By Joel P. Engardio -- What if a startup helped single moms find social services as easily as you pick a restaurant on Yelp? Rey Faustino is building an app to prove that San Francisco’s tech boom doesn’t just benefit the rich. "If Yelp was anything like the websites that poor people rely on for assistance, everyone would be up in arms about the crappy service,” he said.
Read MoreBy Joel P. Engardio -- Supervisor Katy Tang's approach to San Francisco's housing crisis is very different from her colleagues who are focused on stricter tenant protections without addressing the underlying supply problem. "I don't need to introduce quick-fix legislation five times a week," she said. "I'm trying to offer a different solution that addresses root causes."
Read MoreBy Joel P. Engardio -- Students of history know that “Nixon in China” is a metaphor for difficult change that requires a push from an unexpected advocate. Maybe “Seniors on the Westside” will become a similar catch phrase for solving one of San Francisco’s most vexing problems -- not enough housing for everyone who wants to live here.
Read MoreBy Joel P. Engardio -- Based on the venture capital dollars flowing into San Francisco, we’re already being called the “new” Silicon Valley. But we deserve a unique name. Welcome to the Cloud Corridor.
Read MoreBy Joel P. Engardio -- It’s easy to romanticize the Barbary Coast because that was historic debauchery. But what about today’s sin and sizzle on Broadway? Consider the dive bar with a porn shop next door and an illegal brothel upstairs. An 88-year-old woman living in Hawaii currently holds the title, which made it easy for tenants to trash the property. When her grandson Jordan Angle found out, the 34-year-old made it his mission to save his family's building -- and Broadway along with it.
Read MoreBy Joel P. Engardio -- If you are excited about bike sharing coming soon to San Francisco, the best advice is to be patient. If our experience is anything like New York's version, expect plenty of glitches.
Read MoreBy Joel P. Engardio -- Gays are discovering the historically conservative San Francisco Westside as a nice place to settle down. “A traditional neighborhood is blending into a 21st Century version of Mayberry,” said Mark Norrell, a business owner on West Portal Avenue. “We haven’t lost our small town feel. We’re just updating it. You could call it Gayberry.” But there’s some resistance to Norrell’s push to modernize the area's shopping experience. "Our meetings can be soap opera dramatic," said Maryo Mogannam, president of the West Portal Merchants Association. "Get the popcorn."
Read MoreJoel Engardio introduces end-of-life care topic for the Harvard Law School negotiation workshop as an example of handling a difficult conversation. January 2012.
Read MoreJoel Engardio's NPR essay "Learning True Tolerance" broadcast on Weekend Edition Sunday as part of the "This I Believe" series.
Read MoreWhen Gilbert Baker set out to create the first gay pride flag in 1978, his vision of the rainbow was a little different than what everyone else sees in the sky. Baker saw fuchsia. And turquoise, too. So he went to his sewing machine and made an eight-color rainbow flag with hot pink at the top. But for two decades, Baker's famous flag only had six colors. Find out why and what the flag — regardless the number of stripes — means for LGBT history.
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