Downtown News

It's no secret that the Bay Area is heaven for cyclists. But you don't have to be an expert - or spend hundreds of dollars on gear - to enjoy a leisurely, scenic ride.

Despite temperatures in the high 90s, avid cycling fans and newcomers to the sport jammed the sidewalks of downtown Escondido's Grand Avenue Sunday for the Amgen Tour of California.

Friday, the originators of the Las Vegas shrimp cocktail are giving the crustacean-filled sundae glass, with sauce, its due.

Residents will take to the streets by bike Thursday in the annual Bike to Work day, with a number of events planned throughout the Bay Area.

Art Works Downtown, a nonprofit art center in San Rafael, has hired its first executive director to take the reins Monday.

The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has gone up one penny over the past two weeks.

Several years ago, when the economy was crashing, Ventura officials, in response to homeless people sleeping in their cars in random spots all over the city, decided to spearhead a program that would allow individuals who met certain qualifications to sleep in their cars on designated private property; these property owners were in partnership with ... (more)

A controversial method designed to rid downtown areas of homeless transients who sit on sidewalks or sleep in the doorways of businesses will be debated at the Chico City Council meeting May 7. The method usually takes the form of what are called "sit/lie" - aka "move on" - ordinances.

Santa Rosa is moving forward with a plan to rip out dozens of relatively new downtown parking stations that merchants said were baffling to their customers and bad for business.

At the risk of this writer being barred from residing within 200 yards of a public school, can we have a sane discussion of bicycles and their future role in the urban planning process? It seems that at virtually every public planning, as a "green alternative", cycling is treated like an entity akin to "holy water". This is not to say bicycle ... (more)

Gonzalez v. Downtown LA Motors , No. B235292 : A California Court of Appeal recently held that automobile service technicians who were paid on a "piece-rate" basis should have been paid their minimum hourly wage for the waiting time between repairs.

Note: First Looks give previews of new drinks and menus we're curious about. Since they are arranged photo shoots, we do not make critical evaluations or recommendations.

Despite the Berkeley community's solid and vocal opposition to a postal service plan to sell the historic downtown post office, postal officials announced Monday they intend to move forward with the sale.

Rent costs in San Rafael vary wildly between neighborhoods. Now you can see just how pricey renting is, and how those costs compare neighborhood-by-neighborhood. A new data-based website, Rich Blocks, Poor Blocks uses U.S. census information compiled from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey to show median household income and monthly rents by ... (more)

The Comfort Inn & Suites San Francisco Airport North is conveniently located off Highway 101, just three miles from the San Francisco International Airport.

Are any of your new San Mateo neighbors from a different California county or from a different state or country? Where did your old neighbors move? Between 2006 and 2010, San Mateo County grabbed 26 residents from Lewis and Clark County, Montana, and lost 19 residents to Hancock County, Maine, and lost another 61 residents to Washington County, ... (more)