Halloween lands on a Saturday, and the Peninsula makes the most of it: nine events, seven of them outdoors, from broom pulls in the redwoods to a costume-optional dog hike at Pulgas Ridge. In San Francisco, 9Zero fills nearly every weekday evening, with a climate-finance lunch, a battery meetup, seven Swiss startups pitching in costume and a Halloween happy hour at Zeitgeist. Ballots are in mailboxes too, so there is a ballot party at Manny's, an "anti-debate" on Prop 40 and a SPUR forum on the Housing Trust Fund measure. San Francisco's weekday evenings are full, and we found nothing there on Saturday or Sunday.
Tonight and tomorrow
- 9Zero x Vectors Capital Community Lunch & Learn: Climate Infrastructure Financing, today at noon at 9Zero, free with approval, and there is a Zoom option if you can't get downtown.
- Making Waves: An Evening with Author Steve Hawk, Tuesday 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at 9Zero, free with approval, the former Sierra and Surfer editor on his debut novel and telling environmental stories.
- Anti-Debate: The Billionaire Tax, Tuesday at 540 Laguna St, free, a structured format where participants build on each other's points rather than scoring them.
- Remathau: People of the Ocean, Tuesday evening at Stanford, free with approval, a documentary on the first Micronesian marine biology PhD followed by a Q&A with her.
This week in San Francisco
Monday 26 October
9Zero x Vectors Capital Community Lunch & Learn: Climate Infrastructure Financing — Hosted by 9Zero · their calendar, with Vectors Capital · 9Zero Climate Innovation Hub, 350 California St, 4th floor · 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. · Free, approval required; two free ticket types, one for 9Zero members and one for newcomers covering their first three events · event page
Guy Van Syckle walks through how climate projects actually get financed, what makes a project financeable and where deals fall apart; a Zoom option is offered for virtual attendees.
Tuesday 27 October
9Zero Creative Cluster Presents, Making Waves: An Evening with Author Steve Hawk — Hosted by 9Zero · their calendar · 9Zero Climate Innovation Hub, 350 California St, 4th floor · 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. · Free, approval required; separate free tickets for members and for newcomers on their first three events · event page
The former editor of Sierra, Surfer and Stanford Business magazines talks with Jimmy Rogers of Redwood Climate Communications about his debut novel and about telling environmental stories, after an informal networking hour.
Anti-Debate: The Billionaire Tax — Hosted by The SF Commons · their calendar · 540 Laguna St · Doors 5:30 p.m., programming 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. · Free, limited availability · event page
An open-source debate format where participants build on each other's insights instead of rebutting them, applied to Prop 40, with a San Jose State tax professor and a UC Berkeley law professor and Jenny Stefanotti moderating.
Ballot Party! — Hosted by Manny's · their calendar · Manny's, 3092 16th Street · 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. · Price not listed · event page
Work through the ballot in company: go over the options, ask questions, share resources, and leave with yours ready to send.
PBS Film Preview: Lynn Novick's Crime and Punishment in America — Hosted by Commonwealth Club World Affairs · their calendar, with KQED Live · Taube Family Auditorium, 110 The Embarcadero · 6:00 p.m. · $22 in person · event page
A preview of Novick's forthcoming documentary, executive produced by Ken Burns, on the four-century history of criminal justice in America, followed by a conversation with the filmmaker.
Wednesday 28 October
San Francisco Habitat Stewards — Hosted by Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy · their calendar · Rotating San Francisco park lands including Fort Funston, Lands End, Baker Beach and the Presidio; the meeting point comes in the registration confirmation · 9:00 a.m. to noon · Free, registration required, all ages welcome · event page
Restoration work in the city's natural areas; long pants and closed-toe shoes required, tools provided.
The Last Gun: Volunteer Day at Battery Chamberlin — Hosted by Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy · their calendar · Battery Chamberlin Road, Baker Beach, San Francisco 94129 · 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. · Free, registration required, ages 12 and up · event page
Sweeping and weeding the 1904 battery, then learning about the gun it houses and why the upkeep keeps it on the National Register.
Movie Night: Old Dracula (1974) — Hosted by Trellis Coworking & Events · their calendar · Trellis, 981 Mission St · 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. · Free · event page
Campy classic horror with a drink in hand, billed as a spooky night of classic cinema.
Battery & Energy Storage Meetup with Smriti Mishra of PG&E — Hosted by 9Zero · their calendar, with The Battery Saloon · 9Zero Climate Innovation Hub, 350 California St, 4th floor · Starts 5:00 p.m., and the published agenda runs through 7:30 p.m. · Free, approval required; separate free tickets for members and for newcomers on their first three events · event page
A fireside chat on customer-centric product development and getting to market at scale, with mingling from 5:00, the chat and Q&A from 5:45, then networking and closing from 6:45.
Trick or Treat: A HallowGreen Pitch Night — Hosted by Swissnex in San Francisco · their calendar, with 9Zero · 9Zero Climate Innovation Hub, 350 California St, 4th floor · 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. · Free, approval required · event page
Seven Swiss climate startups pitch after a Bay Area climate panel, whose panelists then move to the jury table; the organizers say it is for anyone curious about where climate tech is headed, and costumes are encouraged.
Thursday 29 October
San Francisco Habitat Stewards — Hosted by Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy · their calendar · Rotating San Francisco park lands including the Presidio and Crissy Field; the meeting point comes in the registration confirmation · 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. · Free, registration required, all ages welcome · event page
The Thursday version of the same program, restoring natural areas across the city's park lands.
Black Point Historic Gardens — Hosted by Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy · their calendar · Fort Mason; meet at the top of the main staircase behind the General's Residence · 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. · Free, registration required, ages 15 and up · event page
Clearing invasive species that have overwhelmed the site and replanting with natives and horticultural species.
Net Impact SFSU Sustainable Career Workshop — Hosted by Net Impact San Francisco · their chapter page, presented with the Net Impact student chapter at San Francisco State · LIB 121, J. Paul Leonard Library, 1630 Holloway Ave · 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. · $5, proceeds to Brightline Defense · event page
An evening for anyone wanting to explore a sustainability career with people already doing the work, on a four-person panel; the organizers say students from any major or campus are welcome, as are mid-career and working professionals.
Disclosure: FYP hosts Net Impact SF Bay's regional hub, and FYP's publisher Dave Newberry is president of the Net Impact San Francisco professionals chapter and is on this panel.
Climate Career Session: Real Projects, Real Advice — Hosted by 9Zero · their calendar · 9Zero Climate Innovation Hub, 350 California St, 4th floor · Starts 5:00 p.m. · Free for 9Zero members, with limited member places; public registration runs through the organizer's Ticket Tailor page, which lists a $12 donation covering the facility rental. Approval required · event page
Designers from the Berkeley College of Environmental Design community bring real projects on flooding, contamination from sea level rise, extreme heat and green infrastructure, and sit at topic tables with people who finance and deliver them.
9Zero Halloween Happy Hour at Zeitgeist — Hosted by 9Zero · their calendar · Zeitgeist, 199 Valencia St · 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. · Free, approval required; separate free tickets for members and for newcomers on their first three events · event page
No program, no speakers: a Halloween happy hour at Zeitgeist, costumes strongly encouraged.
Investing in Housing: The Housing Trust Fund and the November Ballot — Hosted by SPUR · their calendar · SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission Street · 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. · Free · event page
A panel on whether to raise the funding cap on the city's Housing Trust Fund, what the fund has built so far and where it could go, with speakers from the Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California, the Eviction Defense Collaborative and Episcopal Community Services. Note that SPUR takes positions on ballot measures and publishes them in its own voter guide, so you are getting recommendations alongside the background.
Premiere Screening: Bird of Four Hundred Voices, featuring Los Cenzontles Live — Hosted by KQED Live · their calendar, co-presented with Cine+Mas San Francisco Latino Film Festival · The Commons at KQED, 2601 Mariposa Street · 7:00 p.m. · $20 plus fees · event page
The Bay Area premiere of a documentary about Eugene Rodríguez, who founded the San Pablo music and arts organization Los Cenzontles; the band plays live before the film.
Friday 30 October
Black Point Historic Gardens — Hosted by Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy · their calendar · Fort Mason; meet at the top of the main staircase behind the General's Residence · 9:00 a.m. to noon · Free, registration required, ages 15 and up · event page
The Friday morning shift on the same garden restoration, invasive removal and native replanting.
Presidio Forest Stewards — Hosted by Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy · their calendar · Presidio of San Francisco; the meeting point comes in the registration confirmation · 9:00 a.m. to noon · Free, registration required · event page
Tending young trees in the Presidio's reforestation areas: planting, weeding and mulching, with urban forestry explained as you go.
Climate Connects, with Special Guest Finding The Future — Hosted by Trellis Coworking & Events · their calendar · Trellis, 981 Mission St · 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. · Free; cash bar with a happy hour discount · event page
The last-Friday-of-the-month climate social, open to ecopreneurs, activists, artivists and the climate-curious alike; Malcolm Knapp of Finding the Future runs a visioning exercise in a side room while the happy hour carries on in the main hall.
Free Film Fridays: Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas — Hosted by Manny's · their calendar · Manny's, 3092 16th Street · 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. · Free · event page
A back-to-back Halloween double feature, Hocus Pocus at 5:00 and The Nightmare Before Christmas at 6:40.
On the Peninsula & South Bay
A better week than usual down here: nine events, seven of them outdoors.
Tuesday 27 October
Remathau: People of the Ocean, documentary film screening — Hosted by the Stanford Center for Ocean Solutions, the Stanford Oceans Department and OneReef · Mackenzie Room, Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Center Room 300, 475 Via Ortega, 3rd floor, Stanford · Doors 5:30 p.m., film 6:00 p.m., Q&A and reception 7:30 p.m. · Free, approval required, limited availability · event page
A 70-minute film following Dr. Nicole Yamase, the first Micronesian to earn a PhD in marine biology and the first to reach the bottom of the Mariana Trench, on identity, culture and belonging; she takes questions afterwards, and the registration form invites you to submit one in advance.
See's Candies Hiring Event — Hosted by JobTrain · their calendar · Economic Advancement Center, 248 Main Street, Half Moon Bay · 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. · Price not listed; JobTrain says its recruitment events are open to the public · event page
A chance to learn about jobs inside the See's candy factory, with JobTrain's employment specialists on hand for resume help by appointment beforehand.
Thursday 29 October
Habitat Restoration: French Broom Removal, Teague Hill Preserve — Hosted by Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District · their calendar · Teague Hill Preserve · 9:30 a.m. · Price not listed
A volunteer morning pulling French broom, one of the district's regular restoration projects.
Trail Maintenance: Virginia Mill Trail — Hosted by Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District · their calendar · El Corte de Madera Creek Preserve · 9:30 a.m. · Price not listed
Trail work in the redwoods above Woodside, on one of the district's busier mountain bike preserves.
Friday 30 October
Night Hike at Pearson-Arastradero Preserve — Hosted by Grassroots Ecology · their calendar · Pearson-Arastradero Preserve, 1530 Arastradero Road, Palo Alto; meet by the buildings in the Gateway Garden, down the paved path from the parking lot · 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. · Price not listed, registration required
Naturalists lead a two-and-a-half to three-mile walk over grassy hills and oak woodland after dark, looking for bats, owls, spiders and the rest of the night shift. Bring a flashlight, a red or UV light if you have one, and warm layers. The park closes to the public at 7, so if you drive in, plan to stay until the walk ends at 8:30.
Saturday 31 October
Volunteer Outdoors in Menlo Park: Gardening for Pollinators at Alma Garden — Hosted by Grassroots Ecology · their calendar · 1 Alma Street, Menlo Park; meet at the corner garden of Alma St and Creek Dr · 9:30 a.m. to noon · Price not listed, registration and a signed waiver required; volunteers 12 and under need an adult with them
Weeding and clearing overgrown vegetation in a native pollinator pocket park so it comes back vibrant in spring. Gloves and tools provided, no restrooms or water on site.
Volunteer Outdoors in Redwood City: Habitat Restoration at Redwood Creek — Hosted by Grassroots Ecology · their calendar · Redwood Creek, 353 Main Street, Redwood City; meet at the far end of the parking lot behind the Carl's Jr. at Veterans Blvd and Main St · 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. · Price not listed, registration and a signed waiver required; volunteers 12 and under need an adult with them
Planting natives and picking up litter along an ecologically rich urban stretch of creek near downtown, on uneven ground. Six minutes' walk from the SamTrans 270 stop, and the organizers say costumes are welcome.
Habitat Restoration: French Broom Removal, Bear Creek Redwoods Preserve — Hosted by Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District · their calendar · Bear Creek Redwoods Preserve · 9:30 a.m. · Price not listed
The South Bay counterpart to Thursday's broom pull, in the redwoods above Los Gatos.
Halloween & Hiking Hounds — Hosted by Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District · their calendar · Pulgas Ridge Preserve, Pulgas Ridge Parking Area on Edmonds Road · 10:30 a.m. to noon · Price not listed, registration required and closes Friday 30 October at 2:00 p.m. · event page
A moderately paced hike with your dog, who stays on leash for this outing, while docent naturalists Susan Bernhard and Minh Pham talk through what you are walking past. Costumes optional.
East Bay & North Bay
Two Oakland events made this week's roundup, both at the same College Avenue storefront, and we found nothing in the North Bay.
Tuesday 27 October
Fatimah Asghar and Hieu Minh Nguyen on Daughter of the Mountains — Hosted by Local Economy · their calendar · Local Economy, 6028 College Ave, Oakland · 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. · Free · event page
Asghar's new poetry collection asks how someone exiled from ancestral homelands finds a place in the world; she is in conversation with Hieu Minh Nguyen at the north Oakland community resilience hub.
Thursday 29 October
Tomas Moniz and Laleh Khadivi talk about their new books — Hosted by Local Economy · their calendar · Local Economy, 6028 College Ave, Oakland · 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. · Free · event page
Two Bay Area writers in conversation: Moniz's novel about the Mission, intergenerational friendship and last chapters, and Khadivi's about mothers, daughters and the secrets between them.
Virtual
Tuesday 27 October
350 Bay Area Monthly Climate Action Meeting — Hosted by 350 Bay Area · their calendar · Online · 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. · Free · event page
An hour built around getting plugged into climate organizing: a mini-training on one skill or topic, an update on what is moving locally, and an action taken together on the call. One Zoom registration signs you up for the rest of the year's meetings.
Wednesday 28 October
Virtual Civic Hack Night — Hosted by SF Civic Tech, formerly Code for San Francisco · Online · 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. · Free · event page
The weekly hack night, where you can join an existing civic project, pitch your own or just watch how it works. The organizers are explicit that no tech experience of any kind is needed and that every skill is useful, not just coding.
Looking ahead
- Cleantech Open Community Mixer at 9Zero, Thursday 5 November, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., 9Zero Climate Innovation Hub, 350 California St, 4th floor. Free, approval required. Hosted by 9Zero · their calendar, with Cleantech Open. Approval takes time, so put the request in before the week starts. Event page
- Repair Advice Workshop with Fixit Clinic, Burlingame Public Library, Friday 6 November, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., 480 Primrose Rd, Burlingame. Drop-ins welcome, though the organizers ask you to say in advance what you are bringing. Hosted by San Mateo County Sustainability · their calendar, with Burlingame Public Library.
- Consultants for Good Co-Working Day at Trellis, Friday 6 November, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Trellis, 981 Mission St. $20, pay what you can from $0. Hosted by Consultants for Good · their calendar. A full day, so worth putting on the calendar early. Event page
