NVV February 2014: 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 other resources. Follow the NVV link at the bottom for full articles and all the ads.

February 2014

Front Page: A profile of Glen Evans, a former Vicksburg resident who now finds himself homeless, and the merchants and neighbors who are trying to help him; an overview of the 5th annual Tech Search Party on February 8th benefiting local schools; info from the October/January meetings about planned changes to 24th St aimed at improving traffic flow and pedestrian safety - some Noe St residents are already sure it will be "mayhem" [Ed.-- it's deja vu all over again from the parklet protests and predictably Mary McFadden is against improving 24th St].

Letters: No love from one reader for Neutraceuticals (owner of the blighted Real Foods building); a list of water conservation tips from the SFPUC.

Short Takes: Upper Douglass Dog Park to remain closed until Spring for more repairs; San Jose Ave will shrink to two lanes for a traffic pilot in late Spring or early summer.

Cost of Living in Noe: The average cost of a single family home was $1.893 million in December - up more than 18 percent from 2012 [Ed.-- The median cost of the nine homes was $1.75M]; condos average $1 million. New renters should expect to shell out an average of $4,253 for a two bedroom apartment.

Store Trek: La Nebbia (1781 Church St at 30th)

Rumors: So far $560,000 has been pledged to the Noe Valley Town Square and $330,000 has been collected - in the meantime, the team has also been busy with a film for the project called Our Town Square (you can watch the trailer here); Cardio-Tone has added a second location at the old Kohler Jones space on Church St; 1513 Church St is home to a new startup called BackerKit - a company that writes software for Kickstarter project creators to track their backers [Ed.-- Is this Noe Valley's first actual tech company?]; La Tira waxing studio opens in the old Dermalounge space; the most popular fiction books in Noe right now are The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt and Dear Life: Stories by Alice Munro; the most popular non-fiction is Gray City of Love by Gary Kamiya (via Folio Books); Omnivore reports the favorite cookbook for the neighborhood right now is Jerusalem by Yottam Ottolenghi; the favorite movie for rent is The Butler (via Videowave); Mazook says reliable sources also report that Bliss Bar will not be rebuilt; a new title company comes to 4126 24th St (next to Barney's where B.J. Droubi Real Estate used to reside); Sway consolidates to the Haight and the commercial space and two residential units have sold for an expected $2.2 million - the store space is still for rent $12,000 a month; RIP Mike Skoufas who opened a Noe Valley barbershop in 1953 called Mike's (his daughter owns and operates Of Barbers and Bears on 24th St.).

[The Noe Valley Voice]

Closed: Café Ponte / Opening: Diamond Café

A reader tipped us that Café Ponte closed suddenly yesterday. We walked by today and sure enough – the windows are papered over and the corner café at 751 Diamond St at 24th is closed. We heard from another reader today who spoke to the new owner and learned this:

The new café will be called Diamond Café – a nod to the former name of the neighborhood spot. It will serve crepes, omelets and basic brunch and lunch fare. The new owner (Mike) is also an employee of Squat & Gobble so that gives you an idea of what will be offered. The space is currently being painted and spruced up – Mike expects to open in 2-3 weeks. There will still be outdoor dining space, too.

Café Ponte has been for sale (and not) several times in the last few years, so it's not a surprise to see it change hands. It is nice to see it will still be a local lunch and coffee spot and reopening soon.

This Week In Noe Valley: The Soda Tax War Kicks Off, Remembering The Winter Of Love, And More Photos Of Snow In The City

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

• Scott Wiener and other supes support the Soda Tax ballot measure [scottwiener.com]
• Opponents of the Tax argue it makes SF more expensive; 6 people hired to canvass neighborhoods, including Noe Valley [SF Gate]
• Why housing costs keep rising in SF (short version: there isn't enough of it) [Michael Rhodes]
• Ellis Act perpetrators are the evil ones, not the Google bus riders says this op-ed [Beyond Chron]
• To be fair, the Ellis Act was a "problem" long before the Google Bus [NYTimes]
• It's the 10th anniversary of the Winter of Love [Bay Area Reporter]
• The Cesar Chavez project is wrapping up - and neighbors already feel safer [SF Gate]
• More reader photos of the great 1976 San Francisco snowstorm - including fun ones of Noe Valley [SF Gate]
• A profile of Noe resident Christine Schmidt, author of Yellow Owl's Little Prints and some photos of her charming apartment [SF Gate]
• The Tech Search Party returns to Noe Valley on Feb 8 [Tech Search Party]

[Photo: #blossom #spring via oiseaul]

This Week In Noe Valley: Twerking At Cardio-tone, Last Days Of Anna Madrigal In Noe, Shuttle Bus Riders Dish

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

• Cardio-tone adds classy fitness classes via Fitmob such as Weapons of Ass Reduction and Twerkout Conditioning [7x7]
• 40% of shuttle bus riders say they'd leave SF without the chartered buses - and 40% live in the Mission, Castro, Nob Hill and Noe Valley [SF Gate] 
• Armistead Maupin's newest and last Tales of the City book is set largely in Noe [Guardian]
• Shareable's Top 15 How-tos of all time includes Noe Valley's own Elizabeth Crane's How to Start a Farmer's Market [Shareable]
• The lowdown on December home sales in Noe [Downing & Co.]
• "#art #noevalley #barf" [molly6000]

[Photo: Sunset in Noe - startafire]

This Week in Noe Valley: What Noe Is Reading, New Heights For Church St. Homes, More Kids Clothes Coming To 24th St

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

• Bay castle cleaners getting "sustainable (work)wear for children." CEOs are so young these days. [@nickoneil] - preview of TugTug here
• Designer home on Church fetches $3.225 million [SocketSite]
• What Noe Valley is reading [Folio Books]
• Single family homes In Noe Valley have appreciated an average of 9% per year for the past five years [Jackson Fuller]
• Linguist and Noe Valley resident Geoff Nunberg weighs in on techies and the Google Bus [NPR]

[Photo:  Dolls in the window at Heroine on 24th St. - embem30]

Pictures Or It Didn't Happen: Skiing in Noe Valley

“It started as a thoroughly mundane Wednesday afternoon in Noe Valley in 1976. Chuck Cihak was in a garage on hilly Alvarado Street, watching a friend work on a car, when he heard the unusual sound of ice hitting the ground.” So begins Peter Hartlaub’s story of how the 22 year old Noe Valleyan skied from his house on Alvarado to Bud’s Ice Cream on 24th at Castro and into the San Francisco history books. Read the whole story and catch some other great photos here.

Update (1/15): Peter Hartlaub made a video of his interview of Chuck Cihak. Check out The Big Event for more.


[SFGate: Once-in-a-lifetime ski trip in Noe Valley, 1976]
[The Big Event: San Francisco man skied six city blocks during 1976 snowstorm]
[Photo: Lacy Atkins, The Chronicle]

This Week In Noe Valley: In Praise of Contigo and Saru, Bitcoin Kids Are Internet Famous, And Skiing Noe Valley

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

• A new website makes looking up any SF municipal code significantly easier [SF Code]
• Nice writeup of Contigo, recipe included [SFGate]
• Praise for "local favorite" Saru Sushi promises to make lines longer [SF Weekly]
• Firehouse 44 sells again - for $5.55M [Socketsite]
• Google Ferry won't block Noe Valley bus stops [CBS5]
• Still don't understand how this hauling truck ended up on a pickup on 23rd St [@ericlittell]
• Chalk blob memorializes dying Christmas tree [@mollymcmanus]
• Peter Hartlaub ‏interviews a guy who once skied six blocks downhill in Noe Valley (watch for it) [@peterhartlaub]
• A roundup of all the attention the Web has given the Bitcoin lemonade stand [Ed.--would love to hear from parents about how they feel about having kids as internet meme] [The Bold Italic]

[Photo: "Cool sky over Noe Valley SF right now." -- pkaplan]

This Year In Noe Valley: The Big Stories Of 2013

Nationally 2013 was the year of NSA spying, twerking, and the Harlem Shake among other things. Bay Area residents will also remember it as the year of BART strikes, Bat Kid and The Stick closing. But it was also the year of the selfie, which longtime Noe Valley resident and linguist Geoffrey Nunberg picked as his word of the year.

In that spirit, here's a selfie of Noe Valley for 2013 - a snapshot of the stories that preoccupied us, delighted us and sometimes drove us crazy in our little village this year:

Changes and Rebirth on 24th and Church Streets
Lots of businesses opened and closed around Noe this year, including some very old ones on 24th St. The Noe Valley Deli was reborn as Griddlefresh. The second When Modern Was space turned into a Candy Bar. The 28-year-old Phoenix bookstore became Folio Books. Sway closed. Bliss Bar burned and remains closed. Bay Castle Cleaners vacated. LOLA left for the avenues and is now a nail salon with a stereo store next door. Caskhouse opened. Happy Donuts got a new sign. Swatdee will become an Indian restaurant. Over on Church Street, Dermalounge departed and was replaced with La Tira wax studio, La Ciccia added La Nebbia, and the mystery restaurant remains a mystery.

Real Estate Anxiety Escalates
With the Twitter IPO and home sales averaging above $1.5 million, the biggest thing on many peoples' minds was OMGWTF?! And will I ever be able to buy/move/rent/live here again? The answer from the Magic 8 Ball: Reply hazy try again, Cannot predict now and Ask again later.

The Google Bus Wars Rage On
What started as just an irritation for some Noe Valley residents has turned into a full-blown clash of the classes and an emblem for many of why Silicon Valley techno riche startup culture is ruining SF. This could get worse before it gets better.

Crime Is A Worry
Noe Valley might feel like a little village sometimes but we had plenty of big crime to worry about this year including a brutal beating, armed robbery, a hatchet attack, phone grabbing, a high-speed police chase, lots of theft like this, the return of the package thief and a bomb threat. Put your phone away, lock your doors and keep your eyes open, folks.

The Town Square Is Happening
The Noe Valley Farmer's Market turned 10 this year – and to ensure it will be around for another 100+ years, a group of Noe residents convinced the city to buy the Ministry parking lot and turn it into a green space and permanent home for the NV Farmer's Market. Woot!

What's Ahead in 2014
2013 is over but there's also a lot to look forward to in 2014. The greening and repaving of Cesar Chavez will be done soon which should make the commute along that corridor easier. Noe residents have been wishing for better things than the blighted Real Foods storefront – and in 2014 we may get that wish. Scott Wiener and Carol Yenne went to Utah and met with Nutraceutical Corp, and learned that the company plans to demolish the Real Foods building next year and construct an unspecified replacement that won't include one of their own stores. Also ahead: Noe's Bar will become a neighborhood restaurant and local hangout called Horner's Corner by the time the Super Bowl arrives. And the year will end with a District 8 supervisor race. Now we just need some rain.

Here's to a safe, fun and prosperous 2014. Happy New Year, Noe Valley!