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Monday, September 14, 2026

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Our top 15 stories of 2015

From Airbnb lies and Uber scams to Old Boys Clubs and Stanford a-holes, 48 Hills covered the stories no one else could.

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Photo by Gerard Koskovich

It’s been a momentous year in the Bay Area — and our second year of covering stories the mainstream media wouldn’t touch certainly kept us busy. Below are our top 15 stories of the year, in no particular order, based on page views and viral shares.

PLEASE SUPPORT US SO WE CAN CONTINUE THIS VITAL REPORTING. You make this all possible — these are stories you helped publish, that have helped preserve the soul of San Francisco. Your generous contribution will go a long way toward shedding an honest light on the shadier regions of local politics and policy, and help provide the lively writing and community engagement this city so sorely needs. And hey, it’s tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

What’s next? With your help, we’ll see a complete site redesign in early 2016, as well as the addition of more reporters and diverse voices. Next year also sees two more critical elections — we’ll guide you through the obfuscations, backroom deals, and monied interests so you can make informed decisions, free from the equivocations of the corporate media. Thank you for your continued support! — Marke and Tim

The truth behind the Airbnb lies 

Don’t be a Stanford asshole 

Plan that could lead to massive displacement moves forward, quietly 

Uber tax-avoidance strategy costs government millions 

The SF hipster is dead, ya’ll 

Peskin wins in a terrible night for Ed Lee 

The attack on local zoning control 

A city at war: Why we can’t all just get along 

It’s not hard to be an ethical landlord 

Airbnb makes housing crisis much worse, study shows  

The “Old Boys Club” is alive and well in San Francisco

The tragedy of InnerMission 

Most Airbnb listings are entire houses  

Ed Lee and the FBI corruption charges

Leap buses are nice — unless you’re in a wheelchair

 

Marke B.
Marke B.
Marke Bieschke is the publisher and arts and culture editor of 48 Hills. He co-owns the Stud bar in SoMa. Reach him at marke (at) 48hills.org, follow @supermarke on Twitter.

48 Hills welcomes comments in the form of letters to the editor, which you can submit here. We also invite you to join the conversation on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

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