This Week In Noe Valley: La Bou Redux, Attempted Rape Report and a Week of Wild Skies

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

• La Boulange to return as a more “rustic” La Boulangerie de San Francisco in 6 locations – including the one on 24th Street [SF Business Times]
• Wildfires bring a week of wild, colorful, and fiery pink skies [erikawas, okaminyc, williedills, @pierre_vannier, catrionabalfour]
• In Noe Valley, laundromats are also a swanky jazz bar… [@stevenplatt]
• St Philips Parish Festival is the weekend – with sports and beer [@ESBAle]
• Spotted: Succulent plant pot with baby doll legs [rollthebarrel]
• Yep, that was AC/DC you heard from AT&T park this week [@discomaz]
• A foreclosure in Noe Valley for $1.8M: Is the market cooling off? [SocketSite]
• Technicolor dream house for sale on Cesar Chavez [Curbed]
• ICYMI: Common Scents is closing [NVSF]
• Noe Valley now just an overpriced Google bus stop [@KristinHenry]
• Attempted rape reported at Spring Pilates & Yoga Saturday AM; thwarted by civilian hero [@mysticflavor]
• It’s still tomato season at the Farmer’s Market [cifilove]
• An interview with Noe resident Zarah Saleh, owner of Café International [Hoodline]

[Photo: Fire skies via mbd2]

Closing: Common Scents

We got the news that Common Scents, the tiny but popular cosmetics store next to the former Noe Valley Music spot, is closing at the end of the year via Twitter a few days ago – and we finally have more details. The owner is moving to Florida at the end of the year after a 44 year run (!) and will continue to sell a similar collection of lotions and potions online starting in March 2016. In the meantime, as the sandwich board out front says, three more months to shop.

Sad to see another shop on that stretch close – and here’s hoping something interesting and useful takes it place.

This Week in Noe Valley: Cops Behaving Badly, Bom Dia Does Bagels, and Burning Man Mementos

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

• What’s wrong with this house on Douglass? [Curbed]
• Two police officers caught on surreptitious video at Happy Donuts making tasteless remarks about shootings and body cameras [KRON]
• An anonymous video interview with the guy who shot the videos [KRON]
• The officer videos have spurred a formal inquiry [KTVU]
• Alexis Persyko, Noe Valley native and awards consultant (Ratatouille, Wall-E, Toy Story 3, and Up), died in August at age 38 of colon cancer [The Wrap]
• Bom Dia Market now sells small batch bagels [JWeekly]
• Burning Man traces [@janenevins]

[Photo: San Francisco at dawn on September 11, 2015 via @skyron]

This Week In Noe Valley: Low-Flying Copters, Billy Joel, And Other Signs of Labor Day

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

• Those low-flying helicopters you've been hearing are measuring radiation levels [ABC7]
• Shameless BuzzFeed linkbait asks: Which SF Neighborhood Are You? [BuzzFeed]
• NV Democratic Club says no on Prop F, the measure banning homesharing [@NoonPropF]
• Noe Valley loses a Permastoned house on Sanchez [Curbed]
• Video Wave moves, future looks sweet [SF Chronicle]
• Spin City gets a cool new bike rack/art installation [@rollercams]
• Yep, that was the Billy Joel concert you heard this weekend [@koastrem]
• Mitchell’s Dairy Farm near 29th and Noe Streets in the late 1800s [Mitchell’s]
• Firefly makes another Best Fried Chicken list [Eater]

[Photo: Labor Day in Noe Valley via @adrianbonifacio]

NVV September 2015: 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.

September  2015

Front Page: Patxi's abandons plans for parklet to avoid a public spat with other merchants; a profile of BookMentors run by Noe Valley resident Debra Hannula; hiking trails in Glen Canyon will get an upgrade.

Letters: Letter from the lawyer for The Ark toy store explaining why the company went bankrupt (online retail, smartphones and financing were the cited culprits); Omnivore Books and Noe Valley Pet Company owner Celia Sack urges you to shop local if you love a livable and vibrant neighborhood instead of realty offices, banks and nail salons. Also: RIP Noe Valley artist Royce Harris Vaughn.

Features: Diana Barrand, co-owner of Le Zinc dies of cancer at 57; the restaurant will endure. Clipper Street repairs and traffic-calming plans are back on the drawing board for new ideas.

Cost of Living in Noe: The $7 million home that sold in June tied for the most expensive sale in Noe Valley. Average rent for a 1 bedroom is $3,500+.

Short Takes: Coyotes were spotted in Noe Valley in August; no pictures.

Rumors and Short Items: The Ark filed for bankruptcy, despite 3 years left on the lease; Cradle of the Sun is moving to West Portal and lots of items are on sale - doors close Sept 13; Noe Valley Music is becoming a nail salon (ugh!!); Martin Mattox is closed; Video Wave has moved into a shared space with Buttons Candy Bar; Pascal Rigo will be taking back several La Boulanges under a new concept including the one in Noe Valley [Ed note - we have not seen any other confirmed reports of this]; The Noe Valley Town Square will break ground in January; There's no Harvest Fest this year but Just for Fun is hoping to hold a Fall Fest on Oct 24 instead; No news at Real Foods despite the presentation in January; and improvements are slated for Noe Courts including benches and landscaping, to be completed by Thanksgiving.

[The Noe Valley Voice]

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]

Moving: Video Wave to Relocate Inside Buttons Candy Bar

Finally some good news on the small retail front instead of another closure or eviction: Video Wave of Noe Valley, which has been renting videos and DVDs at 1431 Castro St for 27 (!) years has found a new home – centrally located on 24th Street. A sharp-eyed reader sent this from the Video Wave Facebook page:

"We are excited and relieved to tell you that we signed a lease today with Buttons Candy Bar at 4027 24th street, 2 blocks from our present location. That means we have a place to move to, and to stay in business in!. We will be closed from Monday August 24th until our re-opening in the new location, which is planned for Tuesday September 1st! 

Stay tuned! We've received great support, enough financial help to get us into the space. We might have to raise money to help with the move, a new store space, and to offset the time we are closed, but let's cross that bridge later. For now, relief! And we get to get away from the Landlord That Shall Not Be Named!"

Nice to see owner Gwen Sanderson and the Video Wave team find a new home, and  the candy + movie combo could be a hit.

Video Wave of Noe Valley
4027 24th Street
(415)550-7577

[Photo: Holdn2aces]

We Live Here

Sure the fires in northern California are producing the smoke that is streaming at the Bay Area to produce crazy beautiful sunsets and sunrises. Reader Julie S reminds us all that San Francisco is an amazing backdrop whatever the natural wonder.