San Francisco, CA

Explore: How will S.F.’s rezoning affect your neighborhood?

Published

5 months ago

October 18, 2025

Explore: How will S.F.’s rezoning affect your neighborhood?

The buildings most likely to be affected by San Francisco’s new upzoning plan are those where apartments and multi-family housing already sit, according to an analysis of the plan by Mission Local. Single-family homes, meanwhile, are likely to see very little change.

The newest, amended version of the plan to make the northern and western parts of the city taller and denser, which was announced by Supervisor Myrna Melgar and Mayor Daniel Lurie on Thursday, would no longer affect some 84,000 units of rent-controlled housing.

Mission Local’s map of that proposal, which will go to the Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee on Monday, showed that 33 percent of multifamily units would see even higher and denser zoning. These are in buildings currently zoned for apartments, many of which have commercial storefronts on the ground floor.

The low-lying areas of neighborhoods like West Portal, Forest Hill, the Sunset, and the Richmond, meanwhile, are unlikely to see drastic change outside of commercial and transit corridors.

See how the new upzoning plan affects your neighborhood. Switching tabs shows the kinds of parcels affected in the amended plan.

Just 13 percent of single-family homes and condos in the plan would be upzoned. The large majority of those units would remain as-is: They were already allowed to be up to 40 feet tall before, and will remain at 40 feet if the plan passes.

That’s by design: The upzoning plan has focused on increasing heights along commercial streets and transit lines, including Geary in the Richmond, Judah in the Sunset, and Van Ness in Nob Hill.

If you don’t live in a single-family home or condo, your building is more likely to be impacted. Multifamily residences — a category that includes apartment buildings — are located along transit and commercial corridors far more frequently. They are more than twice as likely to receive height limit increases in the proposed changes.

That’s true even under the amendment that would exempt any rent-controlled buildings with three or more units, the majority of multifamily housing in the plan.

All buildings, regardless of type, will be subject to “density decontrol,” however. That lets developers build any number of units on a single lot, as long as height limits don’t exceed those in the plan and design standards are followed. Effectively, that means no more exclusively single-family zoning.

And businesses? Since many exist on commercial corridors, 84 percent would be upzoned.

That has some business owners, like the owner of Joe’s Ice Cream on Geary Boulevard, worried.

Sean Kim’s building was bought in 2022 by an architecture company. The firm then met with the Planning Department to discuss potentially redeveloping the site to add housing atop what is currently a single-story commercial building housing the ice cream shop.

Kim fears that his lease won’t be renewed when it expires in three years, forcing him to either relocate or close the business.

“Probably, once we’re displaced, we cannot come back,” Kim said with a sigh.

Relocating is extremely costly. If Kim can find another building that already has the freezers and grills needed for ice cream and burgers, he thinks it would cost between $100,000 and $200,000 to move. If the building doesn’t already have that infrastructure in place, it’s more like $500,000.

Kim and other business owners worry that building owners will have an extra incentive under the new upzoning to let commercial leases expire and then sell their properties for redevelopment. Taller buildings would let developers profit more.

The Planning Department, for its part, said development tends to occur on vacant commercial buildings and lots, not ones with profitable businesses that pay rent.

Planning staff explained that the upzoning focuses on commercial and transit corridors so that new housing is transit-oriented and more environmentally friendly. With housing near transit and businesses, residents can walk, bike, and bus more, and drive less.

That will ultimately help small businesses, staff said. “Locating new housing on or near these corridors means more vibrancy, more foot traffic and more customers for our local small businesses, especially over the long term,” Planning Director Sarah Dennis Phillips wrote in an email to Mission Local.

District 7 Supervisor Melgar, who introduced the rent-control amendment, is also concerned. She introduced the “Small Business Rezoning Construction Relief Fund” to give funding for small businesses displaced and impacted by neighboring construction, though it’s unclear how much the city will be able to afford.

Kim is worried it won’t be enough. A grant of around $10,000, for instance, “doesn’t even help one month,” of relocation, Kim said.

Tenant advocates, meanwhile, are also worried about displacement. Though rent-controlled buildings with three or more units will now be removed from the plan, two-unit buildings, plus non-rent controlled apartment buildings, are still included. Advocates say building owners may displace tenants in order to redevelop their property.

“The stress that it causes is so extraordinary,” said Joseph Smooke, an organizer with the Race and Equity Coalition. “You get this feeling of hopelessness. Your whole life is built around how you commute to work and where you get your groceries.”

The worry about the zoning changes comes after the state weakened cities’ ability to control demolitions in 2019. While the city used to be able to unilaterally decide whether to issue a demolition permit, now a series of objective criteria have to be laid out for developers to meet.

The criteria are written in Supervisor Chyanne Chen’s separate ordinance, and include the building being free of inspection violations and the landlord having no history of tenant harassment or wrongful eviction.

Once demolition permits are acquired, developers must notify tenants about their rights, hire a relocation specialist, pay the difference between the tenant’s old and new rent for 42 months, and, once the new building is complete, offer any low income tenants a unit in the new building for at least the same rent as before (or a condo at a below market rate price).

The Planning Department emphasizes that demolition of existing housing has been extremely rare. Since 2012, the department said, an average of just 18 units a year have been demolished, 11 of them single-family homes. This is 0.00004 percent of the city’s 420,000 units.

Or, as one market-rate developer put it: “If you’re a developer and you can have two buildings, one is vacant and one you’re going to have a fight with tenants that’s going to drag out for years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, which one would you do?”

Methodology

The San Francisco Planning Department provided the latest zoning files, from Sept. 30 2025. We joined this dataset with another one on property assessments from the Assessor Recorder’s office. This allowed us to gather more information about the properties on each parcel affected by the zoning changes. When we joined both datasets, a very small portion of the rows did not match (0.37 percent).

We isolated parcels eligible for rent control by including the following: Buildings built before or during 1979, with more than one unit, from selected class codes (that include apartments, dwellings, flats and exclude condos and TICs). This does not necessarily mean those parcels are currently tenant occupied – there is limited data on how many buildings have rental units that are rent controlled. For the amended plan, the same parameters apply but for buildings built before 1979 that have at least three units.

To run calculations about change in existing height limit compared to the proposed ones, we excluded parcels that fall under several zoning classifications (representing 0.3 percent of parcels — 310 of 92,744). On the map, these parcels are shaded light gray.

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San Francisco, CA

San Francisco Giants Offseason Moves That Already Look Smart, and Dumb

Published

9 hours ago

March 22, 2026

Press Room

San Francisco Giants Offseason Moves That Already Look Smart, and Dumb

The San Francisco Giants didn’t make that “major” move in the offseason. They saved those for last offseason and last year’s trade deadline.

Still, San Francisco did plenty to position itself as a team that could be better than 81-81 last season. Not all moves are created equal. Not all moves work out the way the franchise hoped. The value of some of those moves have yet to be determined.

But, on their face, here are the moves that already look smart and already look, eh, dumb, going into opening day.

Smart

San Francisco Giants pitcher Adrian Houser. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Signing Luis Arráez

The Venezuela native had a huge World Baseball Classic as his home country won the title for the first time. He had his second career multi-home run game in his WBC career. He returned to spring training and the bat kept cooking. He slashed .353/.389/.412.

While many envisioned him as a leadoff hitter due to his impressive ability to get contact and his three batting titles, San Francisco is toying with batting him later in the order. He’s one of the few contact hitters that could excel in that role, and he gives the lineup flexibility.

Signing Tyler Mahle and Adrian Houser

The Giants may get the best version of both pitchers. Before Sunday’s exhibition game in Sacramento, Mahle had thrown 10 scoreless innings in spring and showed no signs of the shoulder fatigue that limited him last season. Houser has thrown 11 innings and while he hasn’t been as effective, he looks like the innings-eater the Giants hoped they signed.

With the season-ending injury to Hayden Birdsong and the underperformance of the Carsons — Seymour and Whisenhunt — signing the two veterans to inexpensive deals looks smarter by the day.

Signing Harrison Bader

He’s day-to-day with a tight hamstring, but it’s a minor inconvenience this early in the campaign. San Francisco knew what they were getting when they signed him — a Gold Glove level center fielder with a resurgent bat who can make their entire outfield better. It allowed San Francisco to move Jung Hoo Lee to right field, which should improve his defensive numbers. San Francisco locked him into a cheap two-year deal. It should pay off handsomely.

Dumb

Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Ryan Borucki. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Not Signing Left-Handed Relief Help Sooner

San Francisco knew it was going to have some issues at left-handed relief. Erik Miller was going to need time to recover from a back issue. Sam Hentges won’t be ready after arthroscopic knee surgery. Then the Giants lost Reiver Sanmartin for three months to hip surgery. At one point the only healthy left-handed reliever in camp was Matt Gage.

San Francisco tried addressing it by signing Joey Lucchesi. But the Giants released him on Sunday after signing Ryan Borucki. But a bit more careful planning might have lessened San Francisco’s need to scramble this late in camp.

Not Adding Healthy Closing Experience

The Giants signed left-hander Jason Foley to bolster the bullpen. He had 28 saves for the Detroit Tigers in 2024. There was one problem. His recovery from shoulder surgery will keep him out of the lineup until the second half of the season.

That puts the pressure on Ryan Walker to not only be the closer but keep the job. He wants the pressure, he has said repeatedly in camp. He’s held the job before but not consistently. If he meets the moment, the Giants look smart for trusting him. If he can’t, San Francisco doesn’t have a healthy back-up plan until the All-Star break.

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San Francisco, CA

SF crews investigate possible gas leak after person dies in St. Mary’s Park

Published

21 hours ago

March 22, 2026

Press Room

SF crews investigate possible gas leak after person dies in St. Mary’s Park

article

Fire department units were dispatched to the 3900 block of Mission Street, near College Avenue, to assist PG&E crews in “a possible gas odor or possible gas leak.”

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco authorities are investigating a possible gas leak in the St. Mary’s Park neighborhood on Saturday evening after a person died amid reports of a permeating odor.

Emergency crews called:

Fire department units were sent about 6:15 p.m. to the 3900 block of Mission Street, near College Avenue, to assist PG&E crews in investigating “a possible gas odor or possible gas leak,” the San Francisco Fire Department told KTVU.

“Upon entering the building, a civilian was discovered receiving medical attention but passed away on scene,” the fire department said.

The person’s identity was not released, but the San Francisco Police Department told KTVU that foul play was not suspected in their death.

However, the exact manner of their death was not immediately known.

What’s next:

The SFFD said it was investigating the scene, along with PG&E and the SFPD.

PG&E told KTVU that there were no gas leaks or “impacts from PG&E” located in the area, and that reports of a leak and odor came from outside the building where the victim died.

NewsSan Francisco

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San Francisco, CA

5 Top-Rated Brunch Spots In San Francisco With Breathtaking Coastal Views – Islands

Published

1 day ago

March 21, 2026

Press Room

5 Top-Rated Brunch Spots In San Francisco With Breathtaking Coastal Views – Islands

Tobiasjo/Getty Images

San Francisco is the definition of a dynamic destination. Although it’s known as a tech hub and for attractions like Alcatraz Island, a national park filled with history and mystery, this California city is also notable for its food scene. After all, San Francisco is home to renowned restaurants and is the “undisputed culinary capital” of America. What’s more, diners have the opportunity to enjoy many of the city’s offerings as they look out onto San Francisco’s iconic waterfront. For visitors looking to start the day with a meal complemented by coastal scenery, we’ve rounded up a list of San Francisco’s top-rated brunch spots with bay views.

Chosen based on ratings from Google, Yelp, and Tripadvisor, these five establishments come highly recommended for their brunch offerings and scenic San Francisco vistas. Not to mention that our chosen selections, serving everything from classic brunch dishes to seafood and German-inspired fare, highlight the city’s eclectic gastronomy. All that’s left to do is to decide which eateries to include on your San Francisco itinerary, but this will perhaps be easier said than done.

Mission Rock Resort

A short walk away from Chase Center, a stadium that hosts NBA games and concerts, is Mission Rock Resort. The eatery is located in Mission Bay, a vibrant, modern enclave with a walkable waterfront. Included in a list by Eater San Francisco highlighting the city’s best restaurants for views, this spot offers a heated patio overlooking the bay and docked boats. And as general manager Nick Osborne explained in a 2025 interview with the San Francisco Examiner, “Being on the water gives you a chance to take a moment to relax and enjoy our beautiful city.”

Mission Rock Resort, whose logo fittingly features a mermaid, primarily serves seafood-forward mid-morning meals. Forget pancakes; the brunch menu consists of oysters and dishes like Dungeness crab Benedict and grilled fish tacos (if you do happen to be craving something sweet, you can always opt for the French toast). On Yelp, Mission Rock Resort has a 4.0 rating, with one reviewer who dined here for brunch writing, “There were 7 of us so we truly explored the menu and no one was disappointed!! From appetizers to desserts everything was delicious.”

Mission Rock Resort is open every day except Monday, but brunch is only offered on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations are recommended and can be made on Yelp. Diners may be able to find street parking. If you’re looking for more to do in the area, perhaps before your meal, Crane Cove Park is within walking distance and features onsite kayak and paddleboard rentals.

Eagle Cafe

San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf is packed with character and old-timey fun. Still, this wildly popular California destination has been called the “world’s worst tourist trap.” However, you shouldn’t necessarily write it off, as it’s here you’ll find what Tripadvisor calls one of the top restaurants in the city with a view: Eagle Cafe. The eatery, which features an outdoor patio with counter seating, has a 4.0 rating on the platform and earned a Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice award in 2025. “Eagle Cafe is one of those old school San Francisco spots that never really goes out of style. The location right on the water at Pier 39 is hard to beat and the views of the bay are amazing,” reads one diner review.

On top of this, some reviewers on Google, where Eagle Cafe has a 4.1-star rating, point out that on clear days, you can see Alcatraz and even the Golden Gate Bridge from the patio. But as one individual explained, “Not only is the view great but food is amazing and the servers are usually very attentive and excellent.” Dating back to 1928, this long-standing family-owned restaurant has nautical and diner vibes, and a menu reflecting its classic ambiance.

Eagle Cafe dishes up an assortment of traditional breakfast, brunch, and lunch fare. Popular items on Yelp include the avocado toast on Boudin Bakery bread and a breakfast burrito, filled with eggs, bacon, and cheese. Eagle Cafe is open daily from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. No reservations required; only walk-ins are accepted, and if needed, the eatery does validate parking.

Radhaus

For a combination of beer and brunch, check out Radhaus at the Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture, a former military site. This industrial-style beer hall with earthy elements features expansive windows that provide natural light and waterfront views. With a 4.2 rating on Yelp, one reviewer described Radhaus as a “beautiful place to have Brunch at with spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge.” While there is outdoor seating, you can take in the panoramic scenery and vistas of the marina from inside the dining room.

Even so, another reviewer who recommended this spot for brunch advised, “Come for views, stay for the great food and drinks.” As you might have already guessed, Radhaus offers German-inspired brunch fare — think dishes like a wurst sandwich with a fried egg and bacon jam, and a pretzel French toast (which does sell out) topped with berries and whipped cream. Of course, there’s plenty of brews, ranging from dark lagers to cider, on tap as well.

Radhaus is open daily but only serves brunch on Saturday and Sunday until 4 p.m., perfect for late risers. However, there’s more to do on the weekends at the Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture, situated in the Marina District, located between Fisherman’s Wharf and Golden Gate Bridge. For instance, SF Camerawork, a photography gallery, is open on Saturdays. Additionally, there is a farmers’ market held every Sunday.

Beach Chalet

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco’s most beloved attraction, is full of wildlife, museums, and gardens. And that’s not all; you can also have a scenic brunch within this famed green space, courtesy of the Beach Chalet. Housed on the second floor of a renovated 1920s-era structure, this restaurant features panoramic windows with views of Ocean Beach. “Sitting here watching the waves roll in while enjoying lunch or brunch never gets old,” wrote a Tripadvisor user. That said, this classy yet casual establishment with a modern coastal vibe serves a mix of seafood and classic brunch dishes.

At the Beach Chalet, you can dine on everything from clam chowder to corned beef hash, as you stare at the Pacific in the distance (plus, you could take a beach stroll after you’ve wrapped up brunch). If you’re feeling fancy, there is a champagne brunch option to consider, complete with a starter, entree, dessert, and mimosas, for a fixed price. On Google, Beach Chalet has a 4.1-star rating, with an individual writing that it has, “Great views, impeccable service, delicious food and reasonable prices.” They added, “This place really has it all.”

The Beach Chalet only serves brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Reservations are encouraged, and bookings can be made on Yelp (be sure to request a window seat so you have an optimal view of the sand and sea). Parking is conveniently located at the front of the eatery and is free.

ATwater Tavern

Located a couple of blocks away from Oracle Park, ATwater Tavern on Pier 50 is an industrial-style eatery surrounded by urban scenery. However, this establishment’s rear patio offers waterfront and East Bay views. Although ATwater Tavern is open daily before noon, primarily offering seafood, sandwiches, and salads, brunch specials are served on Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“One of our favorite dog-friendly places we go to regularly for brunch on the weekends. One of the best Huevos Rancheros I’ve ever had,” states a review from Google, where ATwater Tavern features a 4.4-star rating. Other brunch specials include pancakes and crab cake Benedict, but you could always order from the rest of the menu as well (the fish and chips are a crowd-pleaser on both Google and Yelp). While ATwater Tavern has a range of beverages, those who need a caffeine fix will be happy to learn that espresso-based coffee drinks are served here.

Guests highlight brunch on the patio with waterfront views. “Came here with a friend and it was super pretty looking across the water!” reads a review posted on Yelp. This individual went on to write, “The vibes are good for a lazy Sunday afternoon catchup.” Moreover, countless others say that they have stopped by for a bite to eat before catching a game at Oracle Park. Reservations for ATwater Tavern are available on Yelp, and a paid parking lot is available nearby.

Methodology

f11photo/Shutterstock

To find the five top-rated brunch spots in San Francisco with breathtaking coastal views, Islands utilized rankings from Google, Yelp, and Tripadvisor. We combed these platforms for reviews that frequently commended eateries for their waterfront views and brunch offerings. Once these criteria were met, we concentrated our search on establishments that featured a minimum of a 4.0 rating on at least one of these websites. To better showcase San Francisco’s beauty, we narrowed down our selections to restaurants with varying scenery.

Mission Rock Resort, Eagle Cafe, Radhaus, Beach Chalet, and ATwater Tavern checked all these boxes. For example, Beach Chalet overlooks the Pacific Ocean, while diners can catch a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge from Radhaus. Of course, cuisine and ambiance were just as important, with this list including eateries for an ultra-casual quick brunch, a boozy brunch, or a more upscale-style experience. For additional Bay Area eats, read a local’s guide on the five tastiest restaurants they always take friends to when they visit San Francisco.

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