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The Frisconian

Culture & History

Landmarks, public art, and the city's long memory.

4 of San Francisco’s 10 Cultural Districts Predate the City’s Funding for Them

Culture & History

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4 of San Francisco’s 10 Cultural Districts Predate the City’s Funding for Them

The Board of Supervisors began naming protected cultural corridors in 2013. The city did not fund or staff a program to run them until voters passed Proposition E in 2018.

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Sep 16, 2026

Financial District/South Beach Holds 61% of SF's Downtown Art Mandate

Culture & History

Financial District/South Beach Holds 61% of SF's Downtown Art Mandate

A 1985 law makes developers pay for public art as the price of building downtown. Four decades and 65 works later, six in ten sit in one neighborhood.

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Sep 4, 2026

In 1907, San Francisco paid only 7 cents

Culture & History

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In 1907, San Francisco paid only 7 cents

San Francisco has voted on 1,998 ballot measures since 1907, and 1,212 of them were amendments to its own charter, the document that used to hold the pay of every clerk in the building. One election in 1995 closed that ballot down.

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Aug 11, 2026

The class of 2026 has no mansions in it

Culture & History

The class of 2026 has no mansions in it

Fourteen buildings have joined the city's landmark register since New Year's, more than in any full year since 1981. The first landmarks were churches, banks, and whiskey warehouses. This year's are a coffeehouse, a steam bath, two firehouses, and a storefront on Cole Street the record calls simply Maud's.

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Aug 2, 2026

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