This Week In Noe Valley: More Package Thieves Caught on Camera, Real Reindeer, And Other Holiday Mischief

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

• More grinchy package thieves caught on video – have you seen this couple? [KTVU]
• And here's a video of some a**hole destroying a tree on Noe St [SFist]
• A water main broke this week – and flooded the intersection in front of Rin's Thai [@krowney and @netzardfan]
• Noe Valley's Wishing Tree continues to warm hearts around the holiday [NBC Bay Area]
• Another rave for Bom Dia market at the corner of 29th and Sanchez [SF Weekly]
• An arsonist torched 4 cars in 40 minutes in the Mission Dolores on the edge of Noe Valley – just a month after a similar incident [SF Gate]
• Insurance didn't cover this guy's Jeep – here's his sweet and sad story [Fundly]
• Despite news reports, none of the burned vehicles were in Noe Valley [@BungerKCBS and @NoeValleySF]
• Hell's Angels, Noe Valley chapter [esbale]
• In Bayview vs. Noe Valley, Bayview wins (#whatever) [Curbed]
• A clever solution to poop on the sidewalk (seen on Church St) [@cappstreetcrap] 
• 6 picks for where to shop on 24th Street [SF Gate]
• Spin City hits its Kickstarter goal to expand and improve the space [Kickstarter]

[Photo: Reindeer in front of Just for Fun via han_cholo23]

This Week In Noe Valley: #Hellastorm Wreaks Havoc, The Smallest Apartment In SF, And Bom Dia Opens

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

• Lots and lots of rain #SFStorm [scrupps and @Mabari_News]
• Also lots of flooding #stormageddon [@F6x]
• #Hellastorm knocks out power in Noe Valley [@thelbane]
• Pretty sure you couldn't flood Umpqua with a fire hose... [@alexdavidhenry]
• People waiting in line in the rain for the new Ambiance store opening [AmbianceSF]
• The rain also eroded developer profits at 90 Jersey St [@NoeValleySF]
• Bom Dia Market on Sanchez at 29th opens to nice reviews [Inside Scoop and Zagat]
• Rents in SF rose 13.5% in 2014 – and Noe Valley is up 29% [SFist]
• The smallest apartment for rent in SF is in Noe Valley: 216 sq/ft for only $1425 a month [Curbed]
• La Nebbia celebrates 1 year today [@LaCicciaSF]
• The owner's of Wise Sons Deli (and Noe Valley residents) talk latkes, kugel and mandelbrot [SFGate]
• Menorah lightings around the Bay Area including one in Noe Valley on Dec. 21 [JWeekly]
• And of course, locals are devoted to saving the native (and vocal) Chorus frogs [Bay Nature]

[Photo: Sunrise over the city, view from Noe Valley via San Francisco News]

This Week In Noe Valley: Glorious Rain, Poinsettia Poaching, And Other Signs The Holidays Are Coming

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

• The Just for Fun parklet holiday decorations are all over Instagram [adrienneelzbth]
• Video of brazen Santa-looking thief stealing poinsettias in the hood [@ddudgeon]
• Christmas music on Christmas eve in the newly-renovated NV Ministry [Noe Valley Ministry]
• At last - rain! And the downpour created a small lake in Noe Valley [@DanielAndefors]
• The ceiling (and roof?) in Starbucks took a beating [@dplattsf]
• Epic flooding during the rain on Valley at Dolores St [@cvonhaxthausen]
• Rainbow alert over Noe Valley [Burrito Justice]
• Gorgeous sushi from Saru [kewyn15]
• Mike from Mike’s Shoe Repair in Noe Valley spotted in the Financial District [@ddudgeon]
• Scott Wiener’s December Newsletter [Scott Weiner]
• ICYMI: Plans to develop the Real Foods building are coming soon [NVSF]
• Holiday trees that eventually become street trees available through Dec 19 [@SFPublicLibrary]
• Philz Coffee in Noe Valley is getting a makeover [@rohitjenveja]
• The Wishing Tree in Noe Valley inspires another in Portland [TravelPulse]
• Bom Dia Market opened today [@BomDiaMarket]

[Photo: Muni Polaroid in the rain via Nuugent]

NVV Dec 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.

December 2014

Front Page: A profile of the Tom and Jerry Holiday House at 3650 21st. St; Plans move forward at the former Real Food space (you can see our take and comments from Scott Wiener here); Renovations - and temporary classrooms - commence at James Lick High School and should take about two years.

Letters: Castro Computers thanks everyone who donated recycled electronics to the recent recycling drive for the NVMPA - it was a huge success; A Clipper St resident beseeches you not to donate to local panhandlers - your taxes contribute to the $167 million spent annually on homeless programs; Gwen Anderson of Video Wave writes that the video store's lease is up in July - she asks fans of the store to watch their website and storefront for meetings about how you can help keep the 20,000 piece video collection in Noe Valley.

Feature: Details about holiday festivities in Noe Valley this month (aka 24 HoliDAYS on 24th); Scott Wiener held a local town hall with District 8 residents to discuss rising crime in Noe Valley and surrounding neighborhoods.

Short Takes: Looking for places to do good for the holidays? Folio Books is having a fundraiser for the Children's Book Project, and SF firefighters are taking food and toy donations for the needy (as are several other local businesses); The dog park at Upper Noe Rec Center will be closed on Thursdays for maintenance and to "give the turf a day off"; The Noe Valley Ministry is raising funds for a new stained glass window; The Garden Tour is looking for nominations for its 2015 event.

Cost of Living in Noe: 18 single family homes changed hands in October, all for over $1 million. The most expensive was a $4.85M home on Jersey.

Store Trek: Mapamundi Kids (1306 Castro St at 24th); Ambiance is combining two small stores into one big one in the former Sway and Streetlight Records space at 3979 24th St; An eco-friendly clothing store called Podolls will be moving into one of the spaces Ambiance is vacating - the other is still for rent.

Rumors: The former Pasta Pomodoro space will become a new restaurant serving an all-day menu of American/Mediteranean food called NōVY and will be run by the owners' daughters who also live in Noe Valley; The UPS store has temporarily moved into the Cardio-Tone space while their current space undergoes ADA and seismic work - they expect to be there until mid January; The towering retail space across the street from Shufat on 24th St is listed for $16,000 per month; L'Atelier Artist Collective is open for business - as is a new hair salon called Mio Mio on Castro above Subs, Inc; Not everyone is happy about the location of the new city carshare parking spots in front of LaBoulange because...parking. Bill Yenne (and his new book Beer: The Ultimate World Tour) was the guest of honor at Folio's one year anniversary; Porcellino is closed for good; There's a gorgeous new mural on 24th St.

[The Noe Valley Voice]

Coming Soon: Plans To Develop Real Foods Building

You know how you walk past that empty storefront across from Whole Foods and wonder what the hell? Or maybe you remember that eleven years ago Real Foods was abruptly shut down and there have been years of drama since. Maybe your remembrance is that Big Corporate America is against unions. Or maybe you don't care what happened. Regardless, many of you have had opinions over the years about what should happen to this prime Noe Valley space.

Andrew Ross writes (albeit in a bit flowery way) on SFGate that plans are finally moving forward to develop the Real Foods location. He references a visit Scott Wiener and others made to Utah in October of 2013 to meet with the current owners - Nutraceutical. And he tells of a promise made ("a solid oath") to rebuild on the site. None of that is news.

What is news: Nutraceutical is ready to present plans to the public - there will be a meeting in January. This type of meeting is standard procedure for developers looking to submit high-profile plans to the Building Department so don't expect final drawings and a committed tenant. Instead expect concept drawings and be prepared to give feedback on the project. Want to make sure it doesn't house a bank, nail salon or title company? Let them know how you feel.

We asked a few local people in the know for some more information. Todd David of Friends of Noe Valley told us the architect is SF-based Jackson Liles Architecture. Brian Liles is the project lead. Principal Julie Jackson is active in the public school system and has children at James Lick.

Carol Yenne, past president of the Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association, gave us a bit more information:

I went on the trip in Oct 2013 with Scott to meet with the owners of the property. The plans to develop the property had stalled during the downturn in the economy in 2008 but we discovered when we arrived that the company was already starting to work on plans again. San Francisco is trying to encourage housing and we all are on the same page about wanting to get the property developed into active retail and housing so that it does not continue to be a vacant space. The company asked for ideas for the retail space and we encouraged them to consider active retail or a restaurant which they seemed to take to heart. The space will likely be two businesses and the housing will be a minimum of four units.

Todd and Carol both let us know that neither FoNV nor the NVMPA have an official or active role in directing how this space is used.

So this is your chance to weigh in - mark your calendars for the community meeting and bring your opinions.

What: Community Meeting to present plans for Real Foods building
Where: St Philips Church, 725 Diamond St
When: January 22, 2015, 7:00PM
Bonus: Todd told us there's a rumor of childcare provided.

[Andrew Ross: Noe Valley’s Real Food to be reborn]
[NVSF: Real Foods - I Wish This Was...]