Short Cuts
Lights!
Remember when there were no traffic lights in Potrero Hill? Well, those days are gone. The community’s second set of lights are up at the intersection of 16th and De Haro streets, harbingers of the new police presence at that corner, as well as the intensifying commuter traffic to and from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Mission Bay campus. Traffic lights, two Starbucks, how long will it be before a drive-in opens up? Let’s hope it’s a theater… One of the reasons for the new stop lights may be last month’s opening of the Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building at 1450 Third Street. The facility doubles UCSF’s cancer research space, and will bring 400 scientists and support staff who have been dispersed at UCSF’s Parnassus Heights and Mount Zion sites together in one place. Patients won’t be seen at the building, which is chockfull of laboratory equipment, computers, and white coats.
What Recession?
We may be in a recession, but that’s not stopping businesses, some of them aimed at the luxury market, from wading into the sluggish stream of commerce. In May, Oralia’s Café opened for breakfast and lunch in Third Street’s American Industrial Center. The eatery offers tasty deli sandwiches, pastries, fresh salads, and the like…Obsolete, a high-end vintage furniture and tchochke vendor launched with great fan fare - members of the Getty family were on hand – on 17th and Vermont streets…Vintage Vantage Shirt Shop & Hug Emporium recently opened on 18th Street, between Carolina and Arkansas streets. The shop peddles new and custom screen-printed tees and hoodies, as well as vintage shirts emblazoned with old-school logos, such as Air Jordan circa 1984, and band artwork, like Debbie Gibson and Bruce Springsteen. The 1980s Adidas Run DMC number costs $6,500, which is enough to send old-timers digging in their closets for those Grateful Dead and Rolling Stone shirts...Horatius, a food and sundry emporium that offers $10 chocolate bars, and all manner of gourmet coffee, pasta, and oils, edible and not, is now available on Kansas Street, not far from what would seem to be a Goliath-like competitor, Whole Foods…Kafe 99sqft, whose name refers to its owner’s German roots and the size of the space it occupies, opened in the Active Space building on 18th and Treat streets. The café specializes in organic German pastries. Active Space serves as a kind of business incubator, offering low-cost leases for flexible time periods…Rhode Island Street-based NileGuide has launched an iPhone application that allows users interactive access to customized travel guides. In addition to browsing tailored itineraries, users can explore each element in their trip list, whether it’s a hotel, activity, restaurant, or nightlife spot, along with local insights, photos, and contact information…and the next time you’re in Oakland check-out Farley’s east, on 33 Grand Avenue.
Shootings
Three people were wounded in a shooting last month just as the first day of summer school was letting out at International Studies Academy. All three suffered wounds that weren’t life threatening. The injured included a youth who was shot three times, in the foot, leg, and buttocks, and was taken by ambulance to San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH). Another victim, a summer school student at the high school, was grazed by a bullet or rock, and also ended up at SFGH. Police arrested the suspected getaway driver, Jacquez Tucker, 18, and recovered two guns at the 18th and De Haro streets scene. Another half-dozen youth were seen running through the path on 19th Street between De Haro and Rhode Island streets immediately after the incidence. An argument apparently sparked the shooting, which prompted students who were leaving the school to run inside, and the building was locked-down. Academy staff knew there were turf tensions at the campus, since summer school hosts students from five different neighborhoods, but neither the young man who was shot, nor Tucker, were students at the school. Four hundred students from high schools around the City attend summer school at the Academy.
Parks
After multiple rounds of community input, Mariposa Park has been redesigned to include a mix of Cork Oaks, Coast Live Oaks and Buckeyes, as well more citrus, such as lemon verbena. Crocosmia was added because its red flower attracts butterflies. Vines, including Jasmine, were incorporated into the trellis, and more ground planting and lawn area were added to the plaza. A place for public art in the plaza has been identified, subject to funding. The complete design can be seen at www.sfgov.org/site/sfra_page.asp?id=5597...San Francisco police and park rangers are now actively patrolling McKinley Square for off-leash dogs. The patrol will include leashed police dogs, at the ready for some serious butt-sniffing?
Fight the Power
Tired of having to deal with citizens and local politicians, various interests are peddling state legislation that would defang grass root campaigns. Assembly Bill 1271, which may be backed by SFGH, would vastly reduce local government’s ability to stop the development of helipads. And the Taxpayers Right to Vote Act, which may appear on the 2010 ballot, would require local governments to obtain a two-thirds vote before offering electricity supplies to their residents under citizen-choice aggregation. That bad boy is backed by Pacific Gas and Electric Company, and features the oddity of imposing a two-thirds vote requirement based on majority rule. Venue shopping has always been popular among interest groups, with the nefariousness-level of each effort determined by one’s perspective. In these cases both power grabs stink, and should be quickly rejected by legislators and voters alike…And speaking of power, Supervisor Sophie Maxwell is hoping that Bay Area Rapid Transit board member Lynette Sweet will replace her in next year’s District 10 election.
Correction
Last month’s View incorrectly reported that Chet Roman had been elected to the Starr King Openspace board, when in fact a recount of the final tally placed Webb Green on the board instead (“Starr King Elects Board”). Regrets to Chet, and congratulations to Webb.
