of-fresh-snow-on-tahoe\">major storm system\u003c/a> passing through Northern California after weeks of dry weather shut down roads across the Bay Area and in the Sierra Nevada on Tuesday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the area braces for more steady rainfall throughout the day, highways in the East Bay and North Bay were flooded in parts, and access to Lake Tahoe was cut off due to inches of rain and snow collected since Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The weather \u003ca href=\"https://511.org/alerts/critical\">suspended Golden Gate Ferry\u003c/a> operations to Angel Island, and travel to Tiburon has been rerouted via bus. Trips from San Francisco to Sausalito were suspended until 12:10 p.m. After that, early afternoon travel will be via bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Oakland, Interstate 880 northbound was backed up as the offramp on Broadway flooded, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s \u003ca href=\"https://511.org/\">511 website\u003c/a>. Interstate 580 was also affected by flooding: in the eastbound direction, the right lane and shoulder were closed due to flooding near Grand Avenue, and westbound, the right lane was closed east of 35th Avenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#Tips\">Jump straight to: Tips for safe driving in the rain and snow\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The city has gotten more than an inch and a half of rain in the last 48 hours, according to the National Weather Service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farther northeast in Solano County, where there’s also been more than an inch of rainfall since midday Sunday, flooding affected lanes of Highway 38 headed east in Vallejo and Interstate 80 westbound in Fairfield.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10366486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10366486\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/459889850-e1771364269475.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1360\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A motorist drives through a flooded intersection on Dec. 3, 2014, in Mill Valley, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Sonoma County, where back-to-back storms in December and early January brought \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12068281/bay-area-braces-for-storm-that-could-become-a-rare-bomb-cyclone-ahead-of-holiday-travel\">significant flooding\u003c/a>, Green Valley Road in Sebastopol was shut down on Tuesday due to flood conditions. In a livestream operated by the county to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcQJUHnWAVA\">show flooding conditions\u003c/a>, water was streaming over the roadway near Sullivan Road and pooling heavily on Tuesday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The section between Thomas Road and Sullivan Road is currently closed due to flooding from the recent storm,” county spokesperson Diana Callaway said via email. She said the roadway would reopen when water levels receded, but did not give a time estimate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Motorists are advised to use alternate routes and avoid driving through flooded areas due to potential debris and water-related hazards,” she said.[aside postID=news_12068981 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/Hwy116Getty.jpg']Parts of the county have collected more than 2 inches of rain since Sunday, the NWS reported, and county officials urged residents to limit unnecessary travel and turn around if they come across flooded roadways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Monterey County, a nearly 7-mile stretch of Highway 1 was closed as crews cleared mud and debris from the roadway after a slide late Monday evening. The Regent’s Slide area in Big Sur — where there were major mudslides in 2023 and 2024 — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069761/californias-highway-1-fully-opens-through-big-sur-years-after-major-landslides\">just reopened in January\u003c/a> after three years of damage repairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Crews continue to clear mud from the roadway at Regent’s Slide,” Caltrans said in a post on the social media platform X.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the mountains, UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab said it best: “It. Is. Dumping,” the lab \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/UCB_CSSL\">posted on X on Tuesday\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reaching the Sierra won’t be easy — or advised — after Interstate 80 shut down from Colfax in Placer County to the Nevada state line due to snowfall. The Sierra Snow Lab, which is located near Donner Summit, about 50 miles east of Colfax along I-80, reported 28 inches of snow overnight Monday, and predicted another 2-3 feet by Wednesday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anecdotally, the combination of low visibility, intense snowfall, and high winds have created the worst conditions since Feb 2023,” the Berkeley lab said via social media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980519\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980519\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/GettyImages-1244621245_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/GettyImages-1244621245_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/GettyImages-1244621245_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/GettyImages-1244621245_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/GettyImages-1244621245_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/GettyImages-1244621245_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Snow blanketed South Lake Tahoe in California on Nov. 8, 2022. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Highway 50 to South Lake Tahoe was also closed in El Dorado County, from Pointview Drive in Placerville to Meyers, due to multiple spinouts, and Highway 89 in El Dorado County was closed at Emerald Bay State Park in South Lake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Weather Service said that travel throughout the Sierra is “highly discouraged” throughout the day and into the night, as periods of whiteout conditions are likely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across Northern California, more rain and snow are expected throughout the day, and scattered showers could continue into the rest of the week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Sierra, the National Weather Service is forecasting up to 8 feet of snow on peaks above 3,500 feet, while 1-2 feet could accumulate at lower elevations. Some snowfall is predicted at elevations as low as 1,000 feet in the Sierra and Shasta County.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"Tips\">\u003c/a>Driving safely in rain and strong winds\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>During storms like this, officials typically urge residents to limit unnecessary travel and stay home if at all possible during weather events like these, citing the potential dangers presented by downed trees and power lines in addition to flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How should I change my driving style during rain and winds?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you must drive, do it much more slowly and cautiously than usual, while:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Using your headlights\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Turning off cruise control\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Maintaining a firm grip on the steering wheel\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Leaving twice as much space between your vehicle and the one in front of it (wet roads might mean it takes longer to stop)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Staying alert for debris on the road.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What do I do if my car begins to hydroplane on a wet road?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>First off, remain calm — and don’t slam on the brakes\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Ease off the gas\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Steer in the direction you want to go …\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>… and very lightly pump the brakes until you regain traction.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What if I approach a flooded road?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Always turn around rather than driving through a flooded area — as little as 6 inches of water is enough to disable or stall a small car, while 12 inches can sweep away a vehicle. Don’t assume you know the depth of a pool of water or the conditions of the road underneath it, especially at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If floodwaters begin to rise around your car, abandon the car and move to higher ground on foot. According to the California Department of Water Resources, more people become trapped and die in their vehicles than anywhere else during a flood.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Driving safely in snowy conditions\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Be sure to take weather warnings for the Sierra Nevada seriously, as winter storms can sometimes make travel virtually impossible — and genuinely dangerous. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11937204/lake-tahoe-weather-forecast-road-conditions-snow-chains#snowroadclosures\">Read more on how to check the weather forecast and travel warnings.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11937339\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11937339\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A snowplow clears debris from the road to Stateline, Nevada on Nov. 8, 2022. A winter Storm warning in is effect for Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you must drive in these conditions:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Carry chains\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to making sure your vehicle’s in good working order (including brakes, wipers and heater), you’ll need to carry chains, which are fitted onto the tires of a vehicle’s drive wheels to offer more traction on snowy and icy roads. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11937204/lake-tahoe-weather-forecast-road-conditions-snow-chains#chaincontroltahoe\">Read more about when chain control is declared in the Tahoe region and how to fit chains onto your car.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fuel up\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Make sure you also have as much fuel as possible at all times, as you could be delayed or even held on the road, which will burn up the fuel in your tank. Gaining elevation as you ascend into the mountains will also use more gas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Use Caltrans’ QuickMap \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans’ \u003ca href=\"https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/QM/app.htm\">QuickMap app (available on the App Store and Google Play)\u003c/a>, and also in \u003ca href=\"https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/\">web form,\u003c/a> will show you the latest road conditions and travel information, including chain controls, snowplows on the roads and closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Pack for getting stuck\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Make sure your vehicles contains emergency items including:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Food and water\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Warm blankets\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Extra clothing\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A shovel, in case you need to dig your vehicle out of snow\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>An ice scraper.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Take it slow\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ll see the words “Ice and snow, take it slow” on road signs in Tahoe, and you should heed the advice — especially in areas with chain control, which is in effect for a reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leave far more braking distance between you and the car ahead than you normally would. If cars behind you are clearly trying to go much faster than you, pull over when it’s safe to do so, and let them pass. Read \u003ca href=\"https://dot.ca.gov/travel/winter-driving-tips\">Caltrans’ list of winter driving tips\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Know how to correct a skid\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+get+out+of+skid\">many video tutorials online demonstrating how to control and correct a skid\u003c/a>. It’s a good idea to watch a few of them so you can see what the advice for correcting a skid — \u003ca href=\"https://www.aarp.org/auto/driver-safety/the-car-skids-what-you-should-do/\">take your feet off the pedals and turn into the direction you want to go\u003c/a> — looks like in action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Be aware of the ice risk especially posed by roads that are shaded by the sun — and also on \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2017/12/19/the-science-of-why-bridges-ice-before-roads/?sh=194a49857cd0\">bridges, which freeze faster than the road before and after them\u003c/a> owing to the air underneath.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story contains reporting by KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ccabreralomeli\">\u003cem>Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/esilvers\">\u003cem>Emma Silvers\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A major storm system passing through Northern California is bringing significant disruptions to travel, including what officials called the worst conditions over Donner Pass in years.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000043/winter-is-coming-storms-soak-bay-area-next-week-drop-2-feet-of-fresh-snow-on-tahoe\">major storm system\u003c/a> passing through Northern California after weeks of dry weather shut down roads across the Bay Area and in the Sierra Nevada on Tuesday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the area braces for more steady rainfall throughout the day, highways in the East Bay and North Bay were flooded in parts, and access to Lake Tahoe was cut off due to inches of rain and snow collected since Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The weather \u003ca href=\"https://511.org/alerts/critical\">suspended Golden Gate Ferry\u003c/a> operations to Angel Island, and travel to Tiburon has been rerouted via bus. Trips from San Francisco to Sausalito were suspended until 12:10 p.m. After that, early afternoon travel will be via bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Oakland, Interstate 880 northbound was backed up as the offramp on Broadway flooded, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s \u003ca href=\"https://511.org/\">511 website\u003c/a>. Interstate 580 was also affected by flooding: in the eastbound direction, the right lane and shoulder were closed due to flooding near Grand Avenue, and westbound, the right lane was closed east of 35th Avenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#Tips\">Jump straight to: Tips for safe driving in the rain and snow\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The city has gotten more than an inch and a half of rain in the last 48 hours, according to the National Weather Service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farther northeast in Solano County, where there’s also been more than an inch of rainfall since midday Sunday, flooding affected lanes of Highway 38 headed east in Vallejo and Interstate 80 westbound in Fairfield.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10366486\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10366486\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/12/459889850-e1771364269475.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1360\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A motorist drives through a flooded intersection on Dec. 3, 2014, in Mill Valley, California. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Sonoma County, where back-to-back storms in December and early January brought \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12068281/bay-area-braces-for-storm-that-could-become-a-rare-bomb-cyclone-ahead-of-holiday-travel\">significant flooding\u003c/a>, Green Valley Road in Sebastopol was shut down on Tuesday due to flood conditions. In a livestream operated by the county to \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcQJUHnWAVA\">show flooding conditions\u003c/a>, water was streaming over the roadway near Sullivan Road and pooling heavily on Tuesday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The section between Thomas Road and Sullivan Road is currently closed due to flooding from the recent storm,” county spokesperson Diana Callaway said via email. She said the roadway would reopen when water levels receded, but did not give a time estimate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Motorists are advised to use alternate routes and avoid driving through flooded areas due to potential debris and water-related hazards,” she said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Parts of the county have collected more than 2 inches of rain since Sunday, the NWS reported, and county officials urged residents to limit unnecessary travel and turn around if they come across flooded roadways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Monterey County, a nearly 7-mile stretch of Highway 1 was closed as crews cleared mud and debris from the roadway after a slide late Monday evening. The Regent’s Slide area in Big Sur — where there were major mudslides in 2023 and 2024 — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069761/californias-highway-1-fully-opens-through-big-sur-years-after-major-landslides\">just reopened in January\u003c/a> after three years of damage repairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Crews continue to clear mud from the roadway at Regent’s Slide,” Caltrans said in a post on the social media platform X.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for the mountains, UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab said it best: “It. Is. Dumping,” the lab \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/UCB_CSSL\">posted on X on Tuesday\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reaching the Sierra won’t be easy — or advised — after Interstate 80 shut down from Colfax in Placer County to the Nevada state line due to snowfall. The Sierra Snow Lab, which is located near Donner Summit, about 50 miles east of Colfax along I-80, reported 28 inches of snow overnight Monday, and predicted another 2-3 feet by Wednesday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anecdotally, the combination of low visibility, intense snowfall, and high winds have created the worst conditions since Feb 2023,” the Berkeley lab said via social media.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11980519\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11980519\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/GettyImages-1244621245_qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/GettyImages-1244621245_qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/GettyImages-1244621245_qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/GettyImages-1244621245_qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/GettyImages-1244621245_qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/02/GettyImages-1244621245_qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Snow blanketed South Lake Tahoe in California on Nov. 8, 2022. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Highway 50 to South Lake Tahoe was also closed in El Dorado County, from Pointview Drive in Placerville to Meyers, due to multiple spinouts, and Highway 89 in El Dorado County was closed at Emerald Bay State Park in South Lake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The National Weather Service said that travel throughout the Sierra is “highly discouraged” throughout the day and into the night, as periods of whiteout conditions are likely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across Northern California, more rain and snow are expected throughout the day, and scattered showers could continue into the rest of the week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Sierra, the National Weather Service is forecasting up to 8 feet of snow on peaks above 3,500 feet, while 1-2 feet could accumulate at lower elevations. Some snowfall is predicted at elevations as low as 1,000 feet in the Sierra and Shasta County.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>\u003ca id=\"Tips\">\u003c/a>Driving safely in rain and strong winds\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>During storms like this, officials typically urge residents to limit unnecessary travel and stay home if at all possible during weather events like these, citing the potential dangers presented by downed trees and power lines in addition to flooding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How should I change my driving style during rain and winds?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you must drive, do it much more slowly and cautiously than usual, while:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Using your headlights\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Turning off cruise control\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Maintaining a firm grip on the steering wheel\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Leaving twice as much space between your vehicle and the one in front of it (wet roads might mean it takes longer to stop)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Staying alert for debris on the road.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What do I do if my car begins to hydroplane on a wet road?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>First off, remain calm — and don’t slam on the brakes\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Ease off the gas\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Steer in the direction you want to go …\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>… and very lightly pump the brakes until you regain traction.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What if I approach a flooded road?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Always turn around rather than driving through a flooded area — as little as 6 inches of water is enough to disable or stall a small car, while 12 inches can sweep away a vehicle. Don’t assume you know the depth of a pool of water or the conditions of the road underneath it, especially at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If floodwaters begin to rise around your car, abandon the car and move to higher ground on foot. According to the California Department of Water Resources, more people become trapped and die in their vehicles than anywhere else during a flood.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Driving safely in snowy conditions\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Be sure to take weather warnings for the Sierra Nevada seriously, as winter storms can sometimes make travel virtually impossible — and genuinely dangerous. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11937204/lake-tahoe-weather-forecast-road-conditions-snow-chains#snowroadclosures\">Read more on how to check the weather forecast and travel warnings.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11937339\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11937339\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/01/RS61930_GettyImages-1244621487-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A snowplow clears debris from the road to Stateline, Nevada on Nov. 8, 2022. A winter Storm warning in is effect for Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada. \u003ccite>(Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you must drive in these conditions:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Carry chains\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to making sure your vehicle’s in good working order (including brakes, wipers and heater), you’ll need to carry chains, which are fitted onto the tires of a vehicle’s drive wheels to offer more traction on snowy and icy roads. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11937204/lake-tahoe-weather-forecast-road-conditions-snow-chains#chaincontroltahoe\">Read more about when chain control is declared in the Tahoe region and how to fit chains onto your car.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Fuel up\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Make sure you also have as much fuel as possible at all times, as you could be delayed or even held on the road, which will burn up the fuel in your tank. Gaining elevation as you ascend into the mountains will also use more gas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Use Caltrans’ QuickMap \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caltrans’ \u003ca href=\"https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/QM/app.htm\">QuickMap app (available on the App Store and Google Play)\u003c/a>, and also in \u003ca href=\"https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/\">web form,\u003c/a> will show you the latest road conditions and travel information, including chain controls, snowplows on the roads and closures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Pack for getting stuck\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Make sure your vehicles contains emergency items including:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Food and water\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Warm blankets\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Extra clothing\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>A shovel, in case you need to dig your vehicle out of snow\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>An ice scraper.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Take it slow\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ll see the words “Ice and snow, take it slow” on road signs in Tahoe, and you should heed the advice — especially in areas with chain control, which is in effect for a reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leave far more braking distance between you and the car ahead than you normally would. If cars behind you are clearly trying to go much faster than you, pull over when it’s safe to do so, and let them pass. Read \u003ca href=\"https://dot.ca.gov/travel/winter-driving-tips\">Caltrans’ list of winter driving tips\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Know how to correct a skid\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+get+out+of+skid\">many video tutorials online demonstrating how to control and correct a skid\u003c/a>. It’s a good idea to watch a few of them so you can see what the advice for correcting a skid — \u003ca href=\"https://www.aarp.org/auto/driver-safety/the-car-skids-what-you-should-do/\">take your feet off the pedals and turn into the direction you want to go\u003c/a> — looks like in action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Be aware of the ice risk especially posed by roads that are shaded by the sun — and also on \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2017/12/19/the-science-of-why-bridges-ice-before-roads/?sh=194a49857cd0\">bridges, which freeze faster than the road before and after them\u003c/a> owing to the air underneath.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story contains reporting by KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ccabreralomeli\">\u003cem>Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/esilvers\">\u003cem>Emma Silvers\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "what-happens-when-democrats-in-san-francisco-call-up-republicans-in-texas-its-pretty-cordial",
"title": "What Happens When Democrats in San Francisco Call Up Republicans in Texas? It’s Pretty Cordial",
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"content": "\u003cp>After several weeks and around 200 recorded conversations, a Colorado-based tech startup has insight into whether people living in two politically different places, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> and Abilene, Texas, could put aside differences and try to find common ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What ended up happening was quite beautiful and affirming,” said Ben Goldhirsh, the chairman and co-founder of Matter Neuroscience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its experiment, “The Party Line,” consisted of two modified pay phones. One, painted red, was planted outside Black Serum Tattoo in San Francisco’s Mission District, with a sign reading “Call A Republican.” The other pay phone, painted blue, was stationed outside Seven and One Books in Abilene, with a sign that read “Call A Democrat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When callers pick up the receiver of one pay phone, it rings the other. If someone is around on that end to pick up, those callers instantly connect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we set up phone booths in the reddest city and in the bluest city, will people choose to fight if they pick up the phone and talk to each other?” Goldhirsh said of the idea. “Or will they choose to find common ground?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said that none of the calls affiliated with “The Party Line” have been negative. His company’s mission is to try to help people lead more emotionally balanced lives. (Several studies have established a link between \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/social-connectedness/risk-factors/index.html\">social isolation and depression\u003c/a>, whereas social connection has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/social-connectedness/about/index.html\">shown to be beneficial\u003c/a> for physical and mental health.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/DUBpuwbDqs7/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With the pay phones slated for removal on Wednesday, Feb. 18, he said the experiment has left behind a trove of recordings that provide an optimistic outlook in the face of polling that the U.S. is \u003ca href=\"https://news.gallup.com/poll/650828/americans-agree-nation-divided-key-values.aspx\">increasingly divided politically\u003c/a>, and that Americans are \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/us/politics/times-siena-poll-political-polarization.html\">pessimistic about whether the country can overcome its divisions\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Abilene, a town with an estimated population of over 130,000, over \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/us/elections/2024-election-map-precinct-results.html\">80% of voters\u003c/a> cast their ballots for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. By comparison, a similar percentage of San Franciscans voted for Kamala Harris.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ Honestly, everybody who has used it has come in and said that it was amazing,” said Arlene Kasselman, the owner of Seven and One Books in Abilene. “When you hear a voice, you are reminded that it’s a human. It’s not a keyboard warrior on Facebook spouting something that you would never say to somebody in person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073052\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073052\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020926PHONEBOOTHEXPERIMENT_GH_014-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020926PHONEBOOTHEXPERIMENT_GH_014-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020926PHONEBOOTHEXPERIMENT_GH_014-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020926PHONEBOOTHEXPERIMENT_GH_014-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria, a San Francisco resident, speaks on The Party Line pay phone installation outside a storefront at 14th Street and Valencia Street in San Francisco, on Feb. 9, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kasselman said she overheard one conversation that immediately focused on the issue of immigration in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ There was an acknowledgement that they didn’t have all the answers,” she said. “That, to me, is a gateway to civil discourse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recorded conversations have ranged from small talk about the weather and the price of food to bigger issues, like the cost of housing.[aside postID=news_12073001 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/GettyImages-2191015783-2000x1333.jpg']“ It’s not going to fix everything, but it’s cool to have good talks with people from different parts of the country and try and get to know each other,” said Christopher Renfro, who works near the San Francisco pay phone and said he has used it multiple times. “Hopefully, people will start to learn to accept each other and just hold space for each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For others, like Maria Gonzalez of San Francisco, conversations on “The Party Line” reminded them of navigating politics with loved ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a work in progress, but I just don’t like the divisiveness,” said Gonzalez, who disagrees with her uncle over his support of President Trump. “ So we have these discussions every time we speak, and I’m just hoping that we can be a little open-minded to each other’s ways of thinking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Goldhirsh, while the experiment is ending in its current form, Matter Neuroscience is looking to repurpose it to connect people of different communities. He said that future iterations could link a senior center and a college cafeteria, or countries outside of the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ We really benefit when we benefit others,” Goldhirsh added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After several weeks and around 200 recorded conversations, a Colorado-based tech startup has insight into whether people living in two politically different places, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-francisco\">San Francisco\u003c/a> and Abilene, Texas, could put aside differences and try to find common ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What ended up happening was quite beautiful and affirming,” said Ben Goldhirsh, the chairman and co-founder of Matter Neuroscience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Its experiment, “The Party Line,” consisted of two modified pay phones. One, painted red, was planted outside Black Serum Tattoo in San Francisco’s Mission District, with a sign reading “Call A Republican.” The other pay phone, painted blue, was stationed outside Seven and One Books in Abilene, with a sign that read “Call A Democrat.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When callers pick up the receiver of one pay phone, it rings the other. If someone is around on that end to pick up, those callers instantly connect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we set up phone booths in the reddest city and in the bluest city, will people choose to fight if they pick up the phone and talk to each other?” Goldhirsh said of the idea. “Or will they choose to find common ground?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said that none of the calls affiliated with “The Party Line” have been negative. His company’s mission is to try to help people lead more emotionally balanced lives. (Several studies have established a link between \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/social-connectedness/risk-factors/index.html\">social isolation and depression\u003c/a>, whereas social connection has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/social-connectedness/about/index.html\">shown to be beneficial\u003c/a> for physical and mental health.)\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>With the pay phones slated for removal on Wednesday, Feb. 18, he said the experiment has left behind a trove of recordings that provide an optimistic outlook in the face of polling that the U.S. is \u003ca href=\"https://news.gallup.com/poll/650828/americans-agree-nation-divided-key-values.aspx\">increasingly divided politically\u003c/a>, and that Americans are \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/us/politics/times-siena-poll-political-polarization.html\">pessimistic about whether the country can overcome its divisions\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Abilene, a town with an estimated population of over 130,000, over \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/us/elections/2024-election-map-precinct-results.html\">80% of voters\u003c/a> cast their ballots for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. By comparison, a similar percentage of San Franciscans voted for Kamala Harris.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ Honestly, everybody who has used it has come in and said that it was amazing,” said Arlene Kasselman, the owner of Seven and One Books in Abilene. “When you hear a voice, you are reminded that it’s a human. It’s not a keyboard warrior on Facebook spouting something that you would never say to somebody in person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073052\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073052\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020926PHONEBOOTHEXPERIMENT_GH_014-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020926PHONEBOOTHEXPERIMENT_GH_014-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020926PHONEBOOTHEXPERIMENT_GH_014-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020926PHONEBOOTHEXPERIMENT_GH_014-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Maria, a San Francisco resident, speaks on The Party Line pay phone installation outside a storefront at 14th Street and Valencia Street in San Francisco, on Feb. 9, 2026. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Kasselman said she overheard one conversation that immediately focused on the issue of immigration in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ There was an acknowledgement that they didn’t have all the answers,” she said. “That, to me, is a gateway to civil discourse.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The recorded conversations have ranged from small talk about the weather and the price of food to bigger issues, like the cost of housing.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“ It’s not going to fix everything, but it’s cool to have good talks with people from different parts of the country and try and get to know each other,” said Christopher Renfro, who works near the San Francisco pay phone and said he has used it multiple times. “Hopefully, people will start to learn to accept each other and just hold space for each other.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For others, like Maria Gonzalez of San Francisco, conversations on “The Party Line” reminded them of navigating politics with loved ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a work in progress, but I just don’t like the divisiveness,” said Gonzalez, who disagrees with her uncle over his support of President Trump. “ So we have these discussions every time we speak, and I’m just hoping that we can be a little open-minded to each other’s ways of thinking.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Goldhirsh, while the experiment is ending in its current form, Matter Neuroscience is looking to repurpose it to connect people of different communities. He said that future iterations could link a senior center and a college cafeteria, or countries outside of the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ We really benefit when we benefit others,” Goldhirsh added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "winter-cabins-to-rent-near-san-francisco-bay-area-tahoe-mendocino-sonoma",
"title": "How to Do a Cozy Winter Cabin Getaway Near the Bay Area — on a Budget",
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"headTitle": "How to Do a Cozy Winter Cabin Getaway Near the Bay Area — on a Budget | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>At this time of year, when the holidays have passed, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069084/bay-area-faces-first-ever-extreme-cold-warning-as-temperatures-plunge-overnight\">cold weather still endures\u003c/a>, you may be craving a cozy cabin getaway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, one look at Airbnb and VRBO prices often reveals that your average “winter wonderland cabin” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064955/is-it-possible-to-ski-tahoe-without-spending-a-fortune\">might not be in your budget\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But here’s the deal: If you’re willing to embrace adventure and rough it in a more primitive-style lodging, you’ll find some pretty unique, scenic \u003cem>and \u003c/em>affordable options when it comes to winter cabins. All it takes is a little bit of preparation and willingness to go off the beaten path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether you’re seeking an adventurous outing to the Sierra Nevada backcountry or an unplugged retreat in Wine Country, we did the research on lower-cost winter cabins so you don’t have to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just be aware: Most of these cabins have no electricity and few amenities — including cell service — which is, of course, part of the point. So roll up with your most intrepid friends and any luxuries you might want with you, and embrace the quiet of a cozy weekend away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#Agetawayintheredwoods\">A getaway in the redwoods\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#AsummitstayinTahoe\">A summit stay in Tahoe\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#Anoceansidehostel\">An oceanside hostel\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>Soak in Sonoma County with a lakeside retreat\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you’re looking for a still-accessible, slightly off-the-grid experience, \u003ca href=\"https://parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov/visit/find-a-park/spring-lake-regional-park\">Spring Lake Regional Park\u003c/a> in Sonoma County might be the spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Located along Spring Lake in Santa Rosa, the park has \u003ca href=\"https://parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov/play/camping/cabins\">three cabins\u003c/a> — one of which is fully wheelchair accessible — for a winter escape that’ll get you out of your house and in nature without \u003cem>too \u003c/em>much adventure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarah Campbell, spokesperson for Sonoma County Regional Parks, said its proximity to the city of Santa Rosa makes it easy to visit without much advanced planning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073401\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073401\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/Spring-Lake-cabin-with-campfire_resized.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/Spring-Lake-cabin-with-campfire_resized.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/Spring-Lake-cabin-with-campfire_resized-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/Spring-Lake-cabin-with-campfire_resized-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cabin for rent at Sonoma’s Spring Lake. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Sonoma County Regional Parks)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s a great overnight because you get your groceries on the way, it doesn’t take long to get there, and you’ve got all that time to spend in the park enjoying, relaxing, or doing whatever activity that you’re choosing to do,” she said. “Just because it is so centrally located.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cabins are “minimal” on the inside, Campbell said, with bunk beds and basic mattresses, a porch, barbecue, fire pit and picnic table so you can feel like you’re camping — don’t forget a sleeping bag and pillow — but still have a roof over your head. Plus, campground showers and potable water are accessible nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it can rain quite a bit in the winter here, temperatures are mild – helpful in these unheated cabins. Plus, there’s plenty to keep you occupied nearby, from the \u003ca href=\"https://parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov/visit/environmental-discovery-center\">Environmental Discovery Center\u003c/a> open on weekends to ample fishing and birdwatching along the lake, lagoon and \u003ca href=\"https://parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov/visit/find-a-park/spring-lake-regional-park\">Spring Creek Trail\u003c/a>, which is paved and circumnavigates the lake for a mostly flat 2.3 miles. For kids, the Howard Park playground is a short walk away from the cabins, Campbell noted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re looking for even more adventure, the park also abuts \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=480\">Trione-Annadel State Park\u003c/a>, where you can get lost in 45 miles of trails — but be aware, it can get muddy in the winter and spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reservations: \u003c/strong>Cabin rentals are typically $82 per night in the winter, accommodating up to 8 people and two vehicles per site. \u003ca href=\"https://secure.sonomacountyparks.org/spring-lake/cabins/\">Reservations can be made here\u003c/a>. Discounts are available for Sonoma County residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Agetawayintheredwoods\">\u003c/a>Relax in the redwoods — inside a state park\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Several nearby state parks, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=438\">Hendy Woods\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=469\">Samuel P. Taylor\u003c/a>, have idyllic cabins nestled in the redwoods. The catch? They get booked up quickly, so it may be hard to snag a weekend reservation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you can take a day off during the week itself — or even just go out for a quick overnight stay — these spots are worth it for the cozy atmosphere alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Mendocino County’s Hendy Woods State Park, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12044161/bay-area-camping-alternatives-glamping-yurts-cabins-big-sur#B\">the four cabins \u003c/a>are located inside the two main campgrounds between the two groves of old-growth redwood trees, where you can meander among ancient giants, some as big as 300 feet tall. [aside postID=news_12044161 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/inntown-3-2000x1333.jpg']There are five miles of trails throughout the park, including the accessible \u003ca href=\"https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/hendy-woods-discovery-trail\">1.4-mile Discovery Trail\u003c/a>, which is an easy stroll that tours you through the main grove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closer to San Francisco, Marin County’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=28538\">Samuel P. Taylor\u003c/a> State Park boasts four cabins, each accommodating five people. This park’s location makes it the perfect quick overnight to get away from the city, especially if you’re planning to explore nearby \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/pore/index.htm\">Point Reyes National Seashore\u003c/a> for the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the cabins at both state parks have electricity, covered porches and even small heaters – but every spot is different, so be sure to check your reservation ahead of time. At both state parks, potable water, showers and bathrooms are available in the campgrounds. Bring sleeping bags \u003cem>and \u003c/em>sleeping pads (as no mattresses are provided), and any kitchen supplies you might want for cooking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reservations: \u003c/strong>Cabin rentals at Hendy Woods and Samuel P. Taylor range from $35 to $100 per night and can be made at \u003ca href=\"http://reservecalifornia.com\">ReserveCalifornia.com\u003c/a>. Be aware that most cabin sites are booked up on weekends, so consider a midweek reservation if you can swing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"AsummitstayinTahoe\">\u003c/a>Explore the snow at Tahoe’s front and backcountry cabins\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If your cabin adventure is incomplete without the lure of snow, look no further than the Sierra Club lodges around Tahoe’s Donner Summit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most accessible option here is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.clairtappaanlodge.com/rustic-accommodations/\">Clair Tappaan Lodge\u003c/a>, located in Norden just off Highway 80 near Boreal Resort, Donner Ski Ranch and Sugar Bowl Resorts. This bunk-style lodge, which dates from the 1930s, offers communal dining and a rustic feel, plus options for bagged lunches if you’re heading to the slopes for the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But you don’t have to be a resort skier to get the most out of the stay — the lodge rents snowshoes, cross-country skis and sleds for any snowy outing. What’s more, there’s a quiet library to unwind after a long day in the cold, said Andrew Parkhill, the lodge’s general manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073403\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073403\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A-Peter-Grubb-Hut_resized.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A-Peter-Grubb-Hut_resized.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A-Peter-Grubb-Hut_resized-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A-Peter-Grubb-Hut_resized-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Peter Grubb hut, one of the Sierra Club’s primitive huts in Tahoe’s backcountry. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Hipcamp/Sierra Club)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s really a great option for people that are looking to do something different and be in the mountains, sharing the camaraderie of what the mountains bring,” Parkhill said. “Whether that’s a beautiful view, or watching the snow fall or having a great day on the hill — be it snowshoeing, cross-country skiing or downhill skiing — and just coming back and talking about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeking even more adventure? The Sierra Club also has primitive huts in Tahoe’s backcountry that are accessible only by snowshoe or cross-country ski. Perhaps the easiest to get to is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.clairtappaanlodge.com/peter-grubb-hut/\">Peter Grubb Hut\u003c/a>, which is around a 3-mile hike from I-80. But before you book, make sure you’re seriously prepared: not only are these huts unstaffed, with not much in the way of amenities, but they also require expertise in traveling on snow to get there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you’re ready for the challenge, the juice may be worth the squeeze. Akin to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064291/winter-camping-reservations-where-to-go-campsites-near-san-francisco-bay-area\">winter backpacking\u003c/a> — just with an added roof over your head — the reward for your trek is a remote ski lodge with a wood-burning stove, an outhouse and all the new adventure friends you’ll meet once you get there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reservations: \u003c/strong>The huts and lodge can be booked on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.clairtappaanlodge.com/\">Clair Tappaan Lodge website\u003c/a> or, starting this week, on \u003ca href=\"https://www.hipcamp.com/en-US/collections/camping/sierra-club\">Hipcamp.com\u003c/a>. Spots are $82 per person per night in the lodge and $55 in the Peter Grubb or any other backcountry hut.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Anoceansidehostel\">\u003c/a>Overlook the ocean from a unique hostel\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Looking for a getaway with ocean vibes and views? While the Bay Area’s two lighthouse hostels aren’t your \u003cem>typical \u003c/em>cabin experiences, they’re utterly unique and charming in their own way — and will surely get you out of your midwinter funk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Run by the same hostel company, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hiusa.org/find-hostels/california/montara-8800-cabrillo-highway?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22190084370&gbraid=0AAAAAD_KR8q7YVstFKkpxfqmGLgokowzr&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1JLLBhCDARIsAAVfy7gIEvHEEAjVxrZR7Sbp-aWB2A2dZhh1SHje2b8sZP7tzsO1WXe_m7QaAm2BEALw_wcB\">HI Point Montara Lighthouse\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.hiusa.org/find-hostels/california/pescadero-210-pigeonpoint-road?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22190084370&gbraid=0AAAAAD_KR8q7YVstFKkpxfqmGLgokowzr&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1JLLBhCDARIsAAVfy7iRwKyt79cmrwHQm_0935emLrvvb7eO3_NzoGkEvl9tAbOzHFZrCrUaAgSfEALw_wcB\">HI Pigeon Point Lighthouse\u003c/a> not only have their own grounds to explore, but are close to some of the Bay Area’s wildest stretches of coastline.[aside postID=news_12066608 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251209-SNOWY-TAHOE-CS-KQED.jpg']The \u003ca href=\"https://www.hiusa.org/find-hostels/california/montara-8800-cabrillo-highway?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22190084370&gbraid=0AAAAAD_KR8q7YVstFKkpxfqmGLgokowzr&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1JLLBhCDARIsAAVfy7gIEvHEEAjVxrZR7Sbp-aWB2A2dZhh1SHje2b8sZP7tzsO1WXe_m7QaAm2BEALw_wcB\">Montara location\u003c/a> is less than a half an hour south of the city, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Across Highway 1 is \u003ca href=\"https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/montara-mountain-north-peak-loop-trail\">Montara Mountain\u003c/a>, a steep but superb local hike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beaches flank the entire area, and just to the south is \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/seal-cove-cypress-tree-tunnel-moss-beach\">the famed cypress tree tunnel\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.smcgov.org/parks/fitzgerald-marine-reserve\">Fitzgerald Marine Reserve\u003c/a>, the ideal winter tidepooling spot. (\u003ca href=\"https://www.smcgov.org/parks/news/be-know-you-go-tide-pooling\">Just be sure to read the rules before you go\u003c/a> to keep yourself — and all the local wildlife — safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farther south, near the rural coastal town of Pescadero, is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hiusa.org/find-hostels/california/pescadero-210-pigeonpoint-road?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22190084370&gbraid=0AAAAAD_KR8q7YVstFKkpxfqmGLgokowzr&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1JLLBhCDARIsAAVfy7iRwKyt79cmrwHQm_0935emLrvvb7eO3_NzoGkEvl9tAbOzHFZrCrUaAgSfEALw_wcB\">Pigeon Point Lighthouse\u003c/a> location. Be aware: Construction at the lighthouse is currently underway, making this location a bit less serene at the moment during the daytime hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it has its own allure, the highlight of which is a cliffside hot tub and daily guided hikes of the state park. You’re also close by to the elephant seal overlook at \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523\">Año Nuevo State Park\u003c/a> and Pescadero’s quaint downtown, where a stop at \u003ca href=\"https://www.normsmarket.com/\">Arcangeli’s\u003c/a> for artichoke bread and \u003ca href=\"https://www.harleyfarms.com/\">Harley Farms\u003c/a> to see the dairy goats are must-dos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reservations: \u003c/strong>Book a private or shared room \u003ca href=\"https://www.hiusa.org/\">online\u003c/a> for $50 per person in shared dorms. In general, private rooms do not include kitchen access. Shared rooms grant access to common kitchen and living areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "If you’re down for adventure — and to bring your own bedding — these primitive cabins offer a wallet-friendly winter getaway.",
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"title": "How to Do a Cozy Winter Cabin Getaway Near the Bay Area — on a Budget | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>At this time of year, when the holidays have passed, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12069084/bay-area-faces-first-ever-extreme-cold-warning-as-temperatures-plunge-overnight\">cold weather still endures\u003c/a>, you may be craving a cozy cabin getaway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, one look at Airbnb and VRBO prices often reveals that your average “winter wonderland cabin” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064955/is-it-possible-to-ski-tahoe-without-spending-a-fortune\">might not be in your budget\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But here’s the deal: If you’re willing to embrace adventure and rough it in a more primitive-style lodging, you’ll find some pretty unique, scenic \u003cem>and \u003c/em>affordable options when it comes to winter cabins. All it takes is a little bit of preparation and willingness to go off the beaten path.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether you’re seeking an adventurous outing to the Sierra Nevada backcountry or an unplugged retreat in Wine Country, we did the research on lower-cost winter cabins so you don’t have to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just be aware: Most of these cabins have no electricity and few amenities — including cell service — which is, of course, part of the point. So roll up with your most intrepid friends and any luxuries you might want with you, and embrace the quiet of a cozy weekend away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#Agetawayintheredwoods\">A getaway in the redwoods\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#AsummitstayinTahoe\">A summit stay in Tahoe\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#Anoceansidehostel\">An oceanside hostel\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>Soak in Sonoma County with a lakeside retreat\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you’re looking for a still-accessible, slightly off-the-grid experience, \u003ca href=\"https://parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov/visit/find-a-park/spring-lake-regional-park\">Spring Lake Regional Park\u003c/a> in Sonoma County might be the spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Located along Spring Lake in Santa Rosa, the park has \u003ca href=\"https://parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov/play/camping/cabins\">three cabins\u003c/a> — one of which is fully wheelchair accessible — for a winter escape that’ll get you out of your house and in nature without \u003cem>too \u003c/em>much adventure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sarah Campbell, spokesperson for Sonoma County Regional Parks, said its proximity to the city of Santa Rosa makes it easy to visit without much advanced planning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073401\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073401\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/Spring-Lake-cabin-with-campfire_resized.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/Spring-Lake-cabin-with-campfire_resized.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/Spring-Lake-cabin-with-campfire_resized-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/Spring-Lake-cabin-with-campfire_resized-1536x1025.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A cabin for rent at Sonoma’s Spring Lake. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Sonoma County Regional Parks)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s a great overnight because you get your groceries on the way, it doesn’t take long to get there, and you’ve got all that time to spend in the park enjoying, relaxing, or doing whatever activity that you’re choosing to do,” she said. “Just because it is so centrally located.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cabins are “minimal” on the inside, Campbell said, with bunk beds and basic mattresses, a porch, barbecue, fire pit and picnic table so you can feel like you’re camping — don’t forget a sleeping bag and pillow — but still have a roof over your head. Plus, campground showers and potable water are accessible nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While it can rain quite a bit in the winter here, temperatures are mild – helpful in these unheated cabins. Plus, there’s plenty to keep you occupied nearby, from the \u003ca href=\"https://parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov/visit/environmental-discovery-center\">Environmental Discovery Center\u003c/a> open on weekends to ample fishing and birdwatching along the lake, lagoon and \u003ca href=\"https://parks.sonomacounty.ca.gov/visit/find-a-park/spring-lake-regional-park\">Spring Creek Trail\u003c/a>, which is paved and circumnavigates the lake for a mostly flat 2.3 miles. For kids, the Howard Park playground is a short walk away from the cabins, Campbell noted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re looking for even more adventure, the park also abuts \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=480\">Trione-Annadel State Park\u003c/a>, where you can get lost in 45 miles of trails — but be aware, it can get muddy in the winter and spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reservations: \u003c/strong>Cabin rentals are typically $82 per night in the winter, accommodating up to 8 people and two vehicles per site. \u003ca href=\"https://secure.sonomacountyparks.org/spring-lake/cabins/\">Reservations can be made here\u003c/a>. Discounts are available for Sonoma County residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Agetawayintheredwoods\">\u003c/a>Relax in the redwoods — inside a state park\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Several nearby state parks, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=438\">Hendy Woods\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=469\">Samuel P. Taylor\u003c/a>, have idyllic cabins nestled in the redwoods. The catch? They get booked up quickly, so it may be hard to snag a weekend reservation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you can take a day off during the week itself — or even just go out for a quick overnight stay — these spots are worth it for the cozy atmosphere alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Mendocino County’s Hendy Woods State Park, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12044161/bay-area-camping-alternatives-glamping-yurts-cabins-big-sur#B\">the four cabins \u003c/a>are located inside the two main campgrounds between the two groves of old-growth redwood trees, where you can meander among ancient giants, some as big as 300 feet tall. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There are five miles of trails throughout the park, including the accessible \u003ca href=\"https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/hendy-woods-discovery-trail\">1.4-mile Discovery Trail\u003c/a>, which is an easy stroll that tours you through the main grove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Closer to San Francisco, Marin County’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=28538\">Samuel P. Taylor\u003c/a> State Park boasts four cabins, each accommodating five people. This park’s location makes it the perfect quick overnight to get away from the city, especially if you’re planning to explore nearby \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/pore/index.htm\">Point Reyes National Seashore\u003c/a> for the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the cabins at both state parks have electricity, covered porches and even small heaters – but every spot is different, so be sure to check your reservation ahead of time. At both state parks, potable water, showers and bathrooms are available in the campgrounds. Bring sleeping bags \u003cem>and \u003c/em>sleeping pads (as no mattresses are provided), and any kitchen supplies you might want for cooking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reservations: \u003c/strong>Cabin rentals at Hendy Woods and Samuel P. Taylor range from $35 to $100 per night and can be made at \u003ca href=\"http://reservecalifornia.com\">ReserveCalifornia.com\u003c/a>. Be aware that most cabin sites are booked up on weekends, so consider a midweek reservation if you can swing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"AsummitstayinTahoe\">\u003c/a>Explore the snow at Tahoe’s front and backcountry cabins\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If your cabin adventure is incomplete without the lure of snow, look no further than the Sierra Club lodges around Tahoe’s Donner Summit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most accessible option here is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.clairtappaanlodge.com/rustic-accommodations/\">Clair Tappaan Lodge\u003c/a>, located in Norden just off Highway 80 near Boreal Resort, Donner Ski Ranch and Sugar Bowl Resorts. This bunk-style lodge, which dates from the 1930s, offers communal dining and a rustic feel, plus options for bagged lunches if you’re heading to the slopes for the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But you don’t have to be a resort skier to get the most out of the stay — the lodge rents snowshoes, cross-country skis and sleds for any snowy outing. What’s more, there’s a quiet library to unwind after a long day in the cold, said Andrew Parkhill, the lodge’s general manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073403\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073403\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A-Peter-Grubb-Hut_resized.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A-Peter-Grubb-Hut_resized.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A-Peter-Grubb-Hut_resized-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/A-Peter-Grubb-Hut_resized-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Peter Grubb hut, one of the Sierra Club’s primitive huts in Tahoe’s backcountry. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Hipcamp/Sierra Club)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s really a great option for people that are looking to do something different and be in the mountains, sharing the camaraderie of what the mountains bring,” Parkhill said. “Whether that’s a beautiful view, or watching the snow fall or having a great day on the hill — be it snowshoeing, cross-country skiing or downhill skiing — and just coming back and talking about it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeking even more adventure? The Sierra Club also has primitive huts in Tahoe’s backcountry that are accessible only by snowshoe or cross-country ski. Perhaps the easiest to get to is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.clairtappaanlodge.com/peter-grubb-hut/\">Peter Grubb Hut\u003c/a>, which is around a 3-mile hike from I-80. But before you book, make sure you’re seriously prepared: not only are these huts unstaffed, with not much in the way of amenities, but they also require expertise in traveling on snow to get there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you’re ready for the challenge, the juice may be worth the squeeze. Akin to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12064291/winter-camping-reservations-where-to-go-campsites-near-san-francisco-bay-area\">winter backpacking\u003c/a> — just with an added roof over your head — the reward for your trek is a remote ski lodge with a wood-burning stove, an outhouse and all the new adventure friends you’ll meet once you get there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reservations: \u003c/strong>The huts and lodge can be booked on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.clairtappaanlodge.com/\">Clair Tappaan Lodge website\u003c/a> or, starting this week, on \u003ca href=\"https://www.hipcamp.com/en-US/collections/camping/sierra-club\">Hipcamp.com\u003c/a>. Spots are $82 per person per night in the lodge and $55 in the Peter Grubb or any other backcountry hut.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"Anoceansidehostel\">\u003c/a>Overlook the ocean from a unique hostel\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Looking for a getaway with ocean vibes and views? While the Bay Area’s two lighthouse hostels aren’t your \u003cem>typical \u003c/em>cabin experiences, they’re utterly unique and charming in their own way — and will surely get you out of your midwinter funk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Run by the same hostel company, \u003ca href=\"https://www.hiusa.org/find-hostels/california/montara-8800-cabrillo-highway?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22190084370&gbraid=0AAAAAD_KR8q7YVstFKkpxfqmGLgokowzr&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1JLLBhCDARIsAAVfy7gIEvHEEAjVxrZR7Sbp-aWB2A2dZhh1SHje2b8sZP7tzsO1WXe_m7QaAm2BEALw_wcB\">HI Point Montara Lighthouse\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.hiusa.org/find-hostels/california/pescadero-210-pigeonpoint-road?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22190084370&gbraid=0AAAAAD_KR8q7YVstFKkpxfqmGLgokowzr&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1JLLBhCDARIsAAVfy7iRwKyt79cmrwHQm_0935emLrvvb7eO3_NzoGkEvl9tAbOzHFZrCrUaAgSfEALw_wcB\">HI Pigeon Point Lighthouse\u003c/a> not only have their own grounds to explore, but are close to some of the Bay Area’s wildest stretches of coastline.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.hiusa.org/find-hostels/california/montara-8800-cabrillo-highway?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22190084370&gbraid=0AAAAAD_KR8q7YVstFKkpxfqmGLgokowzr&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1JLLBhCDARIsAAVfy7gIEvHEEAjVxrZR7Sbp-aWB2A2dZhh1SHje2b8sZP7tzsO1WXe_m7QaAm2BEALw_wcB\">Montara location\u003c/a> is less than a half an hour south of the city, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Across Highway 1 is \u003ca href=\"https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/montara-mountain-north-peak-loop-trail\">Montara Mountain\u003c/a>, a steep but superb local hike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beaches flank the entire area, and just to the south is \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/seal-cove-cypress-tree-tunnel-moss-beach\">the famed cypress tree tunnel\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.smcgov.org/parks/fitzgerald-marine-reserve\">Fitzgerald Marine Reserve\u003c/a>, the ideal winter tidepooling spot. (\u003ca href=\"https://www.smcgov.org/parks/news/be-know-you-go-tide-pooling\">Just be sure to read the rules before you go\u003c/a> to keep yourself — and all the local wildlife — safe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Farther south, near the rural coastal town of Pescadero, is the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hiusa.org/find-hostels/california/pescadero-210-pigeonpoint-road?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22190084370&gbraid=0AAAAAD_KR8q7YVstFKkpxfqmGLgokowzr&gclid=Cj0KCQiA1JLLBhCDARIsAAVfy7iRwKyt79cmrwHQm_0935emLrvvb7eO3_NzoGkEvl9tAbOzHFZrCrUaAgSfEALw_wcB\">Pigeon Point Lighthouse\u003c/a> location. Be aware: Construction at the lighthouse is currently underway, making this location a bit less serene at the moment during the daytime hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it has its own allure, the highlight of which is a cliffside hot tub and daily guided hikes of the state park. You’re also close by to the elephant seal overlook at \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523\">Año Nuevo State Park\u003c/a> and Pescadero’s quaint downtown, where a stop at \u003ca href=\"https://www.normsmarket.com/\">Arcangeli’s\u003c/a> for artichoke bread and \u003ca href=\"https://www.harleyfarms.com/\">Harley Farms\u003c/a> to see the dairy goats are must-dos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reservations: \u003c/strong>Book a private or shared room \u003ca href=\"https://www.hiusa.org/\">online\u003c/a> for $50 per person in shared dorms. In general, private rooms do not include kitchen access. Shared rooms grant access to common kitchen and living areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "factory-built-housing-hasnt-taken-off-in-california-yet-but-this-year-might-be-different",
"title": "Factory-Built Housing Hasn’t Taken Off in California Yet, but This Year Might Be Different",
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"headTitle": "Factory-Built Housing Hasn’t Taken Off in California Yet, but This Year Might Be Different | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the first home rolled off the factory floor in Kalamazoo, Michigan — “like a boxcar with picture windows,” according to a journalist on the scene — the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development proclaimed it “the coming of a real revolution in housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades engineers, architects, futurists, industrialists, investors and politicians have been pining for a better, faster and cheaper way to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12068746/2025-was-a-blockbuster-year-for-housing-laws-what-does-that-mean-for-2026\">build homes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, amid a national housing shortage, the question felt as pressing as ever: What if construction could harness the speed, efficiency, quality control and cost-savings of the assembly line?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What if, rather than building homes on-site from the ground up, they were cranked out of factories, one unit after another, shipped to where they were needed and dropped into place? What if the United States could mass-produce its way out of a housing crisis?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/20/archives/first-unit-built-in-housing-plan-button-pushed-by-romney-at-factory.html\">In Kalamazoo\u003c/a>, that vision finally seemed a reality. The HUD chief predicted that within a decade two-thirds of all \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/HUD-Challenge-November-December-1969.pdf#page=6\">housing construction\u003c/a> across the United States “would be industrialized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The year was 1971, the HUD Secretary was George Romney (father of future Utah senator, Mitt), and the prediction was wildly off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073550\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073550\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Factory-built housing Drake Avenue Apartments sits under construction at 825 Drake Avenue in Marin City on Feb. 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Jungho Kim for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Within five years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/Operation-Breakthrough.html\">Operation Breakthrough\u003c/a>, the ambitious, but ultimately costly, delay-ridden and politically unpopular federal initiative that had propped up the Kalamazoo factory and eight others like it across the country, ran out of money. The dream of the factory-built house was dead — not for the first time, nor the last.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By some definitions, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.survivorlibrary.com/library/the_prefabrication_of_houses_1951.pdf#page=35\">first prefabricated house\u003c/a> was built, shipped and re-assembled in the 1620s. Factory-built homes made of wood and iron were a mainstay of the \u003ca href=\"http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/66817\">colonial\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://archive.org/details/SkillingsFlintCCA196560/page/n9/mode/2up\">enterprises\u003c/a> of the 19th Century. Housing and construction-worker shortages during the Second World War prompted a wave of (ultimately unsuccessful) attempts to mass-produce starter homes in the United States. The modern era is full of those predicting that the industrialization of the housing industry is just a few years away, only to be proven wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, state legislators in California believe the turning-point might actually be here. With a little state assistance, they want to make 2026 the Year of the Housing Factory. At long last.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California gets ‘modular-curious’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat and one of the legislature’s most influential policy makers on housing issues, is leading the charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the beginning of the year, she has organized two select committee hearings under the general banner of “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/committees/1700\">housing construction innovation\u003c/a>.” The bulk of the committee’s attention has been on factory-based building — why it might be a fix worth promoting and what the state could do to actually make it work this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearings are ostensibly intended to gather information, all of which will be summarized in a white paper being written by researchers at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073370\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction is underway on an affordable housing apartment building at 2550 Irving Street in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But they’re also meant to build political momentum and legislative buy-in for a coming package of bills. Both the paper and bills are due to be released in the coming weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wicks has “select committee’d” her way to major policy change before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late 2024, she cobbled together a series of state-spanning meetings on “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/03/california-construction-permitting-wicks/\">permitting reform\u003c/a>.” Those provided the fodder for \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/03/ceqa-infill-housing-wicks/\">nearly two dozen bills\u003c/a> the following year, all written with the goal of making it easier to build things in California, especially homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most significant of the bunch: Legislation \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/06/ceqa-urban-development-infill-budget/\">exempting most urban apartment buildings\u003c/a> from environmental litigation. Gov. Gavin Newsom enthusiastically signed it into law last summer.[aside postID=news_12073193 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg']Now comes phase two. Last year’s blitz of bills, capping off years of gradual legislative efforts to remove regulatory barriers to building dense housing across California, has, in Wicks’ view, teed up this next big swing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Over the last eight to 10 years or so the Legislature and the governor have really taken a bulldozer to a lot of the bureaucratic hurdles when it comes to housing,” said Wicks. “But one of the issues that we haven’t fundamentally tackled is the cost of construction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Factory-built housing can arrive on a construction site in varying levels of completeness. There are prefabricated panels (imagine the baked slabs of a gingerbread house) and fully three-dimensional modules (think, Legos).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interest in the use of both for apartment buildings has been steadily growing in California over the last decade. Investors have poured billions of dollars into the nascent sector, albeit with \u003ca href=\"https://www.fastcompany.com/90643381/this-prefab-builder-raised-more-than-2-billion-why-did-it-crash\">famously mixed results\u003c/a>. In California’s major urban areas, but especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, cranes delicately assembling factory-built modules into apartment blocks has become a more familiar feature of the skyline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Randall Thompson, who runs the prefabrication division of Nibbi Brothers General Contractors, said he’s seen attitudes shift radically just in the last couple of years. Not long ago, pitching a developer on factory-built construction was a tough sell. But a few years ago he noted a growing number of “modular-curious” clients willing to run the numbers. Now many are coming to him committed to the idea from the get-go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12068866\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12068866\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers build at 750 Golden Gate Ave., in San Francisco, on June 18, 2025, during a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of two affordable housing projects. One will deliver 75 units prioritized for SFUSD and City College educators, and the other at 850 Turk will add 92 family apartments. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Policymakers are interested too, debating whether public policy and taxpayer money should be used to propel off-site construction from niche application to a regular, if not dominant, feature of the industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evidence from abroad is fueling that optimism: In Sweden, where Wicks and a gaggle of other lawmakers visited last fall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/08/headway/how-an-american-dream-of-housing-became-a-reality-in-sweden.html\">nearly half of residential construction\u003c/a> takes place in a factory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The renewed national interest is part of a “back to the drawingboard” energy that has pervaded policy circles at every level of government in the face of a national affordability crisis, said Chad Maisel, a Center for American Progress fellow and a former Biden administration housing policy advisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, the country has tried and failed at this before, most notably with Operation Breakthrough. Yes, individual companies have gone bust trying to make off-site happen at scale. “But we haven’t really given it our all,” Maisel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Henry Ford, but for housing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If the goal is to bring down building costs, rethinking the basics of the construction process is an obvious place to start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last century, economic sectors across the United States have seen explosions in labor productivity, with industries using technological innovation, fine-tuned production processes and globe-spanning supply chains to squeeze ever more stuff out of the same number of workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Construction has been a stagnant outlier. Since the 1970s, labor productivity has actually declined sector-wide, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.richmondfed.org/publications/research/economic_brief/2025/eb_25-31\">official government statistics\u003c/a>. In 2023 the average American construction worker added about as much value on a construction site as one in 1948.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you go to buy a car, you don’t get 6,000 parts shipped to your house and then someone comes and builds it for you,” said Ryan Cassidy, vice president of real estate development at Mutual Housing California, an affordable housing developer based in Sacramento that committed last year to build its next five projects with factory-built units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044255\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044255\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A truck is piled with planks salvaged by Perks Deconstruction from an old farmhouse in Aurora. The wood will be transported to the company’s warehouse, where it will be sorted and priced for sale. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In theory, breaking down the building process into a series of discrete, repeatable tasks can mean fewer highly trained workers are needed per unit. Standardized panels and modules allow factories to buy materials in bulk at discount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The work can be done faster, because it’s centralized, tightly choreographed, closely monitored and possibly automated — but also because multiple things can happen at the same time. Framers don’t have to wait for a foundation to set before getting started on the bedrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Off-site construction reliably cuts construction timelines by \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Southern-California-Off-Site-Construction-February-2022.pdf\">10 to 30 percent\u003c/a>, according to an analysis by the Terner Center. Some even rosier \u003ca href=\"https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/modular-construction-from-projects-to-products\">estimates\u003c/a> have put the figure closer to 50%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That can translate into real savings. “Factory-built housing has the potential to reduce hard (labor, material and equipment) costs by 10 to 25% — at least under the right conditions,” Terner’s director, Ben Metcalf, said at the select committee’s first \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/278391?t=1525&f=f7440a2ebdd25e14a09f1f72e544107e\">hearing\u003c/a> in early January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But historically, it’s been very hard to get those conditions right.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The ghost of Katerra\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The main hitch is an obvious one: Factories are hugely expensive to set up and run. Off-site construction companies only stand to make up those costs if they can run continuously and at full capacity. Mass production only pencils out if it massively produces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means factory production isn’t especially well-suited to industries that boom and bust, in which surplus production can’t be stockpiled in a warehouse and everything is made to order and where local variations in climate, topography and regulation require bespoke products of varying materials, designs, configurations and sizes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of which describes the current real estate sector.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a world in which housing projects are approved one at a time under various local rules and designs and sometimes after years of piecing together financing sources, it’s hard to build out that pipeline for a factory,” said Metcalf at the early January hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12059484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12059484\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A construction worker operates machinery to move dirt at the site of new middle housing units at 2824 D Street in Sacramento on October 7, 2025. Developers are reviving “middle housing” such as duplexes and cottage clusters, but say California’s rollout of the new rules has been anything but smooth. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The particular financial needs of a factory also upend business as usual for developers and real estate funders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Industrial construction “costs less overall but costs more in the short term. Everything is frontloaded,” said Jan Lindenthal-Cox, chief investment officer at the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund. All design, engineering and material decisions have to be finalized long before the factory gears start turning. Real estate investors and lenders tend to be wary of putting up quite so much money so early in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Accelerator Fund, a privately-backed non-profit, is hoping to ease some of those concerns by providing short-term, low-cost loans to developers in order to cover those higher-than-usual early costs. The hope is that traditional funders — namely, banks and investors — will eventually feel confident enough to take over that role “once this is a more proven approach,” said Lindenthal-Cox.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such skittishness pervades every step of the off-site development process, said Apoorva Pasricha, chief operation officer at Cloud Apartments, a San Francisco-based start-up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073551\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073551\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scaffolding sits in front of a weather-resistant barrier on the exterior of Drake Avenue Apartments at the site of the factory housing complex at 825 Drake Avenue in Marin City on Feb. 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Scaffolding sits in front of a weather-resistant barrier on the exterior of factory-built housing, Drake Avenue Apartments, at 825 Drake Avenue in Marin City on Feb. 7, 2026. Photo by Jungho Kim for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A subcontractor unfamiliar with modular construction might bid a project higher than they otherwise would to compensate for the uncertainty. Building code officials might be extra cautious or extra slow in approving a project for the same reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the industry grows, “creating familiarity with the process helps drive that risk down,” said Pasricha. “The question is, who is going to be willing to pay the price to learn?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some would-be pioneers have paid it. In 2021, the Silicon Valley-based modular start up Katerra went \u003ca href=\"https://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/katerras-2-billion-legacy_o\">spectacularly bankrupt\u003c/a> after spending $2 billion in a hyperambitious gambit to disrupt the building industry. Katerra still hangs over the industry like a specter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brian Potter, a former Katerra engineer who now writes the widely-read \u003ca href=\"https://www.construction-physics.com/\">Construction Physics\u003c/a> newsletter, said he too was once wooed by the idea that “‘we’ll just move this into a factory and we will yield enormous improvements.’”[aside postID=news_12072999 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020526SJ-TINY-HOMES_GH_025-KQED.jpg']These days, he strenuously avoids terms like “impossible” and “doomed to fail” when asked about the potential of off-site construction. But he does stress that it’s a very hard nut to crack with limited upside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Beyond just the regulatory issues, which are real, there are just fundamental nature of the market, nature of the process, things that you have to cope with,” said Potter, whose recent book, \u003cem>The Origins of Efficiency\u003c/em>, digs into how and why modern society has succeeded at making certain things much faster and cheaper — and not others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certain markets in California could be a good fit for factory-built construction, he added, but not for the reasons that off-site boosters typically lead with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Construction costs in the Bay Area, specifically, are notoriously expensive. Many of the region’s most productive housing factories are located in Idaho. That arrangement might make financial sense, said Potter, not because of anything inherently cost-saving in the industrialized process, but because wages in the Boise area are just \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/occupationalemploymentandwages_sanfrancisco.htm\">a lot\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/occupationalemploymentandwages_boisecity.htm\">lower\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That raises another potential impediment for state lawmakers hoping to goose the factory-built model: Organized labor. In a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/07/california-construction-unions-housing/\">familiar political split\u003c/a>, while California’s carpenters union has historically been open to the idea of off-site construction, the influential State Building & Construction Trades Council has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/San-Francisco-trade-unions-at-odds-over-modular-15755264.php\">hostile\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Will the state step in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Neither Wicks, nor any other legislator, has released legislative language yet aimed at supporting the industry. But in committee hearings, developers, labor leaders, academics and other off-site construction supporters have repeatedly pitched lawmakers on the same three themes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building out the pipeline is one. The state, supporters say, could keep the factories humming either by nudging affordable developers that way when they apply for state subsidies or by out-and-out requiring public entities, like state universities, to at least consider off-site when they build, say, student housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Insuring factories against the risk of a developer going bankrupt (and vice versa) is another common proposal. Developers and investors are hesitant to schedule a spot on a factory line if that factory’s bankruptcy will leave them in the lurch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings under construction near Macarthur BART station in Oakland, on Feb. 21, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Likewise, factories tend to charge high deposits to make up for the fact that developers go out of business or get hit with months-long delays. One solution could involve the taxpayer playing the role of insurer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Third: Standardizing building code requirements. The state’s Housing and Community Development department already regulates factory-built housing units. But once a module is shipped to a site, local inspectors will often do their own once-over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of these proposed fixes are specific to the industry. But some are regulatory changes that would make it easier to build more generally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That might suggest that policy should ideally focus on making it easier to build stuff more generally, “not on a specific goal,” said Stephen Smith, director of the Center for Building in North America, which advocates for cost-cutting changes to building codes. For all the emphasis on building entire studio apartments inside factories, he noted that plenty of steps in the construction process have entered the modern era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12023647\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12023647\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A line of old factory buildings on Mare Island in the city of Vallejo, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You find walls built in factories, you see elevators, you see escalators,” said Smith. “You need to consider the small victories and think of it as a general process of (regulatory) hygiene.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wicks has heard all of the arguments for why emphasizing factory-based construction won’t work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think factory-built housing is going to solve all of our problems. I think it’s a piece of the solution,” she said. “We’re not talking about actually funding the building of factories. We’re talking about creating a streamlined environment for these types of housing units to be built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, it can’t hurt to try again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2026/02/factory-built-housing-california-wicks/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Building homes inside a factory has long been seen as a way to revolutionize the American housing industry, ushering in a new era of higher quality homes at lower price. That dream has never quite panned out. Can California finally make it happen?",
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"title": "Factory-Built Housing Hasn’t Taken Off in California Yet, but This Year Might Be Different | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the first home rolled off the factory floor in Kalamazoo, Michigan — “like a boxcar with picture windows,” according to a journalist on the scene — the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development proclaimed it “the coming of a real revolution in housing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For decades engineers, architects, futurists, industrialists, investors and politicians have been pining for a better, faster and cheaper way to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12068746/2025-was-a-blockbuster-year-for-housing-laws-what-does-that-mean-for-2026\">build homes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, amid a national housing shortage, the question felt as pressing as ever: What if construction could harness the speed, efficiency, quality control and cost-savings of the assembly line?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What if, rather than building homes on-site from the ground up, they were cranked out of factories, one unit after another, shipped to where they were needed and dropped into place? What if the United States could mass-produce its way out of a housing crisis?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/20/archives/first-unit-built-in-housing-plan-button-pushed-by-romney-at-factory.html\">In Kalamazoo\u003c/a>, that vision finally seemed a reality. The HUD chief predicted that within a decade two-thirds of all \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/HUD-Challenge-November-December-1969.pdf#page=6\">housing construction\u003c/a> across the United States “would be industrialized.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The year was 1971, the HUD Secretary was George Romney (father of future Utah senator, Mitt), and the prediction was wildly off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073550\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073550\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12.jpeg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12-160x107.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_12-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Factory-built housing Drake Avenue Apartments sits under construction at 825 Drake Avenue in Marin City on Feb. 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Jungho Kim for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Within five years, \u003ca href=\"https://www.huduser.gov/portal/Operation-Breakthrough.html\">Operation Breakthrough\u003c/a>, the ambitious, but ultimately costly, delay-ridden and politically unpopular federal initiative that had propped up the Kalamazoo factory and eight others like it across the country, ran out of money. The dream of the factory-built house was dead — not for the first time, nor the last.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By some definitions, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.survivorlibrary.com/library/the_prefabrication_of_houses_1951.pdf#page=35\">first prefabricated house\u003c/a> was built, shipped and re-assembled in the 1620s. Factory-built homes made of wood and iron were a mainstay of the \u003ca href=\"http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/search/nattrust_result_detail/66817\">colonial\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://archive.org/details/SkillingsFlintCCA196560/page/n9/mode/2up\">enterprises\u003c/a> of the 19th Century. Housing and construction-worker shortages during the Second World War prompted a wave of (ultimately unsuccessful) attempts to mass-produce starter homes in the United States. The modern era is full of those predicting that the industrialization of the housing industry is just a few years away, only to be proven wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, state legislators in California believe the turning-point might actually be here. With a little state assistance, they want to make 2026 the Year of the Housing Factory. At long last.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California gets ‘modular-curious’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat and one of the legislature’s most influential policy makers on housing issues, is leading the charge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the beginning of the year, she has organized two select committee hearings under the general banner of “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/committees/1700\">housing construction innovation\u003c/a>.” The bulk of the committee’s attention has been on factory-based building — why it might be a fix worth promoting and what the state could do to actually make it work this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearings are ostensibly intended to gather information, all of which will be summarized in a white paper being written by researchers at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073370\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073370\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/250519-AffordableHousingFile-04-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction is underway on an affordable housing apartment building at 2550 Irving Street in San Francisco’s Sunset District on May 19, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But they’re also meant to build political momentum and legislative buy-in for a coming package of bills. Both the paper and bills are due to be released in the coming weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wicks has “select committee’d” her way to major policy change before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In late 2024, she cobbled together a series of state-spanning meetings on “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/03/california-construction-permitting-wicks/\">permitting reform\u003c/a>.” Those provided the fodder for \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/03/ceqa-infill-housing-wicks/\">nearly two dozen bills\u003c/a> the following year, all written with the goal of making it easier to build things in California, especially homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most significant of the bunch: Legislation \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2025/06/ceqa-urban-development-infill-budget/\">exempting most urban apartment buildings\u003c/a> from environmental litigation. Gov. Gavin Newsom enthusiastically signed it into law last summer.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Now comes phase two. Last year’s blitz of bills, capping off years of gradual legislative efforts to remove regulatory barriers to building dense housing across California, has, in Wicks’ view, teed up this next big swing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Over the last eight to 10 years or so the Legislature and the governor have really taken a bulldozer to a lot of the bureaucratic hurdles when it comes to housing,” said Wicks. “But one of the issues that we haven’t fundamentally tackled is the cost of construction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Factory-built housing can arrive on a construction site in varying levels of completeness. There are prefabricated panels (imagine the baked slabs of a gingerbread house) and fully three-dimensional modules (think, Legos).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interest in the use of both for apartment buildings has been steadily growing in California over the last decade. Investors have poured billions of dollars into the nascent sector, albeit with \u003ca href=\"https://www.fastcompany.com/90643381/this-prefab-builder-raised-more-than-2-billion-why-did-it-crash\">famously mixed results\u003c/a>. In California’s major urban areas, but especially in the San Francisco Bay Area, cranes delicately assembling factory-built modules into apartment blocks has become a more familiar feature of the skyline.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Randall Thompson, who runs the prefabrication division of Nibbi Brothers General Contractors, said he’s seen attitudes shift radically just in the last couple of years. Not long ago, pitching a developer on factory-built construction was a tough sell. But a few years ago he noted a growing number of “modular-curious” clients willing to run the numbers. Now many are coming to him committed to the idea from the get-go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12068866\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12068866\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/250618-NewTeacherHousing-18-BL_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Construction workers build at 750 Golden Gate Ave., in San Francisco, on June 18, 2025, during a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of two affordable housing projects. One will deliver 75 units prioritized for SFUSD and City College educators, and the other at 850 Turk will add 92 family apartments. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Policymakers are interested too, debating whether public policy and taxpayer money should be used to propel off-site construction from niche application to a regular, if not dominant, feature of the industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evidence from abroad is fueling that optimism: In Sweden, where Wicks and a gaggle of other lawmakers visited last fall, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/08/headway/how-an-american-dream-of-housing-became-a-reality-in-sweden.html\">nearly half of residential construction\u003c/a> takes place in a factory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The renewed national interest is part of a “back to the drawingboard” energy that has pervaded policy circles at every level of government in the face of a national affordability crisis, said Chad Maisel, a Center for American Progress fellow and a former Biden administration housing policy advisor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes, the country has tried and failed at this before, most notably with Operation Breakthrough. Yes, individual companies have gone bust trying to make off-site happen at scale. “But we haven’t really given it our all,” Maisel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Henry Ford, but for housing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If the goal is to bring down building costs, rethinking the basics of the construction process is an obvious place to start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last century, economic sectors across the United States have seen explosions in labor productivity, with industries using technological innovation, fine-tuned production processes and globe-spanning supply chains to squeeze ever more stuff out of the same number of workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Construction has been a stagnant outlier. Since the 1970s, labor productivity has actually declined sector-wide, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.richmondfed.org/publications/research/economic_brief/2025/eb_25-31\">official government statistics\u003c/a>. In 2023 the average American construction worker added about as much value on a construction site as one in 1948.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you go to buy a car, you don’t get 6,000 parts shipped to your house and then someone comes and builds it for you,” said Ryan Cassidy, vice president of real estate development at Mutual Housing California, an affordable housing developer based in Sacramento that committed last year to build its next five projects with factory-built units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12044255\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12044255\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1800\" height=\"1200\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy.jpg 1800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A truck is piled with planks salvaged by Perks Deconstruction from an old farmhouse in Aurora. The wood will be transported to the company’s warehouse, where it will be sorted and priced for sale. \u003ccite>(Hart Van Denburg/CPR News)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In theory, breaking down the building process into a series of discrete, repeatable tasks can mean fewer highly trained workers are needed per unit. Standardized panels and modules allow factories to buy materials in bulk at discount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The work can be done faster, because it’s centralized, tightly choreographed, closely monitored and possibly automated — but also because multiple things can happen at the same time. Framers don’t have to wait for a foundation to set before getting started on the bedrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Off-site construction reliably cuts construction timelines by \u003ca href=\"https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Southern-California-Off-Site-Construction-February-2022.pdf\">10 to 30 percent\u003c/a>, according to an analysis by the Terner Center. Some even rosier \u003ca href=\"https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/operations/our-insights/modular-construction-from-projects-to-products\">estimates\u003c/a> have put the figure closer to 50%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That can translate into real savings. “Factory-built housing has the potential to reduce hard (labor, material and equipment) costs by 10 to 25% — at least under the right conditions,” Terner’s director, Ben Metcalf, said at the select committee’s first \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/278391?t=1525&f=f7440a2ebdd25e14a09f1f72e544107e\">hearing\u003c/a> in early January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But historically, it’s been very hard to get those conditions right.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The ghost of Katerra\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The main hitch is an obvious one: Factories are hugely expensive to set up and run. Off-site construction companies only stand to make up those costs if they can run continuously and at full capacity. Mass production only pencils out if it massively produces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means factory production isn’t especially well-suited to industries that boom and bust, in which surplus production can’t be stockpiled in a warehouse and everything is made to order and where local variations in climate, topography and regulation require bespoke products of varying materials, designs, configurations and sizes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of which describes the current real estate sector.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a world in which housing projects are approved one at a time under various local rules and designs and sometimes after years of piecing together financing sources, it’s hard to build out that pipeline for a factory,” said Metcalf at the early January hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12059484\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12059484\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/10/251007-SACRAMENTOMIDDLEHOUSING_00145_TV-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A construction worker operates machinery to move dirt at the site of new middle housing units at 2824 D Street in Sacramento on October 7, 2025. Developers are reviving “middle housing” such as duplexes and cottage clusters, but say California’s rollout of the new rules has been anything but smooth. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The particular financial needs of a factory also upend business as usual for developers and real estate funders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Industrial construction “costs less overall but costs more in the short term. Everything is frontloaded,” said Jan Lindenthal-Cox, chief investment officer at the San Francisco Housing Accelerator Fund. All design, engineering and material decisions have to be finalized long before the factory gears start turning. Real estate investors and lenders tend to be wary of putting up quite so much money so early in the process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Accelerator Fund, a privately-backed non-profit, is hoping to ease some of those concerns by providing short-term, low-cost loans to developers in order to cover those higher-than-usual early costs. The hope is that traditional funders — namely, banks and investors — will eventually feel confident enough to take over that role “once this is a more proven approach,” said Lindenthal-Cox.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such skittishness pervades every step of the off-site development process, said Apoorva Pasricha, chief operation officer at Cloud Apartments, a San Francisco-based start-up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073551\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073551\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/020726_FactoryHousing_JK_CM_05-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scaffolding sits in front of a weather-resistant barrier on the exterior of Drake Avenue Apartments at the site of the factory housing complex at 825 Drake Avenue in Marin City on Feb. 7, 2026. \u003ccite>(Scaffolding sits in front of a weather-resistant barrier on the exterior of factory-built housing, Drake Avenue Apartments, at 825 Drake Avenue in Marin City on Feb. 7, 2026. Photo by Jungho Kim for CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A subcontractor unfamiliar with modular construction might bid a project higher than they otherwise would to compensate for the uncertainty. Building code officials might be extra cautious or extra slow in approving a project for the same reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the industry grows, “creating familiarity with the process helps drive that risk down,” said Pasricha. “The question is, who is going to be willing to pay the price to learn?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some would-be pioneers have paid it. In 2021, the Silicon Valley-based modular start up Katerra went \u003ca href=\"https://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/katerras-2-billion-legacy_o\">spectacularly bankrupt\u003c/a> after spending $2 billion in a hyperambitious gambit to disrupt the building industry. Katerra still hangs over the industry like a specter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brian Potter, a former Katerra engineer who now writes the widely-read \u003ca href=\"https://www.construction-physics.com/\">Construction Physics\u003c/a> newsletter, said he too was once wooed by the idea that “‘we’ll just move this into a factory and we will yield enormous improvements.’”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>These days, he strenuously avoids terms like “impossible” and “doomed to fail” when asked about the potential of off-site construction. But he does stress that it’s a very hard nut to crack with limited upside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Beyond just the regulatory issues, which are real, there are just fundamental nature of the market, nature of the process, things that you have to cope with,” said Potter, whose recent book, \u003cem>The Origins of Efficiency\u003c/em>, digs into how and why modern society has succeeded at making certain things much faster and cheaper — and not others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Certain markets in California could be a good fit for factory-built construction, he added, but not for the reasons that off-site boosters typically lead with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Construction costs in the Bay Area, specifically, are notoriously expensive. Many of the region’s most productive housing factories are located in Idaho. That arrangement might make financial sense, said Potter, not because of anything inherently cost-saving in the industrialized process, but because wages in the Boise area are just \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/occupationalemploymentandwages_sanfrancisco.htm\">a lot\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/occupationalemploymentandwages_boisecity.htm\">lower\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That raises another potential impediment for state lawmakers hoping to goose the factory-built model: Organized labor. In a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/07/california-construction-unions-housing/\">familiar political split\u003c/a>, while California’s carpenters union has historically been open to the idea of off-site construction, the influential State Building & Construction Trades Council has been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/San-Francisco-trade-unions-at-odds-over-modular-15755264.php\">hostile\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Will the state step in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Neither Wicks, nor any other legislator, has released legislative language yet aimed at supporting the industry. But in committee hearings, developers, labor leaders, academics and other off-site construction supporters have repeatedly pitched lawmakers on the same three themes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Building out the pipeline is one. The state, supporters say, could keep the factories humming either by nudging affordable developers that way when they apply for state subsidies or by out-and-out requiring public entities, like state universities, to at least consider off-site when they build, say, student housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Insuring factories against the risk of a developer going bankrupt (and vice versa) is another common proposal. Developers and investors are hesitant to schedule a spot on a factory line if that factory’s bankruptcy will leave them in the lurch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12042674\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12042674\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/06/008_KQED_Housing_Oakland_02212020_3485_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apartment buildings under construction near Macarthur BART station in Oakland, on Feb. 21, 2020. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Likewise, factories tend to charge high deposits to make up for the fact that developers go out of business or get hit with months-long delays. One solution could involve the taxpayer playing the role of insurer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Third: Standardizing building code requirements. The state’s Housing and Community Development department already regulates factory-built housing units. But once a module is shipped to a site, local inspectors will often do their own once-over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of these proposed fixes are specific to the industry. But some are regulatory changes that would make it easier to build more generally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That might suggest that policy should ideally focus on making it easier to build stuff more generally, “not on a specific goal,” said Stephen Smith, director of the Center for Building in North America, which advocates for cost-cutting changes to building codes. For all the emphasis on building entire studio apartments inside factories, he noted that plenty of steps in the construction process have entered the modern era.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12023647\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12023647\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/3000/01/20250114_Mare-Island_DMB_00211-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A line of old factory buildings on Mare Island in the city of Vallejo, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“You find walls built in factories, you see elevators, you see escalators,” said Smith. “You need to consider the small victories and think of it as a general process of (regulatory) hygiene.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wicks has heard all of the arguments for why emphasizing factory-based construction won’t work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think factory-built housing is going to solve all of our problems. I think it’s a piece of the solution,” she said. “We’re not talking about actually funding the building of factories. We’re talking about creating a streamlined environment for these types of housing units to be built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, it can’t hurt to try again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2026/02/factory-built-housing-california-wicks/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "california-mountain-lions-are-now-considered-threatened-but-only-in-certain-regions",
"title": "California Mountain Lions Are Now Considered ‘Threatened,’ but Only in Certain Regions",
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"headTitle": "California Mountain Lions Are Now Considered ‘Threatened,’ but Only in Certain Regions | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just weeks after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071216/san-francisco-mountain-lion-is-tranquilized-as-officials-work-to-capture-the-cougar\">mountain lion wandered\u003c/a> into San Francisco, state officials voted to permanently protect populations of the charismatic predators that prowl the coastal mountains between the Bay Area and the Mexican border.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mountain lions are one of the last big predators keeping \u003ca href=\"https://home.nps.gov/articles/000/mountain-lions-are-keystone-species.htm#:~:text=By%20Bryan%20Hamilton%2C%20acting%20Integrated,et%20al.%2C%202015)\">ecosystems in balance. They feed \u003c/a>on deer and other animals, leave scavengers, raptors and other wildlife the remains, and help maintain equilibrium among plants, prey and predator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, caged by concrete, killed by cars and sickened by rat poison, the isolated mountain lions along California’s coast risk inbreeding themselves into extinction, scientists and state wildlife officials say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the California Fish and Game Commission on Thursday voted unanimously to list six groups of Central Coast and Southern California mountain lions as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These mountain lions account for about one-third of the roughly 4,200 solitary, tawny cats thought to roam California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_147557\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 4712px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-147557\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/09/mountain-lion.jpg\" alt=\"Mountain lions typically avoid interaction with humans, and attacks are rare. An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 live in California. This one, however, was living at the Berlin Zoo in 2012. (Stephanie Pilick/AFP/Getty Images)\" width=\"4712\" height=\"3096\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/09/mountain-lion.jpg 4712w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/09/mountain-lion-640x420.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/09/mountain-lion-1028x675.jpg 1028w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 4712px) 100vw, 4712px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mountain lions typically avoid interaction with humans, and attacks are rare. An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 live in California. This one, however, was living at the Berlin Zoo in 2012. \u003ccite>(Stephanie Pilick/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dozens of people spoke before the board today, from ardent supporters of wildlife to fierce opponents of free roaming predators and residents of rural areas concerned for their livestock and livelihoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listing the mountain lions aligns with the state’s existing ban on hunting mountain lions for sport and prohibits harming, or “taking”, them except with a permit under certain conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It could also increase their priority for limited conservation grants and other funds. More importantly, advocates say, it will trigger habitat protections — including under the landmark California Environmental Quality Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Builders push back\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>State and local planning agencies must determine whether projects such as new roads, buildings or other developments could harm protected species and their habitats, and require developers to reduce that harm when possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For mountain lions, advocates and scientists hope that the listing will reduce further habitat loss and fragmentation in areas already carved into isolated pockets by roads and cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we want to maintain mountain lion populations in these coastal regions, then we’ve got some work to do,” said \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ucsc.edu/\">Chris Wilmers\u003c/a>, a professor of wildlife ecology at the University of California, Santa Cruz and lead investigator of the Santa Cruz Puma Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073474\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073474\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00970_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00970_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00970_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00970_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Department of Fish and Wildlife members load the cage containing the juvenile mountain lion onto a truck outside an apartment building on Octavia and California Street in San Francisco on Jan. 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ / KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Builders have challenged some of the details of the listing, but did not oppose granting the mountain lions protected status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter, the California Building Industry Association and the Building Industry Association of Southern California warned that the state’s current habitat maps could force developers in urban areas into studies and mitigation efforts that “would significantly increase project costs and schedules.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Protecting mountain lions is a card that one wealthy Bay Area enclave \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2022/02/california-zoning-housing-podcast/\">has already tried to play\u003c/a> in a gambit to block denser housing — to the scorn of housing and wildlife advocates alike.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Conflict over wildlife conflict\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ranchers and residents of hilly, remote Bay Area and Central Coast suburbs also argued that more protections could spur more mountain lion attacks on people and livestock, and harm ranchers’ livelihoods. Some sent the commission photographs of mauled cattle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People have them on cameras all the time eating house cats off peoples’ porches, dogs dragged off in broad daylight right in front of their owners, and children being mauled,” Greg Fontana, whose family has ranched the coastal reaches of San Mateo county for generations, wrote in a letter to the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s rare for the reclusive cats to attack people — rarer still for the attacks to be fatal. Cougars are known to have killed six people \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Mountain-Lion\">in the last 136 years\u003c/a> — most recently \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/dna-is-a-match-in-fatal-mountain-lion-attack-in-el-dorado-county\">a young man in 2024 in El Dorado County\u003c/a>, outside the area where mountain lions are now listed as threatened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12071220\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12071220\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/SFMountainLionAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/SFMountainLionAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/SFMountainLionAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/SFMountainLionAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign warns of mountain lions in a neighborhood on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Andy Bao/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Attacks on livestock and pets, however, have trended upward in recent decades, according to a state report. But state wildlife officials also note that such attacks rise for every mountain lion killed or relocated in the prior year. One theory is that younger males move into the emptied territory, where the less proficient hunters go after slower pets and livestock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listing mountain lions under the state’s endangered species act doesn’t prevent wildlife officials from intervening in conflicts, either, according to Stephen Gonzalez, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The act still allows the department to “issue permits for take of a … listed species for ‘management’ purposes,” which could include managing mountain lions that kill pets and livestock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mountain lions have had temporary protections under the state’s endangered species act while the state weighed whether to list them. Even in that time, Gonzalez said the department has issued such permits to scare off troublesome mountain lions. It “anticipates it will continue to do so … evaluating each situation on a case-by-case basis and continuing to prioritize non-lethal methods.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Inbreeding to extinction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists and advocates say that mountain lions are running out of time: physical signs of inbreeding, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/news/southern-california-mountain-lions-show-first-reproductive-effects-of-inbreeding-according-to-ucla-led-study.htm\">kinked tails, testicular defects and malformed sperm\u003c/a>, have already cropped up in cougars corralled by freeways in the \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34710647/\">mountains of Southern California\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having a kinked tail, where the end is \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/puma-profiles-p-81.htm\">sharply bent like an ‘L’,\u003c/a> doesn’t seem to harm a mountain lion, Wilmers said. But they’re an ominous sign that a population is reaching alarming levels of inbreeding.[aside postID=news_12052044 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/Mountain-Lion.png']Without fresh gametes swimming in the gene pool, the iconic cougars of the Santa Ana and Santa Monica mountains risk dying out in the coming decades when inbreeding starts affecting reproduction and survival, \u003ca href=\"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eap.1868\">scientists warn\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even populations further north are struggling to find mates that aren’t related to them. Wilmers recalls the first time he saw a kinked tail on a trail cam in the Santa Cruz mountains. “It was definitely an ‘Oh shit’ moment,” Wilmers said. “This is really happening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To combat the array of threats — from inbreeding and car accidents to rat poisons and wildfires — the Center for Biological Diversity and the Mountain Lion Foundation petitioned in 2019 to add Central Coast and Southern California Mountain Lions to the state’s endangered species list.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These populations are facing an extinction vortex,” said Tiffany Yap, urban wildlands science director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We need these protections to get more connectivity on our roads, in our development, so that they can roam freely.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than six years later, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife agreed. In December, a staff report recommended that, with some tweaks to the protected area, California list these mountain lions as threatened.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Room to roam\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California is already taking steps to connect cougars’ habitats — sinking \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2021/07/california-wildlife-crossings/\">millions of dollars\u003c/a> into highway crossings to give wildlife safe passage \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/02/02/california-closes-in-on-completing-the-worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing/\">over\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/craft-landtrust/uploads/Highway-17-Laurel-Wildlife-Crossing-Study-2023-2024-1.pdf\">under the cars and trucks\u003c/a> that scientists report \u003ca href=\"https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news/mountain-lion-mortality-maps-show-rough-road-cougars\">killed hundreds of mountain lions\u003c/a> over a seven year stretch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yap says it’s not enough — and San Francisco’s recent visit from a cougar is a prime example. Young males disperse to find new territory and mates away from their relatives and other more dominant males.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But without paths to suitable habitat, they can find their way to Yap’s neighborhood in Pacific Heights, where the 80-pound cat ended up sandwiched in a narrow space between two apartment buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073475\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073475\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00797_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00797_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00797_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00797_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A member of San Francisco Animal Care & Control opens their car door outside the apartment building where a juvenile mountain lion was caught on Octavia and California Street in San Francisco on January 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ / KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yap was across the street watching \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaDFW/posts/pfbid02ny6XBu8F1VMvKLWL7BoBJ9d9vrPVZFsdjnVD9SJVbCytKkuCDPxqPJ6ouo5XEuuJl\">California Fish and Wildlife biologists and veterinarians\u003c/a> from the San Francisco Zoo trying to catch the cougar, which they eventually tranquilized and released into the Santa Cruz Mountains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To her, it drove home the importance of protecting — and connecting — the mountains the lions call home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilmers agreed. “There’s always going to be mountain lions bumping into San Francisco. But right now, that’s all they can do,” he said. “We’d like to get to the place where they can find ways through this maze of urban and suburban development, to the next mountain range over.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2026/02/facing-extinction-vortex-california-grants-new-protections-to-more-mountain-lions/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "State fish and game officials declared mountain lions in the Central Coast and Southern California threatened under the state’s endangered species act.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c!-- Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ -->\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just weeks after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12071216/san-francisco-mountain-lion-is-tranquilized-as-officials-work-to-capture-the-cougar\">mountain lion wandered\u003c/a> into San Francisco, state officials voted to permanently protect populations of the charismatic predators that prowl the coastal mountains between the Bay Area and the Mexican border.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mountain lions are one of the last big predators keeping \u003ca href=\"https://home.nps.gov/articles/000/mountain-lions-are-keystone-species.htm#:~:text=By%20Bryan%20Hamilton%2C%20acting%20Integrated,et%20al.%2C%202015)\">ecosystems in balance. They feed \u003c/a>on deer and other animals, leave scavengers, raptors and other wildlife the remains, and help maintain equilibrium among plants, prey and predator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, caged by concrete, killed by cars and sickened by rat poison, the isolated mountain lions along California’s coast risk inbreeding themselves into extinction, scientists and state wildlife officials say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Members of the California Fish and Game Commission on Thursday voted unanimously to list six groups of Central Coast and Southern California mountain lions as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These mountain lions account for about one-third of the roughly 4,200 solitary, tawny cats thought to roam California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_147557\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 4712px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-147557\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/09/mountain-lion.jpg\" alt=\"Mountain lions typically avoid interaction with humans, and attacks are rare. An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 live in California. This one, however, was living at the Berlin Zoo in 2012. (Stephanie Pilick/AFP/Getty Images)\" width=\"4712\" height=\"3096\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/09/mountain-lion.jpg 4712w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/09/mountain-lion-640x420.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2014/09/mountain-lion-1028x675.jpg 1028w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 4712px) 100vw, 4712px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mountain lions typically avoid interaction with humans, and attacks are rare. An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 live in California. This one, however, was living at the Berlin Zoo in 2012. \u003ccite>(Stephanie Pilick/AFP via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dozens of people spoke before the board today, from ardent supporters of wildlife to fierce opponents of free roaming predators and residents of rural areas concerned for their livestock and livelihoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listing the mountain lions aligns with the state’s existing ban on hunting mountain lions for sport and prohibits harming, or “taking”, them except with a permit under certain conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It could also increase their priority for limited conservation grants and other funds. More importantly, advocates say, it will trigger habitat protections — including under the landmark California Environmental Quality Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Builders push back\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>State and local planning agencies must determine whether projects such as new roads, buildings or other developments could harm protected species and their habitats, and require developers to reduce that harm when possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For mountain lions, advocates and scientists hope that the listing will reduce further habitat loss and fragmentation in areas already carved into isolated pockets by roads and cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we want to maintain mountain lion populations in these coastal regions, then we’ve got some work to do,” said \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ucsc.edu/\">Chris Wilmers\u003c/a>, a professor of wildlife ecology at the University of California, Santa Cruz and lead investigator of the Santa Cruz Puma Project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073474\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073474\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00970_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00970_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00970_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00970_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California Department of Fish and Wildlife members load the cage containing the juvenile mountain lion onto a truck outside an apartment building on Octavia and California Street in San Francisco on Jan. 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ / KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Builders have challenged some of the details of the listing, but did not oppose granting the mountain lions protected status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a letter, the California Building Industry Association and the Building Industry Association of Southern California warned that the state’s current habitat maps could force developers in urban areas into studies and mitigation efforts that “would significantly increase project costs and schedules.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Protecting mountain lions is a card that one wealthy Bay Area enclave \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2022/02/california-zoning-housing-podcast/\">has already tried to play\u003c/a> in a gambit to block denser housing — to the scorn of housing and wildlife advocates alike.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Conflict over wildlife conflict\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ranchers and residents of hilly, remote Bay Area and Central Coast suburbs also argued that more protections could spur more mountain lion attacks on people and livestock, and harm ranchers’ livelihoods. Some sent the commission photographs of mauled cattle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People have them on cameras all the time eating house cats off peoples’ porches, dogs dragged off in broad daylight right in front of their owners, and children being mauled,” Greg Fontana, whose family has ranched the coastal reaches of San Mateo county for generations, wrote in a letter to the board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s rare for the reclusive cats to attack people — rarer still for the attacks to be fatal. Cougars are known to have killed six people \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Mountain-Lion\">in the last 136 years\u003c/a> — most recently \u003ca href=\"https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/dna-is-a-match-in-fatal-mountain-lion-attack-in-el-dorado-county\">a young man in 2024 in El Dorado County\u003c/a>, outside the area where mountain lions are now listed as threatened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12071220\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12071220\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/SFMountainLionAP.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/SFMountainLionAP.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/SFMountainLionAP-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/01/SFMountainLionAP-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign warns of mountain lions in a neighborhood on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Andy Bao/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Attacks on livestock and pets, however, have trended upward in recent decades, according to a state report. But state wildlife officials also note that such attacks rise for every mountain lion killed or relocated in the prior year. One theory is that younger males move into the emptied territory, where the less proficient hunters go after slower pets and livestock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listing mountain lions under the state’s endangered species act doesn’t prevent wildlife officials from intervening in conflicts, either, according to Stephen Gonzalez, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The act still allows the department to “issue permits for take of a … listed species for ‘management’ purposes,” which could include managing mountain lions that kill pets and livestock.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mountain lions have had temporary protections under the state’s endangered species act while the state weighed whether to list them. Even in that time, Gonzalez said the department has issued such permits to scare off troublesome mountain lions. It “anticipates it will continue to do so … evaluating each situation on a case-by-case basis and continuing to prioritize non-lethal methods.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Inbreeding to extinction\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists and advocates say that mountain lions are running out of time: physical signs of inbreeding, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/samo/learn/news/southern-california-mountain-lions-show-first-reproductive-effects-of-inbreeding-according-to-ucla-led-study.htm\">kinked tails, testicular defects and malformed sperm\u003c/a>, have already cropped up in cougars corralled by freeways in the \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34710647/\">mountains of Southern California\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Having a kinked tail, where the end is \u003ca href=\"https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/puma-profiles-p-81.htm\">sharply bent like an ‘L’,\u003c/a> doesn’t seem to harm a mountain lion, Wilmers said. But they’re an ominous sign that a population is reaching alarming levels of inbreeding.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Without fresh gametes swimming in the gene pool, the iconic cougars of the Santa Ana and Santa Monica mountains risk dying out in the coming decades when inbreeding starts affecting reproduction and survival, \u003ca href=\"https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eap.1868\">scientists warn\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even populations further north are struggling to find mates that aren’t related to them. Wilmers recalls the first time he saw a kinked tail on a trail cam in the Santa Cruz mountains. “It was definitely an ‘Oh shit’ moment,” Wilmers said. “This is really happening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To combat the array of threats — from inbreeding and car accidents to rat poisons and wildfires — the Center for Biological Diversity and the Mountain Lion Foundation petitioned in 2019 to add Central Coast and Southern California Mountain Lions to the state’s endangered species list.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These populations are facing an extinction vortex,” said Tiffany Yap, urban wildlands science director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “We need these protections to get more connectivity on our roads, in our development, so that they can roam freely.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than six years later, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife agreed. In December, a staff report recommended that, with some tweaks to the protected area, California list these mountain lions as threatened.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Room to roam\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California is already taking steps to connect cougars’ habitats — sinking \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2021/07/california-wildlife-crossings/\">millions of dollars\u003c/a> into highway crossings to give wildlife safe passage \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/02/02/california-closes-in-on-completing-the-worlds-largest-wildlife-crossing/\">over\u003c/a> or \u003ca href=\"https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/craft-landtrust/uploads/Highway-17-Laurel-Wildlife-Crossing-Study-2023-2024-1.pdf\">under the cars and trucks\u003c/a> that scientists report \u003ca href=\"https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/news/mountain-lion-mortality-maps-show-rough-road-cougars\">killed hundreds of mountain lions\u003c/a> over a seven year stretch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yap says it’s not enough — and San Francisco’s recent visit from a cougar is a prime example. Young males disperse to find new territory and mates away from their relatives and other more dominant males.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But without paths to suitable habitat, they can find their way to Yap’s neighborhood in Pacific Heights, where the 80-pound cat ended up sandwiched in a narrow space between two apartment buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073475\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073475\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00797_TV_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00797_TV_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00797_TV_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260127-mountainlion00797_TV_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A member of San Francisco Animal Care & Control opens their car door outside the apartment building where a juvenile mountain lion was caught on Octavia and California Street in San Francisco on January 27, 2026. \u003ccite>(Tâm Vũ / KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yap was across the street watching \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaDFW/posts/pfbid02ny6XBu8F1VMvKLWL7BoBJ9d9vrPVZFsdjnVD9SJVbCytKkuCDPxqPJ6ouo5XEuuJl\">California Fish and Wildlife biologists and veterinarians\u003c/a> from the San Francisco Zoo trying to catch the cougar, which they eventually tranquilized and released into the Santa Cruz Mountains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To her, it drove home the importance of protecting — and connecting — the mountains the lions call home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wilmers agreed. “There’s always going to be mountain lions bumping into San Francisco. But right now, that’s all they can do,” he said. “We’d like to get to the place where they can find ways through this maze of urban and suburban development, to the next mountain range over.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/environment/2026/02/facing-extinction-vortex-california-grants-new-protections-to-more-mountain-lions/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "once-a-last-stop-for-the-citys-homeless-sfo-ramps-up-outreach-and-support",
"title": "Once a Last Stop for the City’s Homeless, SFO Ramps Up Outreach and Support",
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"headTitle": "Once a Last Stop for the City’s Homeless, SFO Ramps Up Outreach and Support | KQED",
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"content": "\u003ch2>I. LIZBETH, SFO INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL, 5:00 a.m.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s 5 a.m., and \u003cu>San Francisco International Airport\u003c/u>’s International Terminal is surprisingly quiet. A janitor pushes a cart full of cleaning supplies. A Transportation Security Administration agent straggles in with her lunchbox. And Lizbeth Sanchez prepares for a day of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Special Services area outside of security, where Sanchez works, a few passengers are asleep on top of their bags, waiting for the ticket counters to open. When they wake up, Sanchez will be ready to help them out by giving directions, pushing wheelchairs and offering language translation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some other people asleep in this seating nook aren’t actually traveling anywhere. She points to a person lying on the floor in a far corner of the Special Services area, their body mostly blocked from view by a row of seats. They look like any other traveler. But to Sanchez, it’s clear that they’re not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I see feet, and I don’t see luggage,” she says. “So you notice when it’s a homeless [person], and you notice when it’s people who are missing the flights, and they decide to stay in the airport.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez sees what many others don’t: Unhoused people are staying at SFO — some just to sleep for the night, others to live. And while technically not part of her job, Sanchez has made it her duty to help them, too. She lets them rest in her seating area when it’s not too busy, and she brings extra sandwiches from home to share. But it didn’t take long for Sanchez to realize she could not offer people experiencing homelessness something they really needed: housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I said, ‘God, please send me someone to help all these people,’” Sanchez says. “‘Like some Robin Hood or something like that?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>II. JAMES, SFO, 6:30 a.m.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>James Paxton is Sanchez’s Robin Hood. For over a year, he made outreach trips to the airport as a case manager for LifeMoves, a San Mateo County-based organization that connects unhoused people with housing and resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People experiencing homelessness have had a presence at the airport since at least 2018, but airport officials say their number has grown. The San Francisco Police Department says it encounters about 35 unhoused people at the airport every day. Records show that in the first week of December 2025, they made contact with nearly 250 people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073262\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-27-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073262\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-27-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-27-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-27-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-27-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An unhoused person sits on a bench at San Francisco International Airport on Feb. 9, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While LifeMoves tries to help these individuals find a stable place to live, the process can be complicated, and the program is, at present, limited to only 4 hours per month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, LifeMoves was contracted to do homeless outreach at SFO because the airport is physically located in San Mateo County, even though the city and county of San Francisco own SFO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LifeMoves staff has led outreach trips at the airport ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such airport outreach is not unique to SFO. Since 2020, a homeless outreach team has been staffed at Los Angeles International Airport for 40 hours a week. Their presence makes a difference: In the team’s first six months at LAX, the airport’s unhoused population decreased by 90%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On this August morning, Paxton and his team arrive at the airport before dawn to connect with unhoused folks as they’re waking up, before they start moving around and become harder to find. Paxton leads his team all over SFO, looking for people who want help. Paxton wears a backpack filled with food and hygiene products, ready to provide unhoused folks whatever they say they need: from shelter beds to medical care to Lyft rides.[aside postID=news_12068758 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/12/251213-FEAROFFLYING00262_TV-KQED.jpg']“A lot of the clients, I need to reestablish their ID, I need to get their Social Security, their birth certificate,” Paxton says. “A lot of them don’t have any of those items, and it makes it hard to get services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since Paxton only makes outreach trips to the airport once a month, he leans on people who work at SFO — food workers, bag checkers, rental car staff — to act as his unofficial eyes when he’s not there. People like Sanchez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ll call me and be like, ‘Hey, I think this person needs help,’ and I’ll be on my way,” Paxton says. “We like to make sure that we communicate with them so we can build a better system to reach more people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paxton says that there are lots of reasons people choose to stay at SFO. It’s open around the clock. It has food, water and bathrooms. The airport is secure. It’s also easier for people experiencing homelessness to blend in at the airport as they lug around their bags or sleep. In fact, it can be hard to distinguish them from travelers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ Little cues that we’ve noticed to look for, like the tag on the bag shows that he’s flying out soon,” Paxton says, pointing at a passenger’s bag. “And then other clients that we’ll notice, they’ll have bag tags, but it’ll be for like weeks ago. [That] kind of give[s] us an inclination that they may need services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paxton offered services to dozens of unhoused people he met at the airport during his year or so as a case manager for LifeMoves. He placed 15 of them into temporary shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>III. KIM, SAFE HARBOR SHELTER, 4:30 p.m.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of Paxton’s clients is Kim Snodgrass, who became homeless after he retired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Got a fairly nice pension and Social Security, but even with that in San José, I could not live on that,” Snodgrass says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, he got a job — and then an unexpected tax bill for thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073263\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-29-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073263\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-29-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-29-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-29-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-29-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ivan Marquez, a case manager with the LifeMoves Homeless Outreach Team in northern San Mateo County, speaks with an unhoused person during an outreach visit at San Francisco International Airport on Feb. 9, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That’s when I started going downhill.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snodgrass moved to Mexico in search of a cheaper lifestyle, but ended up flying back to SFO with only a few hundred dollars in his pocket. He says he didn’t want to put out either of his sons, both of whom live in the Bay Area. So, after Snodgrass’s flight landed, he just stayed at the airport.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had no idea where else to go, and I saw other people there that were staying there,” Snodgrass says. “I mean, you can kind of tell people that are not passengers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snodgrass lived at the airport for more than six months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each morning, Snodgrass would head to a bathroom to wash up. Then he’d take a long walk between terminals. He’d spend time watching planes from the Reflection Room, visit one of the airport’s museum exhibits, or chat with travelers. At around 6 p.m., Snodgrass would stake out a good place to sleep for the night. He had a favorite spot: a dimly lit seating area tucked in between check-in counters in a domestic terminal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was pretty comfortable to sleep,” Snodgrass says. “You know, you have to sleep sitting up — and that’s kind of hard to do, too. There’s lots of people that want to sleep there. Not just homeless people, but also travelers that maybe are catching a flight the next day.”[aside postID=news_12051236 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/07/250626-GRANTSPASSDECISIONANNI-03-BL-KQED.jpg']Snodgrass says most travelers didn’t seem to notice the unhoused community around them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re in their own world,” Snodgrass says. “They’re going somewhere nice or coming back from someplace nice, and are just oblivious to you, really. It’s like you don’t even exist.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, Snodgrass did get noticed. Police officers, who had always patrolled the airport, began asking unhoused people to show their boarding passes. When they didn’t have plane tickets, the cops would tell them to leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though SFO is a public place, it has restricted public hours. In May, the airport shortened the time it’s open to the public — so anyone found at the airport without a plane ticket from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next day would be considered trespassing. This shift didn’t prevent unhoused people from seeking shelter at SFO, but it did change the way they were treated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was really harassed,” Snodgrass says. “One morning, a policeman woke me up, and he told me that I was trespassing and that I needed to leave and not to come back. He wasn’t kind at all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The police made living at the airport a challenge. But getting enough to eat was even harder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snodgrass befriended a pastor who regularly traveled to SFO, who would buy him food when he came to town. When the pastor was not around, Snodgrass would eat one Wendy’s chicken sandwich a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snodgrass made sure other folks living at the airport had food, too. He would stand by the security line, and when travelers went to throw out their water or food, he would ask if he could have it or grab it from the trash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073260\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-10-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073260\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sylvia Bambra, a case manager with the LifeMoves Homeless Outreach Team, walks through San Francisco International Airport on Feb. 9, 2026, during an outreach visit. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I would hand it out to some other homeless people that were, like, in really bad shape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, Snodgrass could no longer afford food — and he was in really bad shape, himself. He considered suicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You get so hungry,” Snodgrass says. “That’s very painful. I think it was after I was hungry for, hadn’t eaten for, like seven or eight days, that I contacted James [Paxton] and said, ‘I can’t deal with this anymore. Can you get me in a shelter?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paxton jumped into action and found Snodgrass an open bed at \u003ca href=\"https://safeharborhope.org/\">Safe Harbor Shelter\u003c/a> in San Mateo County. But getting unhoused folks at SFO into temporary housing does not always work out. Sometimes, when people want to move to a shelter, Paxton can’t place them where they want to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>IV. SFPD AMBASSADORS AND OFFICER WHITNEY, SAMTRANS STOP, 7:30 a.m.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Back at SFO, in an empty hallway somewhere along Paxton’s route, he runs into two men in bright blue shirts. They’re “ambassadors,” retired San Francisco police officers stationed at the airport, whose job is to assist passengers and employees. Ambassadors don’t actually do any law enforcement, but they do help Paxton locate people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They point Paxton toward the SamTrans bus stop on the lower level, where an unhoused man lies on the floor next to a curved bench, almost entirely hidden from people passing by.[aside postID=news_12065083 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/11/wmn-afrofuturism-gallery-03-2000x1337.jpg']Paxton offers him a snack pack with fruit, a Danish and beef ravioli. The man takes it, along with a hygiene kit filled with products like soap, a toothbrush and an eye mask. But the unhoused man does not accept Paxton’s offer of shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He is a San Francisco native,” Paxton says. “He said that he’d like services in San Francisco. That’s where he’s from.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But LifeMoves cannot offer shelter in San Francisco, because the organization operates in San Mateo County — where the airport is located — and connects folks with services there. And that’s a problem: Unhoused people arrive at SFO from all over the region, just like travelers do — and 95% of the Bay Area’s unhoused population lives outside of San Mateo County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the local homeless community is fluid, the Bay Area’s housing strategies are not. The region’s homelessness efforts are largely siloed by county, and this fragmentation challenges the Bay Area’s ability to provide services to unhoused folks where they need them, when they need them. So, when people experiencing homelessness at the airport want shelter, LifeMoves cannot house most of them in the county where they need it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SFPD says none of the unhoused folks officers encountered in December received “admonishments” or “citations”; none were arrested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the SamTrans stop, SFPD Officer Erik Whitney also spots the unhoused man.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can get on the bus,” Officer Whitney tells the man. “Out there. Not here. It’s trespassing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SFPD and LifeMoves share a goal: They both want people experiencing homelessness at the airport to leave. But there’s a key difference. Paxton and his team attempt to get them shelter beds in San Mateo County before they go, while the police usually just give unhoused folks a bus ticket to go somewhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And at certain hours, it seems that the police make sure unhoused folks don’t get into the airport in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>V. MARTIN, SFO BART STATION, 1:15 a.m.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When the last train of the night pulls up to the SFO BART station at 1:15 a.m., about a dozen police officers on segues greet it. But no unhoused folks come off the train, and the cops whiz back into the airport on their two-wheelers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re here to make sure anybody [that] gets off the last train is flying,” BART station agent Martin Croskery says. As he locks up, he says that SFPD officers are there every night. “Cause there used to be a problem with a lot of homeless coming off the last train and then staying in the airport overnight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073261\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-24-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073261\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-24-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-24-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-24-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-24-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sylvia Bambra (left) and Ivan Marquez, case managers with the LifeMoves Homeless Outreach Team, speak with an unhoused person during an outreach visit at San Francisco International Airport on Feb. 9, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to public records, the SFPD made contact with nearly 100 unhoused people coming off of the last two BART trains of the night during the first week of December. But Croskery says he hardly sees people experiencing homelessness get off the last train these days, in part because the line no longer ends at SFO. In 2021, BART changed the train route to end in Millbrae, further south in San Mateo County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Millbrae now has issues, but the last train has to go somewhere,” Croskrey says. “The problem has shifted from — it’s gone back and forward for years. It used to be the airport, then it was Millbrae, then back [to] the airport. And the airport says, ‘We can’t have this.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>VI. JAMES, MILLBRAE BART STATION, 8:30 a.m.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At the end of Paxton’s monthly homeless outreach shift at SFO, he heads out to find more unhoused people right where Croskery says they’d be: at the Millbrae BART station. There, Paxton easily finds two people who want services in San Mateo County. They fill out LifeMoves intake forms and begin the process of getting shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And with that, Paxton’s four hours of monthly outreach come to a close. But soon, the LifeMoves team may be working longer hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, the SFO Airport Commission approved a contract to staff a homeless outreach team at the airport 40 hours a week. The SFO contract is still being amended, but is expected to take effect in the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Paxton knows that solving the Bay Area’s homelessness crisis is beyond LifeMoves’ capacity. The region needs more housing to ensure that people like Snodgrass have permanent places to live after their time at shelters runs out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do need more housing, I believe, in order to help this problem,” Paxton says. “That seems like that would be the best answer to help. But [we’re] just going to have to wait on that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Erin Bump is a radio reporter and podcast producer who lives in San Francisco. Find more of her work at \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://kalw.org\">\u003cem>kalw.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> or in the Century Lives podcast feed.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "San Francisco police say officers encounter about 35 unhoused people at the airport daily. A growing program with San Mateo County aims to support them.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003ch2>I. LIZBETH, SFO INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL, 5:00 a.m.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It’s 5 a.m., and \u003cu>San Francisco International Airport\u003c/u>’s International Terminal is surprisingly quiet. A janitor pushes a cart full of cleaning supplies. A Transportation Security Administration agent straggles in with her lunchbox. And Lizbeth Sanchez prepares for a day of work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Special Services area outside of security, where Sanchez works, a few passengers are asleep on top of their bags, waiting for the ticket counters to open. When they wake up, Sanchez will be ready to help them out by giving directions, pushing wheelchairs and offering language translation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some other people asleep in this seating nook aren’t actually traveling anywhere. She points to a person lying on the floor in a far corner of the Special Services area, their body mostly blocked from view by a row of seats. They look like any other traveler. But to Sanchez, it’s clear that they’re not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I see feet, and I don’t see luggage,” she says. “So you notice when it’s a homeless [person], and you notice when it’s people who are missing the flights, and they decide to stay in the airport.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanchez sees what many others don’t: Unhoused people are staying at SFO — some just to sleep for the night, others to live. And while technically not part of her job, Sanchez has made it her duty to help them, too. She lets them rest in her seating area when it’s not too busy, and she brings extra sandwiches from home to share. But it didn’t take long for Sanchez to realize she could not offer people experiencing homelessness something they really needed: housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I said, ‘God, please send me someone to help all these people,’” Sanchez says. “‘Like some Robin Hood or something like that?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>II. JAMES, SFO, 6:30 a.m.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>James Paxton is Sanchez’s Robin Hood. For over a year, he made outreach trips to the airport as a case manager for LifeMoves, a San Mateo County-based organization that connects unhoused people with housing and resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People experiencing homelessness have had a presence at the airport since at least 2018, but airport officials say their number has grown. The San Francisco Police Department says it encounters about 35 unhoused people at the airport every day. Records show that in the first week of December 2025, they made contact with nearly 250 people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073262\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-27-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073262\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-27-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-27-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-27-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-27-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An unhoused person sits on a bench at San Francisco International Airport on Feb. 9, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While LifeMoves tries to help these individuals find a stable place to live, the process can be complicated, and the program is, at present, limited to only 4 hours per month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, LifeMoves was contracted to do homeless outreach at SFO because the airport is physically located in San Mateo County, even though the city and county of San Francisco own SFO.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LifeMoves staff has led outreach trips at the airport ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such airport outreach is not unique to SFO. Since 2020, a homeless outreach team has been staffed at Los Angeles International Airport for 40 hours a week. Their presence makes a difference: In the team’s first six months at LAX, the airport’s unhoused population decreased by 90%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On this August morning, Paxton and his team arrive at the airport before dawn to connect with unhoused folks as they’re waking up, before they start moving around and become harder to find. Paxton leads his team all over SFO, looking for people who want help. Paxton wears a backpack filled with food and hygiene products, ready to provide unhoused folks whatever they say they need: from shelter beds to medical care to Lyft rides.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“A lot of the clients, I need to reestablish their ID, I need to get their Social Security, their birth certificate,” Paxton says. “A lot of them don’t have any of those items, and it makes it hard to get services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since Paxton only makes outreach trips to the airport once a month, he leans on people who work at SFO — food workers, bag checkers, rental car staff — to act as his unofficial eyes when he’s not there. People like Sanchez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’ll call me and be like, ‘Hey, I think this person needs help,’ and I’ll be on my way,” Paxton says. “We like to make sure that we communicate with them so we can build a better system to reach more people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paxton says that there are lots of reasons people choose to stay at SFO. It’s open around the clock. It has food, water and bathrooms. The airport is secure. It’s also easier for people experiencing homelessness to blend in at the airport as they lug around their bags or sleep. In fact, it can be hard to distinguish them from travelers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ Little cues that we’ve noticed to look for, like the tag on the bag shows that he’s flying out soon,” Paxton says, pointing at a passenger’s bag. “And then other clients that we’ll notice, they’ll have bag tags, but it’ll be for like weeks ago. [That] kind of give[s] us an inclination that they may need services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paxton offered services to dozens of unhoused people he met at the airport during his year or so as a case manager for LifeMoves. He placed 15 of them into temporary shelters.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>III. KIM, SAFE HARBOR SHELTER, 4:30 p.m.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of Paxton’s clients is Kim Snodgrass, who became homeless after he retired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Got a fairly nice pension and Social Security, but even with that in San José, I could not live on that,” Snodgrass says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, he got a job — and then an unexpected tax bill for thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073263\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-29-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073263\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-29-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-29-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-29-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-29-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ivan Marquez, a case manager with the LifeMoves Homeless Outreach Team in northern San Mateo County, speaks with an unhoused person during an outreach visit at San Francisco International Airport on Feb. 9, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That’s when I started going downhill.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snodgrass moved to Mexico in search of a cheaper lifestyle, but ended up flying back to SFO with only a few hundred dollars in his pocket. He says he didn’t want to put out either of his sons, both of whom live in the Bay Area. So, after Snodgrass’s flight landed, he just stayed at the airport.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had no idea where else to go, and I saw other people there that were staying there,” Snodgrass says. “I mean, you can kind of tell people that are not passengers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snodgrass lived at the airport for more than six months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each morning, Snodgrass would head to a bathroom to wash up. Then he’d take a long walk between terminals. He’d spend time watching planes from the Reflection Room, visit one of the airport’s museum exhibits, or chat with travelers. At around 6 p.m., Snodgrass would stake out a good place to sleep for the night. He had a favorite spot: a dimly lit seating area tucked in between check-in counters in a domestic terminal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was pretty comfortable to sleep,” Snodgrass says. “You know, you have to sleep sitting up — and that’s kind of hard to do, too. There’s lots of people that want to sleep there. Not just homeless people, but also travelers that maybe are catching a flight the next day.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Snodgrass says most travelers didn’t seem to notice the unhoused community around them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re in their own world,” Snodgrass says. “They’re going somewhere nice or coming back from someplace nice, and are just oblivious to you, really. It’s like you don’t even exist.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, Snodgrass did get noticed. Police officers, who had always patrolled the airport, began asking unhoused people to show their boarding passes. When they didn’t have plane tickets, the cops would tell them to leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though SFO is a public place, it has restricted public hours. In May, the airport shortened the time it’s open to the public — so anyone found at the airport without a plane ticket from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next day would be considered trespassing. This shift didn’t prevent unhoused people from seeking shelter at SFO, but it did change the way they were treated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was really harassed,” Snodgrass says. “One morning, a policeman woke me up, and he told me that I was trespassing and that I needed to leave and not to come back. He wasn’t kind at all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The police made living at the airport a challenge. But getting enough to eat was even harder.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snodgrass befriended a pastor who regularly traveled to SFO, who would buy him food when he came to town. When the pastor was not around, Snodgrass would eat one Wendy’s chicken sandwich a day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Snodgrass made sure other folks living at the airport had food, too. He would stand by the security line, and when travelers went to throw out their water or food, he would ask if he could have it or grab it from the trash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073260\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-10-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073260\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-10-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-10-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-10-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-10-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sylvia Bambra, a case manager with the LifeMoves Homeless Outreach Team, walks through San Francisco International Airport on Feb. 9, 2026, during an outreach visit. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I would hand it out to some other homeless people that were, like, in really bad shape.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eventually, Snodgrass could no longer afford food — and he was in really bad shape, himself. He considered suicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You get so hungry,” Snodgrass says. “That’s very painful. I think it was after I was hungry for, hadn’t eaten for, like seven or eight days, that I contacted James [Paxton] and said, ‘I can’t deal with this anymore. Can you get me in a shelter?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paxton jumped into action and found Snodgrass an open bed at \u003ca href=\"https://safeharborhope.org/\">Safe Harbor Shelter\u003c/a> in San Mateo County. But getting unhoused folks at SFO into temporary housing does not always work out. Sometimes, when people want to move to a shelter, Paxton can’t place them where they want to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>IV. SFPD AMBASSADORS AND OFFICER WHITNEY, SAMTRANS STOP, 7:30 a.m.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Back at SFO, in an empty hallway somewhere along Paxton’s route, he runs into two men in bright blue shirts. They’re “ambassadors,” retired San Francisco police officers stationed at the airport, whose job is to assist passengers and employees. Ambassadors don’t actually do any law enforcement, but they do help Paxton locate people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They point Paxton toward the SamTrans bus stop on the lower level, where an unhoused man lies on the floor next to a curved bench, almost entirely hidden from people passing by.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Paxton offers him a snack pack with fruit, a Danish and beef ravioli. The man takes it, along with a hygiene kit filled with products like soap, a toothbrush and an eye mask. But the unhoused man does not accept Paxton’s offer of shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He is a San Francisco native,” Paxton says. “He said that he’d like services in San Francisco. That’s where he’s from.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But LifeMoves cannot offer shelter in San Francisco, because the organization operates in San Mateo County — where the airport is located — and connects folks with services there. And that’s a problem: Unhoused people arrive at SFO from all over the region, just like travelers do — and 95% of the Bay Area’s unhoused population lives outside of San Mateo County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the local homeless community is fluid, the Bay Area’s housing strategies are not. The region’s homelessness efforts are largely siloed by county, and this fragmentation challenges the Bay Area’s ability to provide services to unhoused folks where they need them, when they need them. So, when people experiencing homelessness at the airport want shelter, LifeMoves cannot house most of them in the county where they need it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SFPD says none of the unhoused folks officers encountered in December received “admonishments” or “citations”; none were arrested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the SamTrans stop, SFPD Officer Erik Whitney also spots the unhoused man.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can get on the bus,” Officer Whitney tells the man. “Out there. Not here. It’s trespassing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SFPD and LifeMoves share a goal: They both want people experiencing homelessness at the airport to leave. But there’s a key difference. Paxton and his team attempt to get them shelter beds in San Mateo County before they go, while the police usually just give unhoused folks a bus ticket to go somewhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And at certain hours, it seems that the police make sure unhoused folks don’t get into the airport in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>V. MARTIN, SFO BART STATION, 1:15 a.m.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When the last train of the night pulls up to the SFO BART station at 1:15 a.m., about a dozen police officers on segues greet it. But no unhoused folks come off the train, and the cops whiz back into the airport on their two-wheelers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They’re here to make sure anybody [that] gets off the last train is flying,” BART station agent Martin Croskery says. As he locks up, he says that SFPD officers are there every night. “Cause there used to be a problem with a lot of homeless coming off the last train and then staying in the airport overnight.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073261\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-24-BL-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073261\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-24-BL-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-24-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-24-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/260209-SFOSLEEPING-24-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sylvia Bambra (left) and Ivan Marquez, case managers with the LifeMoves Homeless Outreach Team, speak with an unhoused person during an outreach visit at San Francisco International Airport on Feb. 9, 2026. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to public records, the SFPD made contact with nearly 100 unhoused people coming off of the last two BART trains of the night during the first week of December. But Croskery says he hardly sees people experiencing homelessness get off the last train these days, in part because the line no longer ends at SFO. In 2021, BART changed the train route to end in Millbrae, further south in San Mateo County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Millbrae now has issues, but the last train has to go somewhere,” Croskrey says. “The problem has shifted from — it’s gone back and forward for years. It used to be the airport, then it was Millbrae, then back [to] the airport. And the airport says, ‘We can’t have this.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>VI. JAMES, MILLBRAE BART STATION, 8:30 a.m.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At the end of Paxton’s monthly homeless outreach shift at SFO, he heads out to find more unhoused people right where Croskery says they’d be: at the Millbrae BART station. There, Paxton easily finds two people who want services in San Mateo County. They fill out LifeMoves intake forms and begin the process of getting shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And with that, Paxton’s four hours of monthly outreach come to a close. But soon, the LifeMoves team may be working longer hours.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June, the SFO Airport Commission approved a contract to staff a homeless outreach team at the airport 40 hours a week. The SFO contract is still being amended, but is expected to take effect in the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Paxton knows that solving the Bay Area’s homelessness crisis is beyond LifeMoves’ capacity. The region needs more housing to ensure that people like Snodgrass have permanent places to live after their time at shelters runs out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do need more housing, I believe, in order to help this problem,” Paxton says. “That seems like that would be the best answer to help. But [we’re] just going to have to wait on that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Erin Bump is a radio reporter and podcast producer who lives in San Francisco. Find more of her work at \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://kalw.org\">\u003cem>kalw.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> or in the Century Lives podcast feed.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>California newts \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996099/best-bay-area-hikes-for-spotting-banana-slugs-newts-and-ladybugs-after-the-rain\">\u003cem>love \u003c/em>the rain\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So if you want the best chance at spotting these slimy, compelling creatures on a Bay Area hiking trail, a rainy spell — just like the one we’re getting this weekend — is just what you want.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Migrating newts can be found at parks all over the Bay Area this season, but we’ve compiled a short list of roads and trails where you’ll have the best chance of spotting them either during or just after some rainy weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just remember: If you see a newt out in the wild, don’t touch or handle the animals. Some species of newts secrete toxins that can be harmful if ingested. Simply observe the newt, and consider warning others to avoid stepping near or on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(And if you’d like to\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000015/how-did-the-newt-cross-the-road-with-help-from-these-volunteers-carefully\"> volunteer to help ensure newts’ safe passage \u003c/a>during their migration season, we have information on that below, too.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Hikes to see newts in the Bay Area\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>East Bay: South Park Drive, Tilden Regional Park\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebparks.org/about-us/whats-new/news/annual-south-park-drive-closure-newt-migration-0\">South Park Drive\u003c/a> in Tilden Regional Park closes to cars between November and April to protect the migrating newts. That also means it’s a fantastic opportunity to see them while hiking in the rain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can park your car near the Botanic Gardens and walk uphill from there for just over a mile. The road is entirely paved, and you can stop for a rest at any of the picnic areas along the way — or cut off onto Tower Trail for some steeper off-road hiking. You’ll emerge near the top of Grizzly Peak, where the East Bay views are hard to beat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073354\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073354\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/1_IMG_3849_resized.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/1_IMG_3849_resized.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/1_IMG_3849_resized-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/1_IMG_3849_resized-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">South Park Drive in the East Bay’s Tilden Regional Park is closed to cars all winter long while newts make their annual migrations, and hiking here on rainy days may give you the chance to see the animals. \u003ccite>(Sarah Wright/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Want to extend your hike? Before you return to your car, take a stroll around the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden/botanic-garden\">Botanic Gardens themselves,\u003c/a> where you can see native plants from all over the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Know before you go\u003c/em>: There are still some areas of Wildcat Canyon Road open to cars where newts can be crossing, so drive with extra caution around the Botanic Garden area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you bring a dog, be sure to keep it away from the migrating newts. Parking is free at the gardens[aside postID=science_2000015 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2026/02/LEDE_Newt-Patrol-Newt_resized.jpg']\u003cstrong>Peninsula: Mindego Hill, Russian Ridge\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This \u003ca href=\"https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/mindego-hill\">5-mile round-trip trail \u003c/a>will reward you with immense summit views and the potential for newt viewing during the rainy season — plus, you may even get lucky to spot native raptors like red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, Cooper’s hawks and golden eagles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trail, part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.openspace.org/preserves/russian-ridge\">Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve\u003c/a>, starts off Alpine Road on the Peninsula, just west of Skyline Boulevard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following an old farm road, the trail is mostly exposed, so be sure to bring sun protection if you’re hiking \u003cem>after \u003c/em>the rains. Watch for newts underfoot once you start climbing the Mindego Hill itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Know before you go:\u003c/em> The Mindego Hill area can close due to high winds, so be sure to \u003ca href=\"https://www.openspace.org/preserves/russian-ridge#trail-closures\">check the website\u003c/a> before you head out. Parking is free at the preserve. Dogs are not allowed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>North Bay: Cataract Falls, Mount Tamalpais\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At its absolute best on a rainy day, \u003ca href=\"https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/cataract-falls-trail\">Cataract Falls\u003c/a> is not just a flowing delight of a waterfall — it’s also a prime spot for newt-finding in the winter months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The entire \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=471&ref=homeexchange.fr\">Mount Tamalpais State Park\u003c/a> is lush and dense after heavy rains. And this trail winds hikers uphill through the cozy forest, on wooden bridges across creeks and alongside picturesque pools, where wildlife abounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073351\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073351\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/2_IMG_4293_resized-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/2_IMG_4293_resized-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/2_IMG_4293_resized-1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/2_IMG_4293_resized-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A California newt trying to cross Alma Bridge Road. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Annette Hertz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While the cascade meanders down the entire hillside, there are two main falls along the trail, and even a picnic area to take a break — which you may need, given much of this hike is up steep staircases. Keep your eyes peeled for newts underfoot and in the various pools of water where they may be bathing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Know before you go:\u003c/em> Parking fills up quickly from the bottom of the trail, so if you’re heading out during a peak weekend time, try parking at the top of the hill and hiking down from Laurel Dell Road. Parking on either side of the falls is free, but be sure to face your car the correct way on the side of the road to avoid a ticket. Dogs are allowed but must be on leash.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How to lend a helping hand to Bay Area newts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Marin County, the volunteer-run \u003ca href=\"https://www.chilenovalleynewtbrigade.org/\">Chileno Valley Newt Brigade\u003c/a> has operated for seven years to monitor a 1-mile stretch of Chileno Valley Road near Laguna Lake, where newts must make the dangerous crossing twice each breeding season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073352\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073352\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/3_Newt-Patrol-Volunteers_resized.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1499\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/3_Newt-Patrol-Volunteers_resized.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/3_Newt-Patrol-Volunteers_resized-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/3_Newt-Patrol-Volunteers_resized-1536x1151.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Volunteers from Newt Patrol on their way to the assisted migration area. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Merav Vonshak)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you’re interested in volunteering with the Newt Brigade, you can \u003ca href=\"https://www.chilenovalleynewtbrigade.org/volunteer\">sign up for training on their website\u003c/a>. Shifts, which are scheduled during newt breeding season from October through mid-March, are around two hours long and you’ll be asked to commit to one shift per week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Want to help out in a more casual way? The \u003ca href=\"https://www.openspace.org/\">Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.openspace.org/where-to-go/nature/newts\">advises \u003c/a>reporting your newt sightings and observations to community science projects like \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/midpen-biodiversity-index\">iNaturalist\u003c/a>, which many organizations like Midpen use to track migrating species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000015/how-did-the-newt-cross-the-road-with-help-from-these-volunteers-carefully\">Read more about volunteer efforts to save migrating newts.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/smohamad\">\u003cem>Sarah Mohamad\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California newts \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1996099/best-bay-area-hikes-for-spotting-banana-slugs-newts-and-ladybugs-after-the-rain\">\u003cem>love \u003c/em>the rain\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So if you want the best chance at spotting these slimy, compelling creatures on a Bay Area hiking trail, a rainy spell — just like the one we’re getting this weekend — is just what you want.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Migrating newts can be found at parks all over the Bay Area this season, but we’ve compiled a short list of roads and trails where you’ll have the best chance of spotting them either during or just after some rainy weather.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just remember: If you see a newt out in the wild, don’t touch or handle the animals. Some species of newts secrete toxins that can be harmful if ingested. Simply observe the newt, and consider warning others to avoid stepping near or on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(And if you’d like to\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000015/how-did-the-newt-cross-the-road-with-help-from-these-volunteers-carefully\"> volunteer to help ensure newts’ safe passage \u003c/a>during their migration season, we have information on that below, too.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Hikes to see newts in the Bay Area\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>East Bay: South Park Drive, Tilden Regional Park\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebparks.org/about-us/whats-new/news/annual-south-park-drive-closure-newt-migration-0\">South Park Drive\u003c/a> in Tilden Regional Park closes to cars between November and April to protect the migrating newts. That also means it’s a fantastic opportunity to see them while hiking in the rain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can park your car near the Botanic Gardens and walk uphill from there for just over a mile. The road is entirely paved, and you can stop for a rest at any of the picnic areas along the way — or cut off onto Tower Trail for some steeper off-road hiking. You’ll emerge near the top of Grizzly Peak, where the East Bay views are hard to beat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073354\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073354\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/1_IMG_3849_resized.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/1_IMG_3849_resized.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/1_IMG_3849_resized-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/1_IMG_3849_resized-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">South Park Drive in the East Bay’s Tilden Regional Park is closed to cars all winter long while newts make their annual migrations, and hiking here on rainy days may give you the chance to see the animals. \u003ccite>(Sarah Wright/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Want to extend your hike? Before you return to your car, take a stroll around the \u003ca href=\"https://www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden/botanic-garden\">Botanic Gardens themselves,\u003c/a> where you can see native plants from all over the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Know before you go\u003c/em>: There are still some areas of Wildcat Canyon Road open to cars where newts can be crossing, so drive with extra caution around the Botanic Garden area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And if you bring a dog, be sure to keep it away from the migrating newts. Parking is free at the gardens\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Peninsula: Mindego Hill, Russian Ridge\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This \u003ca href=\"https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/mindego-hill\">5-mile round-trip trail \u003c/a>will reward you with immense summit views and the potential for newt viewing during the rainy season — plus, you may even get lucky to spot native raptors like red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, Cooper’s hawks and golden eagles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trail, part of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.openspace.org/preserves/russian-ridge\">Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve\u003c/a>, starts off Alpine Road on the Peninsula, just west of Skyline Boulevard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following an old farm road, the trail is mostly exposed, so be sure to bring sun protection if you’re hiking \u003cem>after \u003c/em>the rains. Watch for newts underfoot once you start climbing the Mindego Hill itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Know before you go:\u003c/em> The Mindego Hill area can close due to high winds, so be sure to \u003ca href=\"https://www.openspace.org/preserves/russian-ridge#trail-closures\">check the website\u003c/a> before you head out. Parking is free at the preserve. Dogs are not allowed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>North Bay: Cataract Falls, Mount Tamalpais\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At its absolute best on a rainy day, \u003ca href=\"https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/cataract-falls-trail\">Cataract Falls\u003c/a> is not just a flowing delight of a waterfall — it’s also a prime spot for newt-finding in the winter months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The entire \u003ca href=\"https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=471&ref=homeexchange.fr\">Mount Tamalpais State Park\u003c/a> is lush and dense after heavy rains. And this trail winds hikers uphill through the cozy forest, on wooden bridges across creeks and alongside picturesque pools, where wildlife abounds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073351\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073351\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/2_IMG_4293_resized-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/2_IMG_4293_resized-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/2_IMG_4293_resized-1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/2_IMG_4293_resized-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A California newt trying to cross Alma Bridge Road. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Annette Hertz)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While the cascade meanders down the entire hillside, there are two main falls along the trail, and even a picnic area to take a break — which you may need, given much of this hike is up steep staircases. Keep your eyes peeled for newts underfoot and in the various pools of water where they may be bathing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Know before you go:\u003c/em> Parking fills up quickly from the bottom of the trail, so if you’re heading out during a peak weekend time, try parking at the top of the hill and hiking down from Laurel Dell Road. Parking on either side of the falls is free, but be sure to face your car the correct way on the side of the road to avoid a ticket. Dogs are allowed but must be on leash.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How to lend a helping hand to Bay Area newts\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Marin County, the volunteer-run \u003ca href=\"https://www.chilenovalleynewtbrigade.org/\">Chileno Valley Newt Brigade\u003c/a> has operated for seven years to monitor a 1-mile stretch of Chileno Valley Road near Laguna Lake, where newts must make the dangerous crossing twice each breeding season.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12073352\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12073352\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/3_Newt-Patrol-Volunteers_resized.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1499\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/3_Newt-Patrol-Volunteers_resized.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/3_Newt-Patrol-Volunteers_resized-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2026/02/3_Newt-Patrol-Volunteers_resized-1536x1151.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Volunteers from Newt Patrol on their way to the assisted migration area. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Merav Vonshak)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If you’re interested in volunteering with the Newt Brigade, you can \u003ca href=\"https://www.chilenovalleynewtbrigade.org/volunteer\">sign up for training on their website\u003c/a>. Shifts, which are scheduled during newt breeding season from October through mid-March, are around two hours long and you’ll be asked to commit to one shift per week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Want to help out in a more casual way? The \u003ca href=\"https://www.openspace.org/\">Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://www.openspace.org/where-to-go/nature/newts\">advises \u003c/a>reporting your newt sightings and observations to community science projects like \u003ca href=\"https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/midpen-biodiversity-index\">iNaturalist\u003c/a>, which many organizations like Midpen use to track migrating species.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/2000015/how-did-the-newt-cross-the-road-with-help-from-these-volunteers-carefully\">Read more about volunteer efforts to save migrating newts.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/smohamad\">\u003cem>Sarah Mohamad\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"soldout": {
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"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
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