This Week in Noe Valley: Super Blood Moon and Mayoral Forum Gets Local

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

• Super blood blue moon over Sutro [@echeng]
• Packed SF mayoral forum hosted at Noe Valley Town Square [@nbcjeanelle]
• Video of part of the mayoral forum featuring Amy Weiss [YouTube]
• This billboard [stylerehabsf]
• No love for Noe Valley residents at a Scott Weiner Town Hall [@weel]
• Cool local art [bruce_catz]

[Photo: Noe Valley pups via sniffsanfrancisco] 

This Week in Noe Valley: Hamlet Closing, New Vietnamese Pop Up and More Real Foods Drama

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

• The remaining Real Foods Company stores in Cole Valley and in the outer Richmond close abruptly [Hoodline]
• A Noe Valley native muses about what might have been at Real Foods on 24th St [SF Examiner]
• Easy Breezy’s Castro outpost relocates to “safer” West Portal [ABC7]
• This could get interesting: Diamond Heights Shopping Center on the edge of Noe gets new investors/owners [CPExecutive]
• Meet the mayoral candidates at the Noe Valley Ministry on January 31 [Noe Valley Democratic Club]
• Is District 8 Supervisor Sheehy’s campaign in disarray? [SF Chronicle]
• Hmmm… Hamlet for sale and will close soon [Eater via @NVSF]
• New Vietanamese lunch pop up launches at the Noe Valley Farmer’s Market [NVFM]

[Photo: Winter SF via shalaco] 

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: Earthquake, The End of Christmas and Historic Homes Being Demolished Illegally

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

• This is why we can’t have nice things [@omnivorebooks]
• The end of Christmas [greenstreetphoto]
• Yep, that was an earthquake in early 2018 and Noe Valley felt it [@SFChronicle]
• What the first morning of 2018 looked like [mholshev]
• We’ve been getting some spectacular sunrises [rogercar and seantimberlake]
• Apply to exhibit at the Noe Valley authors festival [@noewordweek]
• Farewell Cliché Noe Gifts and Dani Sheehan Meyer  [Hoodline]
• Historic homes are being torn down illegally around the city, including Noe Valley [SF Chronicle]
• Wait, Rachel Swann, the current president of the NVMPA, is in violation of Conditional Use? [Noe Valley Notes]
• Jack Epstein, owner of Chocolate Covered, on the global cacao shortage [ABC13]
• Noe Valley man rents out van to people (including Google employees) desperate for housing [SF Business Times]

[Photo: Noe Valley Brothers via barakkassar]

This Year in Noe Valley: The Big Stories of 2017

2017 - it’s time to GTFO. Nationally, this was the year of fake news, alternative facts, covfefe, rampant tribalism and #metoo to name just a few of the things that defined our zeitgeist. In California, 2017 is was a year of record-setting rains followed by devastating firestorms. In San Francisco, it was a year of the Warriors winning (again), Mayor Lee dying abruptly and #resist. In other words, this year was exhausting. Things in Noe Valley were a little happier closer to home (hey, it’s still Noe Valley and we are soooooooo lucky to live here), but there was still a lot going on. Here were the biggest stories of 2017 in Noe Valley that preoccupied us, made us smile and that sometimes drove us crazy.

Nature Is Wild
In 2017 Noe Valleyeons spotted coyotes in the hood (including a dead one at Douglass park) and a wayward mountain lion was captured and relocated. We also had some pretty insane rain, heatwaves (115+ degrees reported, but more likely only 106) and lots of spare-the-air fallout from the NorCal and SoCal fires including spectacular sunrises and sunsets. The high point this year for natural phenomenon was the super cool eclipse. Just a little reminder that we’re just all just animals on a hot rock, folks. (Photo via hugitosf) 

Monster Homes and the Ensuing Eviction Backlash
In case you missed it, it’s waaay expensive to live here. The new high mark was the record-setting T-House sold for $12.5 million (for reference, it sold for a record-setting $6.1 million in 2011). Many other $5 and $6 million dollar homes sold for all cash this year. And megahomes are still being built. The dark side of all this: David Talbot posited that the real estate madness in SF is killing off the elderly, including Carl Jensen on 26th Street. However, a Noe Valley woman was the first to beat an Ellis Act eviction in San Francisco - perhaps a sign that evicting the elderly is finally uncool.

Endings, Beginnings and Coming Soon
Lots and lots of retail stores and restaurants closed this year and previously empty storefronts remained empty. Among the departures this year were Good News, Cliché Noe, Pasta Gina, Green11, Bom Dia, Radio Shack, Caskhouse (which is soon turning into a new burger joint)  and Cardio-Tone’s 24th St location. La Nebbia on Church closed but thankfully has been replaced by Ardiana pizzeria. Uma Casa replaced Incanto/Porcellino to rave reviews. Urban Remedy and LeCupboard opened as bougie TV dinner spots - with LeCupboard closing again in November. Overall, restaurants dominated the new business scene, with little pop-ups (like Rafe Mandelman’s campaign headquarters) and realtor offices filling in the rest. The oldest butcher shop in the West continued the tradition with the opening of Baron’s Quality Meats, in the old Drewe’s Meats space on Church. Also of note, Amazon ate Whole Foods this year, so we’ll see what that brings for our local grocery scene. Sadly, there are still around 15 empty storefronts and counting on 24th Street. But on a more upbeat note, the J Church turned 100 this year, Firefly turned 24, and Dorian D. Clair Clock Repair turned 30.

Real Foods Could Become Real Housing (Someday)
In August we got the good news that 14 years on, the Real Foods building has new owners who plan to sell it for housing. Of course, it still has to sell, there’s no clear path forward and it could take years for construction to start. But hey, at least it’s not locked down by the former absentee owners, Neutraceutical Corp. Here’s hoping it’s unblighted in our lifetime.

The Google Bus Is Here to Stay
Never mind that they’re too big for our little streets and very noisy (and this Noe Valley guy notwithstanding), San Francisco voted to make the tech commuter buses permanent. Get used to it. (Photo via photo_by_bill)

People Behaving Badly
Noe Valley was also home to some shenanigans this year like a massive meth bust (whaaa?!) and a racist White Supremacy note from a neighbor (no, it wasn’t on Nextdoor). Noe Valley was also ground zero for package thieves and car break-ins this year, judging from the volume of neighborhood police reports. One woman was so fed up with the package thief situation she wrapped her cat’s dirty kitty litter in boxes for the thieves to get back at them and made the national news for it (it’s come to this?!). The Raspberry of the Year for bad behavior, however, goes to Getzwell Pediatrics which covered up the historic Star Bakery sign with its own eyesore logo. Not cool. (Photo via @peephole) 

New and Notable 
This year we also saw some new stuff in Noe Valley - including duck art installations, lots of GoFord Bike stations and a regular pop-up sauna in the Noe Valley Town Square. Speaking of the Town Square, the space also hosted dozens of events this year including the amazing weekly Farmer’s Market, equinox drumming, dancing, movie nights, political rallies and more. Pretty amazing to see the space come to life so quickly. (Photo via leftcoastsauna)

Phew. We made it. Happy New Year, Noe Valley! Here's to a safe, fun and prosperous 2018.

Yearning for simpler times? Here were the top stories of 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012.

(Top photo via sam.a.miller)  

This Week in Noe Valley: Pasta Gina Eviction, Granny Flats Are Coming and the Holidays Are Here

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

• Pasta Gina receives a three day eviction notice [NVSF]
• The ugliest, most festive home of the holidays on the edge of Noe [ariawave]
• Chanukah Wonderland Sunday December 17 [Noe Valley Town Square]
• Petition against an LA-based chain store coming to 24th St [Change.org]
• Reindeer in Noe Valley [katelaip]
• It’s not your imagination – the air is smoky [urbanenvynyc]
• Granny flats are coming to multi-unit buildings in Noe [SF Chronicle]
• In search of the best sourdough in SF – Noe Valley Bakery gets some love [Business Insider]
• An interview with Noe Valley resident, Katherine Maher, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation [Financial Times]
• Santa is coming to town on Sunday [24on24th.com]
• The Wishing Tree is alive and well this year [lavolpettina]

[Photo: Picture perfect view via sfgrecia]

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]

NVV Dec 2017: 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.

December 2017

Front Page: 24 days of holiday fun are underway on 24th St (see the schedule at 24on24th.com);  Local tenants on Grand View win concessions from an apartment building owner and a delay until March 1; Dr. Barry Kinney, at 3969 24th St, has been practicing dentistry in Noe Valley for 50 years; Noe Valley Voice to publish a special January 2018 issue that will cover a kids photo contest and a year in review.

Letters: A neighbor writes in support of not demolishing any smaller buildings on 24th St - they're part of the "Noe Valley character;" Tears and love for the Harvey Milk story last issue; A supporter of the Nov 8th anti-Trump candlelight vigil in the Noe Valley Town Square.

Features: The City looks to provide lawyers to tenants evicted from buildings; Photos from the Noe Valley Gala, which raised $9,500 for the Town Square; RIP Debra King, a Noe Valley preschool teacher for 20 years, who died of breast cancer at her Mt. Shasta home.

Cost of Living in Noe Valley: Sales of home and condos have leveled off from the peak two years ago. Still, a Dolores St home with an elevator went for $6.5 million. The most expensive condo was a 1592 square foot apartment that sold for $1.85 million on the 1200 block of Sanchez between Clipper and 25th.

Store Trek: Stephen Moore Home Mercantile, 3845 24th St. at Vicksburg

Rumors and Tidbits: Pasta Gina is closed after both cooks quit unexpectedly - the hope is to reopen soon although the owners do want to sell the business; Caskhouse is becoming Hi-Way Burger & Fry [Ed.--Stay tuned for more info here on NVSF]; Le Cupboard has closed and the staff has quit - it's fate is uncertain; There's a giant yellow Amazon locker now blocking windows in Whole Foods; Arte Bella is a new art, clothing and jewelry boutique replacing Monroe SF on 24th St (formerly Common Scents); The Upper Hand nail and lash salon has taken over for Beauty Matters on 24th St; Navarrete's Black Belt Academy is temporarily in the old See Jane Run space while they renovate 1201 Church St; There was a meth bust in Noe last month - and a mountain lion capture; The 49ers bus that leaves from Valley Tavern to Levi Stadium for games has been running with fewer than 20 fans this season; The next Noe Valley Wine Walk is on Dec 7; There was a candlelight vigil on the anniversary of Trump's election in the Noe Valley Town Square; A film called A Spark of Nerve details a Noe Valley teen's successful nerve transfer surgery.

[The Noe Valley Voice]