The organizations that need your help — Given the pandemic we’re living in, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the amount of suffering people are experiencing due to job and income loss, anxiety, isolation, and illness. But there are real, concrete ways each of us can do something to help right now. …

Directly support the Bay Area arts community during the Covid-19 crisis — The Bay Area is home to one of the most vibrant arts communities in the world. Our musicians, comedians, DJs, painters, makers, actors, and other creatives are one of the major reasons our region is so culturally vibrant. Like so many people, they are taking a huge hit during this…

Connect with the Bay Area community and stay active — People across the country are doing their best to find ways to stay occupied while social distancing. While it’s tempting to bake all the cakes and cupcakes and plop on the couch to watch Netflix (no shame if that’s your game though), we must admit this situation presents a good…

New tenant protections may be coming to Oakland — The Bay Area housing crisis made national headlines in recent months after a group of homeless mothers, all members of Moms 4 Housing, were physically forced from a vacant West Oakland home they had been occupying. …

Legal gray areas continue on our dear friend Craigslist — We’re back! In 2020, we’ll continue to highlight plenty of horror rentals in the Bay Area. But before we jump into the listings for this month, we want to make sure that you’re aware of four state housing laws that came into effect January 1. AB 1482: Rent cap and…

As a lifelong Oaklander, I stand with them—so should you — I watched in horror, along with the rest of Oakland, as videos surfaced online showing the forceful and shameful eviction of a group of homeless moms from a vacant West Oakland home they had been occupying since November to give themselves and their children a safe place to live. The…

Unearthing the city’s history one wreck at a time — Every day in San Francisco, people walk the city’s streets unaware of the history that our concrete jungle holds in its depths. Little do most people know that roughly 40 ships are buried underneath the Embarcadero and the Financial District, which used to be the city’s original shoreline. Most of…

New year, same rental nightmares — Here we are at the beginning of a new decade, and there’s little to no hope of the housing crisis in the Bay Area improving any time soon. The ever-decreasing pool of affordable housing has resulted in some people taking unorthodox measures to secure a roof over their heads, such…

It’s the last column of the year! Thank you, readers, for all your tips. — This is officially the last column of this series for 2019! Back in March, when the Sketchiest Bay Area Apartments You Can Rent made its debut, we weren’t expecting that readers would send us horrifying listings, like this garage with no windows and a leaking roof. Other readers shared stories…