Old newspaper kiosks in San Francisco available rent free

With print journalism dying a slow and painful death, adjacent businesses are also becoming obsolete. In San Francisco, newspaper kiosks were an early casualty, so the city's Arts Commission teamed up with the company that owns the kosks, JCDecaux, to make the 60 or so structures available rent free for creative uses. No, you can't live in them. But you can apply to use one to sell your crafts, open a 'zine stand, or turn the kiosk into a micro art gallery. Those are all examples of what people have done in the spaces. Right now, there are dozens of kiosks still available. From SFGATE:

The only catch: The kiosk must be connected to the city in some way, whether it's themed as such or the renter lives here.[…]

"We could have talked to corporations, of course, but that's not the spirit of what we do," [JCDecaux executive vice president Francois Nion] said. "The concept is to [showcase] local artists and nonprofits who need the space because they cannot afford another store."[…]

Though foot traffic downtown can be minimal, especially as people continue to work from home, [artist Liz] Boeder said she's been shocked by the success of the [kiosk-based] business, which she opened in June of this year.

"Whenever I'm there people respond really well," she said. And many even purchase her artworks. Her hand-drawn journals have been an especially big hit. But what's most surprising is that folks on their lunch break or passing through will stop to take a look and sometimes leave with a full-blown oil painting, created by Boeder herself. 

image: newspaper stand in Frankfurt, Germany by citylovesyou_ffm (CC BY 2.0)