How we started
The short version
When Julia noticed the print newspaper racks disappearing from San Francisco sidewalks, she saw an opportunity to replace them with a modern, digital version that served local neighborhoods. While most San Franciscans didn’t care about print newspapers going away, Julia realized we were witnessing not just the decline of print media, but an extinction event for community information in public spaces. And that’s something San Francisco residents care about a lot.
Over the course of many Neighborhood Feedback Days- public events where we bring out our prototype and gather community feedback— the content and design have significantly evolved.
the long version
In summer 2022, Julia walked by one of those old green print newspaper racks in her neighborhood. It was empty and collecting dust. She looked at it and thought, "Wow, this is outdated. Someone should really modernize and digitize it…." The next week she walked by and the entire newspaper rack was gone! What just happened? Julia couldn't find any information about the sudden disappearance, so she decided to do some digging herself. With no background in journalism, she wrote the first story about the news racks disappearing, which was published in Mission Local.
After researching that story, Julia was even more convinced that having a modern and digital version of the newspaper racks would help people in San Francisco engage with their communities. She organized the first Neighborhood Feedback Day with a cardboard prototype she built in her living room, and then Vanessa helped her with the second one.
In summer 2024, Julia quit her day job to pursue this idea full time.
Julia is still a news rack nerd. She published another story about San Francisco’s last news rack in January 2025.