April 8, 2011

NVV April 2011: We Read It So You Don't Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year and has been a neighborhood fixture since 1977. Here are highlights from the latest issue. Links are to items we've covered here on NVSF or outside sources as the Voice doesn't post stories online until mid-month.

April 2011

Front Page: Cover to Cover closes - the remaining inventory, fixtures and playhouse are in the hands of a bankruptcy trustee; a profile of Dorothy Noe, great granddaughter of Jose de Jesus de Noe; cherry trees in bloom on 24th Street; update on Chabad of Noe Valley's expansion. 

Letters: A call to support Phoenix Books with the closure of Cover to Cover; laments of MUNI service cuts to the 35-Eureka bus; a rant about dog owners that bring their dogs into stores - and don't curb them either; a request for case numbers with the crime beat reports; more stolen planters at Sanchez and 24th.

Features: How to speed the J Church? City transit officials at a March 28 public hearing suggested converting 4 way stops to 2 way along Church Street, consolidating some stops, and installing traffic signals in select areas. SFMTA may set up a pilot to determine the feasibility of these ideas - any changes would require further public meetings to implement. Our district 8 supe Scott Wiener was "pleased" at the immediate and long-range proposals. [Ed note - for a different perspective check out StreetsblogSF's post on this meeting.]

Cost of Living in Noe: Zephyr reports 4 houses and 5 condos changed hands in Noe in February. One of those was a pricey "ultramodern" home on Hoffman that was bought last year for $3 million and sold 11 months later for $2.97 million. 

Short Takes: Noe merchants are pitching in with donations for the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund; the Easter bunny returns to Noe on April 23 for the annual Easter Egg Hunt (10 to noon at Douglass playground); Noe Garden Tour is on May 21.

Store Trek: Russo Music (2072 24th St. at Castro); Two Birds (1309 Castro at 24th St.)

Rumors: SF Giants pitcher Matt Cain is loving family life in Noe - you may see him with his daughter, wife and 2 dogs at the Noe Valley Farmer's Market or at Toast.

[The Noe Valley Voice]

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

City transit officials at a March 28 public hearing suggested converting 4 way stops to 2 way along Church Street…

Attempting to cross a 2-way stop intersection across Church is already dangerous enough. Drivers refuse to even slow down if a pedestrian is in the crosswalk.

I might be willing to support this on the condition that all the 2-way stop intersections got better crosswalk visibility, including those flashing botts dots which tell oncoming traffic like those used in Santa Rosa. Additionally, there would have to be a dramatic and increase in enforcement by SFPD of drivers failing to yield to pedestrians.

Anonymous said...

Not to mention all the drivers who INSIST that Church is two lanes in both directions even though it clearly isn't, and also pass the street cars on the right when they are stopped. Church Street needs a great deal of attention paid to signage and "driver training" in general.

Heather said...

Not saying that I am right, but I don't think Church "clearly isn't" two lanes in both directions. I once asked a police officer who happened to be at Martha's on Church, and he said he didn't know. I called DPT, and the woman on the phone said it was two lanes in each direction. (She didn't seem to totally know where I was talking about, so I don't necessarily trust that!)

To me, seeing that the outer lane is blocked with white painted lines on some blocks means it is an open lane on others. When done politely, using two lanes helps traffic flow better. It's especially useful for those who want to turn right. But then again, "STOP" is painted only once in each direction, so I understand that other people have a different take on this.

Also, my understanding is that it is legal to pass a stopped trolley on the right after the doors have closed.

Again, I'm not saying I'm right. But I am saying that those of us who are able to make two lanes aren't doing so to be jerks or something. It's what we see the lanes to be. No one "in the know" has told me definitively anything else, but I'm certainly open to being wrong.

Anonymous said...

It's definetly two lanes. Drivers in the city are generally retards. The only law is you cannot pass muni when it's stopped.

Anonymous said...

Hello: It is clearly one lane from 26th to 25th Streets by the painted single lane that was created (by DPW/Muni) on that stretch of Church. Passing the trains on the right is risky at best. Ya- the four-way stops on Church slows down the trains and other vehicles. Good! What is the hurry?

Anonymous said...

ok, anon @ 11:37:

If drivers are generally "retards" as you say. Which, by the way, is a very uneducated and mean type of name calling.

But if they are, then cyclists are "generally" self-entitled, drugged up hipsters who live in their mom's basement.

Anonymous said...

There are sections that are painted to show that it's clearly one lane, such as between between 23rd and 22nd (actually, the west side of the street was recently painted to clarify this). If it's not clearly marked as one lane and there's room for two, it's two. I have seen cops honk at drivers who drive in the middle as if it's one lane...just saying.

Anonymous said...

What happened to the April Fool's page(s)? Did I miss an announcement that it went by the wayside?
- Ayev Foundit