April 3, 2010

NVV: 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 outside sources as the Voice doesn't post stories until the middle of the month.

April 2010


Front Page
: Celebrate Book Week April 10-17 (Phoenix Books turns 25); a breathless story about the Noe Valley Dream House Raffle to benefit Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (sorry, raffle ended yesterday final deadline to buy tickets is May 28); neighbors up in arms about a proposed pedestrian mini park on Noe at 24th; local musician Jimmy Goetz joins a band and teaches music to kids to make ends meet.

Letters: A bicycle commuter calls for Muni reform, not more meter hours or parking fines (employee pay hikes are out of step with the economy); local renter calls the Feb 25 community meeting to discuss lifting the ban on new restaurants on 24th Street "a sham"; an older pedestrian reports a "dangerous cyclist" that ran a stop sign at 24th and Sanchez; a local is surprised to learn that one of the top 5 sellers at Whole Foods is bottled water (and begs people to drink tap, buy a reusable bottle, and carry reusable shopping bags); plus a last-minute letter from an opponent to the proposed Noe parklet.

Cost of Living in Noe: Unchanged from this time last year; single-family homes still going for over asking.

Traveling Voice
: Kenya.

Store Trek
: Pixie Hall Studios; When Modern Was.

Rumors
: Half a page of Noe trivia (a sample: What was the name of the restaurant at the corner of 24th and Sanchez in 1970? A: Linder's); Noe Valley Democratic Club open forum debate on March 25 featured Rebecca Prozan (top Noe issues: public schools, housing, planning), Scott Weiner ("the economical development" of 24th Street, public shools, transportation); and Rafael Mandelman (public shools, J-Church, vacant stores); Little Chihuahua opening in May in the Bistro 24 space; Patxi's pizza opening in late September in the old Mi Lindo Yucatan space; When Modern Was antique store is now in the old Riki space and closing its Church Street location by May 1 after a "blowout sale" (-Ed note: Everything in the Church store is currently 40-50% off; the gardening store that occupies 1/2 of the space, Independent Nature, is not closing - and not taking over the whole storefront).

[The Noe Valley Voice]

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Dream House raffle is still going on- maybe you were talking about the early bird deadline? It ends on June 25th.

Jeff H. said...

Yep, the raffle is definitely going on until June 25th, though I'd highly recommend buying tickets sooner rather than later if you're planning to -- last year's sold out, and this house is a real charmer. I drove by it last weekend. Any other micro-locals buying in?

Anonymous said...

This raffle is not worth it. Been in the house, poorly designed, not very functional floor plan, small bedrooms.

House is not worth what they say it is. stay away from this one, folks.

Anonymous said...

The "winner" of the "Dream House" also receives the following perks:

Income tax on your "winnings" - approximately $840,000

Yearly property tax - about $34,800

Don't forget homeowners insurance, maintenance, etc.

Congratulations?

Anonymous said...

I think these so called raffles are really a way for an owner to get rid of a house, way overpriced in the first place, by dumping it on to someone else.

This poorly designed house, on Alvarado St. is not worth it.

Tim said...

This house is beautiful and in a great neighborhood. If you can afford the property taxes, I say take the house--there's also a self-contained apartment on the lower level that you can rent out to help pay for the taxes. Not a bad idea. Or, you know, take the cash!

I definitely agree that you should buy your ticket for the YBCA raffle as soon as possible because #1 you should get a ticket before they sell out and #2 you get entered into the remaining earl bird drawings (that's two extra drawings) if you buy in before Friday, May 30.

Speaking of which, I think you have your dates mixed up...if you click on "what are the prizes?" on the FAQ page, (http://sfraffle.com/FAQ.aspx) June 25 is listed as the last day to buy tickets. I think you were looking at the last early bird deadline?

Anonymous said...

The Rumors has a half page of Noe Valley History, which may be trivial to some, but provide perspectives on our neighborhood to others.

Anonymous said...

Tim, you seem uniquely invested in the success of this raffle. Do you perhaps work for YBCA?

Anonymous said...

I believe Tim is a real estate agent.

what does that tell you?