window.__IS_SSR__=true
window.__INITIAL_STATE__={
"attachmentsReducer": {
"audio_0": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_0",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background0.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_1": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_1",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background1.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_2": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_2",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background2.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_3": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_3",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background3.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_4": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_4",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background4.jpg"
}
}
},
"placeholder": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "placeholder",
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-768x512.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 512,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"small": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1280,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 32,
"height": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 50,
"height": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 64,
"height": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 96,
"height": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 128,
"height": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
}
},
"news_11696820": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11696820",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11696820",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11696663,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-520x339.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 339
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-160x104.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 104
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-960x627.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 627
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-375x245.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 245
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1253
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-1020x666.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 666
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-1180x770.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 770
},
"complete_open_graph": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-1200x783.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 783
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-800x522.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 522
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-1920x1253.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1253
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-1180x770.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 770
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-1920x1253.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1253
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33060_GettyImages-465175876-qut-240x157.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 157
}
},
"publishDate": 1538768223,
"modified": 1539756247,
"caption": "It will be up to California voters next month to decide whether to repeal increased gas tax and vehicle fees passed last year by the state Legislature.",
"description": "It will be up to California voters this November to decide whether to repeal increased gas tax and vehicle fees passed by the state Legislature.",
"title": "Gas Tax Repeal",
"credit": "Justin Sullivan/Getty Images",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11696207": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11696207",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11696207",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11696153,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-520x377.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 377
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-160x116.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 116
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-960x696.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 696
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-375x272.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 272
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1391
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-1020x739.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 739
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-1180x855.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 855
},
"complete_open_graph": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-1200x869.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 869
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-800x580.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 580
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-1920x1391.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1391
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-1180x855.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 855
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-1920x1391.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1391
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut-240x174.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 174
}
},
"publishDate": 1538522788,
"modified": 1538522894,
"caption": "Visitors are sometimes alarmed by the weekly siren test. ",
"description": "Visitors are sometimes alarmed by the weekly siren test. ",
"title": "RS33025_10022018_AW_WarningSiren_05-qut",
"credit": "Anne Wernikoff/KQED",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11693231": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11693231",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11693231",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11693132,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-520x390.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 390
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-160x120.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 120
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-960x720.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 720
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-375x281.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 281
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1440
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-1020x765.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 765
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-1180x885.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 885
},
"complete_open_graph": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-1200x900.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 900
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-800x600.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 600
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-1920x1440.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1440
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-1180x885.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 885
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-1920x1440.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1440
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32895_P1060143-qut-240x180.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 180
}
},
"publishDate": 1537302367,
"modified": 1537307146,
"caption": "Two of Belmont's decommissioned 'Happy Hydrants.'",
"description": "Two of Belmont's decommissioned 'Happy Hydrants.'",
"title": "RS32895_P1060143-qut",
"credit": "Suzie Racho/KQED",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11691517": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11691517",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11691517",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11691500,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-520x351.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 351
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-160x108.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 108
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-960x648.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 648
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-375x253.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 253
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-e1536605131668.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1295
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-1020x688.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 688
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-1180x796.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 796
},
"complete_open_graph": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-1200x810.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 810
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-800x540.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 540
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-1920x1295.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1295
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-1180x796.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 796
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-1920x1295.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1295
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-492064780-240x162.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 162
}
},
"publishDate": 1536605072,
"modified": 1536792342,
"caption": "The Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay are seen from above in San Francisco, California. ",
"description": "The Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco Bay are seen from above in San Francisco, California. ",
"title": "GettyImages-492064780",
"credit": "Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11690690": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11690690",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11690690",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11689315,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-520x346.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 346
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-1023x576.jpg",
"width": 1023,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-960x639.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 639
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-375x250.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 250
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace.jpg",
"width": 1023,
"height": 681
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-1020x679.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 679
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/bayfromspace-240x160.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 160
}
},
"publishDate": 1536192332,
"modified": 1536192375,
"caption": "An image of the San Francisco Bay Area taken by Samantha Cristoforetti, an Italian crew member aboard the International Space Station. ",
"description": "An image of the San Francisco Bay Area taken by Samantha Cristoforetti, an Italian crew member aboard the International Space Station. ",
"title": "An image of the San Francisco Bay Area taken by Samantha Cristoforetti, an Italian crew member aboard the International Space Station.",
"credit": "\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AstroSamantha\" target=\"_blank\">Samantha Cristoforetti\u003c/a> via Twitter",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11688138": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11688138",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11688138",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11688020,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-520x390.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 390
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-1000x576.jpg",
"width": 1000,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-160x120.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 120
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-960x720.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 720
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-375x281.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 281
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm.jpg",
"width": 1000,
"height": 750
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-800x600.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 600
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm-240x180.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 180
}
},
"publishDate": 1534899363,
"modified": 1534982788,
"caption": "Knitted giraffes keep watch over Civic Center. (",
"description": "Knitted giraffes keep watch over Civic Center. (Photo Courtesy: Knits For Life)",
"title": "RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm",
"credit": "Courtesy of Knits for Life",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11685466": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11685466",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11685466",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11685360,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-520x347.png",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 347
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-1038x576.png",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-160x107.png",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 107
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-960x640.png",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 640
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-672x372.png",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-375x250.png",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 250
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly.png",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1280
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-1020x680.png",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 680
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-1180x787.png",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 787
},
"complete_open_graph": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-1200x800.png",
"width": 1200,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 800
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-50x50.png",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-96x96.png",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-800x533.png",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 533
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-64x64.png",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-32x32.png",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 32
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-1920x1280.png",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 1280
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-1180x787.png",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 787
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-1920x1280.png",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 1280
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-150x150.png",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 150
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-128x128.png",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-Holly-240x160.png",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/png",
"height": 160
}
},
"publishDate": 1533674437,
"modified": 1533685115,
"caption": "A sign advertises fortunetelling services in San Francisco",
"description": null,
"title": "Sign Holly",
"credit": "Carly Severn/KQED",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11682719": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11682719",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11682719",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11682511,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-520x347.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 347
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-960x640.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 640
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-375x250.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 250
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13.jpg",
"width": 2592,
"height": 1728
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-1180x787.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 787
},
"complete_open_graph": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-1200x800.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 800
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-1180x787.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 787
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13-240x160.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 160
}
},
"publishDate": 1532565143,
"modified": 1532565160,
"caption": "Fog settles over Crissy Field in the Marina neighborhood of San Francisco on July 13, 2018.",
"description": "Fog settles over Crissy Field in the Marina neighborhood of San Francisco on July 13, 2018.",
"title": "RS31897_Fog_BayCurious_AW_13",
"credit": "Anne Wernikoff/KQED",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11680939": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11680939",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11680939",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11680481,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-520x342.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 342
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-160x105.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 105
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-960x632.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 632
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-375x247.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 247
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1264
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-1020x672.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 672
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-1180x777.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 777
},
"complete_open_graph": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-1200x790.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 790
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-800x527.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 527
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-1920x1264.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1264
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-1180x777.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 777
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-1920x1264.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1264
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31871_IMG_0240-qut-240x158.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 158
}
},
"publishDate": 1531846792,
"modified": 1531847222,
"caption": "California is the only state in the country where it is legal to lane split.",
"description": "California is the only state in the country where it is legal to lane split.",
"title": "RS31871_IMG_0240-qut",
"credit": "Craig Miller/KQED",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11653569": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11653569",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11653569",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11652543,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-520x293.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 293
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 90
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-960x541.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 541
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-375x211.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 211
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806.jpg",
"width": 3157,
"height": 1778
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-1020x574.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 574
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-1180x665.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 665
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-800x451.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 451
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-1920x1081.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1081
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-1180x665.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 665
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-1920x1081.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1081
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-copy-e1520040302806-240x135.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 135
}
},
"publishDate": 1520040244,
"modified": 1523059624,
"caption": "A home on Tregloan Court in Alameda. Bay Curious looked into whether this house and similar small-scale residences on the street were built for little people who worked in the Alameda shipbuilding industry during the Second World War.",
"description": null,
"title": "Tregloan",
"credit": "Cy Musiker/KQED",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11677399": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11677399",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11677399",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11677380,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-520x347.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 347
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-960x640.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 640
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-375x250.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 250
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k.jpg",
"width": 2048,
"height": 1365
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-1180x786.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 786
},
"complete_open_graph": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-1200x800.jpg",
"width": 1200,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 800
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-1180x786.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 786
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/25267941258_635ff7d26e_k-240x160.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 160
}
},
"publishDate": 1530043643,
"modified": 1530423616,
"caption": "The Painted Ladies in San Francisco.",
"description": "The Painted Ladies in San Francisco.",
"title": "The Painted Ladies in San Francisco",
"credit": "soomness/flickr",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11676176": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11676176",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11676176",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11674280,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/pointreyesthing-520x293.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 293
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/pointreyesthing-160x90.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 90
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/pointreyesthing-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/pointreyesthing-375x211.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 211
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/pointreyesthing.jpg",
"width": 796,
"height": 448
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/pointreyesthing-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/pointreyesthing-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/pointreyesthing-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/pointreyesthing-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/pointreyesthing-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/pointreyesthing-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/pointreyesthing-240x135.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 135
}
},
"publishDate": 1529539885,
"modified": 1529539885,
"caption": null,
"description": null,
"title": "pointreyesthing",
"credit": null,
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
}
},
"audioPlayerReducer": {
"postId": "stream_live",
"isPaused": true,
"isPlaying": false,
"pfsActive": false,
"pledgeModalIsOpen": true,
"playerDrawerIsOpen": false,
"liveAudioPlayStartedAt": 0,
"liveAudioPlayContext": ""
},
"authorsReducer": {
"byline_news_11696153": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_news_11696153",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_news_11696153",
"name": "\u003cstrong>Julie Caine\u003c/strong>",
"isLoading": false
},
"ohubertallen": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "102",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "102",
"found": true
},
"name": "Olivia Allen-Price",
"firstName": "Olivia",
"lastName": "Allen-Price",
"slug": "ohubertallen",
"email": "oallenprice@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "Senior Editor",
"bio": "Olivia Allen-Price is senior editor and host of the award-winning Bay Curious podcast. Prior to joining KQED in 2013, Olivia worked at The Baltimore Sun and The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va. She holds degrees in journalism and political science from Elon University. Her work has earned awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Hearst Foundation and Hearken. She loves to talk about running and curly hair.\r\n\r\nFollow: \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/oallenprice\">@oallenprice\u003c/a>\r\nEmail: \u003ca href=\"mailto:oallenprice@kqed.org\">oallenprice@kqed.org\u003c/a>",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/07f7803c1f6be56f3be58ef276dfa64dce898502e0554408ef4858451a8294f7?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "oallenprice",
"bluesky": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"subscriber"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "pop",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "bayareabites",
"roles": [
"contributor"
]
},
{
"site": "stateofhealth",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Olivia Allen-Price | KQED",
"description": "Senior Editor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/07f7803c1f6be56f3be58ef276dfa64dce898502e0554408ef4858451a8294f7?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/07f7803c1f6be56f3be58ef276dfa64dce898502e0554408ef4858451a8294f7?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/ohubertallen"
},
"sracho": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "107",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "107",
"found": true
},
"name": "Suzie Racho",
"firstName": "Suzie",
"lastName": "Racho",
"slug": "sracho",
"email": "SRacho@KQED.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "KQED Contributor",
"bio": "Suzie Racho is a correspondent-producer with \u003cem>The California Report Magazine\u003c/em>\u003cem>. S\u003c/em>he has also worked with several other KQED productions, including Bay Curious, Truth Be Told, The Do List and KQED News.\r\n\r\nSuzie came to KQED in 1996 after receiving a BA in journalism from San Francisco State University and spending several years working in the music industry. As part of \u003cem>The California Report\u003c/em> team, her work has been recognized by the Society for Professional Journalists, National Federation of Community Broadcasters and Public Radio News Directors Incorporated, among others. She was recognized with a national Gracie Award in 2019. She spends her free time baking, listening to K-pop and rooting for the Giants and Valkyries.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/842e457a9830b0f3c1ce3ab70ed3518d616d1e25e315c6292eab8cd611d98601?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"bluesky": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Suzie Racho | KQED",
"description": "KQED Contributor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/842e457a9830b0f3c1ce3ab70ed3518d616d1e25e315c6292eab8cd611d98601?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/842e457a9830b0f3c1ce3ab70ed3518d616d1e25e315c6292eab8cd611d98601?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/sracho"
},
"danbrekke": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "222",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "222",
"found": true
},
"name": "Dan Brekke",
"firstName": "Dan",
"lastName": "Brekke",
"slug": "danbrekke",
"email": "dbrekke@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": true,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news",
"science"
],
"title": "KQED Editor and Reporter",
"bio": "Dan Brekke is a reporter and editor for KQED News, responsible for coverage of topics ranging from California water issues to the Bay Area's transportation challenges. In a newsroom career that began in Chicago in 1972, Dan has worked for \u003cem>The San Francisco Examiner,\u003c/em> Wired and TechTV and has been published in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Business 2.0, Salon and elsewhere.\r\n\r\nSince joining KQED in 2007, Dan has reported, edited and produced both radio and online features and breaking news pieces. He has shared as both editor and reporter in four Society of Professional Journalists Norcal Excellence in Journalism awards and one Edward R. Murrow regional award. He was chosen for a spring 2017 residency at the Mesa Refuge to advance his research on California salmon.\r\n\r\nEmail Dan at: \u003ca href=\"mailto:dbrekke@kqed.org\">dbrekke@kqed.org\u003c/a>\r\n\r\n\u003cstrong>Twitter:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/danbrekke\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">twitter.com/danbrekke\u003c/a>\r\n\u003cstrong>Facebook:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/danbrekke\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.facebook.com/danbrekke\u003c/a>\r\n\u003cstrong>LinkedIn:\u003c/strong> \u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbrekke\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">www.linkedin.com/in/danbrekke\u003c/a>",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c8126230345efca3f7aa89b1a402be45?s=600&d=mm&r=g",
"twitter": "danbrekke",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": "https://www.instagram.com/dan.brekke/",
"linkedin": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbrekke/",
"sites": [
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"administrator",
"create_posts"
]
},
{
"site": "stateofhealth",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "quest",
"roles": [
"contributor"
]
},
{
"site": "food",
"roles": [
"contributor"
]
},
{
"site": "forum",
"roles": [
"contributor"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Dan Brekke | KQED",
"description": "KQED Editor and Reporter",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c8126230345efca3f7aa89b1a402be45?s=600&d=mm&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c8126230345efca3f7aa89b1a402be45?s=600&d=mm&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/danbrekke"
},
"kdomara": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "1459",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "1459",
"found": true
},
"name": "Kelly O'Mara",
"firstName": "Kelly",
"lastName": "O'Mara",
"slug": "kdomara",
"email": "komara@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "KQED Contributor",
"bio": "Kelly O'Mara is a writer and reporter in the San Francisco Bay Area. She writes about food, health, sports, travel, business and California news. Her work has appeared on KQED, online for Outside Magazine, epsnW, VICE and in Competitor Magazine, among others. Follow Kelly on Twitter \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/kellydomara\">@kellydomara\u003c/a>.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/768fec7412028b72f13bdd0f5f9d8186?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": []
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": []
},
{
"site": "bayareabites",
"roles": []
},
{
"site": "stateofhealth",
"roles": []
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": []
},
{
"site": "checkplease",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "food",
"roles": []
},
{
"site": "forum",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Kelly O'Mara | KQED",
"description": "KQED Contributor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/768fec7412028b72f13bdd0f5f9d8186?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/768fec7412028b72f13bdd0f5f9d8186?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/kdomara"
},
"carlysevern": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "3243",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "3243",
"found": true
},
"name": "Carly Severn",
"firstName": "Carly",
"lastName": "Severn",
"slug": "carlysevern",
"email": "csevern@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "Senior Editor, Audience News ",
"bio": "Carly is KQED's Senior Editor of Audience News on the Digital News team, and has reported for the California Report Magazine, Bay Curious and KQED Arts. She's formerly the host of \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/category/the-cooler/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Cooler\u003c/a> podcast.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2d8d6765f186e64c798cf7f0c8088a41?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "teacupinthebay",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "pop",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "futureofyou",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "about",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "mindshift",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "bayareabites",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "stateofhealth",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "food",
"roles": [
"contributor"
]
},
{
"site": "forum",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "perspectives",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Carly Severn | KQED",
"description": "Senior Editor, Audience News ",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2d8d6765f186e64c798cf7f0c8088a41?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2d8d6765f186e64c798cf7f0c8088a41?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/carlysevern"
},
"jplaczek": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "8606",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "8606",
"found": true
},
"name": "Jessica Placzek",
"firstName": "Jessica",
"lastName": "Placzek",
"slug": "jplaczek",
"email": "jessicalplaczek@gmail.com",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "KQED Contributor",
"bio": "\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jessica Placzek is a former senior editor of podcasts at KQED where she served as the editorial lead of the podcast department. She worked with shows like MindShift, Rightnowish, Consider This, SOLD OUT, Bay Curious and The Bay. She’s also been a reporter and audio producer at KQED, KPFA, and KALW. She taught audio production to men incarcerated at California State Prison Solano and edited pieces they produced for the Uncuffed podcast through KALW. In 2018 she co-hosted and produced the third season of Raw Material for SFMOMA. In New Orleans she wrote for the Nola Defender. Her work has also appeared on Marketplace, All Things Considered, The California Report, and Vice. You can find more at jessicaplaczek.com\u003c/span>",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4505f7be77b50826a2a1b8bd3a120685?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"subscriber"
]
},
{
"site": "stateofhealth",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "forum",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Jessica Placzek | KQED",
"description": "KQED Contributor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4505f7be77b50826a2a1b8bd3a120685?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4505f7be77b50826a2a1b8bd3a120685?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/jplaczek"
},
"cveltman": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "8608",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "8608",
"found": true
},
"name": "Chloe Veltman",
"firstName": "Chloe",
"lastName": "Veltman",
"slug": "cveltman",
"email": "cveltman@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": true,
"staff_mastheads": [],
"title": "Arts and Culture Reporter",
"bio": "Chloe Veltman is a former arts and culture reporter for KQED. Prior to joining the organization, she launched and led the arts bureau at Colorado Public Radio, served as the Bay Area's culture columnist for the New York Times, and was the founder, host and executive producer of VoiceBox, a national award-winning weekly podcast/radio show and live events series all about the human voice. Chloe is the recipient of numerous prizes, grants and fellowships including a Webby Award for her work on interactive storytelling, both the John S Knight Journalism Fellowship and Humanities Center Fellowship at Stanford University, the Sundance Arts Writing Fellowship and a Library of Congress Research Fellowship. She is the author of the book \"On Acting\" and has appeared as a guest lecturer at Yale University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music among other institutions. She holds a BA in english literature from King's College, Cambridge, and a Masters in Dramaturgy from the Central School of Speech and Drama/Harvard Institute for Advanced Theater Training.\r\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.chloeveltman.com\">www.chloeveltman.com\u003c/a>",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/55403394b00a1ddab683952c2eb2cf85?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "chloeveltman",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": []
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"author"
]
},
{
"site": "pop",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": []
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Chloe Veltman | KQED",
"description": "Arts and Culture Reporter",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/55403394b00a1ddab683952c2eb2cf85?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/55403394b00a1ddab683952c2eb2cf85?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/cveltman"
},
"korr": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11200",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11200",
"found": true
},
"name": "Katie Orr",
"firstName": "Katie",
"lastName": "Orr",
"slug": "korr",
"email": "korr@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [],
"title": "KQED Contributor",
"bio": "Katie Orr was a Sacramento-based reporter for KQED's Politics and Government Desk, covering the state Capitol and a variety of issues including women in politics, voting and elections and legislation. Prior to joining KQED in 2016, Katie was state government reporter for Capital Public Radio in Sacramento. She's also worked for KPBS in San Diego, where she covered City Hall.\r\n\r\nKatie received her masters degree in political science from San Diego State University and holds a Bachelors degree in broadcast journalism from Arizona State University.\r\n\r\nIn 2015 Katie won a national Clarion Award for a series of stories she did on women in California politics. She's been honored by the Society for Professional Journalists and, in 2013, was named by \u003cem>The Washington Post\u003c/em> as one of the country's top state Capitol reporters. She's also reported for the award-winning documentary series \u003cem>The View from Here \u003c/em>and was part of the team that won national PRNDI and Gabriel Awards in 2015. She lives in Sacramento with her husband. Twitter: @1KatieOrr",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/41a40b25845adc78f50808670860449e?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "1katieorr",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"subscriber"
]
},
{
"site": "stateofhealth",
"roles": [
"author"
]
},
{
"site": "forum",
"roles": [
"author"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Katie Orr | KQED",
"description": "KQED Contributor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/41a40b25845adc78f50808670860449e?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/41a40b25845adc78f50808670860449e?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/korr"
},
"rlevi": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11260",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11260",
"found": true
},
"name": "Ryan Levi",
"firstName": "Ryan",
"lastName": "Levi",
"slug": "rlevi",
"email": "rlevi@KQED.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [],
"title": "KQED Contributor",
"bio": "Ryan Levi was a reporter and podcast producer at KQED News from 2016-2019. He worked on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/the-bay/\">The Bay, \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545\">The California Report Magazine\u003c/a>, as well as hosting and producing the weekly \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/program/qedup/\">Q'ed Up podcast. \u003c/a>He also helped inaugurate KQED's weekend news coverage in 2017 as one of two original digital producers. Ryan holds degrees in multimedia journalism and Spanish from the University of Missouri.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4cb2ddd028ac8807d1adf09609c5555d?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "ryan_levi",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"subscriber"
]
},
{
"site": "stateofhealth",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "forum",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "perspectives",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Ryan Levi | KQED",
"description": "KQED Contributor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4cb2ddd028ac8807d1adf09609c5555d?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4cb2ddd028ac8807d1adf09609c5555d?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/rlevi"
}
},
"pagesReducer": {
"news_tag_bay-curious": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_18426",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "18426",
"score": 9.101694
},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Bay Curious",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Bay Curious Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 18460,
"slug": "bay-curious",
"isLoading": false,
"title": "Bay Curious",
"pageMeta": {
"site": "news",
"WpPageTemplate": "page-topic-editorial",
"currentPage": 14
},
"blocks": [
{
"blockName": "kqed/post-list",
"attrs": {
"layout": "cardArticle2",
"query": "posts/news?tag=bay-curious",
"seeMore": false,
"paginated": true,
"page": 14
}
},
{
"blockName": "kqed/ad"
}
]
}
},
"pfsSessionReducer": {},
"postsReducer": {
"stream_live": {
"type": "live",
"id": "stream_live",
"audioUrl": "https://streams.kqed.org/kqedradio",
"title": "Live Stream",
"excerpt": "Live Stream information currently unavailable.",
"link": "/radio",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "KQED Live",
"link": "/"
}
},
"stream_kqedNewscast": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "stream_kqedNewscast",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1",
"title": "KQED Newscast",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "88.5 FM",
"link": "/"
}
},
"news_11696663": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11696663",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11696663",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1538992856000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "what-if-californians-repealed-the-gas-tax-prop-6-explained",
"title": "What If Californians Repealed the Gas Tax? Proposition 6, Explained",
"publishDate": 1538992856,
"format": "audio",
"headTitle": "What If Californians Repealed the Gas Tax? Proposition 6, Explained | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This whole week, Bay Curious is exploring the 11 statewide propositions on the California ballot for a mini-series we’re calling “Bay Curious Prop Week.” Each day, we’re dropping episodes looking at what the propositions are and how they came to be on the ballot in the first place.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can replay our Q&A on\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll also be hosting a series of Facebook Live Q&As.\u003cbr>\nProposition 6, Gas Tax Repeal – \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/events/331161234107297/\"> Watch a replay here\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/events/146244569661530/\">Prop 5, Property Tax Transfer – 12 p.m., Oct. 17\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/events/1889420071352971/\">Prop 10, Rent Control – 12 p.m., Oct. 24\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below is a transcript of our episode on Proposition 6. If passed, it would repeal SB 1, the gas tax and vehicle fee increase passed by state lawmakers last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003caside class=\"alignleft\">\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/Bay-Curious-Logo_Final-01.png\" alt=\"\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area. Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/div>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>OLIVIA ALLEN-PRICE: I’m Olivia Allen-Price. This is Bay Curious. Election season is here, and if you’re anything like me, you wait until a day or two before Election Day to cram on the facts and decide how you’ll vote, especially on those confusing California ballot initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each year I vow to do better, to start earlier, to not wait until the last minute. This is that year. Over the next five days we’ll be exploring the 11 statewide propositions that Californians are voting on — not just what the prop is about but also how it came to be on the ballot in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll drop a new episode each day. Some will cover multiple props. Some just one. And by Friday afternoon you and I will be hella informed. We’re calling it Bay Curious Prop Week.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Theme music\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: First up is Proposition 6, the effort to repeal the state’s new gas tax and vehicle fees. It has become one of the top issues for Republicans in California this year. But before we dive into it, let’s first understand how the tax and fees were passed in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STATE LEGISLATURE: Colleagues, we are back in session… if everyone would take their seats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: It’s Apr. 6, 2016. The state Senate had already been in session for nearly three hours by the time they arrived at Senate Bill 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STATE LEGISLATURE: SB 1 is a long-term solution to our transportation infrastructure problem in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KATIE ORR: I remember that night. It was super late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: KQED politics and government reporter Katie Orr was there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: And they got the bare minimum number of votes they needed in each chamber to get it through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STATE LEGISLATURE: Ayes 27, nos 11. The measure passes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: And can you briefly just go through what was SB 1? What were they voting on?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: SB 1 was a gas tax and vehicle fee increase. Gas, normal gas that we all use in our cars, went up by 12 cents a gallon. Diesel fuel went up by 20 cents a gallon. And then car registration fees went up between $25 and $175, depending on the value of the car. So all that money together is expected to bring in $5 billion a year over the next decade. And that money gets split between the state government and local governments to fix freeways, bridges, local roads… various infrastructure projects around the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: Gov. Jerry Brown was a big advocate of SB 1 and right after it passed the Legislature, he held an impromptu press conference outside his office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GOV. JERRY BROWN: I really want to say, I appreciate being a Democrat and what the Democrats did tonight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: And all the Democrats were crowding around him. You know, everyone wants their picture with the governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BROWN: The Democratic Party is the party of doing things, and tonight we did something to fix the roads of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: But it wasn’t too much longer after that when we started hearing talk about recall efforts and efforts to repeal this tax.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NEWS AUDIO: New at 6 o’clock. A new gas tax is set to go into effect in just a couple of months, but it may not be in place for long if one San Diegan has his way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: So take me from that room where Jerry Brown is celebrating his big win, the pass of SB 1. You know, what is happening, what are the Republicans doing, sort of, from that moment through today?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: So we see an organizing effort by various Republicans to try and overturn this new tax. You saw Carl DeMaio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARL DEMAIO: C-A-R-L D-E-capital M-A-I-O. Chairman, Reform California, Yes on 6.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: He was a former city councilman in San Diego. He launched an effort. They got enough signatures, they put it on the ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DEMAIO: The bottom line is we’ve got the second-highest gas tax in the country prior to this increase and yet we have some of the worst roads. Why is that? Well it’s not for lack of money. It’s really for lack of accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: You can make the argument to voters that, ‘hey, you already pay the state a lot of money. They have your money. They don’t need any more to fix the roads. What they need to do is manage the money they have better.’\u003cbr>\n[2018-prop prop=6]\u003cbr>\nALLEN-PRICE: So we get Proposition 6 on the ballot. What are we voting on? What is in Proposition 6?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: So Proposition 6 would repeal the increased gas tax that went into effect in November. So that 12 extra cents on your gallon of gas, that 20 extra cents on your gallon of diesel and those increased fees at the DMV, that would all be repealed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: But that’s not all Prop. 6 would do. KQED transportation editor Dan Brekke explains what else we’re voting on with this prop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DAN BREKKE: The second big part of this is that it would amend the state constitution so that any future gasoline tax increases or increases in the vehicle fees would be subject to approval of the voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: What would that mean for the future if this did pass and you did have that constitutional change?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BREKKE: Well, it becomes politically sort of impossible to get a gas tax increase. I mean, we’ve had all sorts of what they call ballot box budgeting, and this would just be maybe the most radical example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: So it really takes a lot of power away from the Legislature and puts it back with the voters, which some people would see as a great thing. Legislators tend to think that it would leave them a little bit hamstrung.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: So why has this become sort of the marquee issue for Republicans in 2018?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: There was fear, especially in the primary, that they would not have a candidate in the governor’s race. So there was concern that it would be Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa, both Democrats, in November. If that happens, Republicans don’t have a lot of reason to come out to the polls. So they were thinking, ‘well, shoot, we need something on the ballot because this is a huge year for the congressional races as well.’ There are about seven seats in California that Democrats think they have a really good shot at flipping from Republican to Democrat, and if Republican voters aren’t at the polls because they don’t have a candidate, then that makes those odds a lot better for Democrats. So fortunately for the Republicans, they did get a candidate into the November election, John Cox. He’s a businessman from San Diego, but he doesn’t seem to be getting as much traction as Gavin Newsom, and the gas tax is what they’re counting on to get their core voters out to the polls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: Now, even though everyone is talking about this as the gas tax repeal, and they’re talking about what you pay at the pump, Dan says it might actually be the vehicle fee increase that people really notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BREKKE: The fees are steep under SB 1. Your vehicle fee — and then there’s a new transportation fee — is based on the market value of your car. So we bought a car last year, and I get my first vehicle registration form in the mail and the fee is over $400. And over $400 at one time, you feel that. Twelve cents a gallon is sort of a slow drip. This is kind of like a big hit all at once.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: The kind of surprising thing is all this fighting might not even matter in a few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: The interesting thing about the gas tax is we’re having this big argument about it, right? But no matter what they really do, the gas tax is going to keep declining because people are getting more fuel-efficient cars, so they need less gas. Some people are getting electric cars — they don’t need any gas. So fewer and fewer people are actually buying the gas we need them to buy to maintain the roads. So at some point, they’re going to have to come up with a new funding mechanism anyway. And I think if this gas tax is repealed, it would just kind of speed up that process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: Wow. If this passes, if Prop. 6 passes, what happens?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BREKKE: Those taxes and fees are repealed, period, and any future taxes and fee increases will need to be approved by the voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: If this doesn’t pass, what message does that send?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: Well, I think it sends a message that California is facing a lot of issues. I mean, our roads, our cost of living, the increase in the homeless population, and at some point — and Gov. Jerry Brown says this a lot in his speeches — you’re going to have to pay to fix it. Like, sorry. That’s just the reality of the situation. You’re going to have to pay to fix it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: Thanks to KQED reporters Katie Orr and Dan Brekke for walking us through this one. If you’ve still got questions about the gas tax, I’ve got good news for you. We’re hosting a Facebook Live on Oct. 10 about the gas tax, and we’ll be answering your questions. You can go ahead and RSVP ahead of time, so you’ll get this handy reminder when it rolls around. Details at BayCurious.org.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: That’s one prop down and 10 more to go for Prop Week. Tomorrow, we’re talking about whether daylight saving time should be all the time, how much space animals deserve and our state’s favorite topic — water. Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at KQED. I’m Olivia Allen-Price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Bay Curious Prop Week: If Proposition 6 is approved, it would repeal SB 1, the gas tax and vehicle fee increase passed by state lawmakers last year.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1721118436,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": true,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 49,
"wordCount": 1932
},
"headData": {
"title": "What If Californians Repealed the Gas Tax? Proposition 6, Explained | KQED",
"description": "Bay Curious Prop Week: If Proposition 6 is approved, it would repeal SB 1, the gas tax and vehicle fee increase passed by state lawmakers last year.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "What If Californians Repealed the Gas Tax? Proposition 6, Explained",
"datePublished": "2018-10-08T03:00:56-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-07-16T01:27:16-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"source": "Bay Curious",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/10/Prop6.mp3",
"sticky": false,
"audioTrackLength": 622,
"path": "/news/11696663/what-if-californians-repealed-the-gas-tax-prop-6-explained",
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This whole week, Bay Curious is exploring the 11 statewide propositions on the California ballot for a mini-series we’re calling “Bay Curious Prop Week.” Each day, we’re dropping episodes looking at what the propositions are and how they came to be on the ballot in the first place.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can replay our Q&A on\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll also be hosting a series of Facebook Live Q&As.\u003cbr>\nProposition 6, Gas Tax Repeal – \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/events/331161234107297/\"> Watch a replay here\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/events/146244569661530/\">Prop 5, Property Tax Transfer – 12 p.m., Oct. 17\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/events/1889420071352971/\">Prop 10, Rent Control – 12 p.m., Oct. 24\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below is a transcript of our episode on Proposition 6. If passed, it would repeal SB 1, the gas tax and vehicle fee increase passed by state lawmakers last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003caside class=\"alignleft\">\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/Bay-Curious-Logo_Final-01.png\" alt=\"\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area. Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/div>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>OLIVIA ALLEN-PRICE: I’m Olivia Allen-Price. This is Bay Curious. Election season is here, and if you’re anything like me, you wait until a day or two before Election Day to cram on the facts and decide how you’ll vote, especially on those confusing California ballot initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each year I vow to do better, to start earlier, to not wait until the last minute. This is that year. Over the next five days we’ll be exploring the 11 statewide propositions that Californians are voting on — not just what the prop is about but also how it came to be on the ballot in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ll drop a new episode each day. Some will cover multiple props. Some just one. And by Friday afternoon you and I will be hella informed. We’re calling it Bay Curious Prop Week.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Theme music\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: First up is Proposition 6, the effort to repeal the state’s new gas tax and vehicle fees. It has become one of the top issues for Republicans in California this year. But before we dive into it, let’s first understand how the tax and fees were passed in the first place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STATE LEGISLATURE: Colleagues, we are back in session… if everyone would take their seats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: It’s Apr. 6, 2016. The state Senate had already been in session for nearly three hours by the time they arrived at Senate Bill 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STATE LEGISLATURE: SB 1 is a long-term solution to our transportation infrastructure problem in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KATIE ORR: I remember that night. It was super late.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: KQED politics and government reporter Katie Orr was there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: And they got the bare minimum number of votes they needed in each chamber to get it through.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STATE LEGISLATURE: Ayes 27, nos 11. The measure passes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: And can you briefly just go through what was SB 1? What were they voting on?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: SB 1 was a gas tax and vehicle fee increase. Gas, normal gas that we all use in our cars, went up by 12 cents a gallon. Diesel fuel went up by 20 cents a gallon. And then car registration fees went up between $25 and $175, depending on the value of the car. So all that money together is expected to bring in $5 billion a year over the next decade. And that money gets split between the state government and local governments to fix freeways, bridges, local roads… various infrastructure projects around the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: Gov. Jerry Brown was a big advocate of SB 1 and right after it passed the Legislature, he held an impromptu press conference outside his office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>GOV. JERRY BROWN: I really want to say, I appreciate being a Democrat and what the Democrats did tonight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: And all the Democrats were crowding around him. You know, everyone wants their picture with the governor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BROWN: The Democratic Party is the party of doing things, and tonight we did something to fix the roads of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: But it wasn’t too much longer after that when we started hearing talk about recall efforts and efforts to repeal this tax.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NEWS AUDIO: New at 6 o’clock. A new gas tax is set to go into effect in just a couple of months, but it may not be in place for long if one San Diegan has his way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: So take me from that room where Jerry Brown is celebrating his big win, the pass of SB 1. You know, what is happening, what are the Republicans doing, sort of, from that moment through today?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: So we see an organizing effort by various Republicans to try and overturn this new tax. You saw Carl DeMaio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARL DEMAIO: C-A-R-L D-E-capital M-A-I-O. Chairman, Reform California, Yes on 6.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: He was a former city councilman in San Diego. He launched an effort. They got enough signatures, they put it on the ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DEMAIO: The bottom line is we’ve got the second-highest gas tax in the country prior to this increase and yet we have some of the worst roads. Why is that? Well it’s not for lack of money. It’s really for lack of accountability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: You can make the argument to voters that, ‘hey, you already pay the state a lot of money. They have your money. They don’t need any more to fix the roads. What they need to do is manage the money they have better.’\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cbr>\nALLEN-PRICE: So we get Proposition 6 on the ballot. What are we voting on? What is in Proposition 6?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: So Proposition 6 would repeal the increased gas tax that went into effect in November. So that 12 extra cents on your gallon of gas, that 20 extra cents on your gallon of diesel and those increased fees at the DMV, that would all be repealed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: But that’s not all Prop. 6 would do. KQED transportation editor Dan Brekke explains what else we’re voting on with this prop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DAN BREKKE: The second big part of this is that it would amend the state constitution so that any future gasoline tax increases or increases in the vehicle fees would be subject to approval of the voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: What would that mean for the future if this did pass and you did have that constitutional change?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BREKKE: Well, it becomes politically sort of impossible to get a gas tax increase. I mean, we’ve had all sorts of what they call ballot box budgeting, and this would just be maybe the most radical example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: So it really takes a lot of power away from the Legislature and puts it back with the voters, which some people would see as a great thing. Legislators tend to think that it would leave them a little bit hamstrung.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: So why has this become sort of the marquee issue for Republicans in 2018?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: There was fear, especially in the primary, that they would not have a candidate in the governor’s race. So there was concern that it would be Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa, both Democrats, in November. If that happens, Republicans don’t have a lot of reason to come out to the polls. So they were thinking, ‘well, shoot, we need something on the ballot because this is a huge year for the congressional races as well.’ There are about seven seats in California that Democrats think they have a really good shot at flipping from Republican to Democrat, and if Republican voters aren’t at the polls because they don’t have a candidate, then that makes those odds a lot better for Democrats. So fortunately for the Republicans, they did get a candidate into the November election, John Cox. He’s a businessman from San Diego, but he doesn’t seem to be getting as much traction as Gavin Newsom, and the gas tax is what they’re counting on to get their core voters out to the polls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: Now, even though everyone is talking about this as the gas tax repeal, and they’re talking about what you pay at the pump, Dan says it might actually be the vehicle fee increase that people really notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BREKKE: The fees are steep under SB 1. Your vehicle fee — and then there’s a new transportation fee — is based on the market value of your car. So we bought a car last year, and I get my first vehicle registration form in the mail and the fee is over $400. And over $400 at one time, you feel that. Twelve cents a gallon is sort of a slow drip. This is kind of like a big hit all at once.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: The kind of surprising thing is all this fighting might not even matter in a few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: The interesting thing about the gas tax is we’re having this big argument about it, right? But no matter what they really do, the gas tax is going to keep declining because people are getting more fuel-efficient cars, so they need less gas. Some people are getting electric cars — they don’t need any gas. So fewer and fewer people are actually buying the gas we need them to buy to maintain the roads. So at some point, they’re going to have to come up with a new funding mechanism anyway. And I think if this gas tax is repealed, it would just kind of speed up that process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: Wow. If this passes, if Prop. 6 passes, what happens?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BREKKE: Those taxes and fees are repealed, period, and any future taxes and fee increases will need to be approved by the voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: If this doesn’t pass, what message does that send?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ORR: Well, I think it sends a message that California is facing a lot of issues. I mean, our roads, our cost of living, the increase in the homeless population, and at some point — and Gov. Jerry Brown says this a lot in his speeches — you’re going to have to pay to fix it. Like, sorry. That’s just the reality of the situation. You’re going to have to pay to fix it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: Thanks to KQED reporters Katie Orr and Dan Brekke for walking us through this one. If you’ve still got questions about the gas tax, I’ve got good news for you. We’re hosting a Facebook Live on Oct. 10 about the gas tax, and we’ll be answering your questions. You can go ahead and RSVP ahead of time, so you’ll get this handy reminder when it rolls around. Details at BayCurious.org.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ALLEN-PRICE: That’s one prop down and 10 more to go for Prop Week. Tomorrow, we’re talking about whether daylight saving time should be all the time, how much space animals deserve and our state’s favorite topic — water. Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at KQED. I’m Olivia Allen-Price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "baycuriousquestion",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11696663/what-if-californians-repealed-the-gas-tax-prop-6-explained",
"authors": [
"11260",
"102",
"11200",
"222"
],
"programs": [
"news_72",
"news_33523"
],
"series": [
"news_17986"
],
"categories": [
"news_8",
"news_33520",
"news_1397"
],
"tags": [
"news_18426",
"news_28606",
"news_20191",
"news_19105",
"news_17968",
"news_24455",
"news_24207"
],
"featImg": "news_11696820",
"label": "source_news_11696663"
},
"news_11696153": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11696153",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11696153",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1538647251000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1538647251,
"format": "standard",
"title": "7 Things to Know About San Francisco's Tuesday Noon Siren",
"headTitle": "7 Things to Know About San Francisco’s Tuesday Noon Siren | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>If you live or work in San Francisco, you’re likely familiar with the siren that goes off every Tuesday at noon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My entire life I’ve been hearing this siren,” says Bay Curious listener Jennifer Corbell, who grew up in the Sunset District. “Even if I get up in the morning and I know it’s Tuesday, it doesn’t really click for me until I hear that alarm going off.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corbell wanted to know more about the siren, so she asked Bay Curious to look into its history and how it works.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>1. It has a name.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While most San Franciscans probably refer to it as the Tuesday noon siren, its official name is the San Francisco Outdoor Warning System, and it currently includes 114 sirens placed strategically throughout the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>2. It dates back to World War II.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The first sirens were installed in 1942, and they were used to warn citizens of air raids during the war. Today, they would be used to warn people about a natural disaster, like a major earthquake or tsunami.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You could announce in real time over the microphone for people to stay out of this area, or if there was an earthquake and buildings were unsafe you could tell people to evacuate certain areas,” says Joseph Molinari, who oversees the sirens for San Francisco’s Department of Technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>3. It’s a human-powered system.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Every week, an actual human being clicks a mouse to set off the system from inside San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Volunteers with the Auxiliary Communications Service call in reports from where they’re stationed throughout the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they can’t hear the voice, or can’t hear the siren wail in a specific area, they’ll report on that,” says Molinari. “And then I’ll go out there and see if it’s a defect in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The volunteers are all ham radio operators — and each has a license and a call sign from the FCC. There are more than 2,800 licenses issued in San Francisco, though not all of those operators report on the sirens.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>4. They’re all over the city.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You can hear the noon siren in most parts of San Francisco, though speakers are clustered more tightly together downtown than in largely residential areas. This \u003ca href=\"https://sfdem.org/sites/default/files/FileCenter/Documents/1256-siren_map-10-25-11.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">map\u003c/a> shows where the sirens are located.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11696438\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11696438 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Siren.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-800x450.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-160x90.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-960x540.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-240x135.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-375x211.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dozens of ham radio operators around the city call in reports after each noon siren test. \u003ccite>(Anne Wernikoff/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>5. You might recognize the voice.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The voice reading the message after the siren wail belongs to Dave Morey, a longtime radio host with KFOG, now retired.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>6. It has its own Yelp page.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yup. Nineteen people have taken the time to \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/san-francisco-outdoor-warning-system-san-francisco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">review the siren on Yelp\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some people are fans: “Thank you San Francisco Outdoor Warning System for simultaneously promising to keep us safe from future impending disasters, and alerting me to the arrival of lunchtime every Tuesday at noon. Without your help, many Tuesdays I would likely be alerted to fill my belly with food, not by a voice sounding strangely reminiscent of James Earl Jones, but by the rumblings of my own stomach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some, not so much: “With so many other siren options in the area, this one is really not worth your time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Average rating? Four stars. Not bad.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>7. If there’s a real emergency … you’ll know.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>During a real emergency, the Outdoor Warning System will go off for five minutes and have a different voice giving either pre-recorded or live instructions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city has two portable transmitters, so someone can use the system outside the Department of Emergency Management office if needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The siren hasn’t ever been using during a real emergency. Fingers crossed it stays that way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A version of this story was first played on \u003ca href=\"http://www.kalw.org/post/audiograph-s-sound-week-tuesday-noon-siren#stream/0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KALW’s Audiograph\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 683,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 23
},
"modified": 1700596640,
"excerpt": "This weekly siren test even has its own Yelp page. Average rating: 4 stars.",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "This weekly siren test even has its own Yelp page. Average rating: 4 stars.",
"title": "7 Things to Know About San Francisco's Tuesday Noon Siren | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "7 Things to Know About San Francisco's Tuesday Noon Siren",
"datePublished": "2018-10-04T03:00:51-07:00",
"dateModified": "2023-11-21T11:57:20-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "7-things-to-know-about-san-franciscos-tuesday-noon-siren",
"status": "publish",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"nprByline": "\u003cstrong>Julie Caine\u003c/strong>",
"audioTrackLength": 572,
"source": "Bay Curious",
"path": "/news/11696153/7-things-to-know-about-san-franciscos-tuesday-noon-siren",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/10/NoonSiren.mp3",
"audioDuration": 574000,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If you live or work in San Francisco, you’re likely familiar with the siren that goes off every Tuesday at noon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My entire life I’ve been hearing this siren,” says Bay Curious listener Jennifer Corbell, who grew up in the Sunset District. “Even if I get up in the morning and I know it’s Tuesday, it doesn’t really click for me until I hear that alarm going off.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Corbell wanted to know more about the siren, so she asked Bay Curious to look into its history and how it works.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>1. It has a name.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While most San Franciscans probably refer to it as the Tuesday noon siren, its official name is the San Francisco Outdoor Warning System, and it currently includes 114 sirens placed strategically throughout the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>2. It dates back to World War II.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The first sirens were installed in 1942, and they were used to warn citizens of air raids during the war. Today, they would be used to warn people about a natural disaster, like a major earthquake or tsunami.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You could announce in real time over the microphone for people to stay out of this area, or if there was an earthquake and buildings were unsafe you could tell people to evacuate certain areas,” says Joseph Molinari, who oversees the sirens for San Francisco’s Department of Technology.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>3. It’s a human-powered system.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Every week, an actual human being clicks a mouse to set off the system from inside San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Volunteers with the Auxiliary Communications Service call in reports from where they’re stationed throughout the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they can’t hear the voice, or can’t hear the siren wail in a specific area, they’ll report on that,” says Molinari. “And then I’ll go out there and see if it’s a defect in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The volunteers are all ham radio operators — and each has a license and a call sign from the FCC. There are more than 2,800 licenses issued in San Francisco, though not all of those operators report on the sirens.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>4. They’re all over the city.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>You can hear the noon siren in most parts of San Francisco, though speakers are clustered more tightly together downtown than in largely residential areas. This \u003ca href=\"https://sfdem.org/sites/default/files/FileCenter/Documents/1256-siren_map-10-25-11.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">map\u003c/a> shows where the sirens are located.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11696438\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11696438 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"Siren.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-800x450.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-160x90.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-960x540.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-240x135.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-375x211.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/10/noonsiren-520x293.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dozens of ham radio operators around the city call in reports after each noon siren test. \u003ccite>(Anne Wernikoff/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>5. You might recognize the voice.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The voice reading the message after the siren wail belongs to Dave Morey, a longtime radio host with KFOG, now retired.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>6. It has its own Yelp page.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Yup. Nineteen people have taken the time to \u003ca href=\"https://www.yelp.com/biz/san-francisco-outdoor-warning-system-san-francisco\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">review the siren on Yelp\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some people are fans: “Thank you San Francisco Outdoor Warning System for simultaneously promising to keep us safe from future impending disasters, and alerting me to the arrival of lunchtime every Tuesday at noon. Without your help, many Tuesdays I would likely be alerted to fill my belly with food, not by a voice sounding strangely reminiscent of James Earl Jones, but by the rumblings of my own stomach.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some, not so much: “With so many other siren options in the area, this one is really not worth your time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Average rating? Four stars. Not bad.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>7. If there’s a real emergency … you’ll know.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>During a real emergency, the Outdoor Warning System will go off for five minutes and have a different voice giving either pre-recorded or live instructions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city has two portable transmitters, so someone can use the system outside the Department of Emergency Management office if needed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The siren hasn’t ever been using during a real emergency. Fingers crossed it stays that way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>A version of this story was first played on \u003ca href=\"http://www.kalw.org/post/audiograph-s-sound-week-tuesday-noon-siren#stream/0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KALW’s Audiograph\u003c/a>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11696153/7-things-to-know-about-san-franciscos-tuesday-noon-siren",
"authors": [
"byline_news_11696153"
],
"programs": [
"news_33523"
],
"series": [
"news_17986"
],
"categories": [
"news_8",
"news_33520"
],
"tags": [
"news_18426"
],
"featImg": "news_11696207",
"label": "source_news_11696153"
},
"news_11693132": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11693132",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11693132",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1537437643000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "news",
"term": 33523
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1537437643,
"format": "audio",
"title": "The Story Behind Belmont's Painted Fire Hydrants",
"headTitle": "The Story Behind Belmont’s Painted Fire Hydrants | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>After Ben Hilmer and his wife, Sarah, had a baby, he began taking daily walks with his daughter around his \u003ca href=\"https://www.belmont.gov/\">Belmont\u003c/a> Hills neighborhood. He called this trek “dad loop.” And on “dad loop,” a fire hydrant caught his eye. It’s painted as a patriotic character, sporting a fading blue hat, and red-and-white striped pants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before long, Ben was noticing more and more of these decorated hydrants around town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Belmont doesn’t have an established downtown,” he says. “So the hydrants made it feel like a community. It made me proud to be from Belmont.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11693234\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 266px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-11693234\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"Listener Ben Hilmer spied this painted hydrant a block from his house.\" width=\"266\" height=\"355\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-160x213.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-900x1200.jpg 900w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-1180x1573.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-960x1280.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-240x320.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-375x500.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-520x693.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 266px) 100vw, 266px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Listener Ben Hilmer spied this painted hydrant a block from his house. \u003ccite>(Suzie Racho/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now he wants to know more about the hydrants. He asked Bay Curious: “Who painted the fire hydrants? And when were they painted?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Origin Story\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>We took Ben to visit his friendly local historian: Denny Lawhern. Denny has lived in Belmont more than 50 years, and he says the story of the hydrants goes back to the early 1970s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United States was preparing to celebrate its 200th birthday — the Bicentennial — in 1976. Communities around the country hosted parades, fireworks displays and concerts — and a few towns gave their fire hydrants patriotic makeovers. Belmont was among them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea was inspired by a program called “Paint a Plug For America,” which \u003ca href=\"https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-127/issue-2/features/hydrant-gpm-gallery-of-patriotic-miniatures.html\">originated in Indiana.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11693233\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11693233 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo albums at Belmont History Room document all the hydrants painted in the early 1970s, including a few that wouldn’t get the OK today. \u003ccite>(Suzie Racho/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Denny says Belmont was also marking 50 years of cityhood when residents came together to decorate more than 300 of the city’s hydrants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you decided what colors you needed, you came to my house and I gave you little baby-food jars of three colors, or 20 colors, or whatever you needed,” says Judy King, a longtime volunteer with the \u003ca href=\"http://belmonthistoricalsociety.com/\">Belmont Historical Society\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hydrants even got a plug on KQED’s television show, \u003cem>ArtBeat:\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Who Painted Belmont's 'Happy Hydrants'? | Bay Curious\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/fc4qwzTG10g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Belmont’s History Room in Twin Pines Park, Denny shows us three big photo albums documenting the hydrant project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I did a Betsy Ross,” Denny says. “And there are probably four to five Betsy Rosses around town, but all of them are different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the albums are a few designs that definitely wouldn’t get the OK today, including a Chinese man in a coolie hat with a Fu Manchu mustache, and a Native American character called “Chief Running Water.” But Denny says, for the most part, the designs focused on the patriotic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11693230\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11693230 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Belmont Historian Denny Lawhern with Bay Curious listener Ben Hilmer. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Belmont Historian Denny Lawhern with Bay Curious listener Ben Hilmer. \u003ccite>(Suzie Racho/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Hydrants Today\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Over the years, due to age or damage, the army of painted hydrants has shrunk. They were \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Belmont-Says-Bye-To-Bicentennial-Art-Beloved-2973418.php\">almost wiped out\u003c/a> completely in the ’90s, when the 1991 East Bay Hills Fire changed state law. All fire hydrants had to be painted in uniform colors to identify water capacity. But Belmont’s “Happy Hydrants” were saved thanks to \u003ca href=\"http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/97-98/bill/sen/sb_1401-1450/sb_1437_bill_19980622_enrolled.html\">SB 1437\u003c/a>, a bill signed in 1998. It allowed Belmont to use color-coded reflector buttons and curb markings near the decorated hydrants, instead of covering over their dapper duds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11693228\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 333px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11693228\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A hydrant near city hall commemorates State Senator Quentin Kopp and his bill, SB-1437 , which saved Belmont's 'Happy Hydrants.'\" width=\"333\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 333px) 100vw, 333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A hydrant near City Hall commemorates former state senator Quentin Kopp and his bill, SB 1437, which saved Belmont’s ‘Happy Hydrants.’ \u003ccite>(Suzie Racho/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today, Denny thinks there are only about 50 to 60 of the more than 300 original painted hydrants left. And most are in rough shape. He says that a lot of the painted hydrants were in front of people’s houses, and that upkeep dried up as families moved away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have been a few Independence Day paintings after the Bicentennial, but nothing official. Denny hopes they can get enough interest to repaint them for Belmont’s 100th anniversary in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": true,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 684,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": true,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 21
},
"modified": 1700596661,
"excerpt": "Fire hydrants in this town have one-of-a-kind paint jobs that date back to the early 1970s. ",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Fire hydrants in this town have one-of-a-kind paint jobs that date back to the early 1970s. ",
"title": "The Story Behind Belmont's Painted Fire Hydrants | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "The Story Behind Belmont's Painted Fire Hydrants",
"datePublished": "2018-09-20T03:00:43-07:00",
"dateModified": "2023-11-21T11:57:41-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "the-story-behind-belmonts-painted-fire-hydrants",
"status": "publish",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/09/Hydrants.mp3",
"audioTrackLength": 367,
"path": "/news/11693132/the-story-behind-belmonts-painted-fire-hydrants",
"audioDuration": 376000,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After Ben Hilmer and his wife, Sarah, had a baby, he began taking daily walks with his daughter around his \u003ca href=\"https://www.belmont.gov/\">Belmont\u003c/a> Hills neighborhood. He called this trek “dad loop.” And on “dad loop,” a fire hydrant caught his eye. It’s painted as a patriotic character, sporting a fading blue hat, and red-and-white striped pants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before long, Ben was noticing more and more of these decorated hydrants around town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Belmont doesn’t have an established downtown,” he says. “So the hydrants made it feel like a community. It made me proud to be from Belmont.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11693234\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 266px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\" wp-image-11693234\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"Listener Ben Hilmer spied this painted hydrant a block from his house.\" width=\"266\" height=\"355\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-160x213.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-900x1200.jpg 900w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-1180x1573.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-960x1280.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-240x320.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-375x500.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32860_P1060108-qut-520x693.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 266px) 100vw, 266px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Listener Ben Hilmer spied this painted hydrant a block from his house. \u003ccite>(Suzie Racho/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now he wants to know more about the hydrants. He asked Bay Curious: “Who painted the fire hydrants? And when were they painted?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The Origin Story\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>We took Ben to visit his friendly local historian: Denny Lawhern. Denny has lived in Belmont more than 50 years, and he says the story of the hydrants goes back to the early 1970s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The United States was preparing to celebrate its 200th birthday — the Bicentennial — in 1976. Communities around the country hosted parades, fireworks displays and concerts — and a few towns gave their fire hydrants patriotic makeovers. Belmont was among them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The idea was inspired by a program called “Paint a Plug For America,” which \u003ca href=\"https://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-127/issue-2/features/hydrant-gpm-gallery-of-patriotic-miniatures.html\">originated in Indiana.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11693233\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11693233 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32875_P1060123-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo albums at Belmont History Room document all the hydrants painted in the early 1970s, including a few that wouldn’t get the OK today. \u003ccite>(Suzie Racho/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Denny says Belmont was also marking 50 years of cityhood when residents came together to decorate more than 300 of the city’s hydrants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you decided what colors you needed, you came to my house and I gave you little baby-food jars of three colors, or 20 colors, or whatever you needed,” says Judy King, a longtime volunteer with the \u003ca href=\"http://belmonthistoricalsociety.com/\">Belmont Historical Society\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hydrants even got a plug on KQED’s television show, \u003cem>ArtBeat:\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Who Painted Belmont's 'Happy Hydrants'? | Bay Curious\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/fc4qwzTG10g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Belmont’s History Room in Twin Pines Park, Denny shows us three big photo albums documenting the hydrant project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I did a Betsy Ross,” Denny says. “And there are probably four to five Betsy Rosses around town, but all of them are different.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the albums are a few designs that definitely wouldn’t get the OK today, including a Chinese man in a coolie hat with a Fu Manchu mustache, and a Native American character called “Chief Running Water.” But Denny says, for the most part, the designs focused on the patriotic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11693230\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11693230 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Belmont Historian Denny Lawhern with Bay Curious listener Ben Hilmer. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32916_P1060164-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Belmont Historian Denny Lawhern with Bay Curious listener Ben Hilmer. \u003ccite>(Suzie Racho/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The Hydrants Today\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Over the years, due to age or damage, the army of painted hydrants has shrunk. They were \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Belmont-Says-Bye-To-Bicentennial-Art-Beloved-2973418.php\">almost wiped out\u003c/a> completely in the ’90s, when the 1991 East Bay Hills Fire changed state law. All fire hydrants had to be painted in uniform colors to identify water capacity. But Belmont’s “Happy Hydrants” were saved thanks to \u003ca href=\"http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/97-98/bill/sen/sb_1401-1450/sb_1437_bill_19980622_enrolled.html\">SB 1437\u003c/a>, a bill signed in 1998. It allowed Belmont to use color-coded reflector buttons and curb markings near the decorated hydrants, instead of covering over their dapper duds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11693228\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 333px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11693228\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"A hydrant near city hall commemorates State Senator Quentin Kopp and his bill, SB-1437 , which saved Belmont's 'Happy Hydrants.'\" width=\"333\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-1200x900.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/RS32870_P1060118-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 333px) 100vw, 333px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A hydrant near City Hall commemorates former state senator Quentin Kopp and his bill, SB 1437, which saved Belmont’s ‘Happy Hydrants.’ \u003ccite>(Suzie Racho/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Today, Denny thinks there are only about 50 to 60 of the more than 300 original painted hydrants left. And most are in rough shape. He says that a lot of the painted hydrants were in front of people’s houses, and that upkeep dried up as families moved away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have been a few Independence Day paintings after the Bicentennial, but nothing official. Denny hopes they can get enough interest to repaint them for Belmont’s 100th anniversary in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "baycuriousquestion",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11693132/the-story-behind-belmonts-painted-fire-hydrants",
"authors": [
"107"
],
"programs": [
"news_33523"
],
"series": [
"news_17986"
],
"categories": [
"news_8",
"news_33520"
],
"tags": [
"news_18426",
"news_983"
],
"featImg": "news_11693231",
"label": "news_33523"
},
"news_11691500": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11691500",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11691500",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1536832808000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "could-creating-one-bay-area-city-solve-the-housing-crisis",
"title": "Could Creating One Bay Area City Solve the Housing Crisis?",
"publishDate": 1536832808,
"format": "image",
"headTitle": "Could Creating One Bay Area City Solve the Housing Crisis? | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cp>Reid Williamson is an urban planning nerd. He lives in Oakland and was recently on a trip to Los Angeles and was struck by it’s size and how long you could take to cross that single city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whereas up here, many people drive through multiple cities just to get to work each day. And those cities aren’t always working together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So Cupertino adds jobs at Apple, and Cupertino says, ‘We’ll pass on housing, it’s not our thing.’ And then the next town over says, ‘That’s not our thing either.’ And all of a sudden you’re all the way in Tracy,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reid wonders if there’s a way to stop cities from “passing” on building housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He asked Bay Curious: “If the Bay Area united to become one city, would that solve some of our problems?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How Things Are Now\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Downtown Redwood City has a lot to offer its residents — transit lines that connect to all over the Bay Area, a variety of restaurants and shops, and plenty of jobs in its many office buildings. To Maureen Sedonaen, CEO at Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco, it was an ideal place for a new affordable housing project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, Sedonaen proposed a nine-story building with 46 units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The housing crisis] is a national problem. It’s a statewide problem. And in particular it’s heightened and underlined in our region,” Sedonaen says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But to win approval from the city, Habitat’s proposal was cut by more than half — down to 20 units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then a neighbor, with a history of obstructing development projects, \u003ca href=\"http://www.capradio.org/articles/2018/07/09/is-californias-legacy-environmental-law-protecting-the-states-beauty-or-blocking-affordable-housing/\">halted the project\u003c/a> for more than a year. He cited an environmental concern, saying the building would increase traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than three years later, the lot Sedonaen hopes to build on still sits empty with a price tag that keeps on growing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks are going to live next door to people who tried to stop them from having their home. And that’s hard,” Sedonaen says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the housing crisis is a regional problem, local governments and their constituents have a huge say on how much affordable housing to allow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people in the Bay Area, particularly those that have stable housing, are very comfortable. They like what they have. When they see something new, they see only the downsides of the new,” says Egon Terplan, regional planning director at SPUR, a nonprofit focused on planning and government in the Bay Area. “We in California have turned over the idea of how much housing effectively to allow to the smallest unit of government, to a local government, which is the city, or the county in unincorporated areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When land use is decided by local governments, it’s easier for vocal locals to protest projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The people that are making the decision about how much growth to have in a community are the people who are there now,” Terplan says. “These voters tend to be slightly older and tend to be homeowners. … They’re not necessarily thinking about the next generation, or the millions of people who would like to be a part of this region.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Locals protest new buildings for all kinds of reasons. They might say that a development is ugly, it blocks the sun, it isn’t affordable or it will create traffic. Terplan says while traffic fears could be addressed by building densely around transit, or creating more bike-friendly streets, for some it still might be too much change too fast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11691520\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11691520\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-1020x695.jpg\" alt=\"The flow of traffic on the Bay Bridge\" width=\"640\" height=\"436\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-1020x695.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-800x545.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-1200x818.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-1180x804.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-960x654.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-240x164.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-375x255.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-520x354.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The flow of traffic on the Bay Bridge \u003ccite>(David Yu/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Politicians have lost their jobs for being to willing to develop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Redwood City had a very good plan for growing its downtown, and evolving and enabling growth around rail. Lots of people moving there weren’t driving their cars. But a bunch of [politicians] that supported that development got thrown out,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s resistance to change in cities across the Bay Area. You can find NIMBYism in Mountain View, Berkeley, Brisbane, the list goes on, and all that can compound — and we end up with less housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what if it wasn’t local governments who had the power? What if, as Reid asked, plans came from the region instead?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11691521\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11691521 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"An aerial view of the new Apple headquarters on April 28, 2017 in Cupertino, California. Apple's new 'spaceship' 175-acre campus dubbed "Apple Park" is nearing completion and is set to begin moving in Apple employees. The new headquarters, designed by Lord Norman Foster and costing roughly $5 billion, will house 13,000 employees in over 2.8 million square feet of office space and will have nearly 80 acres of parking to accommodate 11,000 cars. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-520x347.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of the new Apple headquarters on April 28, 2017, in Cupertino, California. The new headquarters will house 13,000 employees in over 2.8 million square feet of office space and will have nearly 80 acres of parking to accommodate 11,000 cars. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>If We Were One City\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>There are no serious proposals to unite the Bay Area into one city, but we thought it was an interesting question. After all, this region has a legacy of regional projects like the Save the Bay movement, which halted large-scale polluters and stopped cities from paving over the San Francisco Bay. Our regional parks are another example, which preserved the hills of the East Bay and the coast of Marin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what if we looked at a regional approach to housing? Could we save millennials, seniors, locals and future locals like we saved the bay?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Creating a City\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>We’re creating a hypothetical city. Let’s call it Reid Land (named after the question asker).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What are the boundaries of Reid Land? This is an oversimplification, but let’s say it includes all nine counties of the Bay Area. That would include 101 cities, around 7,000 square miles and an estimated 7.7 million people. For comparison, the city of Los Angeles has almost 4 million people on about 470 square miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget of Reid Land would be huge. According to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.bayareaeconomy.org/files/pdf/BayAreaEconomicProfile2018Web.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bay Area Council Economic Institute\u003c/a>, if the Bay Area were a country, it’d be the 19th largest economy in the world — smaller than the Netherlands, larger than Switzerland. Money collected from regional taxes would be spent regionally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You would be thinking about where are the best places to grow in such a way we’re really getting development around our transportation infrastructure so that people aren’t going to drive as much,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11691530\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11691530\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-1020x651.jpg\" alt=\"Sunrise at an Oakland BART station\" width=\"640\" height=\"408\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-1020x651.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-160x102.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-800x511.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-960x613.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-240x153.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-375x240.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-520x332.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sunrise at an Oakland BART station \u003ccite>(Thomas Hawk/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In this fictional scenario, the city might take underutilized land and build tall mixed-housing developments. Each building would have affordable housing, and there would be businesses and green space. Bike lanes would cross these super-dense neighborhoods and a train stop would be conveniently located at each neighborhood center. These trains could whisk you across the whole region, so traffic would be reduced and people could move about Reid Land easier and cheaper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just think about all the things that New York City accomplished that didn’t happen here — 24-hour rail service connecting across these places,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Drawbacks to One City\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>There are drawbacks to Reid Land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, “If all transit was merged together, you might not have as much bus service in San Francisco as you do today because you would start spreading those resources across a bigger geography. And so for people that rely on transit in San Francisco, they would see that as a loss,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another consequence of amalgamating all these cities is that it would change voting demographics. People might not have their local interests represented. For example, urban constituents might be outvoted by suburban constituents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would point to Toronto as a city that kind of did this to a certain extent. They expanded outward and had a much larger city. And at times you would have a mayor who represented a much different perspective from the traditional urban core,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Metropolitan Toronto amalgamated its six boroughs in 1998, it was very controversial. Twenty years later, people still debate if it was a good decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also not clear if creating a single city would solve our housing problems. City council members might still find ways to block projects that would threaten the character of their neighborhoods, and vocal residents could continue to find ways to stop projects they found objectionable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, this whole thing is pretty unrealistic — 101 cities are unlikely to give up control to a single governing body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Alternatives\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>We don’t need to have a single megacity to solve regional problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We have regional institutions that are thinking about big-picture issues facing the Bay Area. The problem is they don’t enforce plans or dole out consequences if cities don’t comply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An alternative might be that regional plans and goals for housing become binding for cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One idea is a cap-and-trade program, but with housing. Each community would have a certain amount of housing and affordable housing it must build, and if a community doesn’t want to see that development in its own backyard, it could give money to an adjacent community to build that housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps, most realistically, it might just mean more collaboration, like in the case of transportation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How would it work if all the rail systems in the Bay Area really felt like one? You don’t have to merge them all together. But from a customer, it’s got to feel like a merger,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are collaborations currently underway. \u003ca href=\"https://mtc.ca.gov/our-work/plans-projects/casa-committee-house-bay-area\">CASA\u003c/a> (The Committee to House the Bay Area) meets roughly once a month with an aim to build actionable political consensus among Bay Area leaders. That said, in all likelihood, it wouldn’t support a single Bay Area city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What does the question asker, Reid, make of all of this?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If California is growing at X percent a year, we need X percent more gas stations we need X percent more day cares we need X percent more grocery stores. … We need X percent of everything. And so it’s how do we convince each area to grow at that rate? Or how do you do the cap-and-trade … which is pretty cool.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Thanks to Ben Bradford for his reporting on Redwood City.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: the drive from the Getty to Manhattan beach goes through multiple cities, not just Los Angeles.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "What if we looked at a regional approach to housing? Could we save millennials, seniors, locals and future locals like we saved the bay?",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1725923124,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": true,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 52,
"wordCount": 1771
},
"headData": {
"title": "Could Creating One Bay Area City Solve the Housing Crisis? | KQED",
"description": "What if we looked at a regional approach to housing? Could we save millennials, seniors, locals and future locals like we saved the bay?",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Could Creating One Bay Area City Solve the Housing Crisis?",
"datePublished": "2018-09-13T03:00:08-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-09T16:05:24-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"source": "Bay Curious",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/09/OneCity.mp3",
"sticky": false,
"audioTrackLength": 564,
"path": "/news/11691500/could-creating-one-bay-area-city-solve-the-housing-crisis",
"audioDuration": 579000,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Reid Williamson is an urban planning nerd. He lives in Oakland and was recently on a trip to Los Angeles and was struck by it’s size and how long you could take to cross that single city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whereas up here, many people drive through multiple cities just to get to work each day. And those cities aren’t always working together.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So Cupertino adds jobs at Apple, and Cupertino says, ‘We’ll pass on housing, it’s not our thing.’ And then the next town over says, ‘That’s not our thing either.’ And all of a sudden you’re all the way in Tracy,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reid wonders if there’s a way to stop cities from “passing” on building housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He asked Bay Curious: “If the Bay Area united to become one city, would that solve some of our problems?”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How Things Are Now\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Downtown Redwood City has a lot to offer its residents — transit lines that connect to all over the Bay Area, a variety of restaurants and shops, and plenty of jobs in its many office buildings. To Maureen Sedonaen, CEO at Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco, it was an ideal place for a new affordable housing project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, Sedonaen proposed a nine-story building with 46 units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[The housing crisis] is a national problem. It’s a statewide problem. And in particular it’s heightened and underlined in our region,” Sedonaen says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But to win approval from the city, Habitat’s proposal was cut by more than half — down to 20 units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then a neighbor, with a history of obstructing development projects, \u003ca href=\"http://www.capradio.org/articles/2018/07/09/is-californias-legacy-environmental-law-protecting-the-states-beauty-or-blocking-affordable-housing/\">halted the project\u003c/a> for more than a year. He cited an environmental concern, saying the building would increase traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than three years later, the lot Sedonaen hopes to build on still sits empty with a price tag that keeps on growing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks are going to live next door to people who tried to stop them from having their home. And that’s hard,” Sedonaen says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the housing crisis is a regional problem, local governments and their constituents have a huge say on how much affordable housing to allow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of people in the Bay Area, particularly those that have stable housing, are very comfortable. They like what they have. When they see something new, they see only the downsides of the new,” says Egon Terplan, regional planning director at SPUR, a nonprofit focused on planning and government in the Bay Area. “We in California have turned over the idea of how much housing effectively to allow to the smallest unit of government, to a local government, which is the city, or the county in unincorporated areas.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When land use is decided by local governments, it’s easier for vocal locals to protest projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The people that are making the decision about how much growth to have in a community are the people who are there now,” Terplan says. “These voters tend to be slightly older and tend to be homeowners. … They’re not necessarily thinking about the next generation, or the millions of people who would like to be a part of this region.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Locals protest new buildings for all kinds of reasons. They might say that a development is ugly, it blocks the sun, it isn’t affordable or it will create traffic. Terplan says while traffic fears could be addressed by building densely around transit, or creating more bike-friendly streets, for some it still might be too much change too fast.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11691520\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11691520\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-1020x695.jpg\" alt=\"The flow of traffic on the Bay Bridge\" width=\"640\" height=\"436\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-1020x695.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-160x109.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-800x545.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-1200x818.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-1180x804.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-960x654.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-240x164.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-375x255.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h-520x354.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/15766762449_e9aa1ebc7a_h.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The flow of traffic on the Bay Bridge \u003ccite>(David Yu/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Politicians have lost their jobs for being to willing to develop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Redwood City had a very good plan for growing its downtown, and evolving and enabling growth around rail. Lots of people moving there weren’t driving their cars. But a bunch of [politicians] that supported that development got thrown out,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s resistance to change in cities across the Bay Area. You can find NIMBYism in Mountain View, Berkeley, Brisbane, the list goes on, and all that can compound — and we end up with less housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what if it wasn’t local governments who had the power? What if, as Reid asked, plans came from the region instead?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11691521\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11691521 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"An aerial view of the new Apple headquarters on April 28, 2017 in Cupertino, California. Apple's new 'spaceship' 175-acre campus dubbed "Apple Park" is nearing completion and is set to begin moving in Apple employees. The new headquarters, designed by Lord Norman Foster and costing roughly $5 billion, will house 13,000 employees in over 2.8 million square feet of office space and will have nearly 80 acres of parking to accommodate 11,000 cars. \" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-960x640.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-375x250.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260-520x347.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/GettyImages-674538260.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An aerial view of the new Apple headquarters on April 28, 2017, in Cupertino, California. The new headquarters will house 13,000 employees in over 2.8 million square feet of office space and will have nearly 80 acres of parking to accommodate 11,000 cars. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>If We Were One City\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>There are no serious proposals to unite the Bay Area into one city, but we thought it was an interesting question. After all, this region has a legacy of regional projects like the Save the Bay movement, which halted large-scale polluters and stopped cities from paving over the San Francisco Bay. Our regional parks are another example, which preserved the hills of the East Bay and the coast of Marin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what if we looked at a regional approach to housing? Could we save millennials, seniors, locals and future locals like we saved the bay?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Creating a City\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>We’re creating a hypothetical city. Let’s call it Reid Land (named after the question asker).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What are the boundaries of Reid Land? This is an oversimplification, but let’s say it includes all nine counties of the Bay Area. That would include 101 cities, around 7,000 square miles and an estimated 7.7 million people. For comparison, the city of Los Angeles has almost 4 million people on about 470 square miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget of Reid Land would be huge. According to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.bayareaeconomy.org/files/pdf/BayAreaEconomicProfile2018Web.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bay Area Council Economic Institute\u003c/a>, if the Bay Area were a country, it’d be the 19th largest economy in the world — smaller than the Netherlands, larger than Switzerland. Money collected from regional taxes would be spent regionally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You would be thinking about where are the best places to grow in such a way we’re really getting development around our transportation infrastructure so that people aren’t going to drive as much,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11691530\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11691530\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-1020x651.jpg\" alt=\"Sunrise at an Oakland BART station\" width=\"640\" height=\"408\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-1020x651.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-160x102.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-800x511.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-960x613.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-240x153.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-375x240.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b-520x332.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/09/92733663_d2efaa401c_b.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sunrise at an Oakland BART station \u003ccite>(Thomas Hawk/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In this fictional scenario, the city might take underutilized land and build tall mixed-housing developments. Each building would have affordable housing, and there would be businesses and green space. Bike lanes would cross these super-dense neighborhoods and a train stop would be conveniently located at each neighborhood center. These trains could whisk you across the whole region, so traffic would be reduced and people could move about Reid Land easier and cheaper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just think about all the things that New York City accomplished that didn’t happen here — 24-hour rail service connecting across these places,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Drawbacks to One City\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>There are drawbacks to Reid Land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, “If all transit was merged together, you might not have as much bus service in San Francisco as you do today because you would start spreading those resources across a bigger geography. And so for people that rely on transit in San Francisco, they would see that as a loss,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another consequence of amalgamating all these cities is that it would change voting demographics. People might not have their local interests represented. For example, urban constituents might be outvoted by suburban constituents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would point to Toronto as a city that kind of did this to a certain extent. They expanded outward and had a much larger city. And at times you would have a mayor who represented a much different perspective from the traditional urban core,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Metropolitan Toronto amalgamated its six boroughs in 1998, it was very controversial. Twenty years later, people still debate if it was a good decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also not clear if creating a single city would solve our housing problems. City council members might still find ways to block projects that would threaten the character of their neighborhoods, and vocal residents could continue to find ways to stop projects they found objectionable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, this whole thing is pretty unrealistic — 101 cities are unlikely to give up control to a single governing body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Alternatives\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>We don’t need to have a single megacity to solve regional problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We have regional institutions that are thinking about big-picture issues facing the Bay Area. The problem is they don’t enforce plans or dole out consequences if cities don’t comply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An alternative might be that regional plans and goals for housing become binding for cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One idea is a cap-and-trade program, but with housing. Each community would have a certain amount of housing and affordable housing it must build, and if a community doesn’t want to see that development in its own backyard, it could give money to an adjacent community to build that housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps, most realistically, it might just mean more collaboration, like in the case of transportation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How would it work if all the rail systems in the Bay Area really felt like one? You don’t have to merge them all together. But from a customer, it’s got to feel like a merger,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are collaborations currently underway. \u003ca href=\"https://mtc.ca.gov/our-work/plans-projects/casa-committee-house-bay-area\">CASA\u003c/a> (The Committee to House the Bay Area) meets roughly once a month with an aim to build actionable political consensus among Bay Area leaders. That said, in all likelihood, it wouldn’t support a single Bay Area city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What does the question asker, Reid, make of all of this?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If California is growing at X percent a year, we need X percent more gas stations we need X percent more day cares we need X percent more grocery stores. … We need X percent of everything. And so it’s how do we convince each area to grow at that rate? Or how do you do the cap-and-trade … which is pretty cool.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Thanks to Ben Bradford for his reporting on Redwood City.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Correction: the drive from the Getty to Manhattan beach goes through multiple cities, not just Los Angeles.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "baycuriousquestion",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11691500/could-creating-one-bay-area-city-solve-the-housing-crisis",
"authors": [
"8606"
],
"programs": [
"news_72",
"news_33523"
],
"series": [
"news_17986"
],
"categories": [
"news_6266",
"news_8",
"news_33520"
],
"tags": [
"news_1386",
"news_18426",
"news_20472",
"news_1775"
],
"featImg": "news_11691517",
"label": "source_news_11691500"
},
"news_11689315": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11689315",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11689315",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1536228008000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1536228008,
"format": "audio",
"title": "How Do You Define the 'Bay Area'?",
"headTitle": "How Do You Define the ‘Bay Area’? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>It’s the regional name you hear all the time – the San Francisco Bay Area. In more casual conversation, it’s the Bay Area, or the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But where the boundaries of this region are will vary according to who you ask.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kristen Goldthorpe and her nephew Chase Osterman have been arguing about this for at least a year. They email each other articles and Osterman sends his aunt memes, like this one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/BichOC9h-2I/?utm_source=ig_embed\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Goldthorpe is the traditionalist. “The official definition is the nine county definition,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. Among these nine counties are 101 cities, an estimated 7.756 million people and about 7,000 square miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Osterman argues those borders are too broad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me the characteristics are based off geography. If you’re in an area where you can see saltwater – that’s the Bay Area. If you have a bridge, if you get fog from the bay, then that’s the Bay Area,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So places like Pleasanton? Not in Bay Area by Osterman’s definition. Pleasanton is separated from the water by hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11689320\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 252px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11689320\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/BayAreaCounties10-1.gif\" alt=\"Nine counties in the Bay Area\" width=\"252\" height=\"276\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nine counties in the Bay Area \u003ccite>(Bay Area Census)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Part of what makes the Bay Area hard to define is that we have three central cities — Oakland, San Jose and San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet for some, even those cities are up for debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take for example, my roommate. She doesn’t count San Jose because, so far, it’s not along BART, which is her idea of the Bay Area. Osterman also says San Jose should be considered part of a separate region – Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Silicon Valley and the Bay Area are often used interchangeably, \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/msa_def.htm#41940\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">data analysts\u003c/a> do sometimes group San Francisco and Oakland as a separate metro area from San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The Origins of ‘The San Francisco Bay Area’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>References to the term “The San Francisco Bay Area” first show up on maps in the early 1900s. But the borders weren’t consistent, and some references included Santa Cruz and San Joaquin counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During World War II the region was growing very quickly, and a lot of the industrial development of the region was happening along the Bay shoreline,” says Egon Terplan, the regional planning director at SPUR, a Bay Area civic organization and urban planning policy group. “It was planners during WWII who defined the San Francisco Bay Area as nine counties, and that’s the definition that’s stuck.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regional agencies still use the nine county definition. To help you remember each of those nine counties, we asked two local musicians, Alison Faith Levy and Henry Plotnick, to make us a jingle. And oh, is it catchy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[audio src=\"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/09/BayAreaNineCountyJingle.mp3\" Image=\"\" Title=\"The Nine County Bay Area Jingle!\" program=\"Bay Curious\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are other ways to slice and dice where we live.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Expanding the Concept\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“There is no kind of perfect definition of what a region is. It really depends what it is we’re trying to define,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The boundaries might come down to \u003cem>why\u003c/em> you’re looking at the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider first how the Bay Area is experienced as a commuter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As this region has gotten exorbitantly expensive, people continued to move further out both within those nine counties, and then to adjacent counties,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While these people no longer live in the Bay Area, they still might work, shop, eat and go to church here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking at \u003ca href=\"https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0166083\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a map \u003c/a>of Bay Area commutes, you’ll see well-worn commute routes extending to Stockton, Modesto, Santa Cruz and even Sacramento. Even if they don’t live within the traditional boundaries, these commuters are part of the Bay Area fabric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11689321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11689321\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-1020x1236.png\" alt=\"A heat map of commutes in Northern California reveals the urbanized core of the Bay Area, Sacramento and Central Valley cities, as well as the workers who flow into and out of each. Source: Dash Nelson G, Rae A (2016) An Economic Geography of the United States: From Commutes to Megaregions. PLoS ONE 11(11): e0166083. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166083\" width=\"640\" height=\"776\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-1020x1236.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-160x194.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-800x970.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-990x1200.png 990w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-1920x2327.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-1180x1430.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-960x1164.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-240x291.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-375x455.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-520x630.png 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes.png 1976w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A heat map of commutes in Northern California. Source: Dash Nelson G, Rae A (2016) An Economic Geography of the United States: From Commutes to Megaregions. PLoS ONE 11(11): e0166083. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166083\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Are we more than the nine counties then? Are we 11 counties? Or even more?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Don’t Go Too Far\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“We can’t just keep expanding the boundary because at some point you get to the state of California, or you get to the nation, you get to these much larger areas,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nine county definition at least puts a limit on it, but if you ask the average person, they have no idea where those county lines are. And honestly, when most people talk about the Bay Area, they’re not talking about economics or county borders, they’re talking about a cultural place.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Defining Us By Our Culture\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>If we use a cultural lens, how might we define the Bay Area?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s start with food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might think California cuisine – the organic, local, farm-to-table goods served at Chez Panisse or The French Laundry. Or you might think of dishes made by the many immigrant groups that have made this place home – lumpia, hand-pulled noodles, injera or tikka masala. Once you start to think about it, there is no \u003cem>one\u003c/em> taste of the Bay Area. It’s our diversity that defines us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next let’s consider the lens of sports. Do our beloved Golden State Warriors define us? Perhaps wherever you can find Dub Nation, that’s what you can call the Bay? This definition would include places like Fresno, and even pockets of New York City. Fresno is a stretch, though debatable. But New York City? Definitely not the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11512643\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11512643\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephen Curry lifts the NBA Championship trophy to Warriors fans lining Lake Merritt. \u003ccite>(Adam Grossberg/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What about music? Growing up, I remember rappers shouting out the Bay Area. I asked rap journalist Eric Arnold where these artists are representing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know Oakland has, I would say, the lion’s share of the talent, but you can find rappers all over the nine counties. There’s been hip-hop that’s come out of San Mateo. There’s been hip-hop that’s come out of Pittsburg,” Arnold says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just like it’s hard to identify one Bay Area taste, it’s hard to identify one Bay Area sound, he says. There have been a plethora of styles and eras – too hard to put a boundary around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Could it be our politics? Bay Area voters do have a reputation, and track record, for being left leaning. Take the 2016 presidential election. The closer you get to the San Francisco Bay, the more “blue” a district gets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11689356\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11689356\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-1020x669.png\" alt=\"2016 Presidential Election Results\" width=\"640\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-1020x669.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-160x105.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-800x525.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-1200x787.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-1180x774.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-960x630.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-240x157.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-375x246.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-520x341.png 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM.png 1820w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">2016 Presidential Election Results \u003ccite>(\u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-pol-ca-california-neighborhood-election-results/\">\u003c/a> via LATimes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If you look at voting patterns, one of the things that seems pretty strong in the Bay identity is an association with environmental values,” Terplan says. “Every part of the Bay Area has done something to preserve open space at the edges of its community. Santa Clara County has an urban growth boundary, Marin County restricted development on two-thirds of the land, and the East Bay Regional Parks cut across two counties.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, not everybody is in step with the same politics or environmental values.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What does unite us all? The thing nobody can ignore? How \u003cem>expensive\u003c/em> the Bay Area is. Cost of living is a definition that came up over and over again when I asked people how they define the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a pretty grim outlook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, easiest to stick with the nine county definition, but if we’re looking at the Bay Area as a cultural place it’s pretty hard to put a border on that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\n",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": true,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1351,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": true,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 41
},
"modified": 1700596681,
"excerpt": "Where the boundaries of this region are will vary according to who you ask and what you're looking to define.",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Where the boundaries of this region are will vary according to who you ask and what you're looking to define.",
"title": "How Do You Define the 'Bay Area'? | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "How Do You Define the 'Bay Area'?",
"datePublished": "2018-09-06T03:00:08-07:00",
"dateModified": "2023-11-21T11:58:01-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "how-do-you-define-the-bay-area-2",
"status": "publish",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/09/DefineBay.mp3",
"audioTrackLength": 503,
"source": "Bay Curious",
"path": "/news/11689315/how-do-you-define-the-bay-area-2",
"audioDuration": 511000,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s the regional name you hear all the time – the San Francisco Bay Area. In more casual conversation, it’s the Bay Area, or the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But where the boundaries of this region are will vary according to who you ask.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kristen Goldthorpe and her nephew Chase Osterman have been arguing about this for at least a year. They email each other articles and Osterman sends his aunt memes, like this one.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "instagramLink",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"instagramUrl": "https://www.instagram.com/p/BichOC9h-2I/?utm_source=ig_embed"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Goldthorpe is the traditionalist. “The official definition is the nine county definition,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. Among these nine counties are 101 cities, an estimated 7.756 million people and about 7,000 square miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Osterman argues those borders are too broad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me the characteristics are based off geography. If you’re in an area where you can see saltwater – that’s the Bay Area. If you have a bridge, if you get fog from the bay, then that’s the Bay Area,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So places like Pleasanton? Not in Bay Area by Osterman’s definition. Pleasanton is separated from the water by hills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11689320\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 252px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11689320\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/BayAreaCounties10-1.gif\" alt=\"Nine counties in the Bay Area\" width=\"252\" height=\"276\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nine counties in the Bay Area \u003ccite>(Bay Area Census)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Part of what makes the Bay Area hard to define is that we have three central cities — Oakland, San Jose and San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet for some, even those cities are up for debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take for example, my roommate. She doesn’t count San Jose because, so far, it’s not along BART, which is her idea of the Bay Area. Osterman also says San Jose should be considered part of a separate region – Silicon Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Silicon Valley and the Bay Area are often used interchangeably, \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/msa_def.htm#41940\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">data analysts\u003c/a> do sometimes group San Francisco and Oakland as a separate metro area from San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The Origins of ‘The San Francisco Bay Area’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>References to the term “The San Francisco Bay Area” first show up on maps in the early 1900s. But the borders weren’t consistent, and some references included Santa Cruz and San Joaquin counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During World War II the region was growing very quickly, and a lot of the industrial development of the region was happening along the Bay shoreline,” says Egon Terplan, the regional planning director at SPUR, a Bay Area civic organization and urban planning policy group. “It was planners during WWII who defined the San Francisco Bay Area as nine counties, and that’s the definition that’s stuck.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regional agencies still use the nine county definition. To help you remember each of those nine counties, we asked two local musicians, Alison Faith Levy and Henry Plotnick, to make us a jingle. And oh, is it catchy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "audio",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"src": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/09/BayAreaNineCountyJingle.mp3",
"image": "",
"title": "The Nine County Bay Area Jingle!",
"program": "Bay Curious",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there are other ways to slice and dice where we live.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Expanding the Concept\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“There is no kind of perfect definition of what a region is. It really depends what it is we’re trying to define,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The boundaries might come down to \u003cem>why\u003c/em> you’re looking at the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider first how the Bay Area is experienced as a commuter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As this region has gotten exorbitantly expensive, people continued to move further out both within those nine counties, and then to adjacent counties,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While these people no longer live in the Bay Area, they still might work, shop, eat and go to church here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking at \u003ca href=\"https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0166083\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a map \u003c/a>of Bay Area commutes, you’ll see well-worn commute routes extending to Stockton, Modesto, Santa Cruz and even Sacramento. Even if they don’t live within the traditional boundaries, these commuters are part of the Bay Area fabric.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11689321\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11689321\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-1020x1236.png\" alt=\"A heat map of commutes in Northern California reveals the urbanized core of the Bay Area, Sacramento and Central Valley cities, as well as the workers who flow into and out of each. Source: Dash Nelson G, Rae A (2016) An Economic Geography of the United States: From Commutes to Megaregions. PLoS ONE 11(11): e0166083. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166083\" width=\"640\" height=\"776\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-1020x1236.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-160x194.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-800x970.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-990x1200.png 990w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-1920x2327.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-1180x1430.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-960x1164.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-240x291.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-375x455.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes-520x630.png 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/commutes.png 1976w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A heat map of commutes in Northern California. Source: Dash Nelson G, Rae A (2016) An Economic Geography of the United States: From Commutes to Megaregions. PLoS ONE 11(11): e0166083. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0166083\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Are we more than the nine counties then? Are we 11 counties? Or even more?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Don’t Go Too Far\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“We can’t just keep expanding the boundary because at some point you get to the state of California, or you get to the nation, you get to these much larger areas,” Terplan says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The nine county definition at least puts a limit on it, but if you ask the average person, they have no idea where those county lines are. And honestly, when most people talk about the Bay Area, they’re not talking about economics or county borders, they’re talking about a cultural place.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Defining Us By Our Culture\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>If we use a cultural lens, how might we define the Bay Area?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let’s start with food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You might think California cuisine – the organic, local, farm-to-table goods served at Chez Panisse or The French Laundry. Or you might think of dishes made by the many immigrant groups that have made this place home – lumpia, hand-pulled noodles, injera or tikka masala. Once you start to think about it, there is no \u003cem>one\u003c/em> taste of the Bay Area. It’s our diversity that defines us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next let’s consider the lens of sports. Do our beloved Golden State Warriors define us? Perhaps wherever you can find Dub Nation, that’s what you can call the Bay? This definition would include places like Fresno, and even pockets of New York City. Fresno is a stretch, though debatable. But New York City? Definitely not the Bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11512643\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11512643\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/06/0M6A2200-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stephen Curry lifts the NBA Championship trophy to Warriors fans lining Lake Merritt. \u003ccite>(Adam Grossberg/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>What about music? Growing up, I remember rappers shouting out the Bay Area. I asked rap journalist Eric Arnold where these artists are representing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know Oakland has, I would say, the lion’s share of the talent, but you can find rappers all over the nine counties. There’s been hip-hop that’s come out of San Mateo. There’s been hip-hop that’s come out of Pittsburg,” Arnold says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just like it’s hard to identify one Bay Area taste, it’s hard to identify one Bay Area sound, he says. There have been a plethora of styles and eras – too hard to put a boundary around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Could it be our politics? Bay Area voters do have a reputation, and track record, for being left leaning. Take the 2016 presidential election. The closer you get to the San Francisco Bay, the more “blue” a district gets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11689356\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11689356\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-1020x669.png\" alt=\"2016 Presidential Election Results\" width=\"640\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-1020x669.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-160x105.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-800x525.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-1200x787.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-1180x774.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-960x630.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-240x157.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-375x246.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM-520x341.png 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Screen-Shot-2018-08-29-at-11.44.43-AM.png 1820w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">2016 Presidential Election Results \u003ccite>(\u003ca href=\"http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-pol-ca-california-neighborhood-election-results/\">\u003c/a> via LATimes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“If you look at voting patterns, one of the things that seems pretty strong in the Bay identity is an association with environmental values,” Terplan says. “Every part of the Bay Area has done something to preserve open space at the edges of its community. Santa Clara County has an urban growth boundary, Marin County restricted development on two-thirds of the land, and the East Bay Regional Parks cut across two counties.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, not everybody is in step with the same politics or environmental values.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What does unite us all? The thing nobody can ignore? How \u003cem>expensive\u003c/em> the Bay Area is. Cost of living is a definition that came up over and over again when I asked people how they define the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a pretty grim outlook.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For now, easiest to stick with the nine county definition, but if we’re looking at the Bay Area as a cultural place it’s pretty hard to put a border on that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "baycuriousquestion",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11689315/how-do-you-define-the-bay-area-2",
"authors": [
"8606"
],
"programs": [
"news_33523"
],
"series": [
"news_17986"
],
"categories": [
"news_8",
"news_33520"
],
"tags": [
"news_22586",
"news_1386",
"news_18426",
"news_5930"
],
"featImg": "news_11690690",
"label": "source_news_11689315"
},
"news_11688020": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11688020",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11688020",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1535018457000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "whos-behind-the-knitted-animals-in-san-franciscos-civic-center",
"title": "Who's Behind the Knitted Animals in San Francisco's Civic Center?",
"publishDate": 1535018457,
"format": "video",
"headTitle": "Who’s Behind the Knitted Animals in San Francisco’s Civic Center? | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 33523,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Art is all around us in San Francisco, from the \u003ca href=\"http://www.precitaeyes.org/murals-2013-2016.html\">Mission murals\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"http://thebaylights.org/\">the Bay Lights\u003c/a>. It even looms over us with the new \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13832983/what-are-those-weird-images-on-top-of-the-salesforce-tower\">video installation\u003c/a> atop Salesforce Tower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has become such a part of our everyday visual inventory that it’s easy to overlook. Especially somewhere as busy as the Civic Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Bay Curious listener Robin Duryee says she loves looking for unusual things when she’s walking around the city. The retired nurse has lived in San Francisco for 43 years. On a recent trek from BART, she spotted adorable knitted animals near City Hall: chameleons with leopard spots, brown fuzzy otters and giraffes licking branches with long pink tongues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which brings us to Robin’s question: \u003cb>\u003ci>What’s the story behind the knitted creatures on the trees in Civic Center?\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What Robin saw in the Civic Center were yarn bombs: street art made from knitted or crocheted fabric. They can be as simple as a green snake wrapped around a bike rack or as elaborate as \u003ca href=\"https://knitthebridge.wordpress.com/about/\">covering an entire bridge\u003c/a>. It’s been called a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/fashion/creating-graffiti-with-yarn.html\">feminist answer to graffiti\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[audio src=\"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/08/YarnBombers.mp3\" Image=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm.jpg\" Title=\"LISTEN: Who's Behind The Knitted Animals In San Francisco's Civic Center?\" program=\"Bay Curious\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yarn bombing is often traced back to Texas artist \u003ca href=\"http://www.magdasayeg.com/\">Magda Sayeg.\u003c/a> In the mid-2000s, she crocheted a door handle for her Houston boutique. That was followed by a knitted tube around a stop sign pole. She eventually moved on to much larger yarn bombs (including a\u003ca href=\"https://www.flickr.com/photos/knitta/sets/72157622253164125/\"> bus in Mexico City\u003c/a>), and inspired and encouraged knitters\u003ca href=\"https://www.ted.com/talks/magda_sayeg_how_yarn_bombing_grew_into_a_worldwide_movement?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare\"> worldwide\u003c/a> to create yarn bombs of their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11688070\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11688070 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-800x461.jpg\" alt=\"Lorna and Jill Watt (aka Knits for Life) make repairs to a giraffe.\" width=\"800\" height=\"461\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-800x461.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-160x92.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-1020x587.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-1200x691.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-1180x680.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-960x553.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-240x138.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-375x216.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-520x300.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1.jpg 1257w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lorna and Jill Watt (aka Knits for Life) make repairs to a giraffe. (J.P. Dobrin/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://groundplaysf.org/projects/knitting-the-commons/#tab4\">animals\u003c/a> in the Civic Center were created by Lorna and Jill Watt, sisters from San Mateo. Each piece takes about a week to make. The rotating installation — which occupies Civic Center Plaza, a block of Fulton Street and U.N. Plaza — is part of an ongoing project called \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/bp_FCrkYKnfgJMws7-wF7?domain=groundplaysf.org\">Knitting the Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Working with the city, a nonprofit called \u003ca href=\"https://www.tpl.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Trust For Public Land\u003c/a> hopes to turn locations like the Civic Center into “joyful community places.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11688071\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11688071 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-800x463.jpg\" alt=\"Sea Otters hanging out in Civic Center. (J.P. Dobrin/KQED)\" width=\"800\" height=\"463\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-800x463.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-160x93.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-1020x590.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-1200x694.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-1180x682.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-960x555.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-240x139.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-375x217.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-520x301.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter.jpg 1228w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sea otter hanging out in Civic Center. (J.P. Dobrin/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For six years, the sisters have made this kind of work their full-time gig, creating all kinds of yarn and string art under the moniker \u003ca href=\"https://knitsforlife.com\">Knits For Life\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yarn bombing is the perfect way to make something and then put it somewhere that is not our closet,” Jill says, laughing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But one thing that\u003ci> makes\u003c/i> a yarn bomb is the sense of surprise. Like graffiti, a lot of yarn bombs get put up when no one is looking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11688132\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11688132 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32506_pay-phone-before-and-after1-qut.jpg\" alt=\"One of Knits For Life's early yarn bombs was this knitted iPhone in San Mateo. (Photo courtesy: Knits For Life)\" width=\"640\" height=\"566\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32506_pay-phone-before-and-after1-qut.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32506_pay-phone-before-and-after1-qut-160x142.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32506_pay-phone-before-and-after1-qut-240x212.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32506_pay-phone-before-and-after1-qut-375x332.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32506_pay-phone-before-and-after1-qut-520x460.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of Knits For Life’s early yarn bombs was this knitted iPhone in San Mateo. (Photo courtesy: Knits For Life)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That first yarn bomb is so nerve-wracking, and you feel like such a vandal, and such a criminal,” Lorna says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We went after dark and she was installing them and I was a lookout,” says Jill. “A cop car passed … didn’t care. We did it and we didn’t get in trouble.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That yarn bomb was so successful that it eventually led to work with companies like \u003ca href=\"https://knitsforlife.com/portfolio/old-navy-style-truck/\">Old Navy\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://knitsforlife.com/portfolio/twitter-oneteam-string-art/\">Twitter\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://knitsforlife.com/portfolio/google-bikes-yarn-bomb/\">Google\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the sisters haven’t forgotten their crafty roots. To encourage more folks to get into yarn bombing, they recently hosted a \u003ca href=\"https://knitsforlife.com/mfybal/\">Yarn-Bomb-Along.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ready to give it a go? Check out their patterns for \u003ca href=\"https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/monster-feet-yarn-bomb\">Monster Feet \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.etsy.com/listing/202482213/snake-yarnbomb-knitting-pattern-pdf-bike?ref=shop_home_active_6&ep_click=1\">Snakes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Some have called yarn bombing a feminist response to graffiti. Meet the sisters behind one of San Francisco's most prominent displays. ",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1721108520,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": true,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": true,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 20,
"wordCount": 656
},
"headData": {
"title": "Who's Behind the Knitted Animals in San Francisco's Civic Center? | KQED",
"description": "Some have called yarn bombing a feminist response to graffiti. Meet the sisters behind one of San Francisco's most prominent displays. ",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Who's Behind the Knitted Animals in San Francisco's Civic Center?",
"datePublished": "2018-08-23T03:00:57-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-07-15T22:42:00-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"videoEmbed": "https://youtu.be/jlNAHTMzwH8",
"sticky": false,
"audioTrackLength": 478,
"path": "/news/11688020/whos-behind-the-knitted-animals-in-san-franciscos-civic-center",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/08/YarnBombers.mp3",
"audioDuration": 480000,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Art is all around us in San Francisco, from the \u003ca href=\"http://www.precitaeyes.org/murals-2013-2016.html\">Mission murals\u003c/a> to \u003ca href=\"http://thebaylights.org/\">the Bay Lights\u003c/a>. It even looms over us with the new \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/arts/13832983/what-are-those-weird-images-on-top-of-the-salesforce-tower\">video installation\u003c/a> atop Salesforce Tower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It has become such a part of our everyday visual inventory that it’s easy to overlook. Especially somewhere as busy as the Civic Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Bay Curious listener Robin Duryee says she loves looking for unusual things when she’s walking around the city. The retired nurse has lived in San Francisco for 43 years. On a recent trek from BART, she spotted adorable knitted animals near City Hall: chameleons with leopard spots, brown fuzzy otters and giraffes licking branches with long pink tongues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which brings us to Robin’s question: \u003cb>\u003ci>What’s the story behind the knitted creatures on the trees in Civic Center?\u003c/i>\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What Robin saw in the Civic Center were yarn bombs: street art made from knitted or crocheted fabric. They can be as simple as a green snake wrapped around a bike rack or as elaborate as \u003ca href=\"https://knitthebridge.wordpress.com/about/\">covering an entire bridge\u003c/a>. It’s been called a \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/fashion/creating-graffiti-with-yarn.html\">feminist answer to graffiti\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "audio",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"src": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/08/YarnBombers.mp3",
"image": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32512_photo-sep-08-3-52-53-pm.jpg",
"title": "LISTEN: Who's Behind The Knitted Animals In San Francisco's Civic Center?",
"program": "Bay Curious",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yarn bombing is often traced back to Texas artist \u003ca href=\"http://www.magdasayeg.com/\">Magda Sayeg.\u003c/a> In the mid-2000s, she crocheted a door handle for her Houston boutique. That was followed by a knitted tube around a stop sign pole. She eventually moved on to much larger yarn bombs (including a\u003ca href=\"https://www.flickr.com/photos/knitta/sets/72157622253164125/\"> bus in Mexico City\u003c/a>), and inspired and encouraged knitters\u003ca href=\"https://www.ted.com/talks/magda_sayeg_how_yarn_bombing_grew_into_a_worldwide_movement?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare\"> worldwide\u003c/a> to create yarn bombs of their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11688070\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11688070 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-800x461.jpg\" alt=\"Lorna and Jill Watt (aka Knits for Life) make repairs to a giraffe.\" width=\"800\" height=\"461\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-800x461.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-160x92.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-1020x587.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-1200x691.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-1180x680.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-960x553.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-240x138.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-375x216.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1-520x300.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32500_Screenshot-1.jpg 1257w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lorna and Jill Watt (aka Knits for Life) make repairs to a giraffe. (J.P. Dobrin/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://groundplaysf.org/projects/knitting-the-commons/#tab4\">animals\u003c/a> in the Civic Center were created by Lorna and Jill Watt, sisters from San Mateo. Each piece takes about a week to make. The rotating installation — which occupies Civic Center Plaza, a block of Fulton Street and U.N. Plaza — is part of an ongoing project called \u003ca href=\"https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/bp_FCrkYKnfgJMws7-wF7?domain=groundplaysf.org\">Knitting the Commons\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Working with the city, a nonprofit called \u003ca href=\"https://www.tpl.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Trust For Public Land\u003c/a> hopes to turn locations like the Civic Center into “joyful community places.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11688071\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11688071 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-800x463.jpg\" alt=\"Sea Otters hanging out in Civic Center. (J.P. Dobrin/KQED)\" width=\"800\" height=\"463\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-800x463.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-160x93.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-1020x590.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-1200x694.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-1180x682.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-960x555.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-240x139.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-375x217.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter-520x301.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32501_Otter.jpg 1228w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sea otter hanging out in Civic Center. (J.P. Dobrin/KQED)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For six years, the sisters have made this kind of work their full-time gig, creating all kinds of yarn and string art under the moniker \u003ca href=\"https://knitsforlife.com\">Knits For Life\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yarn bombing is the perfect way to make something and then put it somewhere that is not our closet,” Jill says, laughing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But one thing that\u003ci> makes\u003c/i> a yarn bomb is the sense of surprise. Like graffiti, a lot of yarn bombs get put up when no one is looking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11688132\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11688132 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32506_pay-phone-before-and-after1-qut.jpg\" alt=\"One of Knits For Life's early yarn bombs was this knitted iPhone in San Mateo. (Photo courtesy: Knits For Life)\" width=\"640\" height=\"566\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32506_pay-phone-before-and-after1-qut.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32506_pay-phone-before-and-after1-qut-160x142.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32506_pay-phone-before-and-after1-qut-240x212.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32506_pay-phone-before-and-after1-qut-375x332.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/RS32506_pay-phone-before-and-after1-qut-520x460.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of Knits For Life’s early yarn bombs was this knitted iPhone in San Mateo. (Photo courtesy: Knits For Life)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That first yarn bomb is so nerve-wracking, and you feel like such a vandal, and such a criminal,” Lorna says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We went after dark and she was installing them and I was a lookout,” says Jill. “A cop car passed … didn’t care. We did it and we didn’t get in trouble.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That yarn bomb was so successful that it eventually led to work with companies like \u003ca href=\"https://knitsforlife.com/portfolio/old-navy-style-truck/\">Old Navy\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://knitsforlife.com/portfolio/twitter-oneteam-string-art/\">Twitter\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://knitsforlife.com/portfolio/google-bikes-yarn-bomb/\">Google\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the sisters haven’t forgotten their crafty roots. To encourage more folks to get into yarn bombing, they recently hosted a \u003ca href=\"https://knitsforlife.com/mfybal/\">Yarn-Bomb-Along.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ready to give it a go? Check out their patterns for \u003ca href=\"https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/monster-feet-yarn-bomb\">Monster Feet \u003c/a>and \u003ca href=\"https://www.etsy.com/listing/202482213/snake-yarnbomb-knitting-pattern-pdf-bike?ref=shop_home_active_6&ep_click=1\">Snakes\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "baycuriousquestion",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11688020/whos-behind-the-knitted-animals-in-san-franciscos-civic-center",
"authors": [
"107"
],
"programs": [
"news_33523"
],
"series": [
"news_17986"
],
"categories": [
"news_223",
"news_8",
"news_33520"
],
"tags": [
"news_18426",
"news_21536",
"news_19542",
"news_19029"
],
"featImg": "news_11688138",
"label": "news_33523"
},
"news_11685360": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11685360",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11685360",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1533819651000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1533819651,
"format": "image",
"title": "Why Do San Francisco Psychics Need Permits From the Police?",
"headTitle": "Why Do San Francisco Psychics Need Permits From the Police? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Seeking answers about what might lie ahead in life, and paying for it, has been around for centuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even now, in a high-tech world, being a professional fortuneteller is good business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2016 report estimated the industry pulls in $2 billion in revenue each year, and employs more than 85,000 people nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, roadside signs advertising psychic services are a common sight, with many fortunetellers also conducting their business online. That’s because fortunetelling is totally legal in California. Not so in many other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In New York, the same palm reading or tarot session you can buy in the Bay Area could get a fortuneteller fined $500 — or 90 days in jail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California didn’t always have this anything-goes approach to the psychic world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685456\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11685456 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-800x533.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-800x533.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-1020x680.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-1200x800.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-1180x787.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-960x640.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-240x160.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-375x250.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-520x347.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A display with crystal ball at the annual San Francisco Psychic Fair \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For most of the 20th century, fortunetelling was banned in many places, including San Francisco. In 1985, the city of Azusa in Los Angeles County received a First Amendment challenge from the Spiritual Psychic Science Church of Truth. The California Supreme Court agreed with the psychics, rendering all bans on fortunetelling \u003ci>unconstitutional \u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Society’s skepticism or outright disbelief,” declared those judges, “does not justify denial of free speech to the believers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that doesn’t mean it can’t be regulated.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How are psychic services regulated?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While some California cities, like Oakland and Berkeley, have no psychic-specific rules, other places care a great deal about how people tell fortunes for money. In San Francisco, the Police Department gets involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fortunetelling isn’t just \u003ci>mentioned\u003c/i> in the San Francisco police code. It gets its own section — starting with a rundown of all 70 things SFPD counts as fortunetelling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This includes: clairvoyance, cartomancy, phrenology, tea leaves, tarot cards, coffee grounds, crystal gazing, astrology, palmistry, telepathy, and placing or removing curses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fortunetelling,” the police code reads, “shall also include pretending to perform these actions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco takes such pains to define fortunetelling because the city regulates it — via permits granted by the SFPD. Anyone wanting to legally tell fortunes in this city, whether via tarot, palm or crystal ball, has to travel to the Hall of Justice on Bryant Street and ride the elevator to the police Permit Bureau.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685457\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11685457 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-800x533.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-800x533.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-1020x680.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-1200x800.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-1180x787.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-960x640.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-240x160.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-375x250.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-520x347.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sgt. Gigi George at work in the San Francisco Police Department’s Permit Bureau \u003ccite>(Carly Severn /KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We deal with a lot of different permits here that people may not think \u003ci>need\u003c/i> a permit,” says Sgt. Gigi George, who has worked in the bureau for five years. In her office, would-be fortunetellers fill out the same form, and stand in the same line, as people wanting a permit to operate a pedicab business, run a bingo night or deal firearms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We treat everyone the same,” she says. “It’s all a business.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The application process for a San Francisco fortunetelling permit involves a background check, fingerprinting and even a public hearing. The fees are just under $350 — more than a permit for a masseuse, but less than one for a tow operator or walking-tour guide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have been a total of 75 approved fortuneteller permits issued since 2003, and only eight in the last two years. Once granted, the permit requires psychic practitioners to clearly display their rates in their place of work and provide paying customers with a receipt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685462\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11685462 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-800x533.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-800x533.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-1020x680.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-1200x800.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-1180x787.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-960x640.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-240x160.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-375x250.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-520x347.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The exterior of the San Francisco Police Department’s Permit Bureau. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Why does San Francisco want to regulate psychics?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Unlike other Bay Area cities that require fortuneteller permits but don’t explain why, like Benicia and Lafayette, San Francisco says these permits are to help fight fraud. The police code says the regulations should “protect the public by preventing people who have been charged with deceptive practices from having easy access to persons who may be vulnerable to fraud or confidence games.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, when it comes to fortunetelling, the very notion of fraud is a subjective one. There are many who see any kind of paid psychic service as dishonest by its nature — whether a reading costs $10 or $10,000. But the kind of fraud SFPD cares about occurs when a person — often someone vulnerable — is convinced they need to \u003ci>keep\u003c/i> paying money to a psychic. People have lost their life savings this way, and such cases tend to attract public attention because of the large sums of money involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685470\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11685470 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-800x533.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-800x533.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-1020x680.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-1200x800.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-1180x787.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-960x640.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-240x160.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-375x250.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-520x347.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign advertises palm reading in San Francisco \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2003, officials at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office said they’d received a growing number of complaints about fortuneteller fraud over the previous five years. They thought permit laws would help them better investigate and prosecute claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the dissent from several psychics at the time, regulations were put in place and have now been on the books for 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Does regulation affect the psychic business in San Francisco?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The short answer is … not really.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The S.F. District Attorney’s Office has received zero complaints in the last couple of years. The SFPD wasn’t able to say how many reports it has received about this kind of fraud recently, because fortunetelling fraud is not a unique category of crime it tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685474\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11685474 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-800x533.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-800x533.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-1020x680.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-1200x800.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-1180x787.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-960x640.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-240x160.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-375x250.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-520x347.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign advertises a psychic’s business in San Francisco \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In her five years handling permits for the SFPD, George says she’s seen only one case of fortunetelling fraud. However, she thinks it’s an underreported crime, and urges anyone affected to come forward. “It should not be a shameful feeling for them,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for San Francisco’s psychics themselves? While some see getting and renewing their permit as a mere part of 21st century fortuneteller life, others don’t think the permits are necessary — and haven’t bothered to get one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area tarot reader Lance Juniper, who organizes the annual \u003ca href=\"https://sfpsychicfair.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Francisco Psychic Fair\u003c/a>, says he doesn’t actually know any reader in the Bay Area that has one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Considering how the telling of fortunes has endured for hundreds of years, in all its forms, it’s hard to imagine this business going away anytime soon. Permits or no permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Coming soon: Who’s Telling — and Buying — Fortunes in 2018?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\n",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1105,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": true,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 33
},
"modified": 1700596728,
"excerpt": "How fortunetelling became legal in California (when it isn't in other states) — and why SFPD got involved.",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "How fortunetelling became legal in California (when it isn't in other states) — and why SFPD got involved.",
"title": "Why Do San Francisco Psychics Need Permits From the Police? | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Why Do San Francisco Psychics Need Permits From the Police?",
"datePublished": "2018-08-09T06:00:51-07:00",
"dateModified": "2023-11-21T11:58:48-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "why-do-san-francisco-psychics-need-permits-from-the-police",
"status": "publish",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/08/Psychics.mp3",
"audioTrackLength": 718,
"source": "Bay Curious",
"path": "/news/11685360/why-do-san-francisco-psychics-need-permits-from-the-police",
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Seeking answers about what might lie ahead in life, and paying for it, has been around for centuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even now, in a high-tech world, being a professional fortuneteller is good business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A 2016 report estimated the industry pulls in $2 billion in revenue each year, and employs more than 85,000 people nationwide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, roadside signs advertising psychic services are a common sight, with many fortunetellers also conducting their business online. That’s because fortunetelling is totally legal in California. Not so in many other states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In New York, the same palm reading or tarot session you can buy in the Bay Area could get a fortuneteller fined $500 — or 90 days in jail.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California didn’t always have this anything-goes approach to the psychic world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685456\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11685456 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-800x533.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-800x533.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-1020x680.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-1200x800.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-1180x787.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-960x640.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-240x160.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-375x250.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/crystal-ball2-520x347.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A display with crystal ball at the annual San Francisco Psychic Fair \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For most of the 20th century, fortunetelling was banned in many places, including San Francisco. In 1985, the city of Azusa in Los Angeles County received a First Amendment challenge from the Spiritual Psychic Science Church of Truth. The California Supreme Court agreed with the psychics, rendering all bans on fortunetelling \u003ci>unconstitutional \u003c/i>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Society’s skepticism or outright disbelief,” declared those judges, “does not justify denial of free speech to the believers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that doesn’t mean it can’t be regulated.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How are psychic services regulated?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While some California cities, like Oakland and Berkeley, have no psychic-specific rules, other places care a great deal about how people tell fortunes for money. In San Francisco, the Police Department gets involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fortunetelling isn’t just \u003ci>mentioned\u003c/i> in the San Francisco police code. It gets its own section — starting with a rundown of all 70 things SFPD counts as fortunetelling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This includes: clairvoyance, cartomancy, phrenology, tea leaves, tarot cards, coffee grounds, crystal gazing, astrology, palmistry, telepathy, and placing or removing curses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Fortunetelling,” the police code reads, “shall also include pretending to perform these actions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco takes such pains to define fortunetelling because the city regulates it — via permits granted by the SFPD. Anyone wanting to legally tell fortunes in this city, whether via tarot, palm or crystal ball, has to travel to the Hall of Justice on Bryant Street and ride the elevator to the police Permit Bureau.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685457\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11685457 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-800x533.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-800x533.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-1020x680.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-1200x800.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-1180x787.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-960x640.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-240x160.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-375x250.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Gigi-520x347.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sgt. Gigi George at work in the San Francisco Police Department’s Permit Bureau \u003ccite>(Carly Severn /KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We deal with a lot of different permits here that people may not think \u003ci>need\u003c/i> a permit,” says Sgt. Gigi George, who has worked in the bureau for five years. In her office, would-be fortunetellers fill out the same form, and stand in the same line, as people wanting a permit to operate a pedicab business, run a bingo night or deal firearms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We treat everyone the same,” she says. “It’s all a business.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The application process for a San Francisco fortunetelling permit involves a background check, fingerprinting and even a public hearing. The fees are just under $350 — more than a permit for a masseuse, but less than one for a tow operator or walking-tour guide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There have been a total of 75 approved fortuneteller permits issued since 2003, and only eight in the last two years. Once granted, the permit requires psychic practitioners to clearly display their rates in their place of work and provide paying customers with a receipt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685462\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11685462 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-800x533.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-800x533.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-1020x680.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-1200x800.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-1180x787.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-960x640.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-240x160.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-375x250.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Permits-520x347.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The exterior of the San Francisco Police Department’s Permit Bureau. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Why does San Francisco want to regulate psychics?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Unlike other Bay Area cities that require fortuneteller permits but don’t explain why, like Benicia and Lafayette, San Francisco says these permits are to help fight fraud. The police code says the regulations should “protect the public by preventing people who have been charged with deceptive practices from having easy access to persons who may be vulnerable to fraud or confidence games.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, when it comes to fortunetelling, the very notion of fraud is a subjective one. There are many who see any kind of paid psychic service as dishonest by its nature — whether a reading costs $10 or $10,000. But the kind of fraud SFPD cares about occurs when a person — often someone vulnerable — is convinced they need to \u003ci>keep\u003c/i> paying money to a psychic. People have lost their life savings this way, and such cases tend to attract public attention because of the large sums of money involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685470\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11685470 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-800x533.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-800x533.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-1020x680.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-1200x800.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-1180x787.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-960x640.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-240x160.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-375x250.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Palms2-520x347.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign advertises palm reading in San Francisco \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In 2003, officials at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office said they’d received a growing number of complaints about fortuneteller fraud over the previous five years. They thought permit laws would help them better investigate and prosecute claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the dissent from several psychics at the time, regulations were put in place and have now been on the books for 15 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Does regulation affect the psychic business in San Francisco?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The short answer is … not really.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The S.F. District Attorney’s Office has received zero complaints in the last couple of years. The SFPD wasn’t able to say how many reports it has received about this kind of fraud recently, because fortunetelling fraud is not a unique category of crime it tracks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11685474\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11685474 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-800x533.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-800x533.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-160x107.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-1020x680.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-1200x800.png 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2.png 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-1180x787.png 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-960x640.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-240x160.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-375x250.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/08/Sign-blue-2-520x347.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign advertises a psychic’s business in San Francisco \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In her five years handling permits for the SFPD, George says she’s seen only one case of fortunetelling fraud. However, she thinks it’s an underreported crime, and urges anyone affected to come forward. “It should not be a shameful feeling for them,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for San Francisco’s psychics themselves? While some see getting and renewing their permit as a mere part of 21st century fortuneteller life, others don’t think the permits are necessary — and haven’t bothered to get one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Area tarot reader Lance Juniper, who organizes the annual \u003ca href=\"https://sfpsychicfair.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">San Francisco Psychic Fair\u003c/a>, says he doesn’t actually know any reader in the Bay Area that has one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Considering how the telling of fortunes has endured for hundreds of years, in all its forms, it’s hard to imagine this business going away anytime soon. Permits or no permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Coming soon: Who’s Telling — and Buying — Fortunes in 2018?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "baycuriousquestion",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11685360/why-do-san-francisco-psychics-need-permits-from-the-police",
"authors": [
"3243"
],
"programs": [
"news_33523"
],
"series": [
"news_17986"
],
"categories": [
"news_8",
"news_33520"
],
"tags": [
"news_18426",
"news_19542"
],
"featImg": "news_11685466",
"label": "source_news_11685360"
},
"news_11682511": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11682511",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11682511",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1532617252000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1532617252,
"format": "image",
"title": "Why San Francisco Gets So Windy and Foggy in the Summer",
"headTitle": "Why San Francisco Gets So Windy and Foggy in the Summer | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Every day Will Pearson bikes from his home in San Francisco’s Marina district to his office in the Financial District. His morning ride along the Embarcadero is pleasant and calm, but he has noticed the wind picks up significantly on his ride home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve always wondered why different parts of the day have such different levels of wind,” said Pearson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fortunately, it’s not too complicated, said meteorologist \u003ca href=\"http://ggweather.com/resume.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jan Null\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s the simple explainer from KQED cartoonist Mark Fiore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11682514\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3600\" height=\"8100\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1.jpg 3600w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-160x360.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-800x1800.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-1020x2295.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-533x1200.jpg 533w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-1920x4320.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-1180x2655.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-960x2160.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-240x540.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-375x844.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-520x1170.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3600px) 100vw, 3600px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more detail, here’s the breakdown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why it’s windier in the afternoon\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Air always moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Hot air rises and is less dense, and is typically low pressure, while cold air sinks and is dense, and is typically higher pressure.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Over the course of the day, the air inland heats up in California. But air remains cool over the ocean — where the water stays about the same temperature all day.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The cold, high-pressure air from over the ocean rushes inland, toward the warm, lower pressure air.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>It takes the path of least resistance, squeezing through sea-level gaps in the mountains and ridges — the biggest of which is at the Golden Gate.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>This creates something known as the Bernoulli Effect. “Think about a garden hose. You have the water cranked up all the way and you have the flow coming out of it. Well, you put your thumb over it, you restrict it down, and all of a sudden you shoot 20 yards across the driveway,” said Null. “The same thing happens if you compress air down to a smaller gap like through the Golden Gate or the San Bruno Gap.”\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>That’s why the winds are strongest on the days where it’s hottest inland and still cool on the coast, when the temperature and pressure difference is the biggest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why it’s foggy in the summer\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The temperature differences also explain why the Bay Area gets so much fog in the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>There is a system of high pressure over the Pacific Ocean called \u003ca href=\"https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/79119\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the North Pacific High\u003c/a>. In the summer, it gets stronger, creating big clockwise winds over the ocean.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Those winds push the surface water of the ocean away from the California coastline.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Very cold water from deep in the ocean rises to the surface. This is called \u003ca href=\"https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/upwelling.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">upwelling\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Something known as \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2011/08/08/the-deep-cold-secret-behind-summer-fog/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the California Current\u003c/a> also brings cold water south from Alaska.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>When the sea breeze blows over this much colder water, condensation forms — creating fog.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The fog comes inland in the summer for similar reasons as the wind: While it stays cool by the ocean, the high temperatures inland create lower pressure, and the fog is sucked in through gaps in the mountains, like the Golden Gate.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>That’s why we see picturesque summer fog rolling in past the Golden Gate Bridge in the afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nothing’s going to move them out until the sun comes up the next morning and evaporates it,” said Null.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our topography also explains why one neighborhood can be foggy, like the Sunset, and another warm, like the area in Sausalito known as the Banana Belt. The hills and ridges direct the path of the fog and wind, creating these microclimates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Will our fog and wind remain?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amount of summer fog has decreased 33 percent over the last century, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2822705/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">studies have found\u003c/a>. Warming oceans and climate change could continue to affect the complicated weather systems that create our unique Bay Area fog and wind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\n",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 616,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": true,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 19
},
"modified": 1700596749,
"excerpt": "Every summer, temperature differences and weather patterns cause our classic San Francisco fog and wind.",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Every summer, temperature differences and weather patterns cause our classic San Francisco fog and wind.",
"title": "Why San Francisco Gets So Windy and Foggy in the Summer | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Why San Francisco Gets So Windy and Foggy in the Summer",
"datePublished": "2018-07-26T08:00:52-07:00",
"dateModified": "2023-11-21T11:59:09-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "why-san-francisco-gets-so-windy-and-foggy-in-the-summer",
"status": "publish",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/07/Wind.mp3",
"audioTrackLength": 541,
"source": "Bay Curious",
"path": "/news/11682511/why-san-francisco-gets-so-windy-and-foggy-in-the-summer",
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Every day Will Pearson bikes from his home in San Francisco’s Marina district to his office in the Financial District. His morning ride along the Embarcadero is pleasant and calm, but he has noticed the wind picks up significantly on his ride home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve always wondered why different parts of the day have such different levels of wind,” said Pearson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fortunately, it’s not too complicated, said meteorologist \u003ca href=\"http://ggweather.com/resume.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jan Null\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s the simple explainer from KQED cartoonist Mark Fiore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11682514\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3600\" height=\"8100\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1.jpg 3600w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-160x360.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-800x1800.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-1020x2295.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-533x1200.jpg 533w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-1920x4320.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-1180x2655.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-960x2160.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-240x540.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-375x844.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/fogwind_final01-1-520x1170.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3600px) 100vw, 3600px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For more detail, here’s the breakdown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why it’s windier in the afternoon\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Air always moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Hot air rises and is less dense, and is typically low pressure, while cold air sinks and is dense, and is typically higher pressure.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Over the course of the day, the air inland heats up in California. But air remains cool over the ocean — where the water stays about the same temperature all day.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The cold, high-pressure air from over the ocean rushes inland, toward the warm, lower pressure air.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>It takes the path of least resistance, squeezing through sea-level gaps in the mountains and ridges — the biggest of which is at the Golden Gate.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>This creates something known as the Bernoulli Effect. “Think about a garden hose. You have the water cranked up all the way and you have the flow coming out of it. Well, you put your thumb over it, you restrict it down, and all of a sudden you shoot 20 yards across the driveway,” said Null. “The same thing happens if you compress air down to a smaller gap like through the Golden Gate or the San Bruno Gap.”\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>That’s why the winds are strongest on the days where it’s hottest inland and still cool on the coast, when the temperature and pressure difference is the biggest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why it’s foggy in the summer\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The temperature differences also explain why the Bay Area gets so much fog in the summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>There is a system of high pressure over the Pacific Ocean called \u003ca href=\"https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/79119\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the North Pacific High\u003c/a>. In the summer, it gets stronger, creating big clockwise winds over the ocean.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Those winds push the surface water of the ocean away from the California coastline.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Very cold water from deep in the ocean rises to the surface. This is called \u003ca href=\"https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/upwelling.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">upwelling\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Something known as \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/quest/2011/08/08/the-deep-cold-secret-behind-summer-fog/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the California Current\u003c/a> also brings cold water south from Alaska.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>When the sea breeze blows over this much colder water, condensation forms — creating fog.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The fog comes inland in the summer for similar reasons as the wind: While it stays cool by the ocean, the high temperatures inland create lower pressure, and the fog is sucked in through gaps in the mountains, like the Golden Gate.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>That’s why we see picturesque summer fog rolling in past the Golden Gate Bridge in the afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nothing’s going to move them out until the sun comes up the next morning and evaporates it,” said Null.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our topography also explains why one neighborhood can be foggy, like the Sunset, and another warm, like the area in Sausalito known as the Banana Belt. The hills and ridges direct the path of the fog and wind, creating these microclimates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Will our fog and wind remain?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amount of summer fog has decreased 33 percent over the last century, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2822705/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">studies have found\u003c/a>. Warming oceans and climate change could continue to affect the complicated weather systems that create our unique Bay Area fog and wind.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "baycuriousquestion",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11682511/why-san-francisco-gets-so-windy-and-foggy-in-the-summer",
"authors": [
"1459"
],
"programs": [
"news_72",
"news_33523"
],
"series": [
"news_17986"
],
"categories": [
"news_8",
"news_33520",
"news_356"
],
"tags": [
"news_20120",
"news_18426",
"news_2192"
],
"featImg": "news_11682719",
"label": "source_news_11682511"
},
"news_11680481": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11680481",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11680481",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1531994428000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "10-things-you-need-to-know-to-understand-lane-splitting-in-california",
"title": "10 Things to Know About Lane Splitting in California (No. 1? Yes, It's Legal)",
"publishDate": 1531994428,
"format": "image",
"headTitle": "10 Things to Know About Lane Splitting in California (No. 1? Yes, It’s Legal) | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Update: On Sept. 27, 2018, the California Highway Patrol released its “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4946461-Lane-Splitting-Press-Release.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lane Splitting Safety Tips\u003c/a>,” two years after a new state law instructed the agency — along with other stakeholders — to develop guidelines.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever driven in California, you’ve probably had a motorcycle drive between you and another car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is called lane splitting (also known as lane sharing or filtering), and a \u003ca href=\"http://lanesplittingislegal.com/assets/studies-surveys/OTS-California-Lane-Splitting-Habits-Survey-2014.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2014 study\u003c/a> found that 80 percent of California motorcyclists lane split on the freeway, with more than half saying they do it “often” or “always.”\u003cbr>\n[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003cbr>\nPeople have a lot of feelings about it, but they don’t always have all the information. So here are 10 things you need to know to understand lane splitting in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>1. It’s legal\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the biggest misconceptions is that when motorcyclists are lane splitting, they are breaking the law. They’re not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The practice of lane splitting or lane sharing has never been prohibited by California law,” said Sgt. Larry Starkey, who runs the California Highway Patrol’s California Motorcyclist Safety Program. “So therefore it’s always been an acceptable practice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the 2014 study, only 60.7 percent of vehicle drivers knew that lane splitting was legal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Motorcyclists who are lane splitting still have to obey speed limits and other rules of the road, and can be ticketed if they don’t lane split responsibly.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>2. A new law changed things … sort of\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2016, Gov. Jerry Brown signed \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB51\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 51\u003c/a> into law, which defined lane splitting as “driving a motorcycle … that has two wheels in contact with the ground, between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane, including on both divided and undivided streets, roads, or highways.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the CHP, this didn’t actually change state law. What it did was give CHP the power to develop guidelines around lane splitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11681406\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11681406\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-800x584.jpg\" alt=\"A motorcyclist lane splits on a California freeway.\" width=\"800\" height=\"584\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-800x584.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-160x117.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-1020x744.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-1200x876.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-1180x861.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-960x701.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-240x175.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-375x274.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-520x379.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A motorcyclist lane splits on a California freeway. \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This was important because the CHP put up \u003ca href=\"http://lanesplittingislegal.com/assets/docs/CHP-lane-splitting-guidelines-California.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lane splitting guidelines\u003c/a> in 2013, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Motorcyclists-revved-up-about-removal-of-5642436.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">took them down\u003c/a> a year later after a complaint was made to the state’s Office of Administrative Law. The guidelines could be seen as CHP establishing a new law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 51 officially gave CHP the power to create those guidelines. Starkey said that after the law took effect on Jan. 1, 2017, the CHP worked with Department of Transportation, Department of Motor Vehicles, Office of Traffic Safety and motorcycle safety organizations to create new guidelines, which were \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Home/News-Story/california-highway-patrol-releases-lane-splitting-tips\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">released in September 2018\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4946467-CHP-Lane-Splitting-Tips.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lane Splitting Safety Tips\u003c/a>” begin with disclaimer that, “Lane splitting can be dangerous and extreme caution should be exercised. It should not be performed by inexperienced riders.” They include tips for motorcyclists (be aware of your surroundings, avoid lane splitting between large vehicles, danger increases at higher speeds and speed differentials) as well as messages for other vehicle drivers (lane splitting is legal, intentionally blocking a lane splitter is not).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11694952\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 513px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11694952 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-tips-Side-one.jpg\" alt=\"Page one of the 'Lane Splitting Safety Tips' released by the California Highway Patrol on Sept. 27, 2018.\" width=\"513\" height=\"645\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-tips-Side-one.jpg 513w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-tips-Side-one-160x201.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-tips-Side-one-240x302.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-tips-Side-one-375x471.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 513px) 100vw, 513px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Page one of the ‘Lane Splitting Safety Tips’ released by the California Highway Patrol on Sept. 27, 2018. \u003ccite>(California Highway Patrol)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11694953\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 515px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11694953 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-Tips-Side-two.jpg\" alt=\"Page two of the 'Lane Splitting Safety Tips' released by the California Highway Patrol on Sept. 27, 2018.\" width=\"515\" height=\"657\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-Tips-Side-two.jpg 515w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-Tips-Side-two-160x204.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-Tips-Side-two-240x306.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-Tips-Side-two-375x478.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 515px) 100vw, 515px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Page two of the ‘Lane Splitting Safety Tips’ released by the California Highway Patrol on Sept. 27, 2018. \u003ccite>(California Highway Patrol)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>3. It’s legal only in California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Rights/State-Laws-Database\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Motorcyclist Association’s website\u003c/a>, every state except California bans the practice of lane splitting. Specifically, the states prohibit motorcycles from passing a vehicle in the same lane and riding between lanes of traffic or rows of vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>4. Other states are trying to legalize it\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At least nine other states have considered legislation that would allow lane splitting, and some are expected to take up the issue again in the next legislative session, according to Nick Haris, the Western states representative for the American Motorcyclist Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think as a nation, as we see traffic and attempts to address issues with gridlock, I think this is just going to be one of those things that’s identified as a good way to go,” Haris said of the increased interest in legalizing lane splitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>5. It’s legal in lots of other countries\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11680943\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11680943\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"Motorcyclists lane split in Bangkok, Thailand. Lane splitting is common practice in much of Asia and Europe.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-1200x798.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-1180x785.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-960x639.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-375x249.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-520x346.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Motorcyclists lane split in Bangkok, Thailand. Lane splitting is common practice in much of Asia and Europe. \u003ccite>(Roland Dobbins via Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lane splitting is legal and widespread in many European and Asian countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really is a way of life in Europe,” said Emma Booton, who grew up in England and has been riding motorcycles for 41 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve ridden in New Zealand where everybody just basically waved you around,” Haris said. “It was kind of surprising if you weren’t lane splitting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>6. People have been lane splitting in California for a long time\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>News reports of Californians lane splitting go back to at least the 1960s. Starkey said the practice started as a way for motorcyclists to get through the state’s notoriously bad traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As the traffic got slower and slower throughout the decades, [motorcyclists] began the practice of lane splitting or lane sharing by moving in between the stopped rows of traffic on the highways,” Starkey said, “which prevented their vehicles from overheating, and also helped reduce congestion and ultimately let them get to their destination a little bit quicker as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>7. Very little data exists on how safe it is\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the big problems with lane splitting is the lack of data on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"http://lanesplittingislegal.com/assets/studies-surveys/lane-splitting-safety-california_may-29-2015.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2015 study\u003c/a> from the Safe Transportation Research & Education Center at UC Berkeley found that 17 percent of about 6,000 motorcyclists who crashed between June 2012 through August 2013 were lane splitting at the time of their collision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the study, “Lane-splitting appears to be a relatively safe motorcycle riding strategy if done in traffic moving at 50 mph or less and if motorcyclists do not exceed the speed of other vehicles by more than 15 mph.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the authors also say that the study cannot be used to compare the overall safety of lane splitting:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>To estimate how the risk of being involved in a collision changes when motorcyclists chose to lane-split, we would require information on both the lane-splitting and non-lane-splitting riding that is done by some identifiable sample of motorcyclists. The collection of these data is fraught with problems, and the current study did not attempt to collect such data.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>In other words, researchers would need to collect pre-crash data from motorcyclists who lane split and those who don’t, and see if one population is more likely to get into a crash than the other in order to determine the safety of the practice overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Data from the \u003ca href=\"https://cdan.nhtsa.gov/STSI.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show\u003c/a> that even though California is the only state in the country where lane splitting is legal, it’s in the middle of the pack when it comes to motorcyclist fatalities per 100,000 registered motorcycles compared to other states. But this doesn’t take into account other differences between state laws, including helmet laws and motorcycle riding culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of the day, there are no conclusive data on how safe or not safe lane splitting is.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>8. Here’s what motorcyclists say\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Motorcycle riders say they lane split for two big reasons: speed and safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lane splitting allows motorcycles to weave through traffic much more quickly than cars can, and bikers argue it also improves traffic for all commuters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re taking vehicles out of that line, and it’s less of a clog on the highways,” said Liza Miller, who runs a motorcycle repair and community gathering space out of her Santa Cruz home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11680944\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11680944\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-800x530.jpg\" alt=\"Riders work on their motorcycles at Re-Cycle Santa Cruz, a motorcycle garage and community space.\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-1200x795.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-1180x782.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-960x636.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-240x159.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-375x248.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-520x345.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Riders work on their motorcycles at Re-Cycle Santa Cruz, a motorcycle garage and community space. \u003ccite>(Ryan Levi/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"http://www.tmleuven.be/project/motorcyclesandcommuting/20110921_Motorfietsen_eindrapport_Eng.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2011 study from Brussels\u003c/a> — where lane splitting is legal — found that if you replaced 10 percent of cars on the road with motorcycles, it could cut the time everyone spends in traffic by 40 percent, in part because of lane splitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While safety is often used by drivers as a critique of lane splitting, motorcyclists say it actually makes them feel more safe while riding. Getting rear-ended while stationary or in motion is an especially big concern of motorcyclists.\u003cbr>\n[baycuriousbug]\u003cbr>\n“We don’t like to be sitting ducks,” Miller said. “When we’re going faster than the cars, we’re in control, and we’re monitoring and looking at what’s happening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miller and Starkey also said motorcycles and motorcyclists can overheat if they are stationary for extended periods of time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Motorcyclists also argue that drivers’ perceptions of lane splitting are skewed because they more clearly remember the times when a motorcyclists does it recklessly, at a high speed, as opposed to when a rider lane splits responsibly at low speeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You might have 10 motorcycles go by that you don’t even give a second thought,” Haris said. “And then all of a sudden, either you’re not paying attention or someone goes by at a speed that you consider unsafe. And so that stands out in your mind. ‘Oh my gosh. That was dangerous.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>9. Here’s what drivers say\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The 2014 study found that 60 percent of drivers disapproved of lane splitting. More than half of those who disapproved said it was because they felt lane splitting was unsafe. Other reasons include fear that it will lead to a crash, it startles drivers, motorcyclists are going too fast, lane splitting is “unfair” or illegal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s rather unsafe,” said Edwin Martinez, who commutes to work across the Bay Bridge. “It’s unsafe for the person riding the motorcycle and also for the drivers of vehicles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11680938\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11680938\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-800x593.jpg\" alt=\"Drivers often say they disapprove of lane splitting because they believe it is unsafe.\" width=\"800\" height=\"593\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-800x593.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-1020x755.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-1200x889.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-1180x874.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-960x711.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-240x178.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-375x278.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-520x385.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drivers often say they disapprove of lane splitting because they believe it is unsafe. \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Drivers have also reported motorcyclists intentionally knocking off side mirrors as they lane split.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have been clipped by a motorcycle,” said Gaurav Kapur, another daily Bay Bridge commuter, “and they didn’t stop for me. They didn’t stop and look what damage they did to the car.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kapur — who used to ride a motorcycle himself — said motorcycles can be hard to see when they lane split quickly through slow traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love bikes,” he said, “but it’s just not safe. It’s highly unpredictable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>10. Lane splitting misunderstandings can lead to road rage\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you search “lane splitting road rage” on YouTube, you’ll find lots of videos of lane splitting triggering angry reactions from drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me, it resulted in somebody crossing a double yellow and running me up onto a sidewalk,” said Kat Taylor, who has been riding for about four years. “I ended up crashing trying to get away from them, and I broke 15 bones, and I got road rash over 40 percent of my body.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taylor said she no longer discusses lane splitting because of the disagreements it provokes, but other riders said they often have productive conversations about lane splitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think half the time they think it’s illegal,” Haris said. “So that oftentimes will change the discussion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "California is the only state in the country where lane splitting is legal, and it always has been.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1721109513,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": true,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 49,
"wordCount": 1972
},
"headData": {
"title": "10 Things to Know About Lane Splitting in California (No. 1? Yes, It's Legal) | KQED",
"description": "California is the only state in the country where lane splitting is legal, and it always has been.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "10 Things to Know About Lane Splitting in California (No. 1? Yes, It's Legal)",
"datePublished": "2018-07-19T03:00:28-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-07-15T22:58:33-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"source": "Bay Curious",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"sticky": false,
"audioTrackLength": 544,
"path": "/news/11680481/10-things-you-need-to-know-to-understand-lane-splitting-in-california",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/07/LaneSplitting.mp3",
"audioDuration": 562000,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Update: On Sept. 27, 2018, the California Highway Patrol released its “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4946461-Lane-Splitting-Press-Release.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lane Splitting Safety Tips\u003c/a>,” two years after a new state law instructed the agency — along with other stakeholders — to develop guidelines.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve ever driven in California, you’ve probably had a motorcycle drive between you and another car.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is called lane splitting (also known as lane sharing or filtering), and a \u003ca href=\"http://lanesplittingislegal.com/assets/studies-surveys/OTS-California-Lane-Splitting-Habits-Survey-2014.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2014 study\u003c/a> found that 80 percent of California motorcyclists lane split on the freeway, with more than half saying they do it “often” or “always.”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cbr>\nPeople have a lot of feelings about it, but they don’t always have all the information. So here are 10 things you need to know to understand lane splitting in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>1. It’s legal\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the biggest misconceptions is that when motorcyclists are lane splitting, they are breaking the law. They’re not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The practice of lane splitting or lane sharing has never been prohibited by California law,” said Sgt. Larry Starkey, who runs the California Highway Patrol’s California Motorcyclist Safety Program. “So therefore it’s always been an acceptable practice.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the 2014 study, only 60.7 percent of vehicle drivers knew that lane splitting was legal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Motorcyclists who are lane splitting still have to obey speed limits and other rules of the road, and can be ticketed if they don’t lane split responsibly.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>2. A new law changed things … sort of\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2016, Gov. Jerry Brown signed \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB51\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AB 51\u003c/a> into law, which defined lane splitting as “driving a motorcycle … that has two wheels in contact with the ground, between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane, including on both divided and undivided streets, roads, or highways.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the CHP, this didn’t actually change state law. What it did was give CHP the power to develop guidelines around lane splitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11681406\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11681406\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-800x584.jpg\" alt=\"A motorcyclist lane splits on a California freeway.\" width=\"800\" height=\"584\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-800x584.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-160x117.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-1020x744.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-1200x876.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-1180x861.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-960x701.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-240x175.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-375x274.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31880_IMG_9869-qut-1-520x379.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A motorcyclist lane splits on a California freeway. \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This was important because the CHP put up \u003ca href=\"http://lanesplittingislegal.com/assets/docs/CHP-lane-splitting-guidelines-California.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lane splitting guidelines\u003c/a> in 2013, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Motorcyclists-revved-up-about-removal-of-5642436.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">took them down\u003c/a> a year later after a complaint was made to the state’s Office of Administrative Law. The guidelines could be seen as CHP establishing a new law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 51 officially gave CHP the power to create those guidelines. Starkey said that after the law took effect on Jan. 1, 2017, the CHP worked with Department of Transportation, Department of Motor Vehicles, Office of Traffic Safety and motorcycle safety organizations to create new guidelines, which were \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Home/News-Story/california-highway-patrol-releases-lane-splitting-tips\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">released in September 2018\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4946467-CHP-Lane-Splitting-Tips.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lane Splitting Safety Tips\u003c/a>” begin with disclaimer that, “Lane splitting can be dangerous and extreme caution should be exercised. It should not be performed by inexperienced riders.” They include tips for motorcyclists (be aware of your surroundings, avoid lane splitting between large vehicles, danger increases at higher speeds and speed differentials) as well as messages for other vehicle drivers (lane splitting is legal, intentionally blocking a lane splitter is not).\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11694952\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 513px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11694952 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-tips-Side-one.jpg\" alt=\"Page one of the 'Lane Splitting Safety Tips' released by the California Highway Patrol on Sept. 27, 2018.\" width=\"513\" height=\"645\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-tips-Side-one.jpg 513w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-tips-Side-one-160x201.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-tips-Side-one-240x302.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-tips-Side-one-375x471.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 513px) 100vw, 513px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Page one of the ‘Lane Splitting Safety Tips’ released by the California Highway Patrol on Sept. 27, 2018. \u003ccite>(California Highway Patrol)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11694953\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 515px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11694953 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-Tips-Side-two.jpg\" alt=\"Page two of the 'Lane Splitting Safety Tips' released by the California Highway Patrol on Sept. 27, 2018.\" width=\"515\" height=\"657\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-Tips-Side-two.jpg 515w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-Tips-Side-two-160x204.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-Tips-Side-two-240x306.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/Lane-Splitting-Safety-Tips-Side-two-375x478.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 515px) 100vw, 515px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Page two of the ‘Lane Splitting Safety Tips’ released by the California Highway Patrol on Sept. 27, 2018. \u003ccite>(California Highway Patrol)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>3. It’s legal only in California\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>According to the \u003ca href=\"http://www.americanmotorcyclist.com/Rights/State-Laws-Database\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Motorcyclist Association’s website\u003c/a>, every state except California bans the practice of lane splitting. Specifically, the states prohibit motorcycles from passing a vehicle in the same lane and riding between lanes of traffic or rows of vehicles.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>4. Other states are trying to legalize it\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At least nine other states have considered legislation that would allow lane splitting, and some are expected to take up the issue again in the next legislative session, according to Nick Haris, the Western states representative for the American Motorcyclist Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think as a nation, as we see traffic and attempts to address issues with gridlock, I think this is just going to be one of those things that’s identified as a good way to go,” Haris said of the increased interest in legalizing lane splitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>5. It’s legal in lots of other countries\u003c/h2>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11680943\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11680943\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"Motorcyclists lane split in Bangkok, Thailand. Lane splitting is common practice in much of Asia and Europe.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-800x532.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-1200x798.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-1180x785.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-960x639.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-240x160.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-375x249.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31882_Motorcyclists_lane_splitting_in_Bangkok_Thailand-qut-1-520x346.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Motorcyclists lane split in Bangkok, Thailand. Lane splitting is common practice in much of Asia and Europe. \u003ccite>(Roland Dobbins via Wikimedia Commons)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lane splitting is legal and widespread in many European and Asian countries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really is a way of life in Europe,” said Emma Booton, who grew up in England and has been riding motorcycles for 41 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve ridden in New Zealand where everybody just basically waved you around,” Haris said. “It was kind of surprising if you weren’t lane splitting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>6. People have been lane splitting in California for a long time\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>News reports of Californians lane splitting go back to at least the 1960s. Starkey said the practice started as a way for motorcyclists to get through the state’s notoriously bad traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As the traffic got slower and slower throughout the decades, [motorcyclists] began the practice of lane splitting or lane sharing by moving in between the stopped rows of traffic on the highways,” Starkey said, “which prevented their vehicles from overheating, and also helped reduce congestion and ultimately let them get to their destination a little bit quicker as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>7. Very little data exists on how safe it is\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One of the big problems with lane splitting is the lack of data on it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"http://lanesplittingislegal.com/assets/studies-surveys/lane-splitting-safety-california_may-29-2015.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2015 study\u003c/a> from the Safe Transportation Research & Education Center at UC Berkeley found that 17 percent of about 6,000 motorcyclists who crashed between June 2012 through August 2013 were lane splitting at the time of their collision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the study, “Lane-splitting appears to be a relatively safe motorcycle riding strategy if done in traffic moving at 50 mph or less and if motorcyclists do not exceed the speed of other vehicles by more than 15 mph.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the authors also say that the study cannot be used to compare the overall safety of lane splitting:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\u003cp>To estimate how the risk of being involved in a collision changes when motorcyclists chose to lane-split, we would require information on both the lane-splitting and non-lane-splitting riding that is done by some identifiable sample of motorcyclists. The collection of these data is fraught with problems, and the current study did not attempt to collect such data.\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>In other words, researchers would need to collect pre-crash data from motorcyclists who lane split and those who don’t, and see if one population is more likely to get into a crash than the other in order to determine the safety of the practice overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Data from the \u003ca href=\"https://cdan.nhtsa.gov/STSI.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show\u003c/a> that even though California is the only state in the country where lane splitting is legal, it’s in the middle of the pack when it comes to motorcyclist fatalities per 100,000 registered motorcycles compared to other states. But this doesn’t take into account other differences between state laws, including helmet laws and motorcycle riding culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of the day, there are no conclusive data on how safe or not safe lane splitting is.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>8. Here’s what motorcyclists say\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Motorcycle riders say they lane split for two big reasons: speed and safety.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lane splitting allows motorcycles to weave through traffic much more quickly than cars can, and bikers argue it also improves traffic for all commuters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’re taking vehicles out of that line, and it’s less of a clog on the highways,” said Liza Miller, who runs a motorcycle repair and community gathering space out of her Santa Cruz home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11680944\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11680944\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-800x530.jpg\" alt=\"Riders work on their motorcycles at Re-Cycle Santa Cruz, a motorcycle garage and community space.\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-800x530.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-1200x795.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-1180x782.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-960x636.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-240x159.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-375x248.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31884_DSC_1467-qut-1-520x345.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Riders work on their motorcycles at Re-Cycle Santa Cruz, a motorcycle garage and community space. \u003ccite>(Ryan Levi/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"http://www.tmleuven.be/project/motorcyclesandcommuting/20110921_Motorfietsen_eindrapport_Eng.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2011 study from Brussels\u003c/a> — where lane splitting is legal — found that if you replaced 10 percent of cars on the road with motorcycles, it could cut the time everyone spends in traffic by 40 percent, in part because of lane splitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While safety is often used by drivers as a critique of lane splitting, motorcyclists say it actually makes them feel more safe while riding. Getting rear-ended while stationary or in motion is an especially big concern of motorcyclists.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n What do you wonder about the Bay Area, its culture or people that you want KQED to investigate?\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Ask Bay Curious.\u003c/a>\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cbr>\n“We don’t like to be sitting ducks,” Miller said. “When we’re going faster than the cars, we’re in control, and we’re monitoring and looking at what’s happening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Miller and Starkey also said motorcycles and motorcyclists can overheat if they are stationary for extended periods of time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Motorcyclists also argue that drivers’ perceptions of lane splitting are skewed because they more clearly remember the times when a motorcyclists does it recklessly, at a high speed, as opposed to when a rider lane splits responsibly at low speeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You might have 10 motorcycles go by that you don’t even give a second thought,” Haris said. “And then all of a sudden, either you’re not paying attention or someone goes by at a speed that you consider unsafe. And so that stands out in your mind. ‘Oh my gosh. That was dangerous.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>9. Here’s what drivers say\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The 2014 study found that 60 percent of drivers disapproved of lane splitting. More than half of those who disapproved said it was because they felt lane splitting was unsafe. Other reasons include fear that it will lead to a crash, it startles drivers, motorcyclists are going too fast, lane splitting is “unfair” or illegal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s rather unsafe,” said Edwin Martinez, who commutes to work across the Bay Bridge. “It’s unsafe for the person riding the motorcycle and also for the drivers of vehicles.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11680938\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11680938\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-800x593.jpg\" alt=\"Drivers often say they disapprove of lane splitting because they believe it is unsafe.\" width=\"800\" height=\"593\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-800x593.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-1020x755.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-1200x889.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-1180x874.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-960x711.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-240x178.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-375x278.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/07/RS31878_IMG_8745-qut-520x385.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Drivers often say they disapprove of lane splitting because they believe it is unsafe. \u003ccite>(Craig Miller/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Drivers have also reported motorcyclists intentionally knocking off side mirrors as they lane split.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have been clipped by a motorcycle,” said Gaurav Kapur, another daily Bay Bridge commuter, “and they didn’t stop for me. They didn’t stop and look what damage they did to the car.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kapur — who used to ride a motorcycle himself — said motorcycles can be hard to see when they lane split quickly through slow traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I love bikes,” he said, “but it’s just not safe. It’s highly unpredictable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>10. Lane splitting misunderstandings can lead to road rage\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>If you search “lane splitting road rage” on YouTube, you’ll find lots of videos of lane splitting triggering angry reactions from drivers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For me, it resulted in somebody crossing a double yellow and running me up onto a sidewalk,” said Kat Taylor, who has been riding for about four years. “I ended up crashing trying to get away from them, and I broke 15 bones, and I got road rash over 40 percent of my body.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Taylor said she no longer discusses lane splitting because of the disagreements it provokes, but other riders said they often have productive conversations about lane splitting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think half the time they think it’s illegal,” Haris said. “So that oftentimes will change the discussion.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "baycuriousquestion",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11680481/10-things-you-need-to-know-to-understand-lane-splitting-in-california",
"authors": [
"11260"
],
"programs": [
"news_72",
"news_33523"
],
"series": [
"news_17986"
],
"categories": [
"news_8",
"news_33520",
"news_1397"
],
"tags": [
"news_18426",
"news_19542",
"news_2684",
"news_20517"
],
"featImg": "news_11680939",
"label": "source_news_11680481"
},
"news_11652543": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11652543",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11652543",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1530784815000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1530784815,
"format": "audio",
"title": "Cracking the Bizarre Urban Legend of Alameda's Little People Houses",
"headTitle": "Cracking the Bizarre Urban Legend of Alameda’s Little People Houses | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>During World War II, shipbuilding was big business along the West Coast. Hundreds of thousands of workers throughout the Bay Area held down jobs at places like the Alameda Works Shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week’s question asker, Kim Kay, lives in Alameda — not far from that old shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A while back, she heard a story from a friend about a handful of small homes tucked away on a little street called Tregloan Court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had heard that the houses on that street were built for small people during World War II for shipbuilding,” Kay says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rumor has it the shipyard employed little people — and these small houses were where they lived. Kay and her friend went to check them out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, when you first look at them you wouldn’t really notice that they were small,” Kay says. “But if you were to walk up to the front door, you would really realize that they are quite small.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was intrigued, though she had her doubts about the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It seemed interesting,” she says. “But then my thought was, Kaiser was building ships in Richmond. Is there a street like this in Richmond? Are there small houses in San Francisco? I mean, if that’s true, there must be little houses up and down the coast of California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11653547\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11653547\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-800x768.png\" alt=\"Screenshot from a Facebook page discussion about the little houses on Tregloan Street.\" width=\"800\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-800x768.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-160x154.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-1020x979.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-960x922.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-240x230.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-375x360.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-520x499.png 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-32x32.png 32w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot.png 1054w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screen shot from a Facebook page discussion about the little houses on Tregloan Street. \u003ccite>(Photo: Facebook)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It turns out Kay and her friend aren’t the only people to have heard the rumor about the little people houses on Tregloan Court. There are mentions about it on Facebook, and quite a few Alameda locals nod in recognition when you ask them about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like if you walked into fairyland and you see a home that was designed small,” says Allen Tai, who works for the Alameda Planning Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The houses in question aren’t exactly miniature homes, though it’s possible that some people might see them that way because of the bucolic setting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tregloan Court is lined with fruit trees and babbling water fountains. The houses themselves are very cute. They’re made of wood and are smaller in scale than the grand Victorian homes that you also find on the street. They have period details and neat, well-groomed little yards.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignleft\">\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left\">\n\u003ch3>More Bay Area Myths\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11678021\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11678021\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grendelkhan/Wikicommons\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Myth:\u003c/strong> Palo Alto’s black squirrels are the result of a Stanford experiment gone wrong.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Busted:\u003c/strong> Those black squirrels are actually eastern gray squirrels whose parents both had a normal gene mutation for fur color. They’re basically the redheads of the squirrel world.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Question Asker:\u003c/strong> Eyal Cidon\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>But while the “Middle Earth” quality to these buildings may explain why they’re associated with little people and the like, KQED’s research suggests there’s absolutely no validity to the story about the homes serving as dwellings for little shipyard workers during wartime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts we spoke with included people in the Alameda Planning Department, neighbors and a number of local historians. They were unanimous in their debunking of the myth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve never come across a shred of hard evidence supporting the story,” says Alameda historian Woody Minor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t believe they were really built for little people,” says Barbara Stuber, who has lived in one of the larger Victorian homes on Tregloan Court since 1975. “I mean we don’t have little leprechauns living in our street, even though you have a little fairy door down there on the telephone pole.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11653560\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11653560\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Tregloan Court resident Barbara Stuber has been living on the street since 1975.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tregloan Court resident Barbara Stuber has been living on the street since 1975. \u003ccite>(Photo: Chloe Veltman/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Old building permit records at Alameda City Hall show the homes in question were built some years before the Second World War, in the mid-1930s. And while they’re modest in size, at around 1,000 square feet with two or three bedrooms, the homes are nothing near the scale of the tiny houses that are all the rage these days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That being said, the lots are pretty small. City records show Tregloan Court originally had larger lots that were divided up to get more bang for the buck. Historian Minor puts this in the context of the real estate boom that started in the late 1800s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11653561\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11653561\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Old city fire insurance records show how the lots on Tregloan Court used to look, prior to being divided up.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Old city fire insurance records show how the lots on Tregloan Court used to look, prior to being divided up. \u003ccite>(Photo: Courtesy Alameda Planning Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of the old historic Gold Rush-era farms in the east end of Alameda, which is where the town began, began to be subdivided and developed with housing at this time,” Minor says. “Tregloan Court represents sort of a cameo miniature example of this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The diminutive cottages on Tregloan Court aren’t even all that unique. There are the Stonehenge bungalows on Alameda’s Santa Clara Avenue, built around 1930. There’s also a series of small dwellings at Marion Court on Alameda’s west side. And there are similar developments in other parts of the Bay Area, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And no historian KQED spoke with had ever heard of shipyards in the area expressly employing little people as part of the workforce. (Though, of course, their employees probably came in all shapes and sizes.)\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignleft\">\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left\">\n\u003ch3>More Bay Area Myths\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11678019\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11678019\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-800x608.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"608\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-800x608.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-160x122.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-1020x775.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-1200x912.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-1180x897.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-960x729.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-240x182.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-375x285.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-520x395.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut.jpg 1824w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PhyreWorX/Flickr\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left\">\u003cstrong>Myth:\u003c/strong> It’s illegal to eat an orange in the bathtub in California.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Busted:\u003c/strong> The word “orange” appears in state law 372 times, but not once does it have anything to do with a bathtub.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Question Asker:\u003c/strong> Zachary Nemirovsky\u003c/div>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>No one really has a clue about how the myth got started and spread, though. It was most likely some combination of the houses being cute and on the smaller side, Alameda’s shipbuilding past, and the rumor-spreading power of the internet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minor says there are a bunch of weird myths relating to Alameda that seem to rise to the surface with the help of the web, like the one he shared about the lunatic asylum located on the shore of the marsh across from Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do know from research that there is no such asylum,” Minor says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, it’s strange that the little people urban legend about Tregloan Street persists when the houses themselves aren’t even all that small.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet the tenacity of the myth is what made it hard for KQED to track down any residents of the small homes on Tregloan Court, even after we put hand-delivered letters in mailboxes on headed notepaper. After hearing nothing for weeks, one resident sent us a long email asking if we’d consider dropping the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resident, who did not want to be named for privacy reasons but ultimately gave permission to mention his email in this story, says he’s sick of being harassed by what he and his family call “Hobbit Hunters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A couple of times, we have actually been sitting eating dinner when people will come right up in our yard to our dining room window and take pictures of us, and the inside of the house,” the resident writes in his email. “Sometimes, whole families will get out of their car just to take their picture on our doorstep.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11653570\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11653570\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Another adorable but definitely not undersized house on Tregloan Court.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Another adorable but definitely not undersized house on Tregloan Court. \u003ccite>(Photo: Cy Musiker/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He also says he’s 6-foot-3 — and the home he lives in suits him just fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“None of the houses are ‘two-thirds-sized’ homes,” he writes. “That would infer that doorways, countertops, etc. are built to a smaller scale, less than standard height. Some of the homes, including mine are smaller homes, yes, but are not scaled down, and there are many homes around different parts of Alameda that are very similar. I think you will find that really the only thing that differs is the street itself is smaller than almost all of the other streets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11653573\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11653573\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"And yet another lovely smallish Tregloan Court home.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">And yet another lovely smallish Tregloan Court home. \u003ccite>(Photo: Cy Musiker/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\n",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1400,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": true,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 35
},
"modified": 1700596784,
"excerpt": "A small street inadvertently becomes ground zero for so-called \"Hobbit Hunters,\" but is there truth in the legends?",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "A small street inadvertently becomes ground zero for so-called "Hobbit Hunters," but is there truth in the legends?",
"title": "Cracking the Bizarre Urban Legend of Alameda's Little People Houses | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Cracking the Bizarre Urban Legend of Alameda's Little People Houses",
"datePublished": "2018-07-05T03:00:15-07:00",
"dateModified": "2023-11-21T11:59:44-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "cracking-the-bizarre-urban-legend-of-alamedas-little-people-houses",
"status": "publish",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/07/Myths.mp3",
"source": "Bay Curious",
"path": "/news/11652543/cracking-the-bizarre-urban-legend-of-alamedas-little-people-houses",
"audioDuration": 588000,
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>During World War II, shipbuilding was big business along the West Coast. Hundreds of thousands of workers throughout the Bay Area held down jobs at places like the Alameda Works Shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week’s question asker, Kim Kay, lives in Alameda — not far from that old shipyard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A while back, she heard a story from a friend about a handful of small homes tucked away on a little street called Tregloan Court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had heard that the houses on that street were built for small people during World War II for shipbuilding,” Kay says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rumor has it the shipyard employed little people — and these small houses were where they lived. Kay and her friend went to check them out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You know, when you first look at them you wouldn’t really notice that they were small,” Kay says. “But if you were to walk up to the front door, you would really realize that they are quite small.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was intrigued, though she had her doubts about the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It seemed interesting,” she says. “But then my thought was, Kaiser was building ships in Richmond. Is there a street like this in Richmond? Are there small houses in San Francisco? I mean, if that’s true, there must be little houses up and down the coast of California.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11653547\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11653547\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-800x768.png\" alt=\"Screenshot from a Facebook page discussion about the little houses on Tregloan Street.\" width=\"800\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-800x768.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-160x154.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-1020x979.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-960x922.png 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-240x230.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-375x360.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-520x499.png 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot-32x32.png 32w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Facebook-screen-shot.png 1054w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screen shot from a Facebook page discussion about the little houses on Tregloan Street. \u003ccite>(Photo: Facebook)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It turns out Kay and her friend aren’t the only people to have heard the rumor about the little people houses on Tregloan Court. There are mentions about it on Facebook, and quite a few Alameda locals nod in recognition when you ask them about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s like if you walked into fairyland and you see a home that was designed small,” says Allen Tai, who works for the Alameda Planning Department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The houses in question aren’t exactly miniature homes, though it’s possible that some people might see them that way because of the bucolic setting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tregloan Court is lined with fruit trees and babbling water fountains. The houses themselves are very cute. They’re made of wood and are smaller in scale than the grand Victorian homes that you also find on the street. They have period details and neat, well-groomed little yards.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignleft\">\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left\">\n\u003ch3>More Bay Area Myths\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11678021\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11678021\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31650_Black_squirrel-Grendelkhan-wikicommons-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Grendelkhan/Wikicommons\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Myth:\u003c/strong> Palo Alto’s black squirrels are the result of a Stanford experiment gone wrong.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Busted:\u003c/strong> Those black squirrels are actually eastern gray squirrels whose parents both had a normal gene mutation for fur color. They’re basically the redheads of the squirrel world.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Question Asker:\u003c/strong> Eyal Cidon\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>But while the “Middle Earth” quality to these buildings may explain why they’re associated with little people and the like, KQED’s research suggests there’s absolutely no validity to the story about the homes serving as dwellings for little shipyard workers during wartime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts we spoke with included people in the Alameda Planning Department, neighbors and a number of local historians. They were unanimous in their debunking of the myth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve never come across a shred of hard evidence supporting the story,” says Alameda historian Woody Minor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t believe they were really built for little people,” says Barbara Stuber, who has lived in one of the larger Victorian homes on Tregloan Court since 1975. “I mean we don’t have little leprechauns living in our street, even though you have a little fairy door down there on the telephone pole.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11653560\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11653560\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Tregloan Court resident Barbara Stuber has been living on the street since 1975.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG-7647-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tregloan Court resident Barbara Stuber has been living on the street since 1975. \u003ccite>(Photo: Chloe Veltman/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Old building permit records at Alameda City Hall show the homes in question were built some years before the Second World War, in the mid-1930s. And while they’re modest in size, at around 1,000 square feet with two or three bedrooms, the homes are nothing near the scale of the tiny houses that are all the rage these days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That being said, the lots are pretty small. City records show Tregloan Court originally had larger lots that were divided up to get more bang for the buck. Historian Minor puts this in the context of the real estate boom that started in the late 1800s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11653561\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11653561\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Old city fire insurance records show how the lots on Tregloan Court used to look, prior to being divided up.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_7748-e1520039699868-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Old city fire insurance records show how the lots on Tregloan Court used to look, prior to being divided up. \u003ccite>(Photo: Courtesy Alameda Planning Department)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“A lot of the old historic Gold Rush-era farms in the east end of Alameda, which is where the town began, began to be subdivided and developed with housing at this time,” Minor says. “Tregloan Court represents sort of a cameo miniature example of this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The diminutive cottages on Tregloan Court aren’t even all that unique. There are the Stonehenge bungalows on Alameda’s Santa Clara Avenue, built around 1930. There’s also a series of small dwellings at Marion Court on Alameda’s west side. And there are similar developments in other parts of the Bay Area, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And no historian KQED spoke with had ever heard of shipyards in the area expressly employing little people as part of the workforce. (Though, of course, their employees probably came in all shapes and sizes.)\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignleft\">\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left\">\n\u003ch3>More Bay Area Myths\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11678019\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11678019\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-800x608.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"608\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-800x608.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-160x122.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-1020x775.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-1200x912.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-1180x897.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-960x729.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-240x182.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-375x285.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut-520x395.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/RS31646_3090391989_ce1cf49434_o-qut.jpg 1824w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">PhyreWorX/Flickr\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left\">\u003cstrong>Myth:\u003c/strong> It’s illegal to eat an orange in the bathtub in California.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Busted:\u003c/strong> The word “orange” appears in state law 372 times, but not once does it have anything to do with a bathtub.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>Question Asker:\u003c/strong> Zachary Nemirovsky\u003c/div>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>No one really has a clue about how the myth got started and spread, though. It was most likely some combination of the houses being cute and on the smaller side, Alameda’s shipbuilding past, and the rumor-spreading power of the internet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minor says there are a bunch of weird myths relating to Alameda that seem to rise to the surface with the help of the web, like the one he shared about the lunatic asylum located on the shore of the marsh across from Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do know from research that there is no such asylum,” Minor says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, it’s strange that the little people urban legend about Tregloan Street persists when the houses themselves aren’t even all that small.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet the tenacity of the myth is what made it hard for KQED to track down any residents of the small homes on Tregloan Court, even after we put hand-delivered letters in mailboxes on headed notepaper. After hearing nothing for weeks, one resident sent us a long email asking if we’d consider dropping the story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The resident, who did not want to be named for privacy reasons but ultimately gave permission to mention his email in this story, says he’s sick of being harassed by what he and his family call “Hobbit Hunters.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A couple of times, we have actually been sitting eating dinner when people will come right up in our yard to our dining room window and take pictures of us, and the inside of the house,” the resident writes in his email. “Sometimes, whole families will get out of their car just to take their picture on our doorstep.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11653570\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11653570\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Another adorable but definitely not undersized house on Tregloan Court.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Another adorable but definitely not undersized house on Tregloan Court. \u003ccite>(Photo: Cy Musiker/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He also says he’s 6-foot-3 — and the home he lives in suits him just fine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“None of the houses are ‘two-thirds-sized’ homes,” he writes. “That would infer that doorways, countertops, etc. are built to a smaller scale, less than standard height. Some of the homes, including mine are smaller homes, yes, but are not scaled down, and there are many homes around different parts of Alameda that are very similar. I think you will find that really the only thing that differs is the street itself is smaller than almost all of the other streets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11653573\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11653573\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"And yet another lovely smallish Tregloan Court home.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Image-uploaded-from-iOS-9-1-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">And yet another lovely smallish Tregloan Court home. \u003ccite>(Photo: Cy Musiker/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "baycuriousquestion",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11652543/cracking-the-bizarre-urban-legend-of-alamedas-little-people-houses",
"authors": [
"8608"
],
"programs": [
"news_33523"
],
"series": [
"news_17986"
],
"categories": [
"news_223",
"news_8",
"news_33520"
],
"tags": [
"news_17657",
"news_18426",
"news_22864"
],
"featImg": "news_11653569",
"label": "source_news_11652543"
},
"news_11677380": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11677380",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11677380",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1530180006000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1530180006,
"format": "audio",
"title": "Is Rent Control Working and Should We Have More or Less of It?",
"headTitle": "Is Rent Control Working and Should We Have More or Less of It? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>We all know the refrain: “The rent is too damn high.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is more than $3,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some living in rent-controlled apartments pay \u003cem>way less\u003c/em> than that. That’s because their landlords are limited in how much they can raise rental prices each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As California’s housing crisis continues to roar on, some wonder if expanding rent control could help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But how exactly does it work? And is it effective?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Where You Can Find Rent Control\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Right now at least 15 cities in California have some form of rent control. Most of them also have rent control laws that limit when landlords can force tenants to leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and Berkeley have had rent control for decades. But even in those cities, not every home is under rent control because there is this law that limits the reach of rent control.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In the mid-’90s, California was going through an affordable housing crisis. To encourage more housing development, two politicians, Democratic Sen. Jim Costa of Fresno and Republican Assemblyman Phil Hawkins of Bellflower, wanted to curb rent control.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch4 style=\"text-align: center\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/series/sf-homeless-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000\">Read More of KQED’s Coverage for the SF Homeless Project\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/h4>\n\u003cfigure>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/series/sf-homeless-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/SFHomeless_long_Horizontal-02-e1467163328567.png\" alt=\"\">\u003c/a>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>They drafted\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=3.&title=5.&part=4.&chapter=2.7.&article\"> the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act\u003c/a>, and in 1995 it passed by one vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Costa-Hawkins shaped rent control across the state in two big ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, it allowed landlords to raise the rent to whatever they want after a tenant moves out of a rent-controlled apartment. This is called vacancy decontrol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I see apartments all the time, they’re total pieces of crap. And they’re charging like a bazillion dollars, right? But once you get into that apartment, they’re limited in how much more they can raise it. Every time a person moves out they can reset it,” says Matt Levin, a data reporter for \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CALmatters\u003c/a> and co-host of the housing podcast “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/category/podcasts/gimme-shelter/\">Gimme Shelter\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11677412\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11677412 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-1020x1020.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-160x160.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-800x800.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-1200x1200.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-1180x1180.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-960x960.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-240x240.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-375x375.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-520x520.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-32x32.jpg 32w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-50x50.jpg 50w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-64x64.jpg 64w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-96x96.jpg 96w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-128x128.jpg 128w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">March 25, 2016\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before Costa-Hawkins was adopted, some cities had vacancy control, which caps the rent on a unit even after a tenant moves out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second, Costa-Hawkins barred certain kinds of housing, like most single-family homes and condos, from being rent-controlled. It also doesn’t allow rent control on buildings built after Feb. 1, 1995.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the cities that already had rent control on the books, Costa-Hawkins froze their construction cutoff dates where they stood. In Oakland nothing built after 1983 can have rent control, Berkeley is 1980, and in San Jose and San Francisco it’s 1979.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So anything new and nice-looking in San Francisco is not going to have rent control on it,” says Levin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11677426\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11677426 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-800x507.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"507\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-800x507.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-160x101.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-960x609.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-240x152.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-375x238.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-520x330.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Justin Sullivan/Getty Images\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Studying Rent Control\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“There is not as much really great research on the effects of rent control as you might think,” Levin says. “One of the best studies that has been done in my opinion, and in the opinion of a lot of people who research this topic, is a \u003ca href=\"http://conference.nber.org/confer//2017/PEf17/Diamond_McQuade_Qian.pdf\">Stanford University study.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study is by Rebecca Diamond, Tim McQuade and Franklin Qian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Diamond says that many arguments for or against rent control are theoretical, but reality doesn’t always match the theory. Diamond, McQuade and Qian got data showing the address changes of San Franciscans over about 18 years, starting in 1994 when rent control expanded to small multifamily housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Who Benefits?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“We find for the tenants that were living in San Francisco at the time of the law change, [that became covered by rent control,] they benefit dramatically,” says Diamond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who ended up in rent-controlled apartments at the time of the law change saved $7 billion over 18 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People over 40 saved the most, and saw three times the benefit of younger people — probably because young people can’t stay put in the same way. They need to leave those rent-controlled apartments because of new jobs, marriages and growing families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Rent control] can create big distortions of forcing people to stay in the ‘wrong’ apartment. You can imagine an old lady living in a four- bedroom apartment because it’s so much cheaper than a one bedroom, and on the flip side you can imagine a young person who has kids staying in a studio because they can’t pay super expensive rent elsewhere,” says Diamond.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Who Does Not Benefit\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“Landlords really, really dislike rent control,” says Diamond. “This is a very costly policy for them. It forces them to provide these subsidies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch5>While the price ceiling of rent control limits earnings, rent control cannot impede landlords’ ability to get a “fair market return” on their property. If landlords who own rent controlled properties want to charge tenants more, they need to present reasoning. For example, if the landlord adds a pool and sauna to an apartment building in Berkeley, that landlord could petition the rent board to increase the rent ceiling.\u003c/h5>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>With their earnings capped, some landlords decided to leave the rental business altogether by selling or converting their apartments. In 18 years of the study, Diamond found that 15 percent of those newly rent-controlled apartments had been taken off the rental market entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That decreases the supply of rental housing,” Diamond says, creating a new group of people who don’t benefit — other renters. “If supply goes down, prices have to go up for supply to equal demand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With more people trying to get into fewer apartments, landlords can charge more for those apartments. Diamond’s study found that across the city rent went up by 7 percent and cost $5 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meaning newcomers and renters without rent control end up paying more.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Should We Get Rid of Rent Control?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Because our form of rent control can create market distortions and drive costs up for many people, Diamond and her colleagues think it needs to change. They propose that the state find another way to provide cost stability to renters without placing the burden on landlords.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many economists believe rent control should be eliminated, because developers would build more and that new housing would reduce demand and lower prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While rent control may worsen affordability in the long term, some say we are in a crisis and low-income renters need these kinds of protections. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Bay Area Economic Institute — which is not a bastion of socialism but it is more aligned with the business interests of the Bay Area — did a simulation of all these different types of housing policies and what it would do to San Franciscans,” says Levin. “They found if you did away with rent control, that is the worst thing you could do if you wanted to preserve the affordability of the people currently in the city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The simulation found that getting rid of rent control would mean more than \u003ca href=\"http://www.bayareaeconomy.org/report/solving-the-housing-affordability-crisis-san-francisco/\">16,000 households\u003c/a> would find themselves in unaffordable housing overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tenant advocates say that rent control is important for preserving diversity in cities by protecting vulnerable populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tony Samara of the advocacy group Urban Habitat says this is a civil rights issue and that rent control is a frontline defense against resegregation in the Bay Area. “When you look at where the impact [of displacement] is most heavy, it’s disproportionately on black and brown communities,” says Samara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Renters are generally lower-income than homeowners, so rent control targets the appropriate demographic,” says Leslie Gordon of Urban Habitat. “That said, all renters regardless of income are deserving of stable rents.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Should We Expand Rent Control?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Samara argues that the problem with rent control causing market rate rents to get more expensive isn’t the result of too much rent control, but not enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you have a city that passes controls on pollution and then the polluting industries pick up and move to the next city, do you blame the regulation against pollution or do you blame the polluter who’s trying to get around the regulation?” Samara asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11159628\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11159628\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"Giselle Penuela, 10, and Alexander Penuela, 6 attend an October 2015 vigil in Redwood City outside the City Council chamber calling for rent control and other renter protections.\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Giselle Penuela, 10, and Alexander Penuela, 6, attend an October 2015 vigil in Redwood City outside the City Council chamber calling for rent control and other renter protections. \u003ccite>(Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While landlords of rent controlled apartments don’t earn the maximum possible profit, Gordon believes they are making enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a scarcity rent situation landlords can make tons of money simply because they own a property. It’s not because they’re investing in it or providing a better good to their tenants, it’s because they own property in a period where urban land values are rising rapidly,” says Gordon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some groups are working to expand rent control. A measure to overturn Costa-Hawkins will be on the November ballot in 2018. If passed, it opens the door for cities to expand rent control to every single unit, if they elect to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Potential Consequences of Expansion\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Landlords, developers and their representatives are deeply opposed to the expansion of rent control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Developers already face a number of hurdles when building, like nimbyism, environmental restrictions and the soaring costs of land and labor,” says Tom Bannon, CEO of the California Apartment Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">\n\u003ch5>Tenant advocates say just building isn’t enough. New luxury housing depreciates too slowly to adequately alleviate the housing burden of low-income people. Some say cities should focus on building low-income housing while preserving and protecting affordable housing that already exists.\u003c/h5>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>California’s high costs of building disincentivize developers, and Bannon worries that if rent control expands to new construction, investors might leave the state entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You would have a serious reduction in the construction of any new apartments because builders and banks and individuals would not be willing to take the risk,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s housing we really need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just to keep up with population growth California needs 180,000 new homes each year. And California has been averaging less than 80,000 new homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11677409\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11677409\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-1020x642.jpg\" alt=\"A construction worker builds a home in Petaluma in March, 2017.\" width=\"640\" height=\"403\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-160x101.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-800x504.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-960x604.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-240x151.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-375x236.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-520x327.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A construction worker builds a home in Petaluma in March, 2017. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"mv-widget-dFk0bqki2Z8cQ8A86QZvW2Mv7ma\" style=\"width:100%; min-width:280px; height:750px;\" frameborder=\"0\" border=\"none\" src=\"https://api.qzzr.com/widget/poll/dFk0bqki2Z8cQ8A86QZvW2Mv7ma\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": true,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1760,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [
"https://api.qzzr.com/widget/poll/dFk0bqki2Z8cQ8A86QZvW2Mv7ma"
],
"paragraphCount": 52
},
"modified": 1700596795,
"excerpt": "Rent control is in at least 15 California cities, but even in those cities there are many limits on what can be rent controlled. A proposition on the November ballot could get rid of those limits, but should it?",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Rent control is in at least 15 California cities, but even in those cities there are many limits on what can be rent controlled. A proposition on the November ballot could get rid of those limits, but should it?",
"title": "Is Rent Control Working and Should We Have More or Less of It? | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Is Rent Control Working and Should We Have More or Less of It?",
"datePublished": "2018-06-28T03:00:06-07:00",
"dateModified": "2023-11-21T11:59:55-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "is-rent-control-working-and-should-we-have-more-or-less-of-it",
"status": "publish",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"audioTrackLength": 589,
"source": "Bay Curious",
"path": "/news/11677380/is-rent-control-working-and-should-we-have-more-or-less-of-it",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/06/RentControl.mp3",
"audioDuration": 591000,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>We all know the refrain: “The rent is too damn high.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is more than $3,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some living in rent-controlled apartments pay \u003cem>way less\u003c/em> than that. That’s because their landlords are limited in how much they can raise rental prices each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As California’s housing crisis continues to roar on, some wonder if expanding rent control could help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But how exactly does it work? And is it effective?\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Where You Can Find Rent Control\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Right now at least 15 cities in California have some form of rent control. Most of them also have rent control laws that limit when landlords can force tenants to leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Bay Area, San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and Berkeley have had rent control for decades. But even in those cities, not every home is under rent control because there is this law that limits the reach of rent control.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>In the mid-’90s, California was going through an affordable housing crisis. To encourage more housing development, two politicians, Democratic Sen. Jim Costa of Fresno and Republican Assemblyman Phil Hawkins of Bellflower, wanted to curb rent control.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch4 style=\"text-align: center\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/series/sf-homeless-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000\">Read More of KQED’s Coverage for the SF Homeless Project\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003c/h4>\n\u003cfigure>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/series/sf-homeless-project\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/SFHomeless_long_Horizontal-02-e1467163328567.png\" alt=\"\">\u003c/a>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>They drafted\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&division=3.&title=5.&part=4.&chapter=2.7.&article\"> the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act\u003c/a>, and in 1995 it passed by one vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Costa-Hawkins shaped rent control across the state in two big ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, it allowed landlords to raise the rent to whatever they want after a tenant moves out of a rent-controlled apartment. This is called vacancy decontrol.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I see apartments all the time, they’re total pieces of crap. And they’re charging like a bazillion dollars, right? But once you get into that apartment, they’re limited in how much more they can raise it. Every time a person moves out they can reset it,” says Matt Levin, a data reporter for \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CALmatters\u003c/a> and co-host of the housing podcast “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/articles/category/podcasts/gimme-shelter/\">Gimme Shelter\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11677412\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11677412 size-large\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-1020x1020.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-160x160.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-800x800.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-1200x1200.jpg 1200w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-1180x1180.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-960x960.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-240x240.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-375x375.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-520x520.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-32x32.jpg 32w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-50x50.jpg 50w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-64x64.jpg 64w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-96x96.jpg 96w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-128x128.jpg 128w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/FioreBeardoRents-1920x1920-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">March 25, 2016\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Before Costa-Hawkins was adopted, some cities had vacancy control, which caps the rent on a unit even after a tenant moves out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Second, Costa-Hawkins barred certain kinds of housing, like most single-family homes and condos, from being rent-controlled. It also doesn’t allow rent control on buildings built after Feb. 1, 1995.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the cities that already had rent control on the books, Costa-Hawkins froze their construction cutoff dates where they stood. In Oakland nothing built after 1983 can have rent control, Berkeley is 1980, and in San Jose and San Francisco it’s 1979.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So anything new and nice-looking in San Francisco is not going to have rent control on it,” says Levin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11677426\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11677426 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-800x507.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"507\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-800x507.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-160x101.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-960x609.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-240x152.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-375x238.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/AptForRent-1020x647-520x330.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Justin Sullivan/Getty Images\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Studying Rent Control\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“There is not as much really great research on the effects of rent control as you might think,” Levin says. “One of the best studies that has been done in my opinion, and in the opinion of a lot of people who research this topic, is a \u003ca href=\"http://conference.nber.org/confer//2017/PEf17/Diamond_McQuade_Qian.pdf\">Stanford University study.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study is by Rebecca Diamond, Tim McQuade and Franklin Qian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Diamond says that many arguments for or against rent control are theoretical, but reality doesn’t always match the theory. Diamond, McQuade and Qian got data showing the address changes of San Franciscans over about 18 years, starting in 1994 when rent control expanded to small multifamily housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Who Benefits?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“We find for the tenants that were living in San Francisco at the time of the law change, [that became covered by rent control,] they benefit dramatically,” says Diamond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People who ended up in rent-controlled apartments at the time of the law change saved $7 billion over 18 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People over 40 saved the most, and saw three times the benefit of younger people — probably because young people can’t stay put in the same way. They need to leave those rent-controlled apartments because of new jobs, marriages and growing families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[Rent control] can create big distortions of forcing people to stay in the ‘wrong’ apartment. You can imagine an old lady living in a four- bedroom apartment because it’s so much cheaper than a one bedroom, and on the flip side you can imagine a young person who has kids staying in a studio because they can’t pay super expensive rent elsewhere,” says Diamond.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Who Does Not Benefit\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>“Landlords really, really dislike rent control,” says Diamond. “This is a very costly policy for them. It forces them to provide these subsidies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch5>While the price ceiling of rent control limits earnings, rent control cannot impede landlords’ ability to get a “fair market return” on their property. If landlords who own rent controlled properties want to charge tenants more, they need to present reasoning. For example, if the landlord adds a pool and sauna to an apartment building in Berkeley, that landlord could petition the rent board to increase the rent ceiling.\u003c/h5>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>With their earnings capped, some landlords decided to leave the rental business altogether by selling or converting their apartments. In 18 years of the study, Diamond found that 15 percent of those newly rent-controlled apartments had been taken off the rental market entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That decreases the supply of rental housing,” Diamond says, creating a new group of people who don’t benefit — other renters. “If supply goes down, prices have to go up for supply to equal demand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With more people trying to get into fewer apartments, landlords can charge more for those apartments. Diamond’s study found that across the city rent went up by 7 percent and cost $5 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meaning newcomers and renters without rent control end up paying more.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Should We Get Rid of Rent Control?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Because our form of rent control can create market distortions and drive costs up for many people, Diamond and her colleagues think it needs to change. They propose that the state find another way to provide cost stability to renters without placing the burden on landlords.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many economists believe rent control should be eliminated, because developers would build more and that new housing would reduce demand and lower prices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While rent control may worsen affordability in the long term, some say we are in a crisis and low-income renters need these kinds of protections. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The Bay Area Economic Institute — which is not a bastion of socialism but it is more aligned with the business interests of the Bay Area — did a simulation of all these different types of housing policies and what it would do to San Franciscans,” says Levin. “They found if you did away with rent control, that is the worst thing you could do if you wanted to preserve the affordability of the people currently in the city.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The simulation found that getting rid of rent control would mean more than \u003ca href=\"http://www.bayareaeconomy.org/report/solving-the-housing-affordability-crisis-san-francisco/\">16,000 households\u003c/a> would find themselves in unaffordable housing overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tenant advocates say that rent control is important for preserving diversity in cities by protecting vulnerable populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tony Samara of the advocacy group Urban Habitat says this is a civil rights issue and that rent control is a frontline defense against resegregation in the Bay Area. “When you look at where the impact [of displacement] is most heavy, it’s disproportionately on black and brown communities,” says Samara.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Renters are generally lower-income than homeowners, so rent control targets the appropriate demographic,” says Leslie Gordon of Urban Habitat. “That said, all renters regardless of income are deserving of stable rents.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Should We Expand Rent Control?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Samara argues that the problem with rent control causing market rate rents to get more expensive isn’t the result of too much rent control, but not enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you have a city that passes controls on pollution and then the polluting industries pick up and move to the next city, do you blame the regulation against pollution or do you blame the polluter who’s trying to get around the regulation?” Samara asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11159628\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11159628\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-1020x680.jpg\" alt=\"Giselle Penuela, 10, and Alexander Penuela, 6 attend an October 2015 vigil in Redwood City outside the City Council chamber calling for rent control and other renter protections.\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/rent-control-1920a-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Giselle Penuela, 10, and Alexander Penuela, 6, attend an October 2015 vigil in Redwood City outside the City Council chamber calling for rent control and other renter protections. \u003ccite>(Farida Jhabvala Romero/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>While landlords of rent controlled apartments don’t earn the maximum possible profit, Gordon believes they are making enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In a scarcity rent situation landlords can make tons of money simply because they own a property. It’s not because they’re investing in it or providing a better good to their tenants, it’s because they own property in a period where urban land values are rising rapidly,” says Gordon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some groups are working to expand rent control. A measure to overturn Costa-Hawkins will be on the November ballot in 2018. If passed, it opens the door for cities to expand rent control to every single unit, if they elect to do so.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Potential Consequences of Expansion\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Landlords, developers and their representatives are deeply opposed to the expansion of rent control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Developers already face a number of hurdles when building, like nimbyism, environmental restrictions and the soaring costs of land and labor,” says Tom Bannon, CEO of the California Apartment Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">\n\u003ch5>Tenant advocates say just building isn’t enough. New luxury housing depreciates too slowly to adequately alleviate the housing burden of low-income people. Some say cities should focus on building low-income housing while preserving and protecting affordable housing that already exists.\u003c/h5>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>California’s high costs of building disincentivize developers, and Bannon worries that if rent control expands to new construction, investors might leave the state entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You would have a serious reduction in the construction of any new apartments because builders and banks and individuals would not be willing to take the risk,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s housing we really need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just to keep up with population growth California needs 180,000 new homes each year. And California has been averaging less than 80,000 new homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11677409\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-11677409\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-1020x642.jpg\" alt=\"A construction worker builds a home in Petaluma in March, 2017.\" width=\"640\" height=\"403\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-160x101.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-800x504.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-960x604.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-240x151.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-375x236.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/HousingConstruction-1020x642-520x327.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A construction worker builds a home in Petaluma in March, 2017. \u003ccite>(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"mv-widget-dFk0bqki2Z8cQ8A86QZvW2Mv7ma\" style=\"width:100%; min-width:280px; height:750px;\" frameborder=\"0\" border=\"none\" src=\"https://api.qzzr.com/widget/poll/dFk0bqki2Z8cQ8A86QZvW2Mv7ma\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11677380/is-rent-control-working-and-should-we-have-more-or-less-of-it",
"authors": [
"8606"
],
"programs": [
"news_72",
"news_33523"
],
"series": [
"news_17986",
"news_19491"
],
"categories": [
"news_6266",
"news_8",
"news_33520"
],
"tags": [
"news_18426",
"news_23068",
"news_23547",
"news_19542",
"news_1775",
"news_3924",
"news_17041"
],
"featImg": "news_11677399",
"label": "source_news_11677380"
},
"news_11674280": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11674280",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11674280",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1529575228000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "map-how-75-bay-area-places-got-their-names",
"title": "MAP: How 75 Bay Area Places Got Their Names",
"publishDate": 1529575228,
"format": "aside",
"headTitle": "MAP: How 75 Bay Area Places Got Their Names | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cp>[audio src=\"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/06/Etymologies.mp3\" Image=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/ladycropcredit.jpg\" Title=\"LISTEN: The Origins of Bay Area Place Names\" program=\"Bay Curious\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every name has a story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take “California” for example. The name comes from a best-selling romance novel written in 1510 called “Las Sergas de Esplandián” or “The Deeds of Esplandián.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the book, the author describes California as a remote island full of gold and precious stones. The island was protected by beautiful black warrior women who lived like the Amazons and served their ruler, Queen Calafia. The novel was so popular that when Spanish explorers arrived, they named their discovery after the mythical island of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious listener Shridhar Ramachandran was wondering about how other California places got their names — specifically those in the Bay Area. He turned to the Bay Curious team for help, and so we got to work researching more than 70 Bay Area place names. Below is an interactive map and list to explore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How Bay Area cities got their names \" aria-label=\"Locator map\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-fCyHX\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/fCyHX/4/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"700\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Alameda\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It is Spanish for “grove of poplar (or cottonwood) trees” or “tree-lined avenue.” By 1795, the southern part of the region was already referred to as la Alameda.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Albany\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>When the town was incorporated in 1908, it took the name Ocean View, though it was jokingly known as O’Shean’s View. The name was changed the following year because a nearby section of Berkeley was also called Ocean View. The town became Albany because the first mayor, Frank J. Roberts, was born in Albany, New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Alcatraz\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It is Spanish for “pelican.” The name Isla de Los Alcatraces was first given to what is now Yerba Buena Island because there were so many pelicans there. Later the name was transferred to the Alcatraz Island of today.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Angel Island\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Juan Manuel de Ayala named it Isla de los Ángeles in 1775.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Antioch\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In 1849 the place was called Smith’s Landing because it had been settled by twin brothers with the surname Smith. One of the brothers was a minister and invited a group of New Englanders to settle on his property. On July 4, 1851, the new citizens had a picnic and decided to rename the land Antioch, after a Biblical city in Syria.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Atherton\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The town was named after the businessman Faxon D. Atherton, who first visited California in 1836. Years later he acquired 500 acres where the town now sits.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Benicia\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The land was to be named Francisca, after the wife of Gen. Mariano Vallejo. But when the chief magistrate of Yerba Buena registered the name for the town, he decided to call his growing settlement San Francisco. Francisca became too similar to San Francisco, and thus the name was changed to another one of Señora Vallejo’s names, Benicia.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Berkeley\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>On May 24, 1866, the trustees of the College of California chose the name Berkeley. Frederick Billings proposed the name, inspired by a poem from George Berkeley, bishop of Cloyne. Berkeley had written the poem in 1728 while sailing to Rhode Island with the ultimate goal of founding a school in Bermuda: “Westward the course of Empire takes its way / The four first acts already past, / A fifth shall close the drama with the day / Time’s noblest offspring is the last.” Less known is that Berkeley bought slaves to work on his plantation during his stay in Rhode Island.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Bolinas\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In 1834, Ignacio Martinez mentioned a valley that people call “Baulenes.” The name probably comes from a Coast Miwok word. The name was misspelled as Ballenas from 1852 to 1910 on Coast Survey charts, an accidental analogy to the Spanish word for whale. Then in 1896, George Davidson falsely assumed the bay had been named for Francisco de Bolaños from Sebastián Vizcaíno’s expedition. This caused the spelling to change to Bolanos and Boliñas. By 1873, the USGS adopted the spelling Bolinas.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Burlingame\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named in 1868 by William Ralston. He named it after his friend, Anson Burlingame, a lawyer and politician. Notably, Burlingame had been President Abraham Lincoln’s U.S. minister to the Qing Empire in China.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Castro Valley\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named after Guillermo Castro, a rancher.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Concord\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Salvio Pacheco, owner of the Monte del Diablo rancho, selected the site for a town in 1862. He named the settlement Todos Santos, but many of the new residents were from New England with Anglo sensibilities. By 1869, the town was known as Concord, probably referring to the Concord in Massachusetts.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Cupertino\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The town took the name from Cupertino Creek, which had been named for St. Joseph of Cupertino.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Daly City\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>John Daly arrived in California when he was 13 in the 1850s. His mother had died on the Panama Canal crossing. The boy found work on a dairy farm and rose quickly. By 1868 he owned 250 acres. After the 1906 earthquake, many San Franciscans took refuge on Daly’s dairy farm. When the land was incorporated in 1911, the town was named in his honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Danville\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named in the 1860s, possibly after Danville, Kentucky.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Dublin\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>James Witt Dougherty bought a large parcel of land in the area. By the 1870s many Irish immigrants had moved nearby. It is rumored that Dougherty said “There are so many Irish here, you might as well call it Dublin.”\u003cbr>\n[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>El Cerrito\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It means “little hill” in Spanish. The hill it refers to is actually in Albany and is now called Albany Hill. The first record of the name was when the area was referred to as Cerrito de San Antonio in 1820, possibly to honor Anthony of Padua, a patron saint of the Franciscans.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Emeryville\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named for Joseph Emery, who came to California in 1850 and bought 185 acres in 1859. He is known for overseeing the dredging of the Oakland estuary. He was also the president of the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Fairfield\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In the 1850s, a famous clipper ship captain, Robert H. Waterman, moved to the area, where he lived in a house modeled after the prow of a ship. When he gave the land up in order to found a new city, he named it after his hometown of Fairfield, Connecticut.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Foster City\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named after T. Jack Foster, who gave land to the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Fremont\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>John C. Fremont was a soldier, explorer and politician. He was also the first Republican candidate to run for president in 1856.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Gilroy\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named after the Scottish sailor, John Gilroy who was not actually named John Gilroy. His name was John Cameron. He went by Gilroy, his mothers maiden name, because he’d been a minor when he left home and was in danger of being sent back. In 1814 he was left ashore in Monterey. He became one of the first non-Spanish non-native permanent settlers in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Half Moon Bay\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named for the shape of the bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Hayward\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The city is named after William Hayward, who opened a hotel there in 1852.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Hercules\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It’s actually named after explosives. In 1881, the California Powder Works company began producing dynamite out of the area. It made a product called Hercules Powder. When the town became incorporated, community leaders decided to name it Hercules.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Hillsborough\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The former owner of the area was W. D. M. Howard, who was from Hillsborough, New Hampshire.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Lafayette\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, a French general who fought in the U.S. War of Independence.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Larkspur\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The area was subdivided by Charles W. Wright in 1887, and his wife, Georgina, named the town. She allegedly saw flowers blooming on a hill and thought the lupine was larkspur.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Livermore\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named after the English sailor, Robert Livermore, who came to California in the 1820s, became a Mexican citizen and got a huge land grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Los Altos\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It is Spanish for “the heights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Los Gatos\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It is Spanish for “cats.” The Santa Cruz Mountains were once called Cuesta de los Gatos. When the railroad created a station nearby in 1878, it was named Los Gatos Creek.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Martinez\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named after the landowner Ignacio Martínez, who had been comandante at the Presidio of San Francisco from 1822-1827.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Menlo Park\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>There were two brothers-in-law, Dennis J. Oliver and D. C. McGlynn. They came from the village of Menlough in County Galway, Ireland. Between their two ranches they built an arched gate with the inscription “Menlo Park.” When the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad reached the place in 1863, they adopted the name for the station.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Mill Valley\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In 1834 a sawmill was built in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Milpitas\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In Mexican Spanish milpas means “cornfields.” The family of Máximo Martínez, as well as local Native Americans, had once worked in nearby cornfields.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>\u003ca id=\"moraga\">\u003c/a>Moraga\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named after Joaquín Moraga, a soldier in the San Francisco Company. His father was the explorer Gabriel Moraga.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Morgan Hill\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named after Morgan Hill, a ranch owner.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Mountain View\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named for a stage station that had views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Napa\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>There are many theories for what Napa could mean. According to some, Napa is Southern Patwin for “grizzly bear.” Others think it comes from the Eastern and Central Pomo, who have the word naphó, which means “people family.” A third theory is that it comes from the Suisun Patwin and could mean “near mother,” “near home” or “motherland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Newark\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In 1876, the South Pacific Coast Railroad Co. named the railroad station after the New Jersey home of A.E. Davis and his brother.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Nicasio\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It’s believed that Nicasio was a Native American who was baptized with the name of one of several saints named Nicasius.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Novato\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The name is probably from a chief of the Hookooeko or Miwok. Historians believe the chief had probably been baptized with the name of St. Novatus.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Oakland\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In Spanish times, part of the area had been called Encinal del Temescal or “Oak Grove by the Sweathouse” because of a beautiful oak grove. When the area was incorporated as a town, the name was spontaneously chosen.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Orinda\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The sheriff and landowner William Camron was married to Alice M. Camron. Mrs. Camron chose to name their home in honor of her favorite poet, Katherine Fowler Philips, who was known as “The Matchless Orinda.”*\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Pacifica\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Because the city is next to the Pacific Ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Palo Alto\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Palo means stick in Spanish, but in Spanish California it meant tree. It may refer to a specific redwood tree seen by the Anza expedition, that “appears from a distance like a tower.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Pescadero\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In Spanish it means “fishing place” because people caught salmon there.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Petaluma\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In Coast Miwok, péta lúuma means “hillside back” or “hillside ridge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Piedmont\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was inspired either by the French word piedmont or the Italian word piemonte, both meaning “foot (of the) mountain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Pleasanton\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The name has nothing to do with “pleasant town.” It’s named after Gen. Alfred Pleasonton. The name was misspelled by a U.S. Postal Service worker.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Pittsburg\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named after the Pittsburg Coal Co., which was named after the city in Pennsylvania.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Point Reyes\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>An expedition led by Sebastian Vizcaíno passed the point on Jan 6, 1603, the Day of the Three Holy Kings. The expedition members found shelter in present-day Drakes Bay and named it Puerto de los Reyes. That name did not stick, but on maps Punta de los Reyes continued to be used.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Redwood City\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>There had been a forest and lumber industry nearby. The site has also been called Red Woods City, Red Woods Embarcadero and the Redwoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Richmond\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named Richmond in 1852. It’s a popular place name in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Bruno\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named for St. Bruno of Cologne, founder of the Carthusian Order.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Francisco\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The area was originally called Yerba Buena in the 1700s by Spanish-speaking explorers. It was officially changed to San Francisco in 1847. The namesake was Mission San Francisco de Asís a la Laguna de los Dolores or “The mission of our seraphic father Saint Francis of Assisi at the Lake of the Sorrows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Jose\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>On November 29, 1777, \u003cem>Pueblo de San Jose\u003c/em> was founded as California’s first civilian settlement. This Pueblo, and eventually the city, were both named after Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary.*\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Leandro\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The city got its name from Arroyo de San Leandro. The name probably honors Saint Leander, archbishop of Seville.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Mateo\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It honors St. Matthew, the evangelist and apostle.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Pablo\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It honors Paul the Apostle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousbug]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Rafael\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The name honors the archangel Raphael, the guardian angel of humanity.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Ramon\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The name doesn’t honor a saint. It actually honors a sheep herder named Ramón. A creek was named after Ramón and then the city took that name. The “San” was added to make it conform to surrounding name conventions.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Saratoga\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named because the waters of nearby Pacific Congress Spring look similar to Congress Spring in Saratoga, New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Santa Clara\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In 1769 the area was named in honor of Saint Clare of Assisi, co-founder of the Franciscan Order of Poor Clares.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Santa Rosa\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named for either the Dominican St. Rose of Lima or for the Italian Franciscan St. Rose of Viterbo.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Sausalito\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In Spanish sauzalito means “little willow grove.” Earlier the area had been called Horseshoe Bay. It was first called Sausalito on land grants in 1826.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Sonoma\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In baptismal records from 1815, the name of the local Native American tribe was the “Chucuines o Sonomas.” In 1816, a botanist called them the “Sonomi.” According to the book, “California Place Names” by Erwin Gudde, it comes from a Patwin word for “nose.” Gudde writes there was either an Native American chief with a prominent nose, or a nose-shaped mountain. While the “valley of the moon” is poetic, Gudde finds it less credible.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Sunnyvale\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named by W. E. Crossman around 1900.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Tiburon\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It means “shark” in Spanish. Punta de Tiburón, or “shark’s point,” was first mentioned in the diary of José Sánchez on July 6, 1823.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Treasure Island\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The name was chosen in 1936 because it “perfectly expressed a glamorous, beautiful, almost fabulous island that would present the treasures of the world during the 1939 World’s Fair.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Union City\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Union City got its name from a steamboat called “The Union” owned by settlers John and William Horner. They established the settlement following the Gold Rush.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Vacaville\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The area was named after Juan Manuel Vaca, who sold the land in the 1840s.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Vallejo\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named after a Monterey-born general, Mariano Vallejo. He laid out the city in 1850 and established the state capital there from 1851 to 1852.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Walnut Creek\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In 1810 it was called Arroyo de los Nogales or “creek of the walnut trees” by Padre Viader. In 1834 land grants called the stream Arroyo de las Nueces.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Yerba Buena\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It means “good herb” in Spanish and refers to the sweet-scented creeper Micromeria chamissonis. The plant was found near Mountain Lake in San Francisco in 1776. By 1792 it became a place name. Before the island was called Yerba Buena Island, it was known as Isla de Alcatraces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This post heavily references the book “California Place Names” by Erwin G. Gudde.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Thanks to Werner Weiss, the creator of \u003ca href=\"http://www.yesterland.com/\">Yesterland.com,\u003c/a> for his 2007 photo of Queen Calafia as portrayed by Disney outside the discontinued cinematic ride, Golden Dreams.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>*An earlier version of this post incorrectly gave credit to the U.S. surveyor general of California for choosing the name “Orinda” and attributed the naming of San Jose to the establishment of Mission San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "California was named after a fictional island for black Amazon-like warrior women, ruled by Queen Calafia. What about Bay Area names?",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1740164045,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": true,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": true,
"iframeSrcs": [
"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/fCyHX/4/"
],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": true,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 88,
"wordCount": 2775
},
"headData": {
"title": "MAP: How 75 Bay Area Places Got Their Names | KQED",
"description": "California was named after a fictional island for black Amazon-like warrior women, ruled by Queen Calafia. What about Bay Area names?",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "MAP: How 75 Bay Area Places Got Their Names",
"datePublished": "2018-06-21T03:00:28-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-02-21T10:54:05-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"source": "Bay Curious",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"sticky": false,
"nprStoryId": "kqed-11674280",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11674280/map-how-75-bay-area-places-got-their-names",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "audio",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"src": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/new-bay-curious/2018/06/Etymologies.mp3",
"image": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/06/ladycropcredit.jpg",
"title": "LISTEN: The Origins of Bay Area Place Names",
"program": "Bay Curious",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every name has a story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take “California” for example. The name comes from a best-selling romance novel written in 1510 called “Las Sergas de Esplandián” or “The Deeds of Esplandián.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the book, the author describes California as a remote island full of gold and precious stones. The island was protected by beautiful black warrior women who lived like the Amazons and served their ruler, Queen Calafia. The novel was so popular that when Spanish explorers arrived, they named their discovery after the mythical island of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious listener Shridhar Ramachandran was wondering about how other California places got their names — specifically those in the Bay Area. He turned to the Bay Curious team for help, and so we got to work researching more than 70 Bay Area place names. Below is an interactive map and list to explore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How Bay Area cities got their names \" aria-label=\"Locator map\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-fCyHX\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/fCyHX/4/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border: none;\" width=\"800\" height=\"700\" data-external=\"1\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Alameda\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It is Spanish for “grove of poplar (or cottonwood) trees” or “tree-lined avenue.” By 1795, the southern part of the region was already referred to as la Alameda.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Albany\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>When the town was incorporated in 1908, it took the name Ocean View, though it was jokingly known as O’Shean’s View. The name was changed the following year because a nearby section of Berkeley was also called Ocean View. The town became Albany because the first mayor, Frank J. Roberts, was born in Albany, New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Alcatraz\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It is Spanish for “pelican.” The name Isla de Los Alcatraces was first given to what is now Yerba Buena Island because there were so many pelicans there. Later the name was transferred to the Alcatraz Island of today.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Angel Island\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Juan Manuel de Ayala named it Isla de los Ángeles in 1775.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Antioch\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In 1849 the place was called Smith’s Landing because it had been settled by twin brothers with the surname Smith. One of the brothers was a minister and invited a group of New Englanders to settle on his property. On July 4, 1851, the new citizens had a picnic and decided to rename the land Antioch, after a Biblical city in Syria.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Atherton\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The town was named after the businessman Faxon D. Atherton, who first visited California in 1836. Years later he acquired 500 acres where the town now sits.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Benicia\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The land was to be named Francisca, after the wife of Gen. Mariano Vallejo. But when the chief magistrate of Yerba Buena registered the name for the town, he decided to call his growing settlement San Francisco. Francisca became too similar to San Francisco, and thus the name was changed to another one of Señora Vallejo’s names, Benicia.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Berkeley\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>On May 24, 1866, the trustees of the College of California chose the name Berkeley. Frederick Billings proposed the name, inspired by a poem from George Berkeley, bishop of Cloyne. Berkeley had written the poem in 1728 while sailing to Rhode Island with the ultimate goal of founding a school in Bermuda: “Westward the course of Empire takes its way / The four first acts already past, / A fifth shall close the drama with the day / Time’s noblest offspring is the last.” Less known is that Berkeley bought slaves to work on his plantation during his stay in Rhode Island.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Bolinas\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In 1834, Ignacio Martinez mentioned a valley that people call “Baulenes.” The name probably comes from a Coast Miwok word. The name was misspelled as Ballenas from 1852 to 1910 on Coast Survey charts, an accidental analogy to the Spanish word for whale. Then in 1896, George Davidson falsely assumed the bay had been named for Francisco de Bolaños from Sebastián Vizcaíno’s expedition. This caused the spelling to change to Bolanos and Boliñas. By 1873, the USGS adopted the spelling Bolinas.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Burlingame\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named in 1868 by William Ralston. He named it after his friend, Anson Burlingame, a lawyer and politician. Notably, Burlingame had been President Abraham Lincoln’s U.S. minister to the Qing Empire in China.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Castro Valley\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named after Guillermo Castro, a rancher.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Concord\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Salvio Pacheco, owner of the Monte del Diablo rancho, selected the site for a town in 1862. He named the settlement Todos Santos, but many of the new residents were from New England with Anglo sensibilities. By 1869, the town was known as Concord, probably referring to the Concord in Massachusetts.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Cupertino\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The town took the name from Cupertino Creek, which had been named for St. Joseph of Cupertino.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Daly City\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>John Daly arrived in California when he was 13 in the 1850s. His mother had died on the Panama Canal crossing. The boy found work on a dairy farm and rose quickly. By 1868 he owned 250 acres. After the 1906 earthquake, many San Franciscans took refuge on Daly’s dairy farm. When the land was incorporated in 1911, the town was named in his honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Danville\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named in the 1860s, possibly after Danville, Kentucky.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Dublin\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>James Witt Dougherty bought a large parcel of land in the area. By the 1870s many Irish immigrants had moved nearby. It is rumored that Dougherty said “There are so many Irish here, you might as well call it Dublin.”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>El Cerrito\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It means “little hill” in Spanish. The hill it refers to is actually in Albany and is now called Albany Hill. The first record of the name was when the area was referred to as Cerrito de San Antonio in 1820, possibly to honor Anthony of Padua, a patron saint of the Franciscans.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Emeryville\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named for Joseph Emery, who came to California in 1850 and bought 185 acres in 1859. He is known for overseeing the dredging of the Oakland estuary. He was also the president of the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Fairfield\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In the 1850s, a famous clipper ship captain, Robert H. Waterman, moved to the area, where he lived in a house modeled after the prow of a ship. When he gave the land up in order to found a new city, he named it after his hometown of Fairfield, Connecticut.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Foster City\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named after T. Jack Foster, who gave land to the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Fremont\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>John C. Fremont was a soldier, explorer and politician. He was also the first Republican candidate to run for president in 1856.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Gilroy\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named after the Scottish sailor, John Gilroy who was not actually named John Gilroy. His name was John Cameron. He went by Gilroy, his mothers maiden name, because he’d been a minor when he left home and was in danger of being sent back. In 1814 he was left ashore in Monterey. He became one of the first non-Spanish non-native permanent settlers in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Half Moon Bay\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named for the shape of the bay.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Hayward\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The city is named after William Hayward, who opened a hotel there in 1852.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Hercules\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It’s actually named after explosives. In 1881, the California Powder Works company began producing dynamite out of the area. It made a product called Hercules Powder. When the town became incorporated, community leaders decided to name it Hercules.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Hillsborough\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The former owner of the area was W. D. M. Howard, who was from Hillsborough, New Hampshire.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Lafayette\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, a French general who fought in the U.S. War of Independence.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Larkspur\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The area was subdivided by Charles W. Wright in 1887, and his wife, Georgina, named the town. She allegedly saw flowers blooming on a hill and thought the lupine was larkspur.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Livermore\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named after the English sailor, Robert Livermore, who came to California in the 1820s, became a Mexican citizen and got a huge land grant.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Los Altos\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It is Spanish for “the heights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Los Gatos\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It is Spanish for “cats.” The Santa Cruz Mountains were once called Cuesta de los Gatos. When the railroad created a station nearby in 1878, it was named Los Gatos Creek.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Martinez\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named after the landowner Ignacio Martínez, who had been comandante at the Presidio of San Francisco from 1822-1827.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Menlo Park\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>There were two brothers-in-law, Dennis J. Oliver and D. C. McGlynn. They came from the village of Menlough in County Galway, Ireland. Between their two ranches they built an arched gate with the inscription “Menlo Park.” When the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad reached the place in 1863, they adopted the name for the station.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Mill Valley\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In 1834 a sawmill was built in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Milpitas\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In Mexican Spanish milpas means “cornfields.” The family of Máximo Martínez, as well as local Native Americans, had once worked in nearby cornfields.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>\u003ca id=\"moraga\">\u003c/a>Moraga\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named after Joaquín Moraga, a soldier in the San Francisco Company. His father was the explorer Gabriel Moraga.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Morgan Hill\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named after Morgan Hill, a ranch owner.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Mountain View\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named for a stage station that had views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Mount Diablo and Mount Hamilton.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Napa\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>There are many theories for what Napa could mean. According to some, Napa is Southern Patwin for “grizzly bear.” Others think it comes from the Eastern and Central Pomo, who have the word naphó, which means “people family.” A third theory is that it comes from the Suisun Patwin and could mean “near mother,” “near home” or “motherland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Newark\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In 1876, the South Pacific Coast Railroad Co. named the railroad station after the New Jersey home of A.E. Davis and his brother.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Nicasio\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It’s believed that Nicasio was a Native American who was baptized with the name of one of several saints named Nicasius.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Novato\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The name is probably from a chief of the Hookooeko or Miwok. Historians believe the chief had probably been baptized with the name of St. Novatus.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Oakland\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In Spanish times, part of the area had been called Encinal del Temescal or “Oak Grove by the Sweathouse” because of a beautiful oak grove. When the area was incorporated as a town, the name was spontaneously chosen.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Orinda\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The sheriff and landowner William Camron was married to Alice M. Camron. Mrs. Camron chose to name their home in honor of her favorite poet, Katherine Fowler Philips, who was known as “The Matchless Orinda.”*\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Pacifica\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Because the city is next to the Pacific Ocean.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Palo Alto\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Palo means stick in Spanish, but in Spanish California it meant tree. It may refer to a specific redwood tree seen by the Anza expedition, that “appears from a distance like a tower.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Pescadero\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In Spanish it means “fishing place” because people caught salmon there.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Petaluma\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In Coast Miwok, péta lúuma means “hillside back” or “hillside ridge.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Piedmont\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was inspired either by the French word piedmont or the Italian word piemonte, both meaning “foot (of the) mountain.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Pleasanton\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The name has nothing to do with “pleasant town.” It’s named after Gen. Alfred Pleasonton. The name was misspelled by a U.S. Postal Service worker.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Pittsburg\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named after the Pittsburg Coal Co., which was named after the city in Pennsylvania.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Point Reyes\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>An expedition led by Sebastian Vizcaíno passed the point on Jan 6, 1603, the Day of the Three Holy Kings. The expedition members found shelter in present-day Drakes Bay and named it Puerto de los Reyes. That name did not stick, but on maps Punta de los Reyes continued to be used.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Redwood City\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>There had been a forest and lumber industry nearby. The site has also been called Red Woods City, Red Woods Embarcadero and the Redwoods.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Richmond\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named Richmond in 1852. It’s a popular place name in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Bruno\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named for St. Bruno of Cologne, founder of the Carthusian Order.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Francisco\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The area was originally called Yerba Buena in the 1700s by Spanish-speaking explorers. It was officially changed to San Francisco in 1847. The namesake was Mission San Francisco de Asís a la Laguna de los Dolores or “The mission of our seraphic father Saint Francis of Assisi at the Lake of the Sorrows.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Jose\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>On November 29, 1777, \u003cem>Pueblo de San Jose\u003c/em> was founded as California’s first civilian settlement. This Pueblo, and eventually the city, were both named after Saint Joseph, husband of the Virgin Mary.*\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Leandro\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The city got its name from Arroyo de San Leandro. The name probably honors Saint Leander, archbishop of Seville.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Mateo\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It honors St. Matthew, the evangelist and apostle.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Pablo\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It honors Paul the Apostle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n What do you wonder about the Bay Area, its culture or people that you want KQED to investigate?\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Ask Bay Curious.\u003c/a>\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Rafael\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The name honors the archangel Raphael, the guardian angel of humanity.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>San Ramon\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The name doesn’t honor a saint. It actually honors a sheep herder named Ramón. A creek was named after Ramón and then the city took that name. The “San” was added to make it conform to surrounding name conventions.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Saratoga\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named because the waters of nearby Pacific Congress Spring look similar to Congress Spring in Saratoga, New York.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Santa Clara\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In 1769 the area was named in honor of Saint Clare of Assisi, co-founder of the Franciscan Order of Poor Clares.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Santa Rosa\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Named for either the Dominican St. Rose of Lima or for the Italian Franciscan St. Rose of Viterbo.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Sausalito\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In Spanish sauzalito means “little willow grove.” Earlier the area had been called Horseshoe Bay. It was first called Sausalito on land grants in 1826.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Sonoma\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In baptismal records from 1815, the name of the local Native American tribe was the “Chucuines o Sonomas.” In 1816, a botanist called them the “Sonomi.” According to the book, “California Place Names” by Erwin Gudde, it comes from a Patwin word for “nose.” Gudde writes there was either an Native American chief with a prominent nose, or a nose-shaped mountain. While the “valley of the moon” is poetic, Gudde finds it less credible.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Sunnyvale\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named by W. E. Crossman around 1900.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Tiburon\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It means “shark” in Spanish. Punta de Tiburón, or “shark’s point,” was first mentioned in the diary of José Sánchez on July 6, 1823.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Treasure Island\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The name was chosen in 1936 because it “perfectly expressed a glamorous, beautiful, almost fabulous island that would present the treasures of the world during the 1939 World’s Fair.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Union City\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>Union City got its name from a steamboat called “The Union” owned by settlers John and William Horner. They established the settlement following the Gold Rush.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Vacaville\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>The area was named after Juan Manuel Vaca, who sold the land in the 1840s.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Vallejo\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It was named after a Monterey-born general, Mariano Vallejo. He laid out the city in 1850 and established the state capital there from 1851 to 1852.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Walnut Creek\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>In 1810 it was called Arroyo de los Nogales or “creek of the walnut trees” by Padre Viader. In 1834 land grants called the stream Arroyo de las Nueces.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch4>Yerba Buena\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>It means “good herb” in Spanish and refers to the sweet-scented creeper Micromeria chamissonis. The plant was found near Mountain Lake in San Francisco in 1776. By 1792 it became a place name. Before the island was called Yerba Buena Island, it was known as Isla de Alcatraces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This post heavily references the book “California Place Names” by Erwin G. Gudde.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Thanks to Werner Weiss, the creator of \u003ca href=\"http://www.yesterland.com/\">Yesterland.com,\u003c/a> for his 2007 photo of Queen Calafia as portrayed by Disney outside the discontinued cinematic ride, Golden Dreams.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>*An earlier version of this post incorrectly gave credit to the U.S. surveyor general of California for choosing the name “Orinda” and attributed the naming of San Jose to the establishment of Mission San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "baycuriousquestion",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11674280/map-how-75-bay-area-places-got-their-names",
"authors": [
"8606"
],
"programs": [
"news_34552",
"news_28779",
"news_72"
],
"series": [
"news_21844",
"news_17986"
],
"categories": [
"news_223",
"news_8",
"news_33520"
],
"tags": [
"news_3631",
"news_18426"
],
"featImg": "news_11676176",
"label": "source_news_11674280"
}
},
"podcastsReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"podcasts": {}
},
"radioProgramsReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"radioPrograms": {}
},
"programsReducer": {
"all-things-considered": {
"id": "all-things-considered",
"title": "All Things Considered",
"info": "Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/All-Things-Considered-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/all-things-considered"
},
"american-suburb-podcast": {
"id": "american-suburb-podcast",
"title": "American Suburb: The Podcast",
"tagline": "The flip side of gentrification, told through one town",
"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 19
},
"link": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"
}
},
"baycurious": {
"id": "baycurious",
"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Bay Curious",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/baycurious",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 3
},
"link": "/podcasts/baycurious",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9a90d476-aa04-455d-9a4c-0871ed6216d4/bay-curious",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"
}
},
"bbc-world-service": {
"id": "bbc-world-service",
"title": "BBC World Service",
"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-the-california-report/id79681292",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432285393/the-california-report",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-the-california-report-podcast-8838",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcram/feed/podcast"
}
},
"californiareportmagazine": {
"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Magazine-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report Magazine",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 10
},
"link": "/californiareportmagazine",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/564733126/the-california-report-magazine",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-california-report-magazine",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/feed/podcast"
}
},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
"tagline": "Your irreverent guide to the trends redefining our world",
"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/CAT_2_Tile-scaled.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Close All Tabs",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 1
},
"link": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/close-all-tabs/id214663465",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC6993880386",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/92d9d4ac-67a3-4eed-b10a-fb45d45b1ef2/close-all-tabs",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6LAJFHnGK1pYXYzv6SIol6?si=deb0cae19813417c"
}
},
"code-switch-life-kit": {
"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
"airtime": "SUN 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"
}
},
"commonwealth-club": {
"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Commonwealth-Club-of-California-p1060/"
}
},
"forum": {
"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/forum",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-forum/id73329719",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432307980/forum",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-forum-podcast",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9557381633"
}
},
"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fresh-Air-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Fresh-Air-p17/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
}
},
"here-and-now": {
"id": "here-and-now",
"title": "Here & Now",
"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
"airtime": "MON-THU 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Here-And-Now-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/here-and-now",
"subsdcribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=426698661",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Here--Now-p211/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-brain/id1028908750?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"
}
},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/How-I-Built-This-p910896/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"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. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
"imageAlt": "KQED Hyphenación",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hyphenaci%C3%B3n/id1191591838",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
"youtube": "https://www.youtube.com/c/kqedarts",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/790253322/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/jerrybrown/feed/podcast/",
"tuneIn": "http://tun.in/pjGcK",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/54C1dmuyFyKMFttY6X2j6r?si=K8SgRCoISNK6ZbjpXrX5-w",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/44420f75-3b0e-4301-ab3b-16da6b09e543/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown"
}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Latino-USA-p621/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201853034&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/APM-Marketplace-p88/",
"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"
}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/onourwatch",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0OLWoyizopu6tY1XiuX70x",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-Our-Watch-p1436229/",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
}
},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Political Breakdown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-breakdown/id1327641087",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/political-breakdown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/07RVyIjIdk2WDuVehvBMoN",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/political-breakdown/feed/podcast"
}
},
"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"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.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
}
},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pri.org/programs/the-world",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "PRI"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pri-the-world",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pris-the-world-latest-edition/id278196007?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/PRIs-The-World-p24/",
"rss": "http://feeds.feedburner.com/pri/theworld"
}
},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
"airtime": "SUN 12am-1am, SAT 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/radiolab1400.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/radiolab/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/radiolab",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radiolab/id152249110?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/RadioLab-p68032/",
"rss": "https://feeds.wnyc.org/radiolab"
}
},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
"airtime": "SAT 4pm-5pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/reveal300px.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/reveal",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/reveal/id886009669",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Reveal-p679597/",
"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
}
},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rightnowish-Podcast-Tile-500x500-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Rightnowish with Pendarvis Harshaw",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 16
},
"link": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/programs/rightnowish/feed/podcast",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMxMjU5MTY3NDc4",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I"
}
},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
"airtime": "FRI 11am-1pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Science-Friday-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/science-friday",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/science-friday",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=73329284&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Science-Friday-p394/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/science-friday"
}
},
"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
"airtime": "SAT 1pm-2pm, 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Snap-Judgment-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Snap Judgment",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 4
},
"link": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/snap-judgment/id283657561",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/449018144/snap-judgment",
"stitcher": "https://www.pandora.com/podcast/snap-judgment/PC:241?source=stitcher-sunset",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3Cct7ZWmxHNAtLgBTqjC5v",
"rss": "https://snap.feed.snapjudgment.org/"
}
},
"soldout": {
"id": "soldout",
"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Sold-Out-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/soldout",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 13
},
"link": "/podcasts/soldout",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/911586047/s-o-l-d-o-u-t-a-new-future-for-housing",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america/id1531354937",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/soldout",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/38dTBSk2ISFoPiyYNoKn1X",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america",
"tunein": "https://tunein.com/radio/SOLD-OUT-Rethinking-Housing-in-America-p1365871/"
}
},
"spooked": {
"id": "spooked",
"title": "Spooked",
"tagline": "True-life supernatural stories",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Spooked-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Spooked",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 7
},
"link": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spooked/id1279361017",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/549547848/snap-judgment-presents-spooked",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/76571Rfl3m7PLJQZKQIGCT",
"rss": "https://feeds.simplecast.com/TBotaapn"
}
},
"tech-nation": {
"id": "tech-nation",
"title": "Tech Nation Radio Podcast",
"info": "Tech Nation is a weekly public radio program, hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn. Founded in 1993, it has grown from a simple interview show to a multi-faceted production, featuring conversations with noted technology and science leaders, and a weekly science and technology-related commentary.",
"airtime": "FRI 10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Tech-Nation-Radio-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://technation.podomatic.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "Tech Nation Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tech-nation",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://technation.podomatic.com/rss2.xml"
}
},
"ted-radio-hour": {
"id": "ted-radio-hour",
"title": "TED Radio Hour",
"info": "The TED Radio Hour is a journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ways to think and create.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm, SAT 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/tedRadioHour.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/?showDate=2018-06-22",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/ted-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/8vsS",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=523121474&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/TED-Radio-Hour-p418021/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510298/podcast.xml"
}
},
"thebay": {
"id": "thebay",
"title": "The Bay",
"tagline": "Local news to keep you rooted",
"info": "Host Devin Katayama walks you through the biggest story of the day with reporters and newsmakers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Bay-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Bay",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/thebay",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 2
},
"link": "/podcasts/thebay",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bay/id1350043452",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d800ea4c-7a2c-42f2-b861-edaf78a5db0b/the-bay",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/586725995/the-bay",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-bay",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/4BIKBKIujizLHlIlBNaAqQ",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC8259786327"
}
},
"thelatest": {
"id": "thelatest",
"title": "The Latest",
"tagline": "Trusted local news in real time",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/The-Latest-2025-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Latest",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/thelatest",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 6
},
"link": "/thelatest",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-latest-from-kqed/id1197721799",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1257949365/the-latest-from-k-q-e-d",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/5KIIXMgM9GTi5AepwOYvIZ?si=bd3053fec7244dba",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9137121918"
}
},
"theleap": {
"id": "theleap",
"title": "The Leap",
"tagline": "What if you closed your eyes, and jumped?",
"info": "Stories about people making dramatic, risky changes, told by award-winning public radio reporter Judy Campbell.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Leap-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Leap",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/theleap",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 17
},
"link": "/podcasts/theleap",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-leap/id1046668171",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/447248267/the-leap",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-leap",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3sSlVHHzU0ytLwuGs1SD1U",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/programs/the-leap/feed/podcast"
}
},
"the-moth-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-moth-radio-hour",
"title": "The Moth Radio Hour",
"info": "Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of true stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. Moth storytellers stand alone, under a spotlight, with only a microphone and a roomful of strangers. The storyteller and the audience embark on a high-wire act of shared experience which is both terrifying and exhilarating. Since 2008, The Moth podcast has featured many of our favorite stories told live on Moth stages around the country. For information on all of our programs and live events, visit themoth.org.",
"airtime": "SAT 8pm-9pm and SUN 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/theMoth.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://themoth.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "prx"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-moth-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth-podcast/id275699983?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/The-Moth-p273888/",
"rss": "http://feeds.themoth.org/themothpodcast"
}
},
"the-new-yorker-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"title": "The New Yorker Radio Hour",
"info": "The New Yorker Radio Hour is a weekly program presented by the magazine's editor, David Remnick, and produced by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. Each episode features a diverse mix of interviews, profiles, storytelling, and an occasional burst of humor inspired by the magazine, and shaped by its writers, artists, and editors. This isn't a radio version of a magazine, but something all its own, reflecting the rich possibilities of audio storytelling and conversation. Theme music for the show was composed and performed by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-YArDs.",
"airtime": "SAT 10am-11am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-New-Yorker-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/tnyradiohour",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1050430296",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/New-Yorker-Radio-Hour-p803804/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/newyorkerradiohour"
}
},
"the-sam-sanders-show": {
"id": "the-sam-sanders-show",
"title": "The Sam Sanders Show",
"info": "One of public radio's most dynamic voices, Sam Sanders helped launch The NPR Politics Podcast and hosted NPR's hit show It's Been A Minute. Now, the award-winning host returns with something brand new, The Sam Sanders Show. Every week, Sam Sanders and friends dig into the culture that shapes our lives: what's driving the biggest trends, how artists really think, and even the memes you can't stop scrolling past. Sam is beloved for his way of unpacking the world and bringing you up close to fresh currents and engaging conversations. The Sam Sanders Show is smart, funny and always a good time.",
"airtime": "FRI 12-1pm AND SAT 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Sam-Sanders-Show-Podcast-Tile-400x400-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "KCRW"
},
"link": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feed.cdnstream1.com/zjb/feed/download/ac/28/59/ac28594c-e1d0-4231-8728-61865cdc80e8.xml"
}
},
"the-splendid-table": {
"id": "the-splendid-table",
"title": "The Splendid Table",
"info": "\u003cem>The Splendid Table\u003c/em> hosts our nation's conversations about cooking, sustainability and food culture.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Splendid-Table-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.splendidtable.org/",
"airtime": "SUN 10-11 pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-splendid-table"
},
"this-american-life": {
"id": "this-american-life",
"title": "This American Life",
"info": "This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.",
"airtime": "SAT 12pm-1pm, 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/thisAmericanLife.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wbez"
},
"link": "/radio/program/this-american-life",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201671138&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"rss": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/rss.xml"
}
},
"tinydeskradio": {
"id": "tinydeskradio",
"title": "Tiny Desk Radio",
"info": "We're bringing the best of Tiny Desk to the airwaves, only on public radio.",
"airtime": "SUN 8pm and SAT 9pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/300x300-For-Member-Station-Logo-Tiny-Desk-Radio-@2x.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/g-s1-52030/tiny-desk-radio",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tinydeskradio",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/g-s1-52030/rss.xml"
}
},
"wait-wait-dont-tell-me": {
"id": "wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"title": "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!",
"info": "Peter Sagal and Bill Kurtis host the weekly NPR News quiz show alongside some of the best and brightest news and entertainment personalities.",
"airtime": "SUN 10am-11am, SAT 11am-12pm, SAT 6pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Wait-Wait-Podcast-Tile-300x300-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/Xogv",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=121493804&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Wait-Wait-Dont-Tell-Me-p46/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/344098539/podcast.xml"
}
},
"weekend-edition-saturday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-saturday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Saturday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Saturday wraps up the week's news and offers a mix of analysis and features on a wide range of topics, including arts, sports, entertainment, and human interest stories. The two-hour program is hosted by NPR's Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon.",
"airtime": "SAT 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-saturday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-saturday"
},
"weekend-edition-sunday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-sunday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Sunday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Sunday features interviews with newsmakers, artists, scientists, politicians, musicians, writers, theologians and historians. The program has covered news events from Nelson Mandela's 1990 release from a South African prison to the capture of Saddam Hussein.",
"airtime": "SUN 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-sunday"
}
},
"racesReducer": {},
"racesGenElectionReducer": {},
"racesGenElection2026Reducer": {},
"radioSchedulesReducer": {},
"listsReducer": {
"posts/news?tag=bay-curious": {
"isFetching": false,
"latestQuery": {
"from": 156,
"size": 12
},
"vitalsOnly": false,
"totalRequested": 12,
"isLoading": false,
"isLoadingMore": true,
"total": {
"value": 193,
"relation": "eq"
},
"items": [
"news_11696663",
"news_11696153",
"news_11693132",
"news_11691500",
"news_11689315",
"news_11688020",
"news_11685360",
"news_11682511",
"news_11680481",
"news_11652543",
"news_11677380",
"news_11674280"
],
"complete": true
}
},
"recallGuideReducer": {
"intros": {},
"policy": {},
"candidates": {}
},
"savedArticleReducer": {
"articles": [],
"status": {}
},
"newslettersReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"newsletters": {},
"isSubscribing": false,
"isUnsubscribing": false,
"subscribedNewsletters": {}
},
"termsReducer": {
"about": {
"name": "About",
"type": "terms",
"id": "about",
"slug": "about",
"link": "/about",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"arts": {
"name": "Arts & Culture",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"description": "KQED Arts provides daily in-depth coverage of the Bay Area's music, art, film, performing arts, literature and arts news, as well as cultural commentary and criticism.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts",
"slug": "arts",
"link": "/arts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"artschool": {
"name": "Art School",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "artschool",
"slug": "artschool",
"link": "/artschool",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareabites": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareabites",
"slug": "bayareabites",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareahiphop": {
"name": "Bay Area Hiphop",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareahiphop",
"slug": "bayareahiphop",
"link": "/bayareahiphop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"campaign21": {
"name": "Campaign 21",
"type": "terms",
"id": "campaign21",
"slug": "campaign21",
"link": "/campaign21",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"careers": {
"name": "Careers",
"type": "terms",
"id": "careers",
"slug": "careers",
"link": "/careers",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"checkplease": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "checkplease",
"slug": "checkplease",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"education": {
"name": "Education",
"grouping": [
"education"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "education",
"slug": "education",
"link": "/education",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"elections": {
"name": "Elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "elections",
"slug": "elections",
"link": "/elections",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"events": {
"name": "Events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "events",
"slug": "events",
"link": "/events",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"event": {
"name": "Event",
"alias": "events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "event",
"slug": "event",
"link": "/event",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"filmschoolshorts": {
"name": "Film School Shorts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "filmschoolshorts",
"slug": "filmschoolshorts",
"link": "/filmschoolshorts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"food": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "food",
"slug": "food",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"forum": {
"name": "Forum",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/forum?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "forum",
"slug": "forum",
"link": "/forum",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"futureofyou": {
"name": "Future of You",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "futureofyou",
"slug": "futureofyou",
"link": "/futureofyou",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"jpepinheart": {
"name": "KQED food",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/food,bayareabites,checkplease",
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "jpepinheart",
"slug": "jpepinheart",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"liveblog": {
"name": "Live Blog",
"type": "terms",
"id": "liveblog",
"slug": "liveblog",
"link": "/liveblog",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"livetv": {
"name": "Live TV",
"parent": "tv",
"type": "terms",
"id": "livetv",
"slug": "livetv",
"link": "/livetv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"lowdown": {
"name": "The Lowdown",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/lowdown?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "lowdown",
"slug": "lowdown",
"link": "/lowdown",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"mindshift": {
"name": "Mindshift",
"parent": "news",
"description": "MindShift explores the future of education by highlighting the innovative – and sometimes counterintuitive – ways educators and parents are helping all children succeed.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift",
"slug": "mindshift",
"link": "/mindshift",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"news": {
"name": "News",
"grouping": [
"news",
"forum"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "news",
"slug": "news",
"link": "/news",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"newsletters": {
"name": "newsletters",
"type": "terms",
"id": "newsletters",
"slug": "newsletters",
"link": "/newsletters",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"perspectives": {
"name": "Perspectives",
"parent": "radio",
"type": "terms",
"id": "perspectives",
"slug": "perspectives",
"link": "/perspectives",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"podcasts": {
"name": "Podcasts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "podcasts",
"slug": "podcasts",
"link": "/podcasts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pop": {
"name": "Pop",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pop",
"slug": "pop",
"link": "/pop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pressroom": {
"name": "Pressroom",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pressroom",
"slug": "pressroom",
"link": "/pressroom",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"quest": {
"name": "Quest",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "quest",
"slug": "quest",
"link": "/quest",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"radio": {
"name": "Radio",
"grouping": [
"forum",
"perspectives"
],
"description": "Listen to KQED Public Radio – home of Forum and The California Report – on 88.5 FM in San Francisco, 89.3 FM in Sacramento, 88.3 FM in Santa Rosa and 88.1 FM in Martinez.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "radio",
"slug": "radio",
"link": "/radio",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"root": {
"name": "KQED",
"image": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"imageWidth": 1200,
"imageHeight": 630,
"headData": {
"title": "KQED | News, Radio, Podcasts, TV | Public Media for Northern California",
"description": "KQED provides public radio, television, and independent reporting on issues that matter to the Bay Area. We’re the NPR and PBS member station for Northern California."
},
"type": "terms",
"id": "root",
"slug": "root",
"link": "/root",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"science": {
"name": "Science",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"description": "KQED Science brings you award-winning science and environment coverage from the Bay Area and beyond.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "science",
"slug": "science",
"link": "/science",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"stateofhealth": {
"name": "State of Health",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "stateofhealth",
"slug": "stateofhealth",
"link": "/stateofhealth",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"support": {
"name": "Support",
"type": "terms",
"id": "support",
"slug": "support",
"link": "/support",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"thedolist": {
"name": "The Do List",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "thedolist",
"slug": "thedolist",
"link": "/thedolist",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"trulyca": {
"name": "Truly CA",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "trulyca",
"slug": "trulyca",
"link": "/trulyca",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"tv": {
"name": "TV",
"type": "terms",
"id": "tv",
"slug": "tv",
"link": "/tv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"voterguide": {
"name": "Voter Guide",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "voterguide",
"slug": "voterguide",
"link": "/voterguide",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"guiaelectoral": {
"name": "Guia Electoral",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "guiaelectoral",
"slug": "guiaelectoral",
"link": "/guiaelectoral",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"news_tag_bay-curious": {
"isLoading": true
},
"news_18426": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_18426",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "18426",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Bay Curious",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Bay Curious Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 18460,
"slug": "bay-curious",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/bay-curious"
},
"source_news_11696663": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11696663",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Bay Curious",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_news_11696153": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11696153",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Bay Curious",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_news_11691500": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11691500",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Bay Curious",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_news_11689315": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11689315",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Bay Curious",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_news_11685360": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11685360",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Bay Curious",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_news_11682511": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11682511",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Bay Curious",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_news_11680481": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11680481",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Bay Curious",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_news_11652543": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11652543",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Bay Curious",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_news_11677380": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11677380",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Bay Curious",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_news_11674280": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11674280",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Bay Curious",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/news/series/baycurious",
"isLoading": false
},
"news_72": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_72",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "72",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/10/TCR-2-Logo-Web-Banners-03.png",
"name": "The California Report",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "program",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "The California Report Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 6969,
"slug": "the-california-report",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/program/the-california-report"
},
"news_33523": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33523",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33523",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Bay Curious",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "program",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Bay Curious Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33540,
"slug": "bay-curious",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/program/bay-curious"
},
"news_17986": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_17986",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "17986",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/BayCuriousLogoFinal01-e1493662037229.png",
"name": "Bay Curious",
"description": "\u003ch2>A podcast exploring the Bay Area one question at a time\u003c/h2>\r\n\r\n\u003caside>\r\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 100%; padding-right: 20px;\">\r\n\r\nKQED’s \u003cstrong>Bay Curious\u003c/strong> gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.\r\n\u003cbr />\r\n\u003cspan class=\"alignleft\">\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1172473406\">\u003cimg width=\"75px\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/DownloadOniTunes_100x100.png\">\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://goo.gl/app/playmusic?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Ipi2mc5aqfen4nr2daayiziiyuy?t%3DBay_Curious\">\u003cimg width=\"75px\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/Google_Play_100x100.png\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/div>\r\n\u003c/aside> \r\n\u003ch2>What's your question?\u003c/h2>\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"huxq6\" class=\"curiosity-module\" data-pym-src=\"//modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/curiosity_modules/133\">\u003c/div>\r\n\u003cscript src=\"//assets.wearehearken.com/production/thirdparty/p.m.js\">\u003c/script>\r\n\u003ch2>Bay Curious monthly newsletter\u003c/h2>\r\nWe're launching it soon! \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdEtzbyNbSQkRHCCAkKhoGiAl3Bd0zWxhk0ZseJ1KH_o_ZDjQ/viewform\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up\u003c/a> so you don't miss it when it drops.\r\n",
"taxonomy": "series",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "A podcast exploring the Bay Area one question at a time KQED’s Bay Curious gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers. What's your question? Bay Curious monthly newsletter We're launching it soon! Sign up so you don't miss it when it drops.",
"title": "Bay Curious Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 18020,
"slug": "baycurious",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/series/baycurious"
},
"news_8": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_8",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "8",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "News",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "News Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 8,
"slug": "news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/news"
},
"news_33520": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33520",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33520",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Podcast",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Podcast Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33537,
"slug": "podcast",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/podcast"
},
"news_1397": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1397",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1397",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Transportation",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Transportation Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1409,
"slug": "transportation",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/transportation"
},
"news_28606": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_28606",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "28606",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Bay Curious Prop Fest",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Bay Curious Prop Fest Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 28623,
"slug": "bay-curious-prop-fest",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/bay-curious-prop-fest"
},
"news_20191": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_20191",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "20191",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "election 2018",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "election 2018 Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20208,
"slug": "election-2018",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/election-2018"
},
"news_19105": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_19105",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "19105",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "gas tax",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "gas tax Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 19122,
"slug": "gas-tax",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/gas-tax"
},
"news_17968": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_17968",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "17968",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Politics",
"slug": "politics",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Politics | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 18002,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/politics"
},
"news_24455": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_24455",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "24455",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "prop 2018",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "prop 2018 Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 24472,
"slug": "prop-2018",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/prop-2018"
},
"news_24207": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_24207",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "24207",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "proposition 6",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "proposition 6 Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 24224,
"slug": "proposition-6",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/proposition-6"
},
"news_983": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_983",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "983",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Belmont",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Belmont Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 993,
"slug": "belmont",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/belmont"
},
"news_6266": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_6266",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "6266",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Housing",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Housing Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 6290,
"slug": "housing",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/housing"
},
"news_1386": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1386",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1386",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Bay Area",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Bay Area Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1398,
"slug": "bay-area",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/bay-area"
},
"news_20472": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_20472",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "20472",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "california housing",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "california housing Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20489,
"slug": "california-housing",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california-housing"
},
"news_1775": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1775",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1775",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "housing",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "housing Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1790,
"slug": "housing",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/housing"
},
"news_22586": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_22586",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "22586",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "_2018_lp",
"slug": "_2018_lp",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "_2018_lp | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null,
"metaRobotsNoIndex": "noindex"
},
"ttid": 22603,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/_2018_lp"
},
"news_5930": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_5930",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "5930",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Northern California",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Northern California Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 5954,
"slug": "northern-california",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/northern-california"
},
"news_223": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_223",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "223",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Arts and Culture",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Arts and Culture Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 231,
"slug": "arts-and-culture",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/arts-and-culture"
},
"news_21536": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_21536",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "21536",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Civic Center",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Civic Center Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21553,
"slug": "civic-center",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/civic-center"
},
"news_19542": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_19542",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "19542",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "featured",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "featured Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 19559,
"slug": "featured",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/featured"
},
"news_19029": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_19029",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "19029",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "street art",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "street art Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 19046,
"slug": "street-art",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/street-art"
},
"news_356": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_356",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "356",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Science",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Science Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 364,
"slug": "science",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/science"
},
"news_2192": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_2192",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "2192",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "fog",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "fog Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 2207,
"slug": "fog",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/fog"
},
"news_2684": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_2684",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "2684",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "transit",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "transit Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 2701,
"slug": "transit",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/transit"
},
"news_20517": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_20517",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "20517",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "transportation",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "transportation Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20534,
"slug": "transportation",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/transportation"
},
"news_17657": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_17657",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "17657",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "architecture",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "architecture Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 17691,
"slug": "architecture",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/architecture"
},
"news_22864": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_22864",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "22864",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Tiny Homes",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Tiny Homes Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 22881,
"slug": "tiny-homes",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/tiny-homes"
},
"news_19491": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_19491",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "19491",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/SFHomeless_long_Horizontal-02-e1467163328567.png",
"name": "SF Homeless Project",
"description": "Thousands of people are homeless in San Francisco, and even more throughout the Bay Area. Despite years of concern and millions of dollars of investment, the problem persists.\r\n\r\nWho are the people who live on the streets and on the edge of homelessness? Why have we failed to create lasting change? And are there solutions that offer hope for the future? \u003cstrong>As part of a collaboration with dozens of Bay Area news organizations, KQED is exploring these questions, and more.\u003c/strong>",
"taxonomy": "series",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "KQED's SF Homeless Project is an in-depth look at homelessness in SF. We explore the causes, the challenges, and the efforts being made to address this crisis.",
"title": "SF Homeless Project: Diving into Homelessness in SF | KQED",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 19508,
"slug": "sf-homeless-project",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/series/sf-homeless-project"
},
"news_23068": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_23068",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "23068",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Costa-Hawkins",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Costa-Hawkins Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 23085,
"slug": "costa-hawkins",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/costa-hawkins"
},
"news_23547": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_23547",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "23547",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 23564,
"slug": "costa-hawkins-rental-housing-act",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/costa-hawkins-rental-housing-act"
},
"news_3924": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_3924",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "3924",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Rent Control",
"slug": "rent-control",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Rent Control | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 3943,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/rent-control"
},
"news_17041": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_17041",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "17041",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "the-california-report-featured",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "the-california-report-featured Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 17067,
"slug": "the-california-report-featured",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/the-california-report-featured"
},
"news_34552": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_34552",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "34552",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "baycurious",
"slug": "baycurious",
"taxonomy": "program",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "baycurious | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 34569,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/program/baycurious"
},
"news_28779": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_28779",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "28779",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "The Bay",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "program",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "The Bay is a daily news and culture program from KQED that covers the latest headlines, trends, and stories that matter to the Bay Area.",
"title": "The Bay Area Archives | KQED",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 28796,
"slug": "the-bay",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/program/the-bay"
},
"news_21844": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_21844",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "21844",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "A Place Called What?!",
"description": "We Californians like to hit the open road, explore miles of highway and venture off onto some back roads. \r\n\r\nSometimes, we come across towns with some pretty bizarre and surprising names. \r\n\r\nKnow an unusual place name in California? Tell us about it! Send a note to calreport@kqed.org.",
"taxonomy": "series",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "We Californians like to hit the open road, explore miles of highway and venture off onto some back roads. Sometimes, we come across towns with some pretty bizarre and surprising names. Know an unusual place name in California? Tell us about it! Send a note to calreport@kqed.org.",
"title": "A Place Called What?! Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21861,
"slug": "a-place-called-what",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/series/a-place-called-what"
},
"news_3631": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_3631",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "3631",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Bay Area History",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Bay Area History Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 3649,
"slug": "bay-area-history",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/bay-area-history"
}
},
"userPermissionsReducer": {
"wpLoggedIn": false
},
"eventsReducer": {},
"fssReducer": {},
"tvDailyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvWeeklyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvPrimetimeScheduleReducer": {},
"tvMonthlyScheduleReducer": {},
"userAccountReducer": {
"user": {
"email": null,
"emailStatus": "EMAIL_UNVALIDATED",
"loggedStatus": "LOGGED_OUT",
"loggingChecked": false,
"articles": [],
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"phoneNumber": null,
"fetchingMembership": false,
"membershipError": false,
"memberships": [
{
"id": null,
"startDate": null,
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"familyNumber": null,
"memberNumber": null,
"memberSince": null,
"expirationDate": null,
"pfsEligible": false,
"isSustaining": false,
"membershipLevel": "Prospect",
"membershipStatus": "Non Member",
"lastGiftDate": null,
"renewalDate": null,
"lastDonationAmount": null
}
]
},
"authModal": {
"isOpen": false,
"view": "LANDING_VIEW"
},
"error": null
},
"youthMediaReducer": {},
"checkPleaseReducer": {
"filterData": {
"region": {
"key": "Restaurant Region",
"filters": [
"Any Region"
]
},
"cuisine": {
"key": "Restaurant Cuisine",
"filters": [
"Any Cuisine"
]
}
},
"restaurantDataById": {},
"restaurantIdsSorted": [],
"error": null
},
"userAgentReducer": {
"userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)",
"isBot": true
}
}
