Robert Morast

John King, longtime urban design critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, to retire after 32 years of writing about the city's changing landscape

= It was famously said that, at the peak of its powers, the British punk act the Clash was the only band that mattered. Others have co-opted the title since then. But it’s time to borrow that phrase of blinding poignancy once again: Zach Bryan is the only country musician that matters. We can dance to Shaboozey’s hip-hop inflected country and Post Malone’s jukebox nostalgia. We can debate the genre legitimacy of Beyoncé while shaking it to her country collage. And we can understand there’s a pla…

Taylor Swift pulled social media gravity toward her again on Saturday by appearing at the NFL playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs to cheer for her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, a tight end with the Chiefs. But she walked into Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., wearing a puffy winter coat made by someone more with allegiance to the San Francisco football team — Kristin Juszczyk, wife of 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk. Swift’s arrival to the game populated social media feed…

Vacant downtown office buildings. Shifting home prices. NIMBYs versus YIMBYs. The “doom loop” narrative. Covering housing and real estate is a critical window into Northern California’s future — how the state is transforming, how San Francisco is recovering and what it’s like to live in a region with massive housing issues. To ensure we bring our readers the most critical coverage before anyone else, the San Francisco Chronicle has expanded our team of journalists who break news and analyze the…

From comparing San Francisco to a ghost town to saying the city could be 100 times...

Two collections of photos focused on Bay Area punk scenes give a glimpse into a time of rebellion.

Two collections of photos focused on Bay Area punk scenes give a glimpse into a time of rebellion.

Disneyland opened to the public at 10 a.m. July 18, 1955, under a sunny Southern California sky. And, if you look at the photos from that day, the scene was what you’d expect: collections of kids — boys with cropped hair and dark rimmed glasses, girls with dresses colored in summery pastels — sprinting through the Anaheim property, their excitement pulling them to magic castles and teacup rides and to a space port with men dressed in spacesuits, years before the first manned space flight. There…

Hater’s guide to loving the 49ers