Retro Bay Area

San Francisco Centre is closed for good, sparking debates over urban decline, online shopping, and city leadership in downtown San Francisco.

On June 4, 1996, Metallica shocked San Jose with a surprise parking lot show at Tower Records, creating a chaotic, unforgettable moment in South Bay music history.

Rare, unseen footage captures San Francisco in the 1970s, a city of grit, freedom, and uncertainty that shaped a generation of dreamers.

In 1993, the San Jose Flea Market was more than shopping, it was a community space alive with music, family, culture, and memory.

In 1975, an anonymous city employee quietly photographed downtown San Jose street by street. Decades later, those images reveal a city that feels almost unrecognizable when compared to today, offering a powerful reflection on change, redevelopment, and what gets left behind.

Photos of the San Jose IBM campus in the 1960s reveal a time when even corporate architecture was built with care, optimism, and respect for people. Looking at these images today makes the contrast with modern development impossible to ignore and raises uncomfortable questions about what our buildings now say about us.