This Week's Top Stories

small business

Wave of City-Funded Businesses Prepares to Open on Larkin Street

Four grant recipients are finishing buildouts on the Tenderloin's main commercial corridor as a larger revival effort tries to outlast the subsidies that made it possible.

A new cohort of small businesses funded through the city's Storefront Opportunity Grant is in the final stages of opening on Larkin Street, bringing fresh activity to a corridor that has long struggled with vacancies. <cite index="106-11">This summer, four businesses received Storefront Opportunity grants to open in vacant storefronts in the Tenderloin: Tender Noodle, coming to 721 Larkin St.; Ruru Kitchen, coming to 448 Larkin St.; Reggie and Maude's, coming to 460 Larkin St.; and Tender Heart Thrift Store, which will take over 683 O'Farrell St.

City Hall

Voters Will Decide Four Propositions to Reshape How San Francisco Governs Itself

The November 3 ballot includes a sweeping set of City Hall changes backed by Mayor Lurie that would expand executive power, streamline contracting, and raise the bar for citizen ballot initiatives.

San Francisco voters will face an unusually consequential set of City Hall governance measures on November 3, 2026. The SF Public Press published a voter guide on September 27 laying out the four propositions, which together would mark the most significant reorganization of city government in decades. <cite index="56-5">Proposition A offers what supporters call '110 small fixes' for local government, such as altering how the city approves legal settlements, restructuring departments and commissions, removing reporting requirements, and giving the city administrator authority over the city's real estate portfolio.</cite> <cite index="64-5">Many…

arts

First Thursdays Art Walk Gets a Guided Option, Deepening the Tenderloin Gallery Crawl

The neighborhood's longstanding monthly walk now offers an artist-led tour through galleries, museums, and bars — a format that debuted this week.

<cite index="2-3">The First Thursdays Art Walk, a longstanding Tenderloin event, now gives attendees the option to sign up for a guided tour and experience the neighborhood's many art galleries through the eyes of a knowledgeable artist.</cite> <cite index="2-4,2-5">This month's tour took place on Thursday, October 1. The walk began at Hotel Emblem at 562 Sutter St. with a 'happy half hour' before ambling down through lower Nob Hill and into the Tenderloin, popping into art galleries and exhibitions at the Bob Mizer Museum, Emperor Norton's Boozeland, and TNT Artlab, among…

Upcoming Events

Friday, October 2

Block Fest: Tenderloin Arts Festival & Free Art Making

📍 CounterPULSE, 80 Turk St, Tenderloin · 3:00 PM · Verify · Funcheap SF

Tuesdays & Thursdays through October

Civic Center Soundtrack: Free Lunchtime Concerts with Food Trucks

📍 Fulton Plaza (outside SF Main Library), Civic Center · 12:00 PM–3:00 PM · Verify · Illuminate / City of Awe

Thursday, October 8

Thursday Night Poem Jam at SF Main Library

📍 San Francisco Main Public Library, 100 Larkin St, Civic Center · 6:00 PM · Verify · Funcheap SF

Saturday, October 10

Live on Larkin: Little Saigon Edition

📍 Larkin St & Eddy St (600 Larkin St), Tenderloin · 12:00 PM–5:00 PM · Verify · Eventbrite / Into The Streets

Thursday, October 15

SF Opera: Manon Opens

📍 War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave, Civic Center · 7:30 PM · Verify · SF Opera

More from the Community

SF Opera's Mary, Queen of Scots Closes Sunday After Limited Fall Run

San Francisco Opera's production of Thea Musgrave's 1977 opera Mary, Queen of Scots, starring soprano Heidi Stober, closes its run on Sunday, October 4 at the War Memorial Opera House.

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