This Week in Noe Valley: How We Voted, New Seafood Shop Coming by Summer and Signs of the Times

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

• Welcome 100 new trees to Noe Valley and surrounding areas [@sfpublicworks]
• How SF voted so far including Noe Valley (spoiler: Warren went big) [@chrisarvinsf]
• Noe Valley was better than some but voter turnout was low [SF Examiner]
• Some very good doggos posing in front of a mural [outtt_n_abouttt]
• Monastery natural skin care, now open in the old Cliché Noe space [@ddudgeon]
• Friends of Noe Valley community meeting with city representatives on March 23 (assuming no cancellation for COVID-19) [FONV]
• Noe Valley Voice highlights: The seafood shop should arrive by summer and a Mathnasium is coming to 24th St. [NVV]
• Sign of the times 1 [@dplattsf]
• Sign of the times 2 [@MeghanCArnold]

[Billy Goat Hill via kidbombay] 

This Week in Noe Valley: Fleet Week, Noe Valley in 1966 and Halloween Is Coming

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

• From the photo archives: Noe Valley in 1966 [@sfmtaphoto]
• Spotted: The mobile sauna [eyeofted]
• The Navy Band was in the Town Square for Fleet Week [fleetweeksf]
• Baron’s Meats – looking good! [baronsmeats]
• Now that’s a great birthday party [@sfpublicworks]
• RIP the Tamale Lady [@lucchesi]
• Confusion reigns over the SF tree maintenance program [SF Chronicle]
• The SF neighborhoods with the best and worst outcomes for kids, including Noe Valley [SFGate]

[Photo: Halloween is coming via inger] 

This Week in Noe Valley: Students Sick on Marijuana Edibles, Magnolias Blooming, New Korean Restaurant

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

• 10 students at James Lick sick over marijuana edibles [SF Chronicle]
• Magnolia trees are going off right now – and it’s magnificent [orlyreine]
• On a clear day you can see forever [dpjutte]
• New Korean Japanese spot, Seokyo, opens on Church [Hoodline]
• Michael Bauer revisits La Ciccia’s warm embrace [SF Chronicle]
• A very incomplete and uninspired list of restaurants in Noe Valley [SF Gate]
• A wish for all the empty retail on 24th St [wrusteen]
• $19,500/month to rent a house on 26th St – who does this? [NVSF]
• This house on the edge of Noe Valley [Curbed]

[Photo: Life under the rainbow via cynthiadcummins] 

This Week in Noe Valley: Noe Valley Cyclery Closing, Drunken Party at SF Fire Station 11 and Retail Activism

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

• Another Noe retail casualty: Noe Valley Cyclery closing [@karlsf]
• The landlords at Pasta Gina (500 sq. ft.) want $6,000 a month. Not a typo. [@omnivorebooks]
• Omnivore is featuring books by writers from places Trump calls #ShitholeCountries [@omnivorebooks]
• A group wants to remove older trees on 24th St in the Mission to make it look more like 24th St in Noe Valley [Mission Local]
• Police investigating reports of a drunken party at the SF Fire station 11 on 26th St [NBC Bay Area]
• Noe Valley Whole Foods on path to zero net energy? [@BradleyMeister]

[Photo: Bill and Tico winter walk via seenbymarky]

This Week in Noe Valley: Another Coyote Sighting, Wildfire Sunsets and Virtue Signaling

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

• Today: BBQ and music at the Town Square with Barron’s Quality Meats [NVMPA]
• Smoke from the wildfires = gorgeous, gorgeous red sunsets [yaymarshamack and @jeremy_daggett and damoport and tomllamb]
• Virtue signaling [@NeverSassyLaura]
• Coming next from LeCupboard: Vegan vending machines [Eater]
• New stops for the Google buses/tech shuttles [Together SF]
• Inside The Henning Thode House at 1083 Dolores [SFGate]
• A pristine restored Noe Valley Victorian [Curbed]
• Another coyote sighting [@FromSF]
• The city takes over street tree maintenance [KTVU]
• Zen [kristyung]
• Street art [thegirlwiththepurplebike]

[Photo: Noe cottage sanfranciscoture]

This Week in Noe Valley: Real Foods Fate Is Nigh, Most Expensive House in the Hood and Firefly Does Lunch

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

• One reason Noe Valley is so awesome today: FUF was started by concerned Noe Valleyeons who planted lots of trees [SF Weekly]
• City-owned tree in Noe chopped down by rogue building owner, neighbors livid [Curbed]
• Michael Bauer on Uma Casa [SF Chronicle]
• Noe Valley nuggets = buffalo Tater Tots with blue cheese crumbles [Bay Area Reporter]
• Interview with Jack Epstein, owner of Chocolate Covered [Candy Atlas]
• Noe Valley is about to have TWO bougie TV dinner shops [NVSF]
• Firefly now does lunch! [Firefly]
• The most expensive house in Noe Valley (again) [Curbed]
• Real Foods fate could be determined as soon as August [NVMPA]
• Growing up in Noe Valley in the 50s [Kate Campbell]
• The Dubliner the night of the Warriors title win #gowarriors [thedubliner]
• The cost to buy in Noe Valley right now: $1155 per square foot [Curbed]

[Photo: Castro St via simon_schleicher]

This Week in Noe Valley: New Trees, Housing Crisis Workarounds, and the End of Google Buses?

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

• New trees! Saturday was a mass planting day by FUF [@mhjin]
• The high-end Vietnamese restaurant at 29th and Church suspends its campaign [@NoeValleySF]
• The beginning of the end of shuttle buses in Noe Valley? [SF Examiner]
• An interview with the founders of Townsquared who hatched their product in Noe Valley [PC Mag]
• Are your neighbors adding a 2 bedroom inlaw in their backyard to solve the housing crisis? [Atlantic]
• District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener is launching his Senate campaign from an HQ in the Castro [Scott Wiener]
• Support Noe Valley Chamber Music at the 2016 Benefit Concert [NVCM]

[Photo: Spring day from Noeteca via kjchdimo]

This Week In Noe Valley: Glorious Rain, Poinsettia Poaching, And Other Signs The Holidays Are Coming

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

• The Just for Fun parklet holiday decorations are all over Instagram [adrienneelzbth]
• Video of brazen Santa-looking thief stealing poinsettias in the hood [@ddudgeon]
• Christmas music on Christmas eve in the newly-renovated NV Ministry [Noe Valley Ministry]
• At last - rain! And the downpour created a small lake in Noe Valley [@DanielAndefors]
• The ceiling (and roof?) in Starbucks took a beating [@dplattsf]
• Epic flooding during the rain on Valley at Dolores St [@cvonhaxthausen]
• Rainbow alert over Noe Valley [Burrito Justice]
• Gorgeous sushi from Saru [kewyn15]
• Mike from Mike’s Shoe Repair in Noe Valley spotted in the Financial District [@ddudgeon]
• Scott Wiener’s December Newsletter [Scott Weiner]
• ICYMI: Plans to develop the Real Foods building are coming soon [NVSF]
• Holiday trees that eventually become street trees available through Dec 19 [@SFPublicLibrary]
• Philz Coffee in Noe Valley is getting a makeover [@rohitjenveja]
• The Wishing Tree in Noe Valley inspires another in Portland [TravelPulse]
• Bom Dia Market opened today [@BomDiaMarket]

[Photo: Muni Polaroid in the rain via Nuugent]

It's Windy! Mother Nature and MUNI Mix It Up On Church St

If your wait for the J Church seems longer than usual today, it's not your imagination. The wind downed a tree on Church St. just north of 24th St and the carnage has disrupted trains for hours. As of this writing, trains were still not running and buses had to detour around that stretch of Church.

Enormous tree just crashed right in front of home. J-Church MUNI & electrical are down. Ooky-strange-surreal day. twitter.com/aprilrinne/sta…
— April Rinne (@aprilrinne) April 15, 2013

Incidentally, it's the same set of trees that caused this MUNI backup and power outage last May.

If you're headed outside, hang on to your hat and watch for falling branches. The winds are expected to die down tonight.

This Week In Noe Valley: FUF's First Tree Ever, Lower 24th St Gentrifies, St. Luke's Plans Expand

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

• St Luke's Hospital will rebuild and include more beds [SF Appeal]
• The ongoing gentrification of lower 24th St [SF Weekly]
• Average 1br apt in Noe is just $2,700 (if you include Glen Park in the data) [SFist]
• Friends of the Urban Forest planted their first tree ever on 24th St 32 years ago [@FUF1981]
• NVV's late report gets the credit for research about Zuckerberg real estate [Matier & Ross; also: Socketsite and Uptown Almanac]

[Photo: mlle_michele]

Street Trees: 24th St Blight To Get Blightier

The two trees in front of Real Foods are set for removal at the request of the owner, who apparently came out of hiding. The notice states multiple trunk injuries, decay, etc. The notice also states that the trees will be replaced by the Noe Valley Association, which is great but will leave a gap in the canopy for some time.

If you'd like to make the building owner show up at request a hearing to appeal the trees' removal contact the DPW Urban Forestry department at 2323 Cesar Chavez St, SF CA 94124. You can fax your letter to (415) 695-2147.

Click the photo for complete info.

Street Trees: FUF Planting Day This Summer

Reader Raphael is new to Noe Valley and is already trying to make things greener. He contacted Friends of the Urban Forest and is looking for people to organize a tree planting day in Noe Valley:

Want a tree in front of your home? Want more trees on your block? Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF) is coming to Noe Valley for a Neighborhood Tree Planting this summer, and you're invited to participate.

FUF is a non-profit group that makes it easy and affordable for San Franciscans to get new trees in front of their properties. If you want a tree, you pay only $75 (for most trees); FUF covers 80% of the costs through the generosity of its funders and donors (FUF also offers a limited number of free trees; ask whether you qualify). In return, FUF provides the tree, permit processing, site preparation including concrete removal, two post-planting tree care visits, and a new tree owner's manual.

The tree recipient chooses the species; FUF's arborists recommend the species that are most likely to be suitable for the location. FUF coordinates the tree planting, which generally happens on a Saturday morning and includes the tree recipients, FUF staff and volunteers working side-by-side. Neighborhood Tree Plantings are community events that conclude with a potluck lunch.

Street trees beautify the neighborhood, increase property values, clean the air, reduce storm-water runoff, provide wildlife habitat, and generally improve the health and livability of the urban environment. To sign up for a tree or get more information, contact Doug at 415-268-0773 or dougly@fuf.net.

So sign up, select a tree and meet some neighbors. Most every block in Noe Valley could use some new trees, and while you wait for yours you can work on creative anti-dog-poop-signs.

See our 2009 post on FUF plantings for links to required applications.

[NVSF: Friends Of The Urban Forest Noe Valley Tree Planting]
[Photo: Friends of the Urban Forest]

Plant*SF Wants to Green Your Sidewalk in Noe Valley

The parklet idea is spreading to a sidewalk near you. Jersey Street resident Tamar writes to tell us about a Plant*SF grant in Noe:

Plant*SF was awarded a Community Challenge Grant from the City to install demonstration sidewalk gardens in Noe Valley by May 31st. These gardens will transform concrete into beautiful landscapes that will highlight a variety of edging options and different planting choices.

The minimum requirements are that you have sidewalk in front of your property that can be removed to make way for a garden. Drought tolerant plants are usually selected for these gardens so that very little (if any) watering is required once plants are established, which makes maintenance very easy.

Costs? In some cases, the garden might be fully paid for with the grant, but in other cases, the grant would pay for half the costs, asking property owners to match with at least 50%. It usually costs about $1000 to put in a sidewalk garden (includes getting permit, removing concrete, bringing in dirt, plants, river rock mulch, edging treatments, and then doing the planting itself). Property owners will ultimately be responsible for the gardens.

Wondering how they look? Tamar also reports:

I worked with Plant*SF when I had a place on Harrison Street and I can't tell you what a HUGE difference those gardens made on our street. They are just lovely, and I'm certain that once these gardens start popping up, it will set a great example for other residents to follow. These sidewalk gardens serve an important function in collecting rainwater that might otherwise go into storm drains and overflow our system during heavy rains. By absorbing the water into the ground, these gardens help recharge our groundwater supply as well.

If you're interested in learning more and submitting your property as a potential site for one of these sidewalk garden grants, email: Tamar Hurwitz.

Update: A PDF of the application is available here.

[Plant*SF]
[NVSF: Green Your Sidewalk]

Reminder: Billy Goat Hill Planting Day Is This Saturday

As we mentioned in November, this Saturday is Planting Day on Billy Goat Hill. Friends of Billy Goat Hill wants your help:

It's that time again for the quarterly community workday at Billy Goat Hill Natural Area! Join your neighbors, SF Park & Rec Natural Area Dept & Friends of the Urban Forest to plant trees at the Laidley Street entrance and a native wildflower garden at the Beacon Street entrance to Billy Goat Hill Natural Area.

What: Billy Goat Hill Planting Day
When: Saturday, January 16, 9:00am
Where: Beacon @ 30th St, Laidley @ 30th St
Why: Because you want to do more for your community than complain about nail salons

[FoBGH: Planting Day Is Finally Here!!!]

PSA: Sunset Scavenger Holiday Collection Schedule And Tree Disposal

The folks at Sunset Scavenger were kind enough to provide the following information regarding disposal of all the dead trees in neighborhood living rooms:

Christmas tree collection will take place on Jan. 4-8 and Jan. 11-15. Please place clean, unflocked trees next to your carts when you take them to the curb for your regularly scheduled pickup. Be sure to remove all tinsel, decorations, plastic bags, stands, and lights. If your tree is over 6 feet, please cut it in half. Christmas trees collected through this special pick up program will be taken to Recology San Francisco, fondly known as the city dump, where they will be chipped. Recology San Francisco then transfers the chips to a waste-to-energy facility in Tracy, CA.

What shouldn't you do? Don't just drag your poor dead tree to the corner and cover it in plastic like the cheap thrill it was.

In related news, trash collection will not happen on Christmas and New Year's Day. Instead, your regular Friday pickup will happen on Saturday 12/26/09 and 1/2/10. Regular collection (with tree pickup) resumes on 1/4/09. Full information here.

[NVSF: Fun with Analytics: Christmas Trees]
[Photo: SFRecycling]

This Weekend In Noe Valley

Upper Noe residents calling themselves the Ladybug Gardeners kick off a monthly cleanup of the grounds at Upper Noe Rec Center this Saturday from 9:00AM-12:00PM. "We will have a City gardener and some tools. But bring gloves, your hand tools, water and a smile." This event will repeat on the first Saturday of every month. If you'd like more info, or to be notified of future events contact Joan Lionberger.

Tomorrow is also the Friends of the Urban Forest Noe Valley tree planting event. Didn't attend the meeting but still want to help? Send a note to heidi@fuf.net or call FUF at (415)561-6890 x110.

Saint James Church on Guerrero and 23rd is hosting a bake sale on Sunday, July 12 from 11:00AM-1:00PM. Proceeds will help to restore the 125 year old stained glass windows.

Anyone know of other events? Besides high summer at the Farmer's Market? In the comments, please.

[NVSF: Friends Of The Urban Forest Noe Valley Tree Planting]
[Photo: LadyBugRescue]

Friends Of The Urban Forest Noe Valley Tree Planting

Friends Of The Urban Forest is sponsoring a tree planting day in Noe Valley on July 11. Want a tree in front of your house or business? "It’s easy! All you have to do is send in your application forms, attend the community meeting, select your species – and get ready to water your new tree!" Note that there are TWO applications to fill out: Friends of the Urban Forest Letter of Agreement and the DPW Tree Planting Application.

What: Community meeting
When: Wednesday, June 3rd, 6:30PM
Where: Noe Valley Library, 451 Jersey St.
Why: "Trees engage & strengthen neighborhood relations" and "trees increase property value & attract customers to business."

Tree planting: July 11

For more information, contact heidi@fuf.net or call FUF at 561-6890 x110.

[FUF: Application Forms]
[Google Maps: Planting Area]
[NVSF:Street Trees: Green Your Sidewalk!]

New Life On 24th St

From a reader:

New trees planted at the Noe parking lot between Le Zinc and Radio Shack to replace the old eucalyptus trees today. I chatted with the guy planting the trees – he said they are Japanese flowering cherry trees. They have flower blossoms (pink) in the spring, but no edible fruit. Appropriately, they’re going in during the Cherry Blossom festivals around the world and are just starting to bloom now. They’re cute!

Cute or not, they were planted a lot quicker than we expected.

[NVSF: Appeal? Lost. Budget? Intact. Trees? Gone.]
[SF Cherry Blossom Festival]

Appeal? Lost. Budget? Intact. Trees? Gone.

Apparently appeals or budget woes can't stop a chainsaw if trees are deemed unsafe. The plan is for replacement trees, but this stretch of 24th St is going to look empty for some time. No Parking signs for this Monday suggest these tall eucalyptus trees will disappear then. Let's see how long it takes to replace them.

[NVSF: Update: 24th Street Trees]
[NVSF: PSA: Public Hearing - Tree Removal]

Update: 24th Street Trees

We noticed Bureau of Urban Forestry trucks taking branches off one of the two large trees slated to come down on 24th Street today and asked one of the workers if the trees are definitely going to be removed. He answered that they were doing emergency branch removal after the last storm. He added that the City has to post a 30 day notice before removal (which they did last fall), and that there is an appeals process (initiated in November). He had no idea that these trees are doomed, but he did quip that they'll probably stay where they are for now: "If there's no money in the budget...the trees stay."

If you went to the appeals hearing and/or know the status of these trees please leave some information in the comments.

[NVSF: PSA: Public Hearing - Tree Removal]
[NVSF: Noe Valley Trees: Two Get the Axe]