By ROBERT SELNA, San Francisco Chronicle

Optimism about a national economic recovery, fueled by rising stock prices and an improved residential real estate market, is tempered by the widespread belief that a raft of commercial real estate loan defaults is just around the corner.

The Transamerica Pyramid for decades has stood alone as San Francisco's architectural icon on the downtown's northern edge, but that could change if the city allows a flashy, cylindrical condominium tower to be built just yards away.

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced legislation this week that he hopes will speed up the retrofitting of San Francisco homes and businesses that are particularly vulnerable to collapse in a major earthquake.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A paint company and a landlord in San Francisco thought they had a good deal when they signed the lease for a paint store to move into a former video rental shop earlier this year.