NVV Feb 2018: 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 2018

Front Page: LA-based chain pet store Healthy Spot wants to open in the old Radio Shack space - and local merchants aren't having it; local a profile of local resident and longtime Rolling Stone writer Ben Fong-Torres (a documentary about him is coming out this spring); Noe Valley's solid voter turnout could be a force in this June's special mayoral election.

Letters: A neighbor writes to remind his fellow Noe Valley residents that there is Thursday morning meditation on the Noe Valley Town Square from 8-9am.

Features: Large turnout this year for Neighborhood Emergency Response Training (NERT) after the Jan. 4 earthquake (more at sf-fire.org); the house at 79 28th St. is at the center of a housing battle that encapsulates the housing crisis and gentrification struggles of Noe Valley. A profile of Noe Valley Cyclery owner David Kline who's had a good long run since 1976 and who plans to retire in April - and Dani Sheehan Myer's struggle to make a go of it with Cliche Noe Gifts + Home before it closed in January. RIP Barbara Ann May, Fair Oaks resident, artist and community activist.

Cost of Living in Noe Valley: Real estate sales were brisker than they've been in 10 years in the last few months of 2017 including for multi-unit buildings. The average cost to buy a house here: $2.7 million.

Store Trek: Ardiana, 1781 Church St. at 30th

Rumors and Tidbits: The Noe Valley Merchants & Professionals Association (NVMPA) is presiding over a commercial corridor on 24th St. that is losing retailers (14 vacant store fronts) and mostly gaining professional services (think realtors, title companies, health offices and banks). Commercial rents range from $4,000 to $12,000. Navarette's Black Belt Academy has moved out of the old See Jane Run space and back to Church St - and the See Jane Run space needs a seismic retrofit. The Mill is moving to 18th and Hartford in the Castro on February 13. Rachel Swann, the NVMPA president and a realtor, tried to pull a fast one on her fellow merchants by converting a former retail space into a realtor office that also sold swag - more than a few retailers on 24th St. are not amused. The S.F. History Association, which held monthly meetings at St. Philips is moving to Newman Hall in Sherith Israel at California and Webster. Noe Valley Democratic Club president Todd David says he is supporting Noe Valley resident Mark Leno, not London Breed, in the upcoming mayoral election. Le Cupboard is still closed. A new Japanese restaurant called Seokyo is opening in at 1740 Church at Day St. (formerly Taku Sushi, Noe Sushi, Tataki South, Deep and Deep Sushi). Hamlet is closing and will become a Japanese eatery. Nothing is happening at Real Foods. Noe Valley is rumored to be the most popular destination in SF for Airbnb rentals. James Lick Middle School is the beneficiary of a $265,000 garden grant which will have 60 species of plants and an organic vegetable garden - it opens February 10. The Diamond Heights Shopping Center has been bought by new investors. A new group called Swing Left is signing up residents at the Farmer's Market to "take back the house in 2018."

[The Noe Valley Voice]