Store Closing: See Jane Run

Back in March of this year, See Jane Run at 3910 24th Street posted signs that it was closing its Noe Valley store - the owners of the building had decided not to renew the lease. SJR eventually signed a 6 month extension - but the time is up and See Jane Run is out. A sign in the window announces the sad news:

Store Closing

Everything must go

We are sorry that are landlords will not let us stay at this location as they sell the building. We are forced to leave on September 3oth. We will continue to look for a new space.

Please get on our mailing list for updates.

Thank you Noe Valley for 16 great years. 

We will miss you.

All products are on sale. Please stop in and say good bye.

Sad to see yet another storefront on 24th Street go vacant.

This Week In Noe Valley: La Bou Closing Soon, The Root Wants You To Re-Wild And Local Blight From 1945

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

• Driven out by rising rent, Cradle of the Sun finds a new home in West Portal [NVSF]
• Priceless: A 4 year old’s map of Noe Valley [@peteskomoroch]
• La Boulange closures have started – Noe Valley branch set to close Sept. 17 [Hoodline]
• Photo of blight on Sanchez between 25th and Duncan – from 1945! [Eric Fischer]
• ICYMI: Video Wave relocating to inside Buttons Candy Bar [NVSF]
• Olive This Olive That makes best “niche” store list [SFist]
• Photo: Manhole cover or transporter pad in Noe Valley? [suebraids]
• Noe Valley is like an art installation [@Omarmasry]
• Estate sale for former Noe Valley artist Jack Freeman [1608 Legacy]
• Found art: Street corners of Noe Valley [@Dunk_Ra]
• The Root Midwifery – an “opportunity for women to connect, normalize, re-wild and initiate the blueprint of birth” - opens this weekend, and already has a GoFundMe campaign [PR Newswire]

[Photo: Noe Valley summer day via daretoeatapeach]

The Latest Victim of Rising Rents: Cradle of the Sun

A reader forwarded us this note from Dan Gamaldi, owner of Cradle of the Sun, the charming stained glass store on 24th Street:

I'm sorry to inform you that yesterday our landlord let us know our rent was going up to market value. So after 33 years we are looking for another location. If we don't find a place we may be forced to retire. I'm keeping my fingers crossed things work out.

Meanwhile we are trying to sell off our stock and there are massive discounts on supplies and art glass. I'll keep you posted on events. We have 60-90 days before we have to be out.

33 years! That's a great run for a retail store. Sadly, Cradle of the Sun joins several other retail stores that have been hit with rent hikes at that end of 24th Street. We hope Dan is able to find a new home – and that the colorful threshold survives as Cradle of the Sun's legacy.

Lots of changes are afoot at that end of 24th Street: The Ark is closed. Noe Valley music is closed. Isso is closed. La Boulange is being shuttered by Starbucks in September. Horner’s Corner is being reborn as Hamlet. The Noe Valley Town Square will begin construction in January. The new retail/housing building next to Shoe Biz will be on the market soon, and the little Victorian next door will be demolished for mixed retail and housing. Change is hard; let’s hope it’s done right.

Update (8/28/15): Dan sent out another email today announcing a new location in a larger space:

Great news...we have a new location. 2377 Ocean Ave. A bigger space allowing me to add 3 extra students to each class. I should be set up and open by 10/15. I'm taking bookings for those spaces so get back to me early to have a preference. Class fees will be $230 per session. Each session goes for six weeks, 2.5 hours per week. The classes are 7-9:30pm Tues, Wed, Thurs, 9:30 -noon on Sat, 10:30-1:00 Sunday morning and 1:30-4 on Sunday afternoon. I supply the use of tools in class. You'll need to purchase the consumable but will get a 10% discount on those items. I'm looking forward to having even more fun. Thanks, Dan

This Week In Noe Valley: Summer Pop-Ups, SF Unreality TV And Other Summer Fun

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

• New game: Spot the family on vacation and staying at Airbnb in Noe Valley (there are alot of them) [@juandelreal]
• Is Noe Valley a suburb now? [@brkwtz]
• This Sunday: Puppy Pop Up Adoption event at Whole Foods [@RocketDogRescue]
• Will this mini mosaic on 24th Street survive the buildout of La PanotiQ? [@k_stastny]
• Bright Lab Lights is having a pop-up in Mapamundi [SF Chronicle]
• Million Dollar Listing SF (which includes Noe Valley) is fun unreality TV [InsideSFRE]
• But reality is stranger than TV: 2 bedroom Noe Valley fixer sells for $2.8 million [Socketsite]
• Recruiting at tech bus stops [@jack_womack]
• Secret garden in the heart of Noe Valley [nattyicecubes]

[Photo: Summer sunset via wannabefashionblogger]

This Week In Noe Valley: Wider Sidewalks, Landlord From Hell, And A Sign Of The Bubble

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

• Almost done: The new bus stop and bulbout on Castro and 24th [@Scott_Wiener]
• And a couple of videos of the crosswalk installation [@sfpublicworks, @theoverheadwire ]
• Time travel: Classic Corvette on Church Street [tfaccone]
• "Stunning" [@iamvivita]
• Eviction specialist and Noe Valley landlord from hell being sued by City [SF Gate]
• Scott Wiener on the mission moratorium defeat and where we go from here [SF Examiner]
• SF’s median rent is not $4225 (but it’s still really high) [SocketSite]
• Is the Noe/Mission/Castro TrashDay fake/real startup a sign of the apocalypse bubble? [MarketWatch]
• Does anyone know the history of the Noe Valley Red Light District? [@jlassen]
• The June issue of the Noe Valley Voice is out [NVV]
• Noe Valley SummerFest is coming Saturday June 20 from 11-5 [NoeValleySummerfest]
• Noe Valley – the t-shirt [Etsy]

[Photo: Hey sun, stay a little longer why don't you? ☀️ via hey_im_kate ]

This Week In Noe Valley: Thrasher Mag At James Lick, Contigo Building For Sale, And Trashday Worry RIP

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

• Contigo's building is for sale -- only $2.3 million [via @nnnlistings]
• Median rent is $4225 in SF – 16% higher than this time last year [Curbed]
• Songbird Studios is opening at 3823 24th Street – formerly OpenVoice Studios [@SongbirdSF]
• Thrasher Mag takes over James Lick – never mind the signs #ripperatclipper [jayhum and projectno155]
• Coming soon to Noe Valley: People who take your trash out for you [Trashday.co]
• 25th St condo takes a price hit - what's wrong with it? [4207-25th.com]

[Photo: Noe Valley Ministry and Prius via @jwcofrin]

This Week In Noe Valley: Easter Egg Hunt Cancelled, NIMBYs Out In Force, And True Love SF Style

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

• Amazing: No Douglass Park Easter egg hunt this year because of lack of sponsors [@jerware]
• Desperate home buyers throw stock options at sellers for the Space Invaders house on Clipper [Business Insider]
• Lite for Life packs up suddenly after 30 years in the hood – and the space is now for rent [NVSF]
• More condos over retail coming to 24th Street – neighbors bemoan parking [Ed.--Hearing continued to 4/23/15] [SocketSite]
• Stern Grove Pop-Up Concert coming to Noe Valley Town Square May 10 [Stern Grove]
• Alexis Coe leaves Noe Valley for a cabin in the Russian River woods - and shares it all [Pacific Standard]
• What $5,000 in rent gets you in Noe Valley (and the rest of the city) [Curbed]
• Noe Valley’s Joseph Quinn is tapped by Governor for SF Courts [SDGLN]
• Another local over-achiever and explorer Michael Creasy heads for the North Pole [CALICO]
• Neighbors unhappy about the proposed Tom & Rai noodle shop on 24th St with late night music [NVSF]
• A destination restaurant from the Ichi sushi team (with oysters) opening soon on the edge of Noe Valley [Tablehopper]
• Too many kids dominating the soccer field at Upper Noe Valley Rec Center [@SFJKdineen]
• Maybe they could move up the hill [@supersoccersf]
• The Noe Valley Voice asks: Is Noe Valley Losing Its Charm? [NVV]
• And the NVV does a little soul searching maybe? [@NoeValleySF]
• A true San Francisco love story [San Francisco Travel]

[Photo: Bom Dia via no_barkin]

This Week In Noe Valley: Mike's Shoe Resurfaces, First Apple Watch Spotted At Toast, And Other Signs Of The Times

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

• Found: The giant light up shoe from Mike's of Noe Valley Shoe Repair - it’s in these guys’ backyard (um, is that stealing?) [Curbed]
• First Apple Watch allegedly spotted in the wild at Toast in Noe Valley [@LarsenPro]
• NOVY Restaurant will open Monday March 16 for dinner [@novysf4000]
• First NOVY menu review via KCBS FoodieChap: "eclectic but includes pasta" [@liammayclem]
• Noe Valley cleaners at 29th and Noe is closing due to a massive rent increase [@NoeValleySF]
• Not much news in the latest issue of the Noe Valley Voice [NVV]
• Eco-groovy clothing store PoDolls opens on 24th Street [Racked]
• Noir-ish photos of Noe Valley from the Friday Night Drinking and Shooting Club [Flickr]
• Burglary suspects on 100 block of 27th Street nabbed [ABC7]
• Yes, there is a local birthing DJ (oh, Noe Valley) [@amandabuzzard]
• Dogs can’t read - #passiveagressive signs in Noe Valley [esbale]
• From $1.2 million to $4.995 in 3 years [Curbed]
• Dolores Park today (holy ****) followed by this grossness [@flrrent and @TransitMonkee]
• Appreciation for a less crowded city park: Billy Goat Hill [SF Chronicle - and there's a paywall]
• A depressing map of median SF 1 bedroom rents – Noe Valley is at $3,500 [SFGate]
• A new lending library in front of Whole Foods [merrij]

[Photo: Curbed]

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: Car Break-ins, Berkeley Comparisons, And Mini Local Celebrity Sightings

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

• The local Noe Valley branch library cards are cute [camillertime]
• Brewer’s blackbird spotted in Noe Valley [@AudubonCA]
• Spotted in the window at Drewes Meats [94th Day]
• Nice neighbor PSA: Don’t leave anything visible in your car – the streets have been lined with glass [@sfstern]
• Whole Foods supports Students Rising Above through your bag donations [SRA]
• Food drive coming to Noe Valley on Nov 23 [@SevenSquaredSF]
• A woodcut artist in LA carved an original piece of Phil Jaber of Philz Coffee – and tells his story [Woodcuting Fool]
• In elections, Berkeley is like “one big Noe Valley” [SF Gate]
• …in real estate however, not so much [Berkleyside]
• 13-year old music phenom Henry Plotnik plays the NV Farmer’s Market [KQED]
• Actor Liam Vincent lives in the neighborhood [7x7]
• So does Fat Mike of punk rock band NoFX [SF Weekly]
• There are 70 craft chocolate makers in the US today – and Chocolate Covered carries 25 of them [SF Chronicle]
• What $6,000 a month rents you in Noe Valley [Curbed]

[Photo: Colorful house via maria.bruno.sf]

This Week In Noe Valley: A Bomb Scare, A Proposed Bunker, And Noe Valley Mapped To NYC

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

• What is it with New Yorkers putting the rest of the world into their little box? (Save you a click: we're the Upper West Side) [Urbane]
• Bay Area rents are crushing New York's [Curbed]
• The first 8 figure Noe Valley Estate (with a bunker) is in the works [SocketSite]
• Speculation on the future bunker owners [Valleywag]
• Training grenades found by a contractor set off a bomb scare on Sanchez [SF Gate]
• Let's hope we don't see more annoying videos like this about Noe Valley real estate (1993 called...) [Zephyr]

[Photo: zebfidj]

This Week In Noe Valley: Bank Robbed Again, A Woman Attacked, And Wow Is It Hot!

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

• Clear hot nights = gorgeous sunrises [egundersen]
• Yep, it’s hot [bennie]
• Too hot for these pups [cms100]
• Africa hot (yes we know... go watch Biloxi Blues) [@NoeValleySF]
• ICYMI: New corner market gets a name: Bom Dia [NVSF]
• Woman attacked in Noe Valley at 26th and Dolores, shots were fired [SF Weekly]
• Bank robbed again at midday on 24th St [Mission Local]
• Even tech workers are getting squeezed by Noe Valley rents jumping from $3800 to $4700 in 2 years [WSJ]
• Contigo’s Brett Emerson is interviewed by Foodie Chap and shares a recipe [The Daily Meal]
• SF Chronicle endorses Scott Wiener for District 8 supervisor [Chron]
• Scott Wiener’s September newsletter [Scott Wiener]
• The Castro Street Fair is today – with wider sidewalks [Bay Area Reporter]

[Photo: Pretty spiders knucklesamwick]

This Week In Noe Valley: Concerts In The Living Room, AirBnB Crackdown Crying, And Rental Angst

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

• You’re not the only one who heard the Beyonce Jay-Z concert in your living room [SFGate]
• Just as you’re probably hearing Outside Lands too [SFGate]
• If you’re at Outside Lands and want an Uber to Noe Valley, get ready to pay $400 [@Tuce_Chainz]
• Owner of private shuttle to be charged after bus blocks J-Church [CBSLocal]
• 'Airbnb' legislation is attracting a wide variety of opponents; still likely to pass [KQED]
• Meanwhile BJ Droubi is doing her part to keep rents high and available only to non-locals in Noe Valley [48 Hills]
• More $2M+ homes now sell in Noe Valley and Cole Valley than in more "prestigious" northern neighborhoods like Pac Heights [Curbed]
• So expensive apparently no one knows what to "ask" for a property [Curbed]
• Worst place for renters in the U.S.? San Francisco, if cost is your only benchmark [Mother Jones]
• A portrait of Dorian of Dorian's Clock Repair on Sanchez [Marc Oliver LeBlanc]
• Noe Valley Democrats summer party and fundraiser is at Savor this Tues Aug 12 6:30-8:30pm [NV Dems]
• Supervisor Scott Weiner’s July/August newsletter is out [Scott Weiner]

[Photo: "Sitting on our front steps mowing some peasant pies" by hackerjackla]

This Week In Noe Valley: Mansion & Shacks, Murals & Alleys, Rants & Rumors

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

• The children’s area of the Farmer’s Market gets political [@F6x]
• A story of a landlord buying out a renter: NPR reporter and former Noe Valleyeon Stephanie Martin Taylor [KQED]
• “A favorite coat for cold Noe Valley mornings” from local preppy princess blogger Caroline Curran [SFGate]
• Need a wax? Stript wax salon opens on Church St. [Racked]
• Mansion or shack? Either way, $1 million in Noe Valley won’t buy you much [MarinIJ and CTPost]
• Yep, Noe Valley homes cross the $1,000 per square foot mark [The Front Steps]
• You're not imagining things: Average Noe Valley home exceeds $2M for the 5th month in a row [Downing & Co]
• $1.7M in Noe Valley = $899,000 in Hunter’s Point [CBS Local]
• An interview with Rare Device shop owner Giselle Gyalzen [SFGate]
• Rumor: Pasta Pomodoro closing? [@shaketini]
• Cardio-tone’s 24th St. location is for rent [Storefront]
• Day 8 of the new mural at Day and Church [Amos Goldbaum]
• Fun photos from the Ames & Quane Green Alleys Project [Greenalleys.org]

[Photo: IKnowWhereYourCatLives]

This Week In Noe Valley: Do-Gooders Walk Among Us, Porky Goodness Reviewed, And The Fairy Doors Return

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

• A brush with death on a bike inspires a Noe Valley man to give back to the team that saved his life at SF General [SF Examiner]
• Noe Valley entrepreneur also inspired to give back to health caregivers [HuffPo]
• What $5500 in rent gets you Noe Valley right now (hint: views) [Curbed]
• Porcellino's porchetta is Italian street food at its porkiest [SF Weekly]
• Inside the charming 1950s home of a local art designer [SF Gate]
• Google Maps adds elevations – handy for cross-city bike rides [The Register]
• Muni testing trains with more standing room (they won't come more often but at least you can get on) [SF Streetsblog]
• We live in magical times: The fairy doors are back on 24th St [CBS Local]
• The bowling Fiat spotted at Whole Foods [falkon240]

[Photo: via juliahengel]

Closing: Global Exchange Fair Trade

Citing rising rents and a desire to protect the artisans they support, Global Exchange announced this week that they will close this spring:

We have been in business at our San Francisco Noe Valley location (4018 24th Street) since 1989, constantly adjusting our footing in a changing marketplace. We are not immune to the forces changing the face of our San Francisco community, and the most recent wave of rent increases have also affected us, and we are taking action so that it does not affect our artisan partners around the world.

Also:

We want you to know your purchasing power: who, where, and how your purchases affect real change. We want you to be sure that your purchases go towards supporting economic justice through Fair Trade, NOT towards covering the violently inflated cost of rent in San Francisco.

Global Exchange will continue to operate out of Berkeley, and plans to reopen its online store this fall.

[GEFT: Choosing Fair Trade Over High Rent]
[Photo: Global Exchange]