San Francisco, CA
SF’s Single-Family Home Neighborhoods Could See More Apartments, 65-Story Towers Near Downtown | KQED
The city’s preliminary map proposes to rezone commercial corridors, including 19th Avenue, Geary Boulevard and Clement Street. The bulk of the proposed rezoning would stretch from Russian Hill to Parkside and could allow for taller buildings — up to 65 stories on certain commercial corridors — creating opportunities for thousands of new homes. The plan also includes increasing height limits in other neighborhoods throughout the city, including along Market Street in the Castro.
After multiple informational hearings where residents can offer comments and voice concerns, the proposal will go to the planning commission, where it could be amended or changed. It will ultimately have to go before the Board of Supervisors before the end of January 2026, when the city faces a state-mandated deadline to approve a rezoning plan.
If it misses that deadline, it could lose state funding for affordable housing and public transportation, risk lawsuits, fines and be subject to the builder’s remedy, a mechanism that allows developers to circumvent local building rules if the city is out of compliance with state housing law.
“The process for our rezoning is a bit of a fait accompli — we already agreed to this,” said Jane Natoli, San Francisco Organizing Director for the pro-housing lobbying group, YIMBY Action. “All we’re trying to do is honor the commitments we told the state we were going to do, at the end of the day, to build the housing we need for San Franciscans.”
From sand dunes to suburban homes
San Francisco’s decision to rezone the western part of the city marks a break from the area’s historically low-density character. Western neighborhoods were some of the last parts of the city to be developed.
During the mid-to-late 1800s, the Inner Sunset and Richmond districts were home to a handful of dairies, ranches, a chicken farm — even a dynamite factory — while the Outer Sunset stretched out in a yawning sprawl of sand dunes.
In the aftermath of the devastating 1906 earthquake, refugee camps sprang up on the city’s underdeveloped western side. Woody LaBounty’s great-grandparents even met at one of those camps in the Richmond area, he said. The lifelong Richmond resident and president of the preservationist organization San Francisco Heritage said tract houses soon began popping up atop sand dunes to replace the temporary camps.
After World War II, most of the Sunset and Richmond districts had been developed into suburban-style neighborhoods with single-family homes, LaBounty said.
“You have a yard for your family to play in, you have multiple bedrooms, you’ve got your own sort of little plot — your little estate,” he said, “even if it’s a 25-by-100-foot lot in the Sunset District.”
It’s for that same reason why many westside residents enjoy this part of town today. Paola Soto said she moved to the Outer Sunset five years ago so she and her husband could raise their daughter in a rented single-family home.
“We just loved the neighborhood and how family-oriented it is,” she said. “It doesn’t feel like part of the city, but you’re still in the city.”
But Soto said there aren’t many amenities or small businesses to patronize on her block. She welcomes the rezoning if it could bring more business activity to her neighborhood but said taller buildings could mean losing “this kind of neighborhood vibe” that she likes.
Picking and choosing
While residents like Soto are hoping the rezoning could bring new small businesses to the Sunset and Richmond, existing business owners are concerned they will be forced out. Yoland Porrata, an esthetician and board member of nonprofit Small Business Forward, owns a skincare studio in the Lower Haight.
Right now, she is trying to work with the city to establish new protections against displacement for small business owners, even if they do not own the building.
“Do we have a right to return?” she asked. “We already have super vulnerable commercial leases that are not nice and tidy in the way that some of the residential leases are.”
Along with small business owners, tenants’ rights groups are equally concerned about the city’s plan. San Francisco offers a bevy of tenant protections, but local groups worry the rezoning might encourage landlords to pressure renters to move out or evict them unlawfully.
Dyan Ruiz, a member of Race & Equity In All Planning Coalition, said her organization wants to make sure developers are following the city’s laws and that it can make sure tenants aren’t displaced.
“We want to increase the accountability and enforcement of existing laws and making sure that there aren’t gaps and loopholes that tenants are falling through,” she said.
LaBounty hopes the city can strike some kind of balance — allowing more housing while still retaining the neighborhoods’ quiet charm. Pointing out the coffee shop across the street from where he lives, he said he doesn’t want to see it go.
“You got a cafe, a dry cleaner and a bakery right in a row — everybody loves them, you know? Maybe don’t upzone those,” he said. “It feels to me like you could do some picking and choosing, and the neighborhood could totally help you with it too.”
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Pride kicks off with rainbow lasers, ValQueeries celebrate at Valkyries Pride Night
San Francisco kicked off Pride weekend with the return of the Market Street Pride lasers, while the Golden State Valkyries celebrated Pride Night alongside the ValQueeries, an LGBTQ fan group building community through basketball.
San Francisco, CA
Newlyweds celebrate Pride-themed weddings inside SF City Hall as parade preparations underway
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — On Friday in San Francisco, hundreds of newlyweds began the next chapter of their love story at City Hall.
As they got married inside, Pride preparations were also underway outside of City Hall.
These Pride-themed City Hall weddings were all happening as the setup for the Pride celebration at Civic Center were wrapping up in preparation for Pride Saturday and Sunday.
More than 250 couples arrived for Pride Friday, some of them getting commemorative Pride marriage licenses.
2026 SAN FRANCISCO PRIDE PARADE: How to watch exclusively on ABC7, what to know
Couples like Chris Parker and Jared Duensing got a very special officiant: San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.
“This is such a wonderful day, and so happy to finally be married after four years of knowing each other in such a wonderful location. Being married by the mayor was so special,” said newlywed Chris Parker.
“Just happy and excited for those couples, and I’m happy and excited for our city to show off what makes San Francisco so great — and our LGBTQ+ community is a huge part of why San Francisco is so special,” Lurie said.
All of this leads to a huge weekend in San Francisco.
The stage being set up just outside of City Hall will mark the end of the parade route — but there’s a lot happening before that.
MORE: San Francisco Pride insiders reveal their must-know tips for the weekend
On Friday afternoon, the annual Trans March takes place at Dolores Park.
On Saturday, both the Trans Ally March and Rally and the Dyke March will take place.
On Saturday, performers will start taking the stage at Civic Center Plaza starting at noon.
All of this, of course, is leading up to Sunday’s big parade when thousands will line Market Street.
Zach Fuentes will be hosting SF Pride Parade coverage only on ABC7 Eyewitness News this Sunday with Drew Tuma, Cameron Bopp and Tara Campbell — as well as with our community guest hosts.
Copyright © 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.
San Francisco, CA
I own a Turkish Restaurant in San Francisco. Turkey’s World Cup match here has changed my business.
This as-told-to essay is based on an interview with Aziz Aslan, 45, the owner of Turquaz, a Turkish restaurant on Mission Street in San Francisco. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I opened my Turkish restaurant, Turquaz, in San Francisco in February 2025. Typically, most of our customers are locals, and Turkish diners make up a small minority.
But Turkey’s World Cup appearance in San Francisco has brought a different type of customer through our doors.
Over the past week, we’ve had far more Turkish customers dine with us. Reservations are up, walk-in traffic has increased, and we’ve hired additional staff to keep up with demand.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
Turkey qualifying for the World Cup changed my business
As soon as we heard that San Francisco would be one of the World Cup host cities, we were thrilled. We knew it would bring visitors to the city, and potentially new customers to our restaurant.
At that point, we didn’t yet know whether Turkey would qualify.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
In March, Turkey secured its place in the tournament, and we later learned the team would be playing at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on June 20. That’s when I knew we needed to start preparing for the tournament.
Over the last few weeks, we launched targeted advertising campaigns on social media. One Instagram post was written in Turkish. In another, we told visitors that wherever they were traveling from, if they were looking for good food, they should come to us. It helped spread the word about our restaurant.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
Most of my customers aren’t usually Turkish
I’m originally from Istanbul, although I’ve been in the Bay Area for about 10 years. Compared with places like New York and New Jersey, there aren’t as many Turkish people in this part of California.
Usually, our customers come from a wide range of backgrounds, with Turkish people making up only 5% to 10% of those who dine with us.
With our usual customers, our most popular dishes are chicken kebabs and lahmacun, a flatbread topped with minced meat, vegetables, and herbs. We’re a traditional Turkish kitchen, and our pastry section is popular as well, especially our fresh baklava.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
In recent weeks, however, we’ve had a lot of Turkish customers, which is unusual for us. Some have come from places like New Jersey and Texas, while others have flown in from Istanbul, all to watch Turkey play.
Turkey’s World Cup match in San Francisco has changed who our customers are and what they’re ordering. Dishes like beans and braised meats aren’t as popular with our usual clientele, but we’re selling a lot more of them now because of our Turkish customers.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
They’ve been ordering foods like white beans with pilaf, braised meat with pilaf, and salads, all of which are really traditional dishes. Turkish customers can be tough critics because they’re comparing our food to what they have back home, but I feel confident in our food, and we’ve received compliments so far.
It hasn’t really affected our stock, thankfully. We have good inventory management, and my warehouse for the wholesale food business is only a short drive away, so we can pick up products whenever we need.
We’ve hired extra staff to meet demand
To prepare for the World Cup, we’ve had to hire additional employees. On top of the 24 staff members we already had, we added three more because of increasing demand. The staff is also working longer hours than usual.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
For Turkey’s first match, against Australia, we didn’t do anything special, other than create a football-shaped cake. We decided to host watch parties for Turkey’s second and third matches because customers kept asking for them. We set up a big screen for fans to watch together.
I think the World Cup is giving Turkish people a reason to gather, reconnect, and talk about soccer.
I hope the World Cup leaves a lasting impact
The first few months of opening a restaurant are never easy. We spent them getting things set up, perfecting our recipes, and building awareness. We’re still a relatively new restaurant, so it’s been encouraging to see this positive momentum from the World Cup.
Gabriela Hasbun for BI
The city feels busy. You can see it on the streets. There’s an energy in San Francisco right now that’s having a positive effect on businesses like ours, and I hope we can keep that going.
Of course, the World Cup is a one-time event, but we’ll do our best to serve these customers well. If we can meet their expectations, I hope they’ll come back.
And who knows? Maybe the Turkish national team will stop by for a meal before the tournament is over. I’m still holding out hope.
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