This Week In Noe Valley: The Best Cheese, A Zen Frathouse, And The Hubris Of NIMBYs

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

• 24th St Cheese Co makes best-of list [SFist]
• A familiar view on the new Bay Bridge [Scott Wiener]
• Read Local: an interview with Celia Sack of Omnivore Books [SF Weekly]
• Zen-Noe-Valley-Start-Up-Geek-Frathouse (ugh) [SFGate]
• Porta Potties as an art form [SFGate]
• NIMBYs gone Wild [Socketsite]

[Photo: Dexter, overlooking his domain]

This Week In Noe Valley: Who Really Parks On 24th St, A Call For Strong Voices, And Some Fun Geekery

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

• Tech Search Party raised $12,000 for local schools [TSP]
• Zuckerberg chatted up Snapchat founder in Noe Valley before creating Poke [Business Insider]
• Bastian Holze is starting an a cappella choir and needs your talent [Bastian Holze]
• All the cars cleared off 24th St immediately for the fire as if they all belonged to merchant employees. Does Bob Roddick Know? [Hunter Walk]
• "Nemo has really taken its toll on us here in San Francisco" [@kevinmonty] 
• John Elias Karlin created the way the world looks at a keypad. He died this week. [NYT]

[Photo: @JybJonesDMBA]

This Week In Noe Valley: Gov At James Lick, More Shuttle Bus Nastiness, Bethany Is Back

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

• Governor Brown kicked off the James Lick school year [SF Appeal]
• DPW has made sidewalk landscaping permits easy [SFDPW]
• Another shuttle bus (driver) behaving badly [SFist]
• Noe Valley's official car? [@CarinaOst]
• There must be a video geek in Noe Valley who will appreciate this [pbump]
• July condo sales in Noe Valley average $1M plus [Downing & Co]
• Bethany returns to renovated church; open house is September 15th according to sign in windows [Bethany]
• At least we know why there may be another helicopter in the air for a while [NNSA]

[Photo: Whole Foods parking lot construction or just another day?]

This Week In Noe Valley

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

• Remodeling your home? Had debris picked up recently? Know where it went? [Bernalwood]
• Don't get your future raincoat-clad puppy from a mill [YouTube]
• 24th St Bart to get a makeover; some upset there will be trees [Mission Local]
• Letter From Incanto inspires protest and attracts "press sluts" (info on helping to repeal foie gras ban near bottom) [Incanto]
• Also: #noevalleyproblems [Twitter]
• There must be a geek in Noe Valley: May the Fourth be with you [Vimeo]

[Photo: F6x]

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 doesn't post stories until the middle of the month.

March 2010

Front Page: Local softball teams ready for spring season; murder writer Cara Black produces her 10th novel; Noe Valley Ministry is closing for a year in November; The history of Shufat Market; Muni wait times may get longer due to proposed service cuts and J-Church track repair.

Letters: A neighbor is disappointed to find Noe Valley wouldn’t support measures to find new income for Muni; a plea from neighbors to patronize 24th St. Cheese Co. which is feeling the Whole Foods pinch (despite long lines); Independent Nature on Church wants you to know it does not sell beekeeping supplies; another neighbor begs to differ on the fewer restaurants myth.

Cost of Living in Noe: It was a cold January - 6 homes sold. Meaning...not enough for good data.

Traveling Voice: Venice.

Store Trek: Cardio-Tone.

Rumors: NV community meeting at St. Philips (including details on the plaza set to open on Noe St - south side, closed to traffic); Geeks in Noe raised $12k for Alvarado School; Green Twig Hair Salon is moving into the long-vacant former travel agent space at 1515 Church and will sell Aveda products; Lynn Antiques at 1478 Church is closing this month (she’s moving back to Montana); Twin Peaks Pizza is offering house wines for $2.99 a bottle for eat-in dinners this month.

[The Noe Valley Voice]

Benefit: Geeks In Bushes For The Alvarado School

Those nerdy kids with iPhones poking around your front yard this weekend? Not the usual clipboard brigade. They're likely part of a scavenger hunt designed for the 21st century. From the over-the-top chirpy PR email: "Get your geek on! ... Smart phone scavenger hunts are all the rage these days, but I’m not aware of any like this, and all the money raised goes directly to Alvarado." All four district 8 supervisor candidates are (of course) supporting the event, and competing against each other in an early test of their electability. Annoying, yes, but at least it's for a good cause.

It works like this:

Arrive early! At 6:00 pm sharp participants will leave Alvarado Elementary School’s auditorium and be given a map with some clues to decipher. Solving those clues will lead you to various locations in Noe Valley. When you arrive at the mystery location, you'll take a photo of the answer with their phone and email it back to an address provided at the beginning of the event. The first team to solve all clues is the winner. Simple, no?

Why: For fun, mostly. And for prizes (from Geeknet, EA Games, Bon Jovi tickets, and more). And also because all the money raised goes toward improving technology for students at Alvarado Elementary. That means ticket price is tax-deductible.

Cost: The fee is $50 for a team of up to 4 and $75 for a team of up to 6. A bargain for memories that will last a lifetime. All of the money raised from this event goes directly toward improving the quality of computers at the school.

Rules: All you need is a phone that can take a picture and send email. Be on time, or you’ll be behind your fellow competitors. Teams have to stick together and stay on foot. Bring a flashlight (or flashlight app). Charge up your phone batteries. Respect the neighborhood.

[Official Site: Tech Search Party]