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 isn't real-time.

December 2009 / January 2010

Front Page: Noe Valley resident Bill McBride is inspired by Three Cups of Tea and raising money for schools in Pakistan; Circle Bank to open on 24th St; Residents upset with all the new pole-top antennas that supply 3G service (picture from last February); Potential for parking meter reform; Vampires are hot, and a local novelist Clare Willis wants a piece of the action; Mission Education Center at 30th & Noe is now a "transitional school for recent immigrants."

Letters: More on dangerous drivers; A grandfather chimes in on the never-ending dog v. child wars at Noe Courts; Some clarification about the location of the NVV business office.

Feature: SFCTA has released the final draft of the Shuttle Bus SAR.

Cost of Living in Noe: "Homebuyers continued to find Noe Valley a desirable place to live" and the local market is "relatively healthy." And yeah...it's a buyer's market because they're paying only 2% over asking. Rent? Down from last year.

Short Takes: Friends of Noe Valley is looking for submissions to the Noe Valley Garden Tour on June 12, 2010; NV resident Paul Linde is promoting his book Danger to Self: On the Front Line with an ER Psychiatrist.

Store Trek: Noeteca Cafe and Wine Bar; Star Magic: The Second Generation (so far committed to stay only through the end of the year but entertaining options because "the response from the community has been overwhelming."

Traveling Voice: Versailles, Greece, London, Madrid.

Rumors: "For a neighborhood that prides itself on community involvement, Noe Valley seems to have little interest in the nuts and bolts of civic duty." Why's that? Low voter turnout in the Nov 3 election, expectations that few people will show to support/pan Bevan's proposal to add more restaurants to Noe Valley, and (most-importantly based on word count) the poorly publicized and hard-to-find Noe Valley Association survey about businesses on 24th St. In better news, La Boulangerie c'est arrivé! Cash-strapped Drewes Bros will send 600 pounds of turkey to St. Anthony's Dining Room as a matching gift based on the 1300 turkeys purchased for NV resident's Thanksgiving. Oh--and nothing has happened to the Real Foods/Nutraceutical space ("Turkey of the Year").

Bonus Rumor: The Voice found the blogosphere! They report that the Chronicle is looking to expand local news on SFGate.com with blogs and that Noe Valley is blessed to have its very own section. It's currently populated with rewritten posts from the (possibly-dormant) Noe Valley Buzz. Apparently they're looking for more bloggers.

[The Noe Valley Voice]

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 highlights from the latest issue. Links are to stories we've covered at NVSF.

October 2009

Front page: Volunteer gardeners restore Sally Brunn Library planters; Man who died mysteriously along Muni tracks identified as NV resident Bill Nelson (death still a mystery); Harvest Fest coming Oct. 24; NV neighbors take care of their own after 27th St fire; Halloween is coming; Local filmmaker Peter Esmonde debuts his first feature-length film, Trimpin: The Sound of Invention; St. Paul's steeple repair.

Letters: A 5 paragraph gripe about Whole Foods nixing the curbside CRV recycling ("I now have to pay carfare to cart my bottles and cans down to Market Street... It's inconvenient"); a rebuke to people who feed carnivorous birds like crows and ravens - either by hand or with open garbage cans; a heartfelt thank you to generous neighbors from the Moresco family (a fire broke out in their 27th St home while they were on vacation in Spain).

Op-Ed: 24th St Whole Foods opens. No ruckus ensues.

Features: Interviews with neighbors of Guerrero Park at San Jose; Blue Church on Church eviction done but due to "weak economic conditions" the developer won't start construction for 9-10 months.

Cost of Living in Noe: 7 single-family homes sold in August with an average price of 1.26 Million. Rent: Yup, still expensive.

Short Takes: Look for "drive by" Trolley Dancing (!) on the J Church on Oct. 16 and 17 and dance performances in Dolores Park - details at epiphanydance.org; Dogtoberfest returns at Upper Douglass Park on Oct. 24 - get the full scoop at fuddp.org; Noe Valley Chamber Music series starts Oct. 25 - details and calendar at nvcm.org; Cupcake tasting for couples at Cooks Boulevard on Nov. 1; Open Studios hits Noe Valley this weekend. (Ed--No word on last month's Noe Valley Association survey results.)

Store Trek: Bubbles and Shampoo, Loft 1513 (wearable art/clothing store, 1513 Church @ 27th).

Traveling Voice: Sightings in Moab, French Polynesia and at Buckingham Palace.

Rumors: The mystery store is revealed: Star Magic, a pop-up reincarnation of a 1979 NV store called Gift of the Magi, is moving into the Simply Chic space for 3 months. The store will sell "contemporary items relating to ecology," natural clothing, and gift items; Harry Aleo lionized by the WSJ; Noeteca opens; Riki and GNC spaces still empty - the only interested parties so far are a yoga studio, a gym and a nail salon...; Streetlight building still for sale; Old Republic Title Company opens; Stephen "worst man of the year" Fowler is leaving Noe; Twitter CEO Evan Williams moves to Noe; La Boulange opening in Nov.; Mi Lindo Yucatan closed; Real Foods is still blight; dance studio opens in old Andiamo space (Ed--The sign in the window says "Pixie Hall Studios: Art Classes for Children"); Just Awesome Games disappears; Psychic feud on 24th St.

[The Noe Valley Voice]