Cool Hunting

Unlike the conventional tourist guide, the PSFK Snapshot doesn't aspire to be an exhaustive overview of the city. Instead, it serves as a compendium of what the writers consider the city's most interesting and original aspects. Or as they describe in their inaugural issue, it's "a collection of the most innovative businesses, events, organizations and ideas" that the San Francisco Bay Area has to offer.

As a result, there's no neighborhood-by-neighborhood coverage. PSFK instead arranges their guide based on themes. Sections range from "Art & Music" and "Food & Drink" to the more nebulous "Community" and "Ethos." So you'll find a community writing center on the opposite page as a classic burrito shop, and an Oakland arts venue alongside a festival at a NASA base in Santa Clara County. And acutely appropriate for the Bay Area, the Snapshot puts particular emphasis on environmental innovations and healthy living.

You can buy the 80-page San Francisco Snapshot for $30 on blurb. Look out for upcoming PSFK Snapshots covering East London, Brooklyn and Hamburg.