Hacker News with Generative AI: San Francisco

Ask HN: Hackathons feel fake now (ycombinator.com)
Been going to a bunch of hackathons in SF lately and honestly, everything feels fake. There are like 20 sponsors handing out credits for their tools that all do the same thing. Half the time, they can’t even explain what they’re for. They’re just hoping someone uses them so they can count it as adoption. Everyone jams these into projects to check a box, and what gets built is mostly BS with zero innovation.
Software Development, Hackathons, San Francisco, Startups, Technology
206 points by sepidy 5 days ago | 126 comments
San Francancisco crime is down, way down (growsf.org)
Citywide crime in San Francisco is now at its lowest point in 23 years. And in the past year, San Francisco saw one of the biggest drops in crime among major U.S. cities, including a 45% drop in property crime in the first quarter of 2025, alone.
Crime, San Francisco, Statistics, Urban Planning
9 points by JumpCrisscross 17 days ago | 0 comments
Slouching towards San Francisco (rachdele.substack.com)
San Francisco looms large over the American imagination. Even I succumb to its mysterious promise from time to time, but seldom for very long.
San Francisco, Culture, Opinion
96 points by greenie_beans 19 days ago | 102 comments
We bought billboards in San Francisco, for our open source product (typesense.org)
Decades later… I am ecstatic to announce that Typesense has joined this iconic club of tech companies that do billboards in San Francisco.
Open Source, Marketing, San Francisco, Technology
4 points by karterk 24 days ago | 1 comments
Crime is down, way down (growsf.org)
Citywide crime in San Francisco is now at its lowest point in 23 years. And in the past year, San Francisco saw one of the biggest drops in crime among major U.S. cities, including a 45% drop in property crime in the first quarter of 2025, alone.
Crime, San Francisco, Statistics, Urban Planning
7 points by davikr 28 days ago | 8 comments
SF Mayor Lurie to tech CEOs: 'How can we get you back?' (techcrunch.com)
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie wants to bring his city back to its glory days. And he’s convinced tech leaders — who often pitch utopian ideals of their own — can help him deliver.
San Francisco, Tech Industry, City Planning, Leadership
45 points by rntn 33 days ago | 69 comments
Silicon Valley vs. San Francisco Socialists (jacobin.com)
On the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, socialist Dean Preston championed policies that tackled the gross inequality Silicon Valley brought to the city. That’s why he was targeted by tech capitalists like Garry Tan and Elon Musk last year.
Politics, San Francisco, Socialism, Silicon Valley
20 points by reesericci 40 days ago | 3 comments
Stoop Coffee: A simple idea transformed my neighborhood (supernuclear.substack.com)
18 months ago, I wasn’t planning on spending more time hanging out with my neighbors than with friends I’d known for decades. It started with a simple goal: my husband Tyler and I wanted that sense of community that feels like it’s only possible in the suburbs, but we believed we could achieve this while living in San Francisco. We brainstormed: should we make cookies and knock on doors? Should we invite neighbors over for dinner?
Community Building, Neighborhood, San Francisco
1652 points by surprisetalk 45 days ago | 497 comments
Stripe is stealing over $50k from me (ycombinator.com)
I run a coffee cart in SF. I am legally allowed to operate here and am not doing anything sketchy.
Stripe, Payment Processing, Small Businesses, San Francisco
28 points by sfcoffeeguy 50 days ago | 22 comments
Waymo's milestone SFO mapping permit comes with strings attached (techcrunch.com)
Waymo has been given permission to map roadways at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) via a temporary permit — the first step in the Alphabet company’s bid to unlock a potentially lucrative use case for its robotaxis.
Autonomous Vehicles, San Francisco, Transportation, Technology, Permits
8 points by jumarm 52 days ago | 0 comments
Help Identify the Photographer Who Captured Many Images of 1960s San Francisco (smithsonianmag.com)
Discovered in an abandoned storage locker, the 2,042 processed color slides and 102 rolls of black-and-white film depict key moments in the city’s history
Photography, San Francisco, History, 1960s
114 points by gnabgib 52 days ago | 42 comments
The 2005 Sony Bravia ad (sfgate.com)
On a sunny July day in 2005, a frog jumped out of a rain gutter to see an unexpected sight: an avalanche of thousands of colorful bouncy balls careening down a San Francisco street.
Advertising, Viral Marketing, San Francisco
281 points by coloneltcb 58 days ago | 218 comments
Explore Sutro Tower (sutrotower.com)
San Francisco, Landmarks, Architecture
84 points by archagon 65 days ago | 27 comments
The Mission is the new Tenderloin (sfstandard.com)
The Sixth Street drug market has found a new home.
San Francisco, Drugs, Crime, Urban Planning
7 points by iancmceachern 77 days ago | 0 comments
Show HN: Immersive Gaussian Splat experience of Sutro Tower, San Francisco (vincentwoo.com)
Welcome to my 3D model of San Francisco's Sutro Tower. Feel free to explore it at your own pace. If you're on a phone, you can also engage the AR mode by clicking the little cube, it'll let you explore the scene by walking around and waving your phone.
3D Modeling, San Francisco, Augmented Reality, Interactive Art
825 points by akanet 77 days ago | 193 comments
San Francisco homelessness: Park ranger helps one person at a time (sfstandard.com)
To watch park ranger Amanda Barrows is to be faced with a disturbing question: If this is what it takes to help one unhoused person, how can we manage thousands?
Homelessness, San Francisco, Social Issues, Community Action
381 points by NaOH 81 days ago | 706 comments
Engineer built 200 public benches in Inner Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco (missionlocal.org)
For more than a decade, a roller-skating engineer in the Inner Sunset has opted to go his own way, making and installing some 210 benches in the Sunset and around the city — for free.
Community Projects, Engineering, San Francisco, Public Art
5 points by adamhowell 82 days ago | 0 comments
New SF public health chief was part of McKinsey opioid-marketing operation (sfstandard.com)
Daniel Tsai, Mayor Daniel Lurie’s choice to lead the Department of Public Health, has a blue-chip résumé: After studying at Harvard University, he landed a prestigious consulting gig before jumping into government, leading Medicaid programs in Massachusetts, then federally under former President Joe Biden.
Public Health, San Francisco, Opioid Crisis, Consulting
253 points by iancmceachern 83 days ago | 78 comments
The San Francisco stadium that fog killed (sfgate.com)
The fervor over San Francisco’s glorious new baseball park was cresting. It didn’t matter that the first game was delayed several weeks by a tough winter. When Opening Day at Ewing Field came on May 16, 1914, thousands of fans traversed up to Lone Mountain and poured into their new baseball home.
Baseball, San Francisco, History, Weather
69 points by PaulHoule 83 days ago | 39 comments
Men claiming to be from DOGE show up at San Francisco City Hall, demand records (cbsnews.com)
San Francisco city officials are investigating after three men who claimed to be from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) showed up at City Hall on Friday demanding records from offices before fleeing.
San Francisco, Cryptocurrency, Government, Law Enforcement
107 points by anigbrowl 83 days ago | 97 comments
San Francisco unveils marble bust of Aaron Swartz (sfstandard.com)
Hundreds gathered at the Internet Archive for the unveiling of a statue honoring the late programmer, who's been embraced as an open-access hero.
San Francisco, Statues, Aaron Swartz, Open Access, Internet Archive
29 points by leotravis10 89 days ago | 2 comments
Salesforce lays off staff in San Francisco after exec talks up offshoring (sfgate.com)
Salesforce, the software giant with deep ties to San Francisco, is laying off 153 local workers.
Salesforce, Layoffs, San Francisco, Technology, Offshoring
11 points by c420 91 days ago | 4 comments
Waymo drives through sinkhole in San Francisco during storm [video] (youtube.com)
Self-Driving Cars, Accidents, Weather, San Francisco, Technology
16 points by lopkeny12ko 93 days ago | 6 comments
For just $763, you can make a lot sit empty for 5 years (sfstandard.com)
In a sane world, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors would do everything in its power to approve new grocery stores.
San Francisco, Politics, Real Estate, Economics
6 points by weitendorf 95 days ago | 1 comments
As China seeks influence, it has a cuddly way into City Hall: Pandas (nytimes.com)
After joining the Chinese leader Xi Jinping for dinner last year, Mayor London Breed of San Francisco accompanied him to the airport to bid him farewell. There, on the tarmac, she made her request: pandas.
China, Politics, Diplomacy, San Francisco, Animals
3 points by PaulHoule 116 days ago | 1 comments
San Francisco Curbs Syphilis with Cheap 'Morning-After' Pill (bloomberg.com)
San Francisco reversed some of the highest rates of syphilis and chlamydia in the US after county health officials recommended a low-cost tablet taken like a “morning-after pill.”
Public Health, San Francisco, Health Policy
5 points by toomuchtodo 122 days ago | 1 comments
Get the Funk Out (lessheavy.substack.com)
In my crusty ratboy phase (mercifully over now, I hope), when I lived in San Francisco, I struggled. With many things, but specifically with laundry. Like the Johnny Cash song, my workdays began by looking in my closet for my cleanest dirty shirt.
Life Advice, Humor, San Francisco
42 points by bgoldste 124 days ago | 24 comments
SFPD refuses to say where they've placed 400 automated license plate readers (sfist.com)
The new armada of automated license plate readers in SF are taking three million surveillance photos every day, but the SF Police Department is being cagey about disclosing where the hundreds of cameras are located.
Privacy, Surveillance, Technology, San Francisco, Law Enforcement
42 points by anigbrowl 124 days ago | 34 comments
Counterculture legend who invented bell-bottom jeans dies at 84 (sfgate.com)
At the turn of the mid-1960s, people knew they had landed at ground zero of an evolving San Francisco if they fell down the right rabbit hole and somehow tumbled inside Mnasidika.
Fashion, History, San Francisco
122 points by anigbrowl 127 days ago | 41 comments
SF Purity Test (sfpurity.com)
The official Purity Test checklist for the techies of San Francisco. Click on every item you have done.
San Francisco, Technology, Humor, Lifestyle
46 points by glowingvoices 127 days ago | 25 comments