December 8, 2011

NVV Dec - Jan 2012: 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.

December / January 2011

Front Page: Noe Courts at Douglas and Elizabeth is set for a much needed upgrade thanks to a $210,000 grant - the new design and upgrades should be realized over 2012; live reindeer and other festivities are planned for 24 HoliDAYs on 24th St - including six visits by Santa; Circle Bank has benefited from local discomfort with big banks ("dozens if not hundreds of neighborhood residents took part in the nationwide protest and switched their money from big banks to smaller instituions."); and up to 11,000 groups and people in Noe Valley may have unclaimed assets (money,stocks, etc.) sitting in a database.  

Letters: None. Weird.

Features: Noe Valley lamp designer Jennifer Slepin plies her craft on Etsy; get your geek on and raise money for local schools at the 3rd annual Tech Search Party on Feb 4; Bevan Dufty clocked in an abysmal 7th place in the mayor's race.

Obits: Former PlumpJack Wines manager Drew Spaulding dies by his own hand after wrestling with depression [Here's a picture of the staff mentioned in the obit; from the left are Josh, Elio, John and Drew.]; Nicky Salan, founder of Cover to Cover dies at 77 after a long illness.

Cost of Living in Noe: 14 single family homes sold in October - all for more than $1 million. Home values were up 12% year over year in the hood.

Rumors: Cookie wars erupt in the Ministry Parking lot [update: whether Cookie Time will be able to be a regular at the Farmer's Market is up in the air - until decided/accepted they will not be part of the market]; Only 51% of the 20,031 registered voters in Noe cast their vote this past Nov. - among those that did cast their vote Avalos was the top vote-getter for Mayor; Pixie Hall Studios is becoming a preschool and will be sponsoring a Date Night (hello, kid sitting) with Firefly; Fattoush has decided not to sell after all; The Vietnamese/Thai fusion restaurant on Church is going slow and may - or may not - open in 2012. A parking stall in the Walgreen's parking lot is now a charging station for electric cars [Ed note - Since a reader sent us this photo before Thanksgiving we've been trying to figure out how it works - apparently nobody knows, including the management at Walgreens which is waiting for instructions so they can "tell the customers how to use the dang thing." It also edges out a handicap spot.]

Also of note: A longtime Noe resident takes out a quarter-page ad looking for a "Woof Friendly Noe Valley Rental." Is it that bad for rentals in Noe?

[The Noe Valley Voice]

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shame on Martha & Bros. for trying to sabotage the Cookie Time Truck. Did Martha throw a tantrum when La Boulange came to the neighborhood? Why is Martha so afraid of freshly baked cookies? If Martha wants her business to thrive, she should focus on making her coffee better, not on trying to elbow out newcomers to the neighborhood. This is abysmal publicity for her -- I have spoken to many people who've heard about Martha's childish meltdown and have decided to take their coffee-and-pastry dollars elsewhere.

And shame on the Noe Valley Farmers Market Association for considering the possibility of banning the truck from the market. The fruits and vegetables roll in on trucks. Why can't cookies? Cookie Time should be given a fair chance, just like everyone else.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad that Marthas stood up to the insane tactic of beginning to allow any and all kind of food trucks into the market space. It's a FARMERS MARKET, in case you forgot.

It's NOT a food truck market.

I hope they ban all food trucks from the market. Let the trucks get permits and use the public streets like other food trucks.

Thanks Martha & Bros.! good job.

Anonymous said...

I vote for Martha and against the Cookie Monster, and against monster trucks which would occupy our Farmer's Market.

Anonymous said...

To the people who spend their time worrying about whether a cookie truck occupies a spot in a parking lot, whether it's during a farmers market or not:

Why don't you spend your energy worrying about other more pressing matters?

Anonymous said...

I assume this same set will be campaigning against Juicy Lucy's, Curry Without Worry, and the Mexican place in the Farmer's Market? Their footprint is similar to that of Cookie Time.

Martha isn't standing up to anyone, she's just trying to protect her business using a tactic of trying to garner sympathy. Which is fine - that's marketing! No different than Drewe's or St Clair's or etc...

The Noe Valley Ministry owns the lot and has decided that the value they get from renting a spot to a food truck is worth more to them than the bad will they might get from neighbors upset that they are bringing competition in for Martha's at a lower overhead point.

If NVM (NOT the Farmer's Market) wanted to make money but had this concern, they could have negotiated for Cookie Time to be "no coffee". They did not. If Martha needs to "stand up" to anyone, it's not Cookie Time - it's the owner of the lot.

Nails Doverspike said...

Maybe we should all worry more about all those people who didn't vote. Did you? Only half of us noens voted this election. City wide little over 40%. It's kinda sad that just over 20% of those of us who can vote decide who or what wins. Oh, I know: Apathy-who cares?

Anonymous said...

Just and FYI: if you check CookieTime's Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/CookieTimeTruck, you'll see that this isn't just about the Farmers' Market. Martha went ballistic before she even knew where exactly the truck was going to park. It's greed, that's what it is. This is a struggling economy. Why not give someone with a dream a chance? What is the big deal? Seriously.

Little Cindy said...

How Martha Stole Christmas

Most civilized people, they love cookies a lot.
But mean Martha, a store owner in Noe, did NOT!
Martha hated cookies! No matter what season!
Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

It could be her head wasn’t screwed on just right.
It could be her girdle was cinched up too tight.
But I think the most likely reason of all,
May have been that her heart was two sizes too small.

Whatever the reason, her heart or her head,
Martha felt threatened, her face turning red.
She stared from her shop with a sour, sullen frown,
At the warm lighted windows below in the town.

For she knew a sweet girl was launching a shop
In a truck to sell cookies, at three bucks a pop.
“She wants to make a living!” Martha snarled with a sneer,
“She wants a fair chance! I must instill her with fear!”

Then she growled, and she said without any compassion,
“I MUST find some way to stop this girl's cookie passion!”
Then she got an idea! An awful idea!
MEAN MARTHA GOT A PETTY AND AWFUL IDEA!

“I will knock out her teeth!” Ms. Martha looked around.
But the girl was decorating her truck and not to be found.
Did that stop mean old Martha? No! She simply said,
“If I can’t punch that baker, I’ll throw a tantrum instead!”

“I’ll say, 'Boo hoo! Not fair!' " and she laughed at her plot
As she whipped up gross coffee in a dirty old pot.
She chuckled, and clucked, “What a great greedy plan!”
“A young girl with a dream is delightful to ban!”

Anonymous said...

Has anyone actually heard what Martha has to say? There's a lot of one-sided hate in these comments.

Anonymous said...

Martha can do nothing wrong in my book. She's beautiful. To Little Cindy who wasted all that time writing a bad poem, you must be a gentrified Noe Valley trophy wife or something with a lot of time on your hands. Why doncha shine hubby's shoes or something.

murphstahoe said...

We gentrified Noe Valley Husbands only wear Sidi Genius 6.0 shoes, which while made from supple Italian leather do not need shining.

Anonymous said...

"Martha can do nothing wrong in my book" - Martha is always doing something wrong in my book. I guess we cancel out.

Anonymous said...

murphstahoe, I just paid my property taxes: $660 Ha!