Issue Zero

Writing a newsletter issue to an empty list feels solipsistic, but hope springs that readers will come, and bring their own personalities and stories about and around the Bay Area. That’s what a community is about, perhaps – coming together around an idea and sharing how they relate to that idea.

In the case of the San Francisco Bay Area, I want to bring together others in whom SF Bay sparks a certain interest and an emotion. I moved to the Bay Area for the second time well over a decade ago by the time of writing, and after having seen many places that could’ve taken its place. But none did, and so perhaps I did indeed leave my heart in San Francisco. At least here it beats right now.

And it feels right. It has its downsides, and a pro-con list is never short of the cons of living in the Bay Area – especially SF – but it just feels right here. I’ve heard a version of that often, and yet, for others, it may be a completely different experience.

But why a newsletter that selects its writers by sortition? To experiment. It has the potential to be a truly egalitarian social experience. Algorithmic media – whether by search or social media – are dominated by loud voices and large personalities. Hierarchies arise; groupthink takes root. Sides are taken.

Getting to write one email to the entire community is an entirely different dynamic. And I’ve always loved email.

That’s enough for now. Over to you, to us.