San Francisco, CA
Has Sunset Dunes helped local businesses? It depends who you ask
Since the Great Highway was transformed from a roadway into Sunset Dunes, the park’s supporters have heralded it as a paradise for bikers, skaters, and families.
Indeed, the park is immensely popular, having drawn 1.2 million visits since its grand opening April 12, with an average of 3,700 visitors on weekdays and 13,400 on weekends, according to the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department.
You’d think all that foot traffic would translate into a bump in sales for nearby businesses, as the Dunes’ boosters have claimed. But nearly one year in, it hasn’t been a boon for everyone.
While cafes generally report an uptick in revenue since the two-mile stretch of the Great Highway closed to cars on March 15, 2025, restaurants and retailers have generally seen flat or lower sales, owners say.
Andytown Coffee Roasters CEO Lauren Crabbe said revenue has spiked between 15% and 20% at its three Outer Sunset locations during that period, but at the Outer Richmond cafe north of the park on Great Highway, near Cabrillo Street, they are up 0.03%.
Crabbe said the park has brought more tourists and people from around the city to the Sunset, thanks to the skate park, murals, and other attractions. “I do think the park made [the Sunset] more of a destination,” she said.
Sales at Black Bird Bookstore & Café are up 44%, according to owner Kathryn Grantham.
Tuesdays, historically the slowest day of the week, have seen both book and coffee sales increase 60% since the park opened, Grantham said, adding, “It’s been nuts.”
Other restaurants, retailers, and bars have seen mixed results from the park’s debut.
Tunnel Records on Taraval Street experienced a 17% drop in revenue between March 15, 2025, and Feb. 28, 2026, compared with the same period one year earlier, according to its point-of-sale data.
Owner Ben Wintroub said his store is a destination for record collectors — not a business that attracts passersby. He believes there is less parking near his store because the Great Highway, which used to be an arterial road for locals, is now a destination that people drive to from all over the city.
“It’s made people think twice about coming to the Taraval corridor,” Wintroub said.
Matt Lopez, who owns White Cap on Taraval and Pitt’s Pub on Noriega Street, both a short walk from the park, has seen a negligible impact. Across his two bars, the increase and decrease in sales basically cancel each other out.
Gross sales at Pitt’s in the year the park has been open rose from 3.9% to $721,000, while Whitecap’s fell 3.9% to $618,000, Lopez said.
“The numbers at my bars haven’t changed,” he said.
French bistro Galinette, located at 46th and Taraval, has seen a 2% year-over-year increase in sales, owner Julie Fulton said. “A couple thousand [dollars] difference, like, literally nothing,” she said.
Roughly 80% of the bistro’s clientele is regulars and locals, she said, adding that she doesn’t see park visitors stroll in for a bite, not even for “Le Burger. (opens in new tab)”
“It’s the weather that leads to us being busy or not busy,” she said.
Still, some full-service restaurants have seen an uptick since the park opened, but owners didn’t attribute it to the park itself.
Thanh Long co-owner Ken Lew said sales at the restaurant are up 22% year over year, but only because they picked up significantly late last year, surging 30% since November.
Lew attributed the improvement to a decline in the number of unhoused people in the area. During the pandemic, he said, four or five people were often camping at the bus stop across from the restaurant at 46th Avenue and Judah Street. Now, he said, he only occasionally sees one or two homeless people.
“I’m not sure the Great Highway affects us too much, since we’re a destination restaurant,” Lew said.
Though Lew’s restaurant is only three blocks from Sunset Dunes, it’s far from his mind. In fact, he has never been.
“It’s a little out of the way,” he said. “If I go to work, I stay at the restaurant.”
Borg has made several questionable calls from
One pedestrian died at the hospital and three others suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a driver struck them in SF’s Mission District earlier this week.
The San Francisco Police Department arrested a driver suspected of fatally striking four pedestrians in the area of 16th and Mission streets Monday morning, as KRON4 reports.
Officers responded to the scene at 12:13 am and found medics treating one pedestrian with life-threatening injuries. The person later died at a nearby hospital, and three other pedestrians sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver was reportedly detained soon after the collision. The department has not announced what charges they will receive.
“We hold the victim and their loved ones in our thoughts, and grieve this loss of life on San Francisco’s streets,” said Jodie Medeiros, executive director for Walk SF, in a release. “We all deserve to be able to get around safely in our city.”
This marks the ninth pedestrian death in San Francisco this year. It’s also the second such death in the Mission, following the tragic death of local musician Danielle Spillman at Mission Street and South Van Ness Avenue in April, as SFist reported previously.
Four pedestrians were killed throughout the month of March, including deaths in Chinatown, the Financial District, North Beach, and the Outer Mission. In late February, a two-year-old was run over in Mission Bay.
Anyone with information may contact the SFPD at 415-575-4444 or text “TIP411,” beginning with “SFPD.”
Wife of SoMa Hit-and-Run Suspect Says ‘My Husband Is Not a Villain’
Image: Google Maps
San Francisco, CA
California Supreme Court ruling on bail sparks debate over what it means for San Francisco’s safety
A recent California Supreme Court ruling is changing how bail is set across the state, and it’s sparking a sharp debate in San Francisco about what it could mean for public safety.
Inside her office, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said every decision carries weight. She views her role through one lens: protecting the public.
“My responsibility to San Francisco is public safety,” Jenkins said. “And to be transparent to me in achieving that safety. This is a ruling that has real-life consequences, and deny that would be untruthful and would not help people understand why we may see retraction from our progress.”
The ruling requires judges to set bail at levels defendants can afford, shifting the focus away from cash bail and toward whether someone poses a risk to public safety.
Jenkins said she believes that shift could have serious consequences.
“I knew it would be immediately be devastating to public safety and the state of California and had a lot of concerns that I thought needed to be shared with the public and other city leaders,” she said.
She warns that the change could make it easier for repeat offenders, particularly those involved in drug-related crimes, to be released before trial.
“These judges don’t live in San Francisco, many of them,” Jenkins said. “They don’t live in places like the Tenderloin that are most affected by these issues. They are ruling in a way that has impacts on other people’s lives.”
But not everyone agrees with that assessment.
San Francisco Defense Attorney Marsanne Weese said the ruling does not eliminate accountability and that courts still have tools to detain people who pose a threat.
“In regards to her statements, there is no basis for it,” Weese said. “And the justices pointed out that there are a number of non-financial tools the lower courts can use and should use.”
Those tools include options like pretrial detention and supervised release, which allow judges to consider risk without relying solely on a person’s ability to pay bail.
“So, in regards to this being a drastic change, yes, it will be a drastic change, but not to safety,” Weese added.
For Jenkins, the concern is not just the intent of the law, but how it will be applied in real-world courtrooms and what that means on city streets.
For now, there is unease for some, optimism for others, and a growing debate over what public safety will look like under this new system.
-
Detroit, MI13 minutes agoArchdiocese of Detroit’s list of parishes chosen for halted Masses grows
-
San Francisco, CA23 minutes agoGiants reassign 3B coach Borg; Wotus named interim replacement
-
Dallas, TX28 minutes agoVigil honors victims of Dallas apartment explosion that killed three and injured five
-
Miami, FL35 minutes ago
Miami kosher, Mutra, restaurant earns Michelin star | The Jerusalem Post
-
Boston, MA38 minutes agoRed Sox outfielder Roman Anthony suffers another injury setback
-
Denver, CO43 minutes agoDenver weather: Warm weather to end May
-
Seattle, WA50 minutes agoSeattle City Council proposal would use street closures to curb gun violence
-
San Diego, CA53 minutes agoSan Diego teen organizes Eid goodie bags for children after Mosque tragedy
