Redwood City

The Haight Ashbury Music Center is selling off its gear. The store’s been around for some 40 years — it was opened by the brother of Janis Joplin’s bassist. And it’s been a centerpiece of the Haight Street experience ever since. So what happens when a place known for culture and counterculture loses its music?

The Redwood City School District superintendent’s letter to parents of Fair Oaks Elementary school came in late March. The school, he wrote, was facing near certain closure.

In June 2014, the Redwood City School District voted unanimously to approve two new charter schools within its boundaries, bringing the total to three. Hundreds of largely immigrant parents had demanded the choice, hoping for higher test scores, college access, and career-readiness for their kids.

But the decision came with a cost.  

If you’re driving up Highway 101 in Redwood City towards San Francisco and look east to the bay, for a split second you’ll see a bunch of houseboats. That’s Docktown Marina, home to over 70 people. The boats have been there since the 1960s, but they can’t stay any longer.

In 1925, Redwood City's real estate board offered a $10 prize for the best slogan for the growing city. The winning submission? "Climate Best by Government Test." In this Hey Area short-answer segment, reporter Jürgen Klemm digs into whether the claim is true. Click the player above to hear the answer.

For Jamaisse Payne, the grocery store is a math problem. She’s got a baby boy due in a few weeks, so she says she’s shopping and eating for two. She walks up and down the aisles of the Redwood City Grocery Outlet, adding and subtracting prices in her head.