The GrowSF Report: Bay Bridge lights will soon brighten our night sky again
PLUS: GM shuts down Cruise robotaxis
What You Need To Know
Here’s what happened around the city for the week of December 8, 2024:
- Bay Bridge lights will soon brighten our night sky again
- GM shuts down Cruise robotaxis
- Daniel Lurie’s City Hall shake-up could bring back policy chief roles
- San Francisco reverses course on RV towing regulations
- Cole Valley could be San Francisco’s next entertainment zone
Recent & upcoming openings:
- ‘Hamburger Project’ brings gourmet smash burgers to Alamo Square
Bay Bridge lights will soon brighten our night sky again
The Bay Bridge lights are set to turn back on after a two-year absence. Crews began installing 50,000 LED lights this week, marking the latest step in a long journey to bring back the Bay Bridge’s sparkle. No official launch date has been announced, but we’re hearing it might be as early as January 2025.
Illuminate, the nonprofit behind the project, has said the updated display will feature twice as many lights as the original, which ran for a decade and went dark in March last year. The original lights struggled under typical winds and rain, not to mention the strain of running every night for 10 years.
To re-launch, Illuminate worked to secure $11 million in order to update the system and improve its visibility. The new version will be visible to San Francisco, Marin and the East Bay.
“We hope you will join us on the waterfront,” Illuminate posted in an update on their website.
It’s exciting to bring back a beloved fixture of the Bay Area skyline. For those who missed the decade-long show, you won’t be disappointed.
GM shuts down Cruise robotaxis
Cruise is hitting the brakes.
General Motors announced that it is shutting down its self-driving car unit after investing over $10 billion into the ambitious project. Moving forward, GM plans to integrate Cruise's technology and technical teams into driver assistance systems for its other cars.
We love driverless taxis, and we’re sad to see Cruise fail to improve its technology and regain the trust of riders and regulators. Cruise has had a bumpy track record on San Francisco streets, with one of its robotaxis getting hit by a fire truck in 2023, and being unable to avoid a pedestrian who was flung into its path after getting hit by a human driver (the human driver fled the scene).
Meanwhile, Waymo is still awesome, and we’re keeping an eye on Zoox, the Amazon-backed competitor making waves in the autonomous taxi race. A limited rollout of the futuristic cars began in San Francisco this fall.
Lurie’s City Hall shake-up could bring back policy chief roles
San Francisco mayor-elect Daniel Lurie is bringing back a system the city hasn’t seen since the 1990s: policy chiefs. He’s proposing to hire four new chiefs to tackle public safety, housing, public health, and infrastructure. Each would report directly to him, shaking up the current setup where everything flows through one chief of staff.
These new roles could oversee billions in public spending and give City Hall the accountability Lurie promised on the campaign trail. But there’s a catch: a 1991 ballot measure, Prop. H, officially did away with deputy mayors, and we’re not quite sure how they’ll work around those rules just yet. Banning deputy mayors was a bad choice, and something voters ought to revisit.
“The current way of doing business at City Hall is outdated, ineffective, and lacks focus on outcomes,” said Lurie in his announcement on Wednesday. “I am restructuring the office of the mayor so that your government is coordinated and accountable in delivering clean and safe streets, tackling the fentanyl crisis, rapidly building housing and ensuring a full economic recovery.”
San Francisco reverses course on RV towing regulations
The Board of Supervisors just gave Mayor London Breed’s RV towing policy the boot. In a 7-3 vote, they repealed the plan that would’ve allowed city officials to tow RVs illegally parked overnight.
We think this is a mistake, given the plan was designed carefully: It required offers of shelter before towing was enforced, and it aimed to manage the challenges of long-term vehicle living while addressing public safety. By repealing it without an alternative in place, the Board has left the city scrambling for solutions to a homelessness problem that’s only growing.
The policy would have delivered “a healthier, cleaner and safer city and get people the services and shelter they needed,” spokesperson Jeff Cretan said in the SF Chronicle. “[It] means it will now remain harder for city workers to do their jobs.”
Supervisors Matt Dorsey, Rafael Mandelman, and Joel Engardio opposed the reversal.
Cole Valley could be San Francisco’s next entertainment zone
Cole Valley will soon be the latest neighborhood to allow drinking outdoors. It’ll join the ones on Front Street and at the Chase Center, which have proven wildly successful. It’s not just a good time, it’s also good for local business and the community.
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who sponsored the legislation, said “[It] will allow the neighborhood to build on that success and continue to throw great outdoor events that bring people together, build community and support our local businesses.”
Outgoing Mayor London Breed hopes to keep the good times rolling even after Mayor-Elect Lurie is inaugurated. She set her sights on Thrive City, Maiden Lane, Mid-Market, and Mark Alley and Harlan Place. “We are only just getting started,” Breed promised.
Next time you’re in Cole Valley, crack open a cold one.
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Recent & upcoming openings
A great city is constantly changing and growing, let’s celebrate what’s new!
‘Hamburger Project’ brings gourmet smash burgers to Alamo Square
There’s a new burger spot in town with serious culinary chops. Hamburger Project, from the team behind Michelin Guide-listed Ju-ni, opens Wednesday at 808 Divisadero St., just west of Alamo Square Park. Chef Geoffrey Lee, known for his sushi expertise, has pivoted to smash burgers after perfecting recipes during the pandemic. The menu features 2-ounce patties made with a 75/25 beef blend, topped with elevated condiments like homemade HP sauce and optional luxuries like Tsar Nicoulai caviar. Options include a classic smashburger, an Oklahoma-style onion burger, and a decadent Wisconsin-style butter burger. Fries come in varieties from cheese-covered to “loaded,” and the eight-seat counter-service space will eventually expand with soft serve, milkshakes, and beer.
WHERE: 808 Divisadero St., San Francisco
Your Action Plan
Now that you know what’s happening, help us shape what happens next:
GrowSF Election Victory Party
Join us for the GrowSF Election Victory Party at ANINA. We're having a celebration to honor all the hard work that went into this election season.
We're thrilled to announce that Supervisors-elect Bilal Mahmood and Danny Sauter will be joining us, and who knows, maybe a few other surprise guests will pop in too! See you there!
WHEN: Tuesday, December 17 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
WHERE: ANINA, 482 Hayes St, San Francisco, CA 94102
The Spirit of San Francisco
There’s a lot to love about our city and the Bay Area. Here’s what makes it great. Brought to you by The Bold Italic.
What we’re doing this week
‘Tis the season to be laughing
Enjoy a festive night of laughter at the Holiday Special Stand-Up Comedy Night featuring Alejandro Ochoa, Julie Ash, Big T, Sean Felipe, and Allison Hooker. With a two-drink minimum, you’re guaranteed to be laughing—whether it’s at the jokes or your bar tab.
WHEN: Doors at 6 PM, Show at 7 PM
WHERE: Monarch, 101 6th St, San Francisco, CA 94103
SantaCon 2024
Throw on a Santa suit and join thousands of merrymakers for a day of bar hopping, public pranks, and plenty of liquid holiday cheer. Expect irreverent costumes, questionable Santas, and an ever-growing trail of candy canes and chaos. With its roots in SF, SantaCon is the ultimate anti-holiday tradition for the unapologetically festive. Read our review of last year’s SantaCon.
WHEN: December 14, 2024, starting at 12:00 pm
WHERE: Union Square, San Francisco, CA
What we’re writing about
SF Ballet’s Nutcracker is a dazzling tradition that’s thankfully not going away
The Nutcracker has a special relationship with San Francisco: It was first performed in the United States here in 1944. Over the past 80 years, the show has had five versions. The current variation is celebrating its 20th year in production. Former Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson staged it in 2004, and it has since become a Bay Area classic known for being set in San Francisco in 1915. The scenery and costumes, designed by Michael Yeargan and Martin Pakledinaz, respectively, reflect this period.
Demi Moore, Austin Butler, and Zac Posen take on The Bay (sort of)
It’s not every day we see Demi Moore, Austin Butler, and Denis Villeneuve in San Francisco — because we’re the city where fog never ends. We’re more likely to rub elbows with engineers in Allbirds than to ever encounter a member of Hollywood royalty.
But rub elbows we did, sort of. SFFILM is a great place to find an indie flick and also the ultimate one to clout chase in The Bay. Their red carpet on Monday served up many orchestrated meet-cutes for The Bold Italic. Demi Moore was too good for us while holding onto her tiny dog, but Austin Butler, Zac Posen and Denis Villeneuve all had choice things to say about San Francisco, our fashion choices and the national film industry.
‘Golden Girls Live’ bets on a bigger stage — and it pays off
We all miss Bea Arthur’s dry wit since she left this world 15 years ago, and somewhere between Coco Peru’s excellent impersonation, and the Curran Theatre’s holiday feel, The Golden Girls Live has become an annual winter tradition.
‘Drag on Ice’ deepened my love for San Francisco
“I just finished my fourth year performing in Drag on Ice, and I’m mad at the world, yet find it suddenly so easy to be in love with San Francisco. I’ve sensed a shift after the 2024 presidential election. There’s a battening down and huddling in feeling. As we all prepare for Washington D.C. to change, San Franciscans seem more appreciative of our own culture and less likely to knock it. We’re in a bubble. We may as well make it nice, right?” This is Joe Wadlington’s experience donning drag and ice skates in Union Square.
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