This Week in Noe Valley: Façade Shenanigans, Holidays on 24th St, New Burger Spot Coming

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• What happened behind the façade of a Noe Valley renovation at 655 Alvarado St owned by the founder of the Flip video cam [SocketSite]
• A podcast about growing up in Noe Valley in the 50’s and 60’s [@storiedsf]
• Meta: In Noe Valley reading a novel set in Noe Valley [@barakkassar]
• Guidelines to direct the future look and feel of San Francisco [SocketSite]
• What’s happening in Noe Valley for the holidays (including Santa and reindeer) [24on24th.com]
• Burger spot coming to Noe Valley in the old Caskhouse space [Hoodline]
• Muni sunrise [gurpreetz]
• An effort to create curb space in SF for Uber and Lyft pickups, including in Noe Valley [NBC]

[Photo: Golden light via rafael415]

More Pavement to Parks - and the Noe Valley Master Plan

Here's some further reading for those who want to be well-prepared for the Community Meeting on April 8 at 6:30PM at St. Philip's (665 Elizabeth Street) to discuss the proposed parklet/plaza at Noe and 24th:

• The Noe Valley Association (NVA) has assembled a Questions & Answers document (PDF) to address Noe Valley community questions and concerns regarding the Pavement to Parks Program options for the neighborhood.


• The Noe Valley Long-Term Plan is a 29-page PDF of the NVA's long-range plan developed for 24th Street involving extensive public meetings and community input starting in 2006. From the report:
  

The plan proposes strategies that would enhance the pedestrian experience of the street while addressing the need for amenities that encourage community interaction and taking into account environmental concerns…

• Reader Murphstahoe highlights sketches of the proposed plaza/parklet on a blog dedicated to the creation of the plaza persuasively titled Yes Noe Valley.


• And Kit Hodge, director of the San Francisco Great Streets Project points us to analysis his organization has done on the impact of other Pavement to Parks projects. He emphasizes that these are "independent reports; the City does its own data collection on traffic and other issues. But our analysis might help answer some questions for the curious." Also, the "before" study of the parklet on Divisadero is done; the group will be completing the "after" portion and issuing a report in a few months.

Noe Valley Pavement to Parks - Community Meeting April 8

For those interested in the ongoing parklet/plaza debate, here's your chance to ask questions and air concerns with the coordinators:

Dear Noe Valley Residents,

Attached, please find a formal invitation to a community meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 8 to discuss trial public space improvements at the intersection of 24th and Noe Streets in Noe Valley.

The meeting is scheduled for Thursday April 8, 6:30pm, at St. Philips (665 Elizabeth Street). Please feel free to distribute this email to any local groups or organizations you are part of. And, as always, please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Best,

Andres Power
Pavement to Parks Project Manager
Andres.Power@sfgov.org
sfpavementtoparks.sfplanning.org

Click the image for a bigger view of the flyer.

UNN Meeting: MUNI Track Repair

Join the Upper Noe Neighbors and representatives from MUNI this Thursday at the Upper Noe Rec Center. Neighbors will get a chance to voice frustration with noise and speed, of course, but the main focus of the meeting is to discuss upcoming repairs to the J-Church tracks. Some details from Jay Lu, PR Officer for the SFFMTA:

As part of the SFMTA Rail Improvement Project, we have tentatively scheduled to replace the rails at the following locations on these weekends:

J Church Rail Replacement on weekends only (from 6 p.m. Friday continuously to 5 a.m. Monday)
Church Street & 18th Street
San Jose Avenue & 30th Street
Tentatively scheduled for the weekends of March 5, 12, and 19, 2010

J Church Rail Replacement on weekends only (from 6 p.m. Friday continuously to 5 a.m. Monday)
Church Street & 30th Street
Tentatively scheduled for three weekends in September 2010

What: Upper Noe Neighbors Monthly Meeting
When: Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 7:30pm
Where: Upper Noe Rec Center, Day at Sanchez Streets

[SFMTA: Rail Improvement Project]

J-Church: Still The Worst

It's old news, but the J-Church is once again the "worst performer" of the Muni light rail. Even though it has the lowest ridership, apparently it spends the most time interacting with other traffic. Average speed on the route: a crawling 11mph. Percent on time: a mere 64.9%.

Bevan Dufty is again introducing legislation requesting the City Controller to audit the J. For their part, Muni plans to use Federal stimulus money to fix rail cars and train operators. Muni spokesperson Kristen Holland also said the MTA will adjust the schedule this fall -- presumably to reflect the reality of late cars and therefore improve their "on-time" rating.

[SFE: J-Church line called worst performer in City]
[SFGate: Pilot project will try to ensure J-Church line runs on time]
[Photo: 30Sanchez]

Less MUNI on the J-Church Line = Quiet

SFGate.com is reporting that MUNI is (finally) opening a new maintenance and storage yard this weekend out on 25th St and Illinois.

So what, you ask? "By early next year, officials plan to keep 80 light-rail vehicles at the new yard, known as Muni Metro East, and 71 at the Green yard at San Jose and Geneva avenues in Balboa Park." In other words, that's a lot of trains that won't be moving up and down Church St in the dark hours. MUNI says something about improved service on all lines, too, but we'll wait to see if that works out.

What do you think: is the quiet worth not having a train show up every 2 minutes in the morning?