The student-run magazine of San Francisco State University

Xpress Magazine

The student-run magazine of San Francisco State University

Xpress Magazine

The student-run magazine of San Francisco State University

Xpress Magazine

Bars and spikes placed on ledges in front of the windows of Combined Reality and Levy & Co. on the corner of Market St and Guerrero St in The Castro on May 8, 2022. (Garrett Isley / Xpress Magazine)

San Francisco’s Anti-Homeless Architecture

Garrett Isley, Staff Photographer
May 13, 2022

  Throughout San Francisco, there are partitioned benches, slanted seating, incongruous planters and spiked ledges. To those with a bed to sleep in and a roof over their head, these may seem like...

A man walks his dog on Philosopher’s Way in John McLaren Park on May 6, 2022. This 2.7 mile trail provides its hikers with views of the bay and various neighborhoods in the city. (Garrett Isley / Xpress Magazine)

Three Lesser-Known Hiking Trails in the Bay Area

Anne Kristoff, Staff Writer
May 13, 2022

  As dust-like dirt lines the midsole of broken-in athletic shoes and the sun beams down across the vibrant green foliage, sweat begins to drip from the brow. Hikers mindfully pass each other along...

Photo illustration by Saskia Hatvany.

The Uncounted

Albert Serna Jr. and Albert Gregory
May 2, 2022

  The last time Reverend Victor Floyd saw his friend Charles Davis, he was smiling.   Davis had spent much of the last 45 years unhoused, living on the streets of San Francisco and Seattle....

Larry Miles struts in the middle of the Hippie Hill drum circle on April 9, 2022. Miles is a regular to the drum circle and often sings and dances in the concrete pathway. (Maximo Vazquez / Xpress Magazine)

Energy Flows: The Lasting Tradition of Hippie Hill’s Drum Circle

Maximo Vazquez, Staff Photographer
April 22, 2022

Near a single green wooden bench at the base of Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park, Alex Carpenter grabs an orange to eat from a communal offering. He paces around the open patch of grass while twirling a...

The bouquet arrangement area at Flowerland Floral Shop in Colma on April 4, 2022. Currently owned and operated by married couple Rich and Maria Vaccari, Flowerland’s ownership has stayed within Rich’s family for over 100 years. (Morgan Ellis / Xpress Magazine)

In the Business of Death

Saskia Hatvany, Editor-in-Chief
April 22, 2022

  When Thomas Halloran gets ready to embalm a body, he makes sure to remove the silver watch from his left hand and hide it from view. He won’t look at the clock's hands until he has completed...

Lars Archer removes a frame from his newest hive on the roof level of a parking garage in SOMA on April 12, 2022. In his time as a beekeeper, Archer has experienced losing a hive and mentioned the hardest thing for him is understanding what happened and preventing it from happening again in future hives. (Garrett Isley / Xpress Magazine)

The Buzz Around Urban Beekeeping

Anne Kristoff, Staff Writer
April 15, 2022

  Nestled between vibrant green trees and stone-paved paths, Philip Gerrie gently puffs pine needle smoke on his honey bees to calm them before pulling out each frame from his hives. Dressed in...

Sophia Swigart does a nollie bigspin at Playland at 43rd skatepark in Outer Sunset on March 30, 2022. A nollie bigspin is a skateboarding maneuver where the skateboarder pops the front of their board, rotating it 360 degrees while they rotate 180 degrees in the same direction. (Garrett Isley / Xpress Magazine)

Skateboarding in San Francisco: No Longer a Man’s World

Garrett Isley, Staff Photographer
April 15, 2022

  Every time Layla Smith steps into a skate shop, she feels invisible. The men behind the counter often fail to recognize her as a fellow skateboarder, let alone as a customer.    “If...

Alex Gómez Uribe, a Jalisco native, holds a bottle of mezcal from Mezcal Totoy in Oakland on March 11, 2022. The contents in the bottle were produced by Antonio Leon, a “Maestro Mezcalero” and the maguey used to make this particular mezcal was Jabali. (Bianca Heredia / Xpress Magazine)

More Than a Trend: Mezcal Finds a Home in Bay Area Bar Culture

Lorena Garibay, Staff Writer
March 18, 2022

Jamie Bernal smiles as he points out the menu located behind his bar. Written in chalk, it reads, “agave cocktails, with tequila or mezcal,” but that menu read differently five years ago. He’s still...

Novella Carpenter, co-founder and co-owner of the BioFuel Oasis Cooperative in Berkeley, poses for a portrait on the stacks of hay behind the store Feb. 5, 2022. (Morgan Ellis / Xpress Magazine)

Oasis in the Gaslands

Albert Serna Jr., Chief Content Editor / Multimedia Editor
February 18, 2022

Joe McCauley checked the side of his car for any spilled oil.   “It will strip the paint off your car if you’re not careful,” he said. “But it’s good for the environment and your car....

Only in San Francisco’s empty storefront at San Francisco’s Fishermans Wharf on Feb. 13, 2022. (Abraham Fuentes / Xpress Magazine)

Depleted Tourism at Fisherman’s Wharf

Justine Brady, Staff Writer
February 18, 2022

In 2019, Fisherman’s Wharf was typically a crowded hotspot filled with tourists swinging around their newly purchased souvenir bags paired with a backdrop of lively street performers. Today, the roaring...

: John Fredericks stands in the galley of the 1973 Porpoise Ketch sailboat that he currently lives in and co-owns with two friends on Nov. 17, 2021. He’s been working on renovating a 32-foot Chesapeake sailboat which he hopes to sail away for good. (Saskia Hatvany/Xpress Magazine)

Life Onboard: the Bay Area Intrepid Who Choose Life on the Water

Saskia Hatvany, Editor-in-Chief
December 15, 2021

  On a Wednesday afternoon, John Fredericks briefly rummages through a cluttered countertop to find a clean mug. His current home, a 1973 wooden sailboat named Horizons, has lately become more...

Ziggy Deberry, 20, poses for a photo in the historic Castro neighborhood of San Francisco on Dec. 3, 2021. “There needs to be space — there has to be space — for the people who are now struggling,” they say. (Kenzie Aellig / Xpress Magazine)

Castro: the New Queer Experience

Kenzie Aellig, Editor in Chief
December 15, 2021

  Its colorful flags give a cheerful welcome to visitors from all around the world, while its historic bars and shops give comfort to the residents who have been there since the beginning. The...

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