The Bold Italic’s top stories of 2023
Our top stories show that personal perspectives and lived experiences still have resonant, quantifiable value in the modern media landscape.
Collapse and rebirth are common themes in San Francisco of late, from ongoing stories chronicling our troubled neighborhoods to successes in our night markets, bar openings and concerts. The Bold Italic has also grown and changed, now in the past 12 months at the helm of GrowSF and under my creative direction, too.
I began writing in San Francisco less than a year after the creation of TBI, which was breaking into an online world not yet mainstreamed by email newsletters, social media algorithms and mobile-friendly webpages. Blogs still felt like a form of currency alongside Instagram pages and YouTube followings, and first-person writing was a popular niche that TBI hoped to occupy locally.
Our top stories of 2023 show that those personal perspectives and lived experiences still have resonant and quantifiable value within the modern media landscape. All of our top stories this year are heartfelt essays about San Francisco, events connected to the city, and the true opinions about life here. We kept the creative prompt quite plain: What can you say about San Francisco that represents what it’s like to be here, but also doesn’t get caught in the very persistent “doom loop” narrative?
Our top five listed below enjoyed more than 30,000 views each, up through 150,000 views each here on the website, hundreds of thousands more via email, and literal millions in impressions, accompanied by copious likes and discussions across our social media platforms.
1. Why I’m breaking up with Burning Man
Adriana Roberts — editor and publisher of BRC Weekly — expertly describes her falling in love with this world-renowned event but also how she’s now over it. Unsurprisingly, a big drawback is expense: “There’s a reason it’s gotten a reputation for being an adult playground for rich bucket-listers. Ticket prices with fees and vehicle pass will top out over $900 next year, and that’s not even counting all the other expenses just to schlep one’s sorry ass out to one of the most inhospitable deserts on Earth.”
2. The real crime in San Francisco: Fashion
I approached Derek Guy with this story idea because I’d been following his insanely viral X account, and I share a somewhat mutual dissatisfaction over the lack of effort made in the San Francisco fashion scene. “I say this with great affection: many San Franciscans should be required to obtain a permit before purchasing a pair of sneakers,” he wrote.
Although he did later clarify, justifiably:
San Francisco is expensive, and you should wear what you want. I recommend the Goodwill Boutique in West Portal for some inexpensive, awesome finds.
3. Why I’m not leaving San Francisco
I actually found Jay Davidson’s essay after he commented on another in our I Love San Francisco series, which I began as a literal nail-on-the-head approach to countering the “doom loop” narrative. “In San Francisco, we respect and value the differences between ourselves and the other people we meet, mingle with, and live with, whether those differences may be in religion, skin tone, national origin, language spoken, sexuality, or status of citizenship,” he wrote.
His story and similar ones we published have polarized thousands of comments online; many believe San Francisco is wonderful and misrepresented, while others repetitively point out our troubled areas like poop in the streets and our unhoused. We’ve been accused of paying writers to turn in falsely-sunny opinions of San Francisco and cover up that our whole city is actually covered in shit. We haven’t done that — but did I really need to tell you?
4. Why now is the best time to live in San Francisco
Adriana Roberts gave us a lot of fantastic writing this year. Here is another top story from her, this one on why San Francisco’s bust periods are way shorter than our booms. And why in those times, artists find cheaper rents and create stronger communities. “Rents still aren’t cheap, but they’re less than they were. Artists are returning to San Francisco, due to not finding that same sense of community in other cities that they find here. Storefronts may be vacant, but that means if you ever wanted to open a brick-and-mortar business, now is probably the best time,” she wrote.
“Obviously, your mileage may vary,” Roberts added. Yes, but I too have heard from a number of artists in San Francisco who said that 2023 was a very busy, productive and — dare I say it — profitable time for them.
5. San Francisco is not a hellscape at all
I admit the headline likely gaslit a lot of readers. We do have our share of problems as a city, obviously. But I appreciated this well-written perspective from Lindsay Pugh, an out-of-towner from Michigan who never spent any meaningful time in the city until this visit.
“From my outsider’s perspective, SF seemed to suffer from the same problems as other big American cities: public transit, homelessness, drugs, crime, and gentrification. Aside from the earthquakes, I wasn’t aware of anything that made SF worse than Brooklyn, the city I lived in from 2011–2016. Even Ann Arbor, Michigan, my current place of residence, routinely deals with similar conundrums on a much smaller scale,” she wrote.
Many commenters never made it past the headline alongside a pretty picture of Alamo Square before losing all their marbles.
Honorable mentions
I am immensely proud of a dozen LGBTQ+ creators we signed this year who contributed many essays, photos, and videos for The Bold Italic in this new iteration. Our most popular story in the genre actually came from out of town:
6. My brother’s a drag queen, and I am his ally
Kristin Burtaine more than anything wrote to us wanting a platform for her story, and it resonated with many of our readers. “A tragic movement is happening in our country right now. Fear is being instilled about trans people and drag queens, and Tennessee just became the first state in 2023 to restrict public drag show performances. Fear can be a common response to the unknown. So, as the sister of a drag queen, I thought I might have something to offer here,” she wrote.
7. What does Pride mean to you in 2023?
I really appreciate that The Bold Italic freelancers spent copious time this year on the ground actually talking to people and experiencing our local events. Aaron Levy-Wolins captured so much of that this summer in pictures and interviews:
“We are under siege in all corners and there’s a dark force growing in the country, and Pride is the kind of thing that’s the enemy of that. This is the kind of thing that will keep the dark forces under control. It’s a big dark force; it’s not just [attacking] us, it’s intersectional, it’s racial, it’s about gay, LGBT, trans rights, etcetera and it’s well beyond just any particular group,” said David Currie, 61, who Aaron spoke to in his story.
Looking forward to 2024, I continue to seek a mix of essays, photos, and other content that celebrate our city through personal stories and experiences. In TBI’s era of revival and growth, I’d like to see us get back to this description as “the cool friend who drags you out to hip locales you wouldn’t otherwise know about,” and passionate, sincere writing.
Saul Sugarman is editor in chief of The Bold Italic.
The Bold Italic is a non-profit media organization that’s brought to you by GrowSF, and we publish first-person perspectives about San Francisco and the Bay Area. Donate to us today.
