New Parklet Application for 24th Street

What started out as a rumor in June is now a reality: A giant sign in the window at Patxi’s Pizza at 4042 24th St proclaims the pizza shop’s “notice of application to install and maintain a parklet” out front “for the purpose of placing tables, chairs, benches, landscaping and/or bike parking on a Parklet.” The application was filed by Jim Howard, head of marketing for Patxi’s.

Parklet permit - click the image to see it large

Sounds like a great place to enjoy a slice or a froyo on the sunny side of the street - but there are still some hurdles: Debra Niemann, who represents the Noe Valley Association and the Community Beautification District, told the Noe Valley Voice in no uncertain terms that the NVA will not approve any more parklets for 24th St. Period.

Hmmm. So it’s not a done deal and it’s unclear if the NVA can block the application, but hope springs eternal. Also of note – in this earlier post, when we first heard about the possible parklet, several commenters mentioned Patxi’s hasn’t always been the best neighbor – and unfortunately the double-parking delivery drivers may be compounding neighbors' ill will.

The final day for comment on the parklet application is August 5, 2015. If no protests are received, Patxi’s can submit a detailed plan for approval with the San Francisco Department of Public Works.

Update: An astute follower on Twitter reminded us that Patxi's has also applied for a parklet on Irving.

What do you think? Does 24th Street need a new parklet - and is this a good place for it?

Plaza Vs. Parklet: Your Voice Has Been Heard

Dear Noe Valley Residents,

First of all, I would like to thank you all for the feedback we've received these past couple of weeks regarding the proposed Pavement to Parks project at Noe and 24th Streets. While we have not officially began our public outreach, I do appreciate those of you who have taken the time out of your day to send me initial comments and concerns.

The goal of Pavement to Parks is to identify places throughout the city that have a lot of people and a lot of activity on the streets but not necessarily the accommodations for those people to enjoy outdoor life. Improvements as part of the Pavement to Parks program are all trial (and fully reversible) and are intended to make the neighborhood more comfortable and enjoyable for residents and visitors alike. These improvements include new pedestrian spaces, landscaping, trees, seating, and other people-focussed enhancements.

While we have not began our official public process (scheduled to begin in a couple of weeks, email to follow soon), there has been quite a bit of discussion amongst the community both supportive of and opposed to a Pavement to Parks project at the Noe location. The concern we've heard thus far focusses primarily on impacts to traffic circulation.

As a result of this valued input, the Pavement to Parks program is advancing a second option for this location which leaves vehicular circulation along Noe Street unaffected. This option would involve a Parklet rather than a Plaza. While the Plaza option would necessitate closing roughly a third of a block of Noe Street at 24th Street to vehicles, a Parklet's footprint would remain entirely within the parking lane and would maintain all existing vehicular circulation. Our first
Parklet has been piloted on Divisadero Street and I encourage you to visit the Pavement to Parks website, listed below, for an idea of what a Parklet might look like.

When we begin our public outreach in a few weeks (email confirming date and time will come soon), we will discuss the pros and cons of both options to determine how best we should move forward as a community.

I thank all of you for your input thus far and encourage you to forward this email to others who might be interested. Also, please feel free to contact me directly with any additional questions or concerns.

Best,

Andres Power
Pavement to Parks Project Manager
Andres.Power@sfgov.org
sfpavementtoparks.sfplanning.org

Rumors Of A New Parklet On 24th St

Here's a fun bit of info we received recently: the owners of the building housing Patxis Pizza have informed residents that Patxi's will be applying for a parklet permit "soon." Can't imagine the auto repair shop or realtor on either side will care, but this looks like a nice place to park oneself and enjoy a froyo or slice.

There's no guarantee it will pass, though. A little history: in the aftermath of a failed campaign for a Plaza on Noe St culminating in a...uh...disappointing community meeting, SF City Planners proposed and approved two trial parklets on 24th St in 2010. They were deemed a huge success, and they're still in front of Martha's and Just For Fun. You can see a map of all parklets in San Francisco here.

The application deadline for new parklets was May 31st, and a decision is expected July 10. Patxi's rumored parklet doesn't show on the map.

Meanwhile here in Noe Valley, parking has always trumped street life for the merchant association. No word if they support this parklet, or if there will be a battle this time around.

[NVSF: Pavement To Parks Says No To Plaza Trial, Yes To Parklets]
[NVSF: Noe Valley Plaza: Tea Party Filibuster Hijacks Community Meeting]
[Pavemet to Parks]

Parklets: Construction Begins

The long-debated and awaited parklets on 24th St began construction today. The pavers are concrete and rest on steel beams; the planters are also steel. More details from StreetsBlogSF:

The new spaces were designed by Riyad Ghannam, who designed and built the first parklet in the city in front of the Mojo Bicycle Cafe on Divisadero street. The parklets will replace a total of four parking spaces and cost $37,000, the entirety of which came from Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development as part of their commercial revitalization budget. The Noe Valley Association, which represents merchants in the area, is the permit holder and will oversee the maintenance of the facilities.

Expect the parklets to be completed in front of Martha & Bros and Just For Fun in time for the weekend -- just in time for the rain.

Update from Carol Yenne:

The Permit Holder is the Noe Valley Association CBD which is the property owners of the commercial district, not the merchant association.

It would also be nice to mention this is a "trial" to see how folks like them. These are not not permanent parklet being set up.

Thanks,
Carol Yenne
Member of NVA CBD as well as NVMPA board.

[StreetsBlogSF: Noe Valley Parklet Installation Begins]

More Pavement to Parks - and the Noe Valley Master Plan

Here's some further reading for those who want to be well-prepared for the Community Meeting on April 8 at 6:30PM at St. Philip's (665 Elizabeth Street) to discuss the proposed parklet/plaza at Noe and 24th:

• The Noe Valley Association (NVA) has assembled a Questions & Answers document (PDF) to address Noe Valley community questions and concerns regarding the Pavement to Parks Program options for the neighborhood.


• The Noe Valley Long-Term Plan is a 29-page PDF of the NVA's long-range plan developed for 24th Street involving extensive public meetings and community input starting in 2006. From the report:
  

The plan proposes strategies that would enhance the pedestrian experience of the street while addressing the need for amenities that encourage community interaction and taking into account environmental concerns…

• Reader Murphstahoe highlights sketches of the proposed plaza/parklet on a blog dedicated to the creation of the plaza persuasively titled Yes Noe Valley.


• And Kit Hodge, director of the San Francisco Great Streets Project points us to analysis his organization has done on the impact of other Pavement to Parks projects. He emphasizes that these are "independent reports; the City does its own data collection on traffic and other issues. But our analysis might help answer some questions for the curious." Also, the "before" study of the parklet on Divisadero is done; the group will be completing the "after" portion and issuing a report in a few months.

Parklets and Plazas: Notes from the April 8 Noe Valley Community Meeting

The Noe Valley Community Meeting to discuss the proposed parklet and plaza at 24th and Noe Streets was at least as well attended as the Whole Foods community meeting with a serious turnout from all sides of the debate.

Bevan Dufty kicked off the meeting with a contrite apology for declaring the project dead before this community hearing. He also noted he hadn't seen this much division in the community since the Real Foods/Neutraceutical dispute and recommended more community meetings about big issues like this, as well as smaller issues like parking striping or homelessness (oops on that last one, but we get the idea).

For those who missed the meeting or want a recap, here are the highlights:

Parks to Pavement
Andres Powers of the planning department gave a short presentation of other Pavement to Parks projects around the city. He then described what a trial means, and in carefully-worded language outlined the main concerns of some neighbors (a trial would not move forward without responding to these concerns):

• Traffic
• Noe is one of the fastest thoroughfares from Noe to Market St
• Loading trucks for Starbucks and Toast (where will they go?)
• Impacts to local businesses
• Emergency vehicle transit (ambulances, fire trucks)

Don't Block Noe
Mary, a 4th generation Noe Valleyean outlined the main points for those against the plan:

• Measure first, try after we have data
• Other places need more beautification than Noe (Bernal, Mission - zing!)
• Let's do something bigger that everyone can enjoy

Just Try It!
John Murphy went for PowerPoint on the Plaza for the People:

• Tables and seating!
• Significant outdoor space for people to gather
• No business has gone out of business due to too many customers

Audience Questions
Answered by Andres and Bevan (heavily paraphrased for brevity):

Will property owners be compensated for the change in value of their house? Anecdotal evidence from other trials is that property values in the park areas increase not decrease.

Why did Noe get this money? The Noe Valley Association (a coalition of property owners in the commercial district) applied for a grant and got it. They also put up some money for it.

Why Noe Street? Community input from the NVA deemed this the best spot.

If the next step is a traffic assessment, how long will that take? 1-2 weeks.

What's the cost of a 2 month trial? $30K with $8K set aside just in case. Another $20K+ is donated in design services and materials.

How much will it take to take the parklet/plaza it down if the trial fails? Insignificant cost – few hours of time.

Plaza, parklet… are there any other designs in this proposal? No.

What about bongos and street music? No acoustics in the plan.

If Noe fails, are Sanchez and other streets on the table? Yes.

Why not beef up existing parks? They are not part of the Pavement to Parks charter of reclaiming more vehicle space for pedestrians.

What about the Radio Shack parking lot? Good idea but ditto question above. A different city organization is looking for sites like those to acquire and convert to parks but it's outside the charter of Pavement to Parks.

Why is this a Starbucks boondoggle – what about homegrown coffee shops? Good point – send your suggestions.

Open comments from the community
People then lined up stage left and right and said their piece in 2 minutes or less (alternating for and against). Most people were civil, but there was some grandstanding and emotion, and a lots of venting about the process.

Bevan's wrapup:

1. Need more data collected and analyzed before a trial.

2. There will be another meeting soon to present the data to the community. Send an email to Andres Powers if you want to stay involved.

Did we miss anything? Add it in the comments.

These Weeks in Noe Valley: So Long BistroSF, Hello Cute New Uma Casa Parklet and (Soon!) La Lucha

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs.

• Uma Casa gets creative with a cool new parklet [@VerteAdelie]
• New coffee shop La Lucha at 29th and Sanchez is looking lit [@SFjkdineen]
• Opening date for La Lucha? “Next few weeks” [@DEEPRIPLEY]
• Yep, it’s decorative gourd season in the hood [chrispatil]
• The dogs of Sanchez [jeffwalksdogs]
• After a good run (and pandemic creativity) SF Bistro bows out [bistrosfgrill]
• Gallery of Jewels has been hit with theft 3 times in the pandemic [NBV Bay Area]
• Noe Valley resident and rock and roll journalist Ben Fong Torres reminisces [SF Chronicle Datebook]
• More frequency coming to the J Church [@jeffreytumlin]
• Fridays at 4:30 – Sanchez Cleanup & Happy Hour [@slowsanchezsf]

[Photo: Sunrise via patoviejo]

Deck The Parklet

Just For Fun has upped its game. In addition to perennial giant nutcrackers, a giant menorah and mechanized window displays of winter wonderlands, they have added the parklet to the mix. Other parklets around the city are sedate in comparison, as a walk this evening on Valencia and also 22nd St proved (unless you like viewing a football games on tiny bean bags). Murphstahoe agrees.

Live The Dream: Prime Corner Space For Lease

For lease: 3751 24th Street at Chattanooga. "Wonderful Hi Visibility Commercial Space ... 20+ foot ceilings ... Corner locations are prime and rarely available ... all the foot traffic in Noe Valley must walk by the space to get to 24th Street/Mission transportation."

Now that the moratorium on new Noe Valley restaurants has lifted you could open your own cafe with a parklet out front (with soon-to-be-easier permit process), or leave it as is and operate your own cigarette / malt liquor / lottery ticket market. At $5500/month, a yoga studio, nails/waxing or children's art studio doesn't seem viable.

All that assuming you can handle dealing with the landlord. Looks like he/she will have no problem airing your dirty laundry: "It is currently being used as a small grocery/liquor store J&J Grocery, their lease is done January 2011, possibly sooner because they are having internal conflict with their management."

[Craiglist: NOE VALLEY Store Front Commercial/Corner Location]
[StreetsBlogSF: PARK(ing) and Parklet Day: Reclaiming the Curb for People]

This Week in Noe Valley: Town Square's Cheaper Toilet, Noe Valley Tavern Parklet Lives and Slow Sanchez Mayor

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs.

• Noe Valley will finally get a Town Square toilet for less than $1.7 million [SF Chronicle]
• Profile of the owner of La Lucha coffee shop on Sanchez (and other SF venues) [Mission Local]
• Noe Valley Tavern is keeping its parklet [valletavernsf]
• The mayor of Slow Sanchez Street [SF Chronicle]
• Birch & Rye is up for a possible James Beard Award [SF Standard]

[Photo: Dorian D. Clair clock shop via rwlaplaca]

This Week In Noe Valley: High Hopes for Hamlet, Patxi's Parklet Commentary & Dining Out With Kids In The Hood

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Hamlet will modernize an intriguing corner of Noe Valley [SF Weekly]
• Fire on Castro at 29th destroys a house under construction, damages a building - no one hurt but cause still unknown [KTVU]
• Scott Wiener’s legislation legalizing new in-law units in District 8 passes [Bay City News]
• Patxi’s is applying for a parklet on 24th Street – lots of neighbors weigh in [NVSF]
• Bitter signs of anti-gentrification in Noe Valley [blitzpop]
• For $7,500 a month you can rent this Noe Valley 3 bedroom ... with a pool! [Craigslist]
• Former owners of Carroll’s Books in Noe Valley now run the San Francisco Book Co. in Paris [SF Gate]
• Restaurant etiquette for parents dining out with kids in San Francisco (esp Noe Valley) [The Mommy Files]

[Photo: Gorgeous day, no left turn via muspillius]

Noe Valley Pavement to Parks - Community Meeting April 8

For those interested in the ongoing parklet/plaza debate, here's your chance to ask questions and air concerns with the coordinators:

Dear Noe Valley Residents,

Attached, please find a formal invitation to a community meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 8 to discuss trial public space improvements at the intersection of 24th and Noe Streets in Noe Valley.

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday April 8, 6:30pm, at St. Philips (665 Elizabeth Street). Please feel free to distribute this email to any local groups or organizations you are part of. And, as always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Best,

Andres Power
Pavement to Parks Project Manager
Andres.Power@sfgov.org
sfpavementtoparks.sfplanning.org

Click the image for a bigger view of the flyer.

This Week in Noe Valley: Great Local Eats, What’s Up With Sutro and Other Reasons to Love Noe Valley

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• New Yorker food writer crowdsources a fun collection of restaurants for dining solo in SF including some gems in Noe Valley [@hels]
• Great thread on what’s up with Sutro [hknightsf]
• 5 insights about the One Medical IPO (founded in Noe Valley) [SF Biz Journals]
• Beautiful morning [nikkidowns]
• Study in brown on Sanchez St [nadege_motley]
• Gorgeous Victorian on the hill [oldsoulhouses]
• Beautiful day in the parklet [lena_gru]
• In praise of Novy’s dolmas [Eater]

[Photo: Adorable bookstore scene via @omnivorebooks] 

NVV February 2014: 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 notable highlights from the latest issue. Links are to stories we've covered here on NVSF or other resources. Follow the NVV link at the bottom for full articles and all the ads.

February 2014

Front Page: A profile of Glen Evans, a former Vicksburg resident who now finds himself homeless, and the merchants and neighbors who are trying to help him; an overview of the 5th annual Tech Search Party on February 8th benefiting local schools; info from the October/January meetings about planned changes to 24th St aimed at improving traffic flow and pedestrian safety - some Noe St residents are already sure it will be "mayhem" [Ed.-- it's deja vu all over again from the parklet protests and predictably Mary McFadden is against improving 24th St].

Letters: No love from one reader for Neutraceuticals (owner of the blighted Real Foods building); a list of water conservation tips from the SFPUC.

Short Takes: Upper Douglass Dog Park to remain closed until Spring for more repairs; San Jose Ave will shrink to two lanes for a traffic pilot in late Spring or early summer.

Cost of Living in Noe: The average cost of a single family home was $1.893 million in December - up more than 18 percent from 2012 [Ed.-- The median cost of the nine homes was $1.75M]; condos average $1 million. New renters should expect to shell out an average of $4,253 for a two bedroom apartment.

Store Trek: La Nebbia (1781 Church St at 30th)

Rumors: So far $560,000 has been pledged to the Noe Valley Town Square and $330,000 has been collected - in the meantime, the team has also been busy with a film for the project called Our Town Square (you can watch the trailer here); Cardio-Tone has added a second location at the old Kohler Jones space on Church St; 1513 Church St is home to a new startup called BackerKit - a company that writes software for Kickstarter project creators to track their backers [Ed.-- Is this Noe Valley's first actual tech company?]; La Tira waxing studio opens in the old Dermalounge space; the most popular fiction books in Noe right now are The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and Dear Life: Stories by Alice Munro; the most popular non-fiction is Gray City of Love by Gary Kamiya (via Folio Books); Omnivore reports the favorite cookbook for the neighborhood right now is Jerusalem by Yottam Ottolenghi; the favorite movie for rent is The Butler (via Videowave); Mazook says reliable sources also report that Bliss Bar will not be rebuilt; a new title company comes to 4126 24th St (next to Barney's where B.J. Droubi Real Estate used to reside); Sway consolidates to the Haight and the commercial space and two residential units have sold for an expected $2.2 million - the store space is still for rent $12,000 a month; RIP Mike Skoufas who opened a Noe Valley barbershop in 1953 called Mike's (his daughter owns and operates Of Barbers and Bears on 24th St.).

[The Noe Valley Voice]

This Week in Noe Valley: Slow Streets Considered, Winter Wonderland, Labor Shortages Hit Home

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs.

• Are slow streets a good idea? Carl Nolte investigates slow Sanchez St [SF Chronicle]
• Winter Wonderland parklet [@marcellemoran]
• Noe Valley family continues to fight eviction [SFExaminer]
• French Tulip sign sums up the Noe Valley labor market [@NoeValleySF]
• More on the labor shortage in Noe Valley (vaccines are a factor) [ABC7]
• Cotton Candy skies [_bethannek_]
• Paradise with an inversion layer [photo_by_bill]
• Opposed Noe Valley infill project recommended for approval [SocketSite]

[Photo: Fnnch salmon mural on 23rd Street via mrp1cture]

This Week in Noe Valley: Coronavirus Lockdown Week 21 – Post Mo Bills, Church Produce Reopening

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs as we all weather the coronavirus fallout. Wear a mask, wash your hands, don't touch your face and stay safe out there, Noe Valley.

• A little bit of good news: Church Produce is reopening soon @SFjkdineen]
• Another bright spot: Noe Café expands into a parklet [NVSF]
• As the pandemic drags on, so does damage to SF small businesses [SF Chronicle]
• SF Businesses say a sad, quiet goodbye as chance of economic rebound disappears [SF Chronicle]
• On the flip side:  The skin-care Line Monastery’s swanky new Noe Valley spa [NYTimes]
• Looking almost normal in Noe Valley, but not [ambika]
• Beautiful fish mosaic comes to life at Billingsgate [shaketini]
• A rebellion is underway in tranquil Noe Valley [@DaveLeeFT]
• The artist reveal [ryanodonell]
• The Bills annotated [howard_fallon]

[Photo: Post mo bills via nakoeth] 

Plant*SF Wants to Green Your Sidewalk in Noe Valley

The parklet idea is spreading to a sidewalk near you. Jersey Street resident Tamar writes to tell us about a Plant*SF grant in Noe:

Plant*SF was awarded a Community Challenge Grant from the City to install demonstration sidewalk gardens in Noe Valley by May 31st. These gardens will transform concrete into beautiful landscapes that will highlight a variety of edging options and different planting choices.

The minimum requirements are that you have sidewalk in front of your property that can be removed to make way for a garden. Drought tolerant plants are usually selected for these gardens so that very little (if any) watering is required once plants are established, which makes maintenance very easy.

Costs? In some cases, the garden might be fully paid for with the grant, but in other cases, the grant would pay for half the costs, asking property owners to match with at least 50%. It usually costs about $1000 to put in a sidewalk garden (includes getting permit, removing concrete, bringing in dirt, plants, river rock mulch, edging treatments, and then doing the planting itself). Property owners will ultimately be responsible for the gardens.

Wondering how they look? Tamar also reports:

I worked with Plant*SF when I had a place on Harrison Street and I can't tell you what a HUGE difference those gardens made on our street. They are just lovely, and I'm certain that once these gardens start popping up, it will set a great example for other residents to follow. These sidewalk gardens serve an important function in collecting rainwater that might otherwise go into storm drains and overflow our system during heavy rains. By absorbing the water into the ground, these gardens help recharge our groundwater supply as well.

If you're interested in learning more and submitting your property as a potential site for one of these sidewalk garden grants, email: Tamar Hurwitz.

Update: A PDF of the application is available here.

[Plant*SF]
[NVSF: Green Your Sidewalk]

NVV May 2017: 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 notable highlights from the latest issue. Links are to stories we've covered here on NVSF or other resources. Follow the NVV link at the bottom for full articles and all the ads.

May 2017

Front Page: Local family commemorates their family in a mural on Comerford Alley; local stylist organizes free services for hospitalized kids; rat poison kills coyote in Douglass Park.

Letters: Letter from a Trump supporter from New York about the "arrogant residents of San Franny."

Features: Noe Valley's lone indie newsstand, Good News, is closing after 22 years; the reasons are the Internet and a key magazine distributor shut down.

Cost of Living in Noe: The average cost of a Noe Valley home in March was $3.1 million; the most expensive home sold that month was a $6.2 million home on a double lot on Fair Oaks.

Store Trek: Baron's Quality Meats, 1706 Church St at 29th; Mabuhay, 1195 Church St at 24th 

Rumors and Tidbits: The Town Square finally has power - look for more events like the Square Dance soon. The Noe Valley Association got a grant for parklet furniture and new benches on 24th St. and sun umbrellas for the Town Square. The Farmer's Market's Happy Boy Farms vendor has a GoFundMe campaign for flood damage from this year's rains. The plant-based food service and restaurant Le Cupboard is opening soon. A pizza oven was moved into the soon-to-be Sasa's Pizzeria (nee Fattoush). Radio Shack will be gone by the end of May. The shops next to St. Clair's have been demolished to make way for new retail and housing; construction should take 14 months. Noe Valley activists created a project that spurred 1 million calls to Congress on issues people are concerned about - while they were also facing an owner move-in eviction (!).

[The Noe Valley Voice]

Interview: David Segal of DAVIDsTEA

DAVIDsTEA in NYC

With 70 stores across Canada and in New York City, DAVIDsTEA is now opening one of three planned San Francisco locations in September on 24th St. We caught up with Co-founder David Segal:

What can Noe Valley expect at the new store? And will you be serving tea as well as selling it?
Our Noe Valley store will be a clean bright space filled with colorful canisters of 150 varieties of loose leaf tea and unique blends. Customers will be greeted by enthusiastic, knowledgeable staff, who will offer free samples, and can guide them through the fun experience of exploring our teas. We sell our teas loose by the ounce for home use, accessories to easily make loose leaf tea, and a wide selection of tea gifts and variety packages. We also offer any tea hot or iced by the cup.

Noe Valley will be the 3rd or 4th location you'll open in the US. What made you chose Noe?
We look for a neighborhood that has a community feel - where people are out and about, strolling, visiting, shopping. It felt like a perfect fit for us.

You're next door to Martha & Bros which also sells tea – what should we expect from your shop that's different from what other local coffee shops offer?
We are mostly about selling loose leaf teas to take home and enjoy, in varieties that are completely exclusive to DAVIDsTEA, although our customers can enjoy a freshly made cup of hot or iced tea, in any of our 150 varieties. That makes us quite a bit different than other tea shops. We also don't serve coffee, so for those who want a cappuccino, we will happily send them next door, where we think Martha is doing a great job!

What are your plans for or thoughts about the parklet on that stretch of 24th Street?
It’s a great outdoor space where people in the community can share a pot of tea or coffee with a friend.

You've announced a tentative opening date of September 8th on Twitter. Is that still the date and will it be a soft opening or a big party?
We are planning a public opening on that date, with free tea being served all day. We hope all of Noe Valley will come on down and check us out!

DAVIDsTEA
3870 24th St
http://www.davidstea.com/
Opens September 8, 2012 (Update 9/5: the new open date is Sept 22, 2012)

[Photo: Bleecker St in NYC by JDP Architecture]

Pocket Park Protests: Don't Block Noe

Not everyone is happy about the new parklet/plaza proposed for Noe @ 24th. This anonymous note arrived in our email this week:

Currently, the planning commission is in the works to create a pocket park that would barricade Noe & 24th Street. All the residents of that block are staunchly against it, yet there is no voting. This is something that came through the Mayor's office. A barricade on the corner of 24th and Noe is something that would effect the whole retail area. It would cause a huge bottle neck at 24th & Sanchez and make traveling through the shopping district more of a nightmare than usual on weekends and mornings. The proposed budget is $50,000.00. Surely Bevan Dufty and the Mayor's office can do something more efficient with our tax dollars than build a pocket park, in a part of town that is already beautified with plenty of outdoor space. The park isn't even what the 24th and Noe residents are opposed to, it's the fact that Noe and 24th will become a dead-end street. It's the fact that a planner came to tell us all about the park. We all opposed unanimously, yet they still have plans to go ahead and continue the process of planning. This is sure to be a traffic nightmare for the neighborhood. Fine, give us a park, but why not do it at the old Rite Aid parking lot?

In case you're wondering about that last point, the parking lot between Le Zinc and Radio Shack is actually a gift from the late Harry Aleo, Noe Valley's most outspoken Republican. From the Noe Valley Voice obituary of Aleo:

One of Aleo's biggest contributions to the neighborhood was the municipal parking lot on 24th Street. When the old Alta Mira movie theater came up for sale in the early 1960s, Aleo encouraged the Merchants Association to buy the building and turn the property into a badly needed parking lot... The association did not have the money, so Aleo bought it with his own funds in the association's name. He then sold the property to the city under the condition that the city turn the land into a municipal lot.

Want more info? Send an email to info@noevalleyassociation.org. The plan is to have a decision soon enough to open the space (or not) by June 21.

[NVSF: New Street-side Plaza for Noe]
[NVV: Neighborhood Won't Be the Same Without Harry Aleo]
[NVSF: Community Meeting Minutes: Let the Free Market Work]
[Image: Castro @ Clipper]