Dispatches filed from Outer Sunset, in reverse chronological order.
Current lead
Albert Chow is running for the District 4 seat on the Board of Supervisors, and he is making clear early that he does not intend to fit the standard political categories City Hall reporters use to sort…
By Bex Connolly, City Hall · May 30, 2026
Philippe Chagniot, a 68-year-old Outer Sunset landlord, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of murder, arson, and weapons violations in connection…
At the far western edge of the city, where the Great Highway dead-ends into sand and the fog rolls in off the Pacific with enough force to sting…
On Irving Street near Mollusk Surf Shop, a handmade flyer appeared on a telephone pole sometime last week — the kind of document that stops a few…
Sundays on the Great Highway, the city runs a free outdoor yoga session as part of its recurring "Sundays at the Beach" programming.
Shanghai Dumpling King is open, despite signage suggesting otherwise.
Most mornings before 10am, Ocean Beach between Sloat and Balboa runs rideable surf — northwest swells, offshore winds, and water temps hovering…
The fourth Saturday of each month from May through August, Occidental Flea Market sets up in the Outer Sunset.
Every Memorial Day weekend, San Franciscans do something almost radical in a city that loves to regulate, permit, and fee-structure everything into…
Look, we spend a lot of time around here talking about what San Francisco gets wrong.
Sometimes the Best City Employees Are the Ones Who Don't Talk In a city where public institutions regularly disappoint, overspend, and underdeliver…
Here's something you don't hear us say often: a city-adjacent program that's free, doesn't require a permit the size of a novella, and actually gets…
A person was fatally shot in the Outer Sunset — a neighborhood that routinely makes the list of San Francisco's "safest" and most family-friendly…
In a city that increasingly feels like it's regulating the fun out of everything, Question Mark Tavern is doing something beautifully simple: letting…
Two things are happening at Ocean Beach right now: a cool new coastal science and art exhibit exploring how the shoreline is changing, and boats…
Here's a fun scenario for your Wednesday: You're working from home in the Outer Sunset, mid-meeting on a video call, and you turn around to find a…
Here's a scene that plays out across San Francisco approximately ten thousand times a day: someone's unleashed dog charges at a leashed dog, growling…
The San Francisco Zoo is opening its gates for a free admission day.
Most San Franciscans have driven past the Murphy Windmill at the western edge of Golden Gate Park a hundred times without giving it a second thought.
A hit-and-run collision at 19th Avenue and Lincoln Way around 6:30 PM on Friday evening is a reminder that San Francisco's streets remain lawless in…
Whatever your thoughts on crystals, cauldrons, or cosmic energy, there's something undeniably San Francisco about a group of strangers rallying on…
San Francisco's comedy scene has always thrived in weird little corners — basement shows, back patios, and dive bars where the mic stand is held…
Sunset Dunes just celebrated its first birthday as a car-free park, and by all accounts, the party was pretty solid — live music, kids on bikes…
A mother wanting to spend a month near her son in the Sunset District shouldn't feel like she's navigating a federal bureaucracy — and yet, here we…
Look, we love cheap beer as much as the next fiscally responsible San Franciscan.
We don't usually run missing person alerts, but when a desperate parent reaches out to the city for help finding their child, it's worth amplifying.
If you felt a quick jolt around 4:40 p.m.
While the rest of us spend our days navigating MUNI delays, parsing ballot measures, and wondering why our rent just went up again, the crows at Fort…
In a city where opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant often means navigating a labyrinth of permits, inspections, and bureaucratic headaches, it's…
The Avenues: Where Nothing Happened and That's Actually Fine April 22 came and went in the Avenues, and — brace yourselves — the fog rolled in, the…
There's a version of San Francisco that doesn't make it onto anyone's three-day itinerary — no Pier 39, no rented e-bike death wish up Nob Hill, no…
Here's a story that perfectly captures life in San Francisco in 2025: leave a cart outside your home for a few minutes in the Outer Sunset — one of…
A husky was spotted roaming the sand dunes near Irving and the Great Highway on Wednesday, collar on but tagless, doing what huskies do best…
A swarm of honey bees took over the corner of 22nd and Irving this week, giving the Outer Sunset a brief taste of nature's chaos — and a surprisingly…
If you recently moved to District 4 and thought local politics would be simpler than wherever you came from — welcome to San Francisco, where we…
Look, we spend a lot of time in this space talking about budget deficits, bureaucratic incompetence, and the myriad ways City Hall finds to light…
Here's something refreshing: a community event that doesn't require a permit fee the size of your rent check, a six-month approval process, or a line…
Look, we get it. San Francisco rent is insane, the vibes are off, and sometimes you just need to wander. Apparently that existential restlessness…
The voters spoke. A judge agreed. And yet here we are — again. A group of Sunset residents and their CEQA-specialist attorney, Susan Brandt-Hawley…
In what might be the most wholesome interagency collaboration San Francisco has seen in a while, a California sea lion pup was found wandering near…
You have to admire the persistence, if not the strategy.
If you haven't done the Great Highway and Golden Gate Park cycling loop yet, what are you even doing with your weekends?
Sunset Dunes turned one year old this week, and the city is taking a victory lap.
Look, we spend a lot of time in this space talking about what San Francisco gets wrong — the budget bloat, the bureaucratic maze, the transit delays…
Sunset Dunes is one year old, and like any toddler, it's generating strong opinions from the adults in the room.
Sunset Dunes just turned one year old, and Rec and Park is rolling out the celebration cake with a headline number: 1.7 million visits in its first…
Here's a simple question: How do you get more bike parking at Ocean Beach?
Here's a radical concept that somehow keeps surprising people: when government doesn't get the job done, regular San Franciscans will do it…
Here's something nobody in San Francisco talks about enough: it's actually kind of hard to meet people here.
Here's a fun exercise in government transparency: try figuring out whether you can bring a portable pizza oven to Ocean Beach.
The Outer Sunset's Dirt Alley — that scrappy, polarizing strip of public space that's either a charming neighborhood quirk or an underused eyesore…
The San Francisco Zoo is hosting a free admission day, and sure, who doesn't love a freebie?
This weekend, the Outer Sunset is throwing a party.
In a city that will charge you $18 for a kombucha and $3,000 a month to sleep in a converted closet, something genuinely free and genuinely pointless…