Ryan Jones

It became public knowledge a few years ago that there was a movement to get free public Wi-Fi all over San Francisco. Apparently EarthLink and Google both tried to make it a reality. However, there were many snags having to do with financing and city politics that derailed both attempts. A local company called Meraki has continued the battle, but with a different approach. Currently there are portions of the city that are covered by this free public network. It is unclear if or when the entire city will be covered. For an interesting article about free public wi-fi attempts, check out this article in the Wall Street Journal. Also, check out this article about Meraki's recently developed solar powered technology meant to extend free public WiFi.

Office Space San Francisco

There is new information out regarding the state of the retail market. Unfortunately for everyone, the news is not encouraging… and neither are the projections for 2009. However, the truth is that people still buy even in the worst of economies. Being strategic and making the most of one’s business model can pull a business through. I think this business below could hardly fail! Here is the article with the report.

Office Space San Francisco

In San Francisco, many (if not all) of the residential and commercial developments that have been in the pipeline are completely stalled out due to the condition of the economy and the lack of demand. However, there are still some projects that are so lucrative that even a failed economy can't stop them. One of those projects is the new Transbay Terminal project. If you want to read an interesting article about its progress, click here.

First the bad news... AT&T is cutting 12,000 jobs (4% of its work force). See Business Times Article. This is going to further hurt our economy - where more and more jobs seem to be disappearing each day. However, It isn't bad news across the board. Several local San Francisco based companies are doing quite well. Del Monte and Salesforce are still cranking out the $$. See Business Times Article for Del Monte and Salesforce. This is great news for the local economy.

John King wrote an article in the San Francisco Chronicle that I think is helpful for understanding what is going on in the Mission Bay redevelopment zone. As you walk through the area, it is easy to notice both the newness of the buildings and construction, but also the fact that there are still large tracts of land that are sitting empty. What is happening with that? The Mission Bay area has still not reached its maturity and completion. But it is on the right track. Check out the article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/02/DDUV14E03A.DTL&type=business