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Take a walk east from the gold-plated cupola of San Francisco City Hall and the landscape transforms into the Tenderloin, a patchwork of residential hotels, small delis and social service clinics that cater to the poor. It winds into the city’s main tourist corridor , and, farther along, a glossy cluster of condominium towers where upper- story penthouses cost millions . These symbols of extreme poverty and prosperity are wedged together in District Six, which serves both as a portal for visitors and a cauldron where San Francisco ’s most pressing political issues simmer . For 20 years, District Six voters have reliably concluded that the solutions to those issues come from the progressive viewpoint. And while it’s more than a year until the next election for supervisor, the contest is already shaping up as a test of whether that is still true. From the Tenderloin to the Mission Bay waterfront , District Six has seen a rush of development over the past two decades, and residents are ...

A block north of the Western Brown Line stop , you'll find a family-friendly collision of worlds. Time and continents get confused at the crossroads where Lincoln Avenue runs into the intersection of Lawrence and Western avenues . Staring down the street bearing his name, a statue of Abraham Lincoln — perched on a podium and holding his stovepipe hat — watches over the juncture. Honest Abe seems a fitting guardian of the spot that is at once multicultural and wholly American. Once you pass under the arching entryway onto Lincoln Square , restaurants with Argentine, Greek, German, Mexican, Dutch and New Orleans fare are all within a stone's throw. Some take you back in time and some feel like home. Locals say the corridor is family-forward with a European touch. It's not hard to see. On a recent Friday evening , families congregated in the plaza. Children straight off Gap runways devoured frozen yogurt and painted patios in chalk while fluffy dogs sniffed out pigeons. Old...

1. If you can make it here… New York has long been the ultimate testing ground for businesses. But the city’s population density also makes it an important laboratory for startups, especially in today’s on-demand economy. Food- delivery pioneer Seamless survived the dot-com crash, paving the way for the arrival of meal-kit services such as Blue Apron and Plated a decade later. Related View this story in its original print layout Density has also been instrumental to the growth of ride-hailing and car-sharing companies. Most of them, including Uber and Lyft first gained their footing in smaller cities, then made New York their biggest market. Via, the on-demand ride-pooling service, launched here in 2013, is the exception: Its founders chose New York, figuring riders packed together on subways and buses wouldn’t need much persuading to share a car with strangers, especially when it cost just $5. article continues below advertisement App- based transportation startups have flocked t...