A proposal to open a cannabis dispensary at 667 Mississippi Street will be considered by the San Francisco Planning Commission on February 6 after a neighborhood group voiced concerns over the number of children living on and passing by the block. Friends of Mississippi Street, which formed last summer when the dispensary concept surfaced, has… Keep Reading
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a collaborative effort led by the National Audubon Society and Cornell Lab of Ornithology to gather data on local bird populations throughout the world. Launched in 1998, the GBBC takes place annually over the four-day Presidents’ Day weekend. This year, that’s February 14 to 17. Anyone can participate… Keep Reading
Last month I was privileged to travel to Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. The isle is a speck in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean, 2,190 miles from the Chilean coast. The Pitcairn Islands are 1,290 miles away; Tahiti, 2,700 miles distant. It’s one of the world’s most isolated inhabited islands, with perhaps… Keep Reading
News Year The New Year wasn’t kind to print publications, starting with a sharp decline in the number of neighborhood newspapers informing San Franciscans. The Castro Courier, New Fillmore News, and Westside Observer all suspended their operations in December or January. “Extra, Extra, Read All About It!” is quickly morphing into “Nothing to See Here!”… Keep Reading
Editor, Apropos of recent View articles about new residential developments, am I missing something? I’d think that building all luxury housing will also help create affordable housing, since that’d free up the previous units from the new owners. The previous units are probably not as luxurious. Raymond ChuiPennsylvania Avenue Editor, The January issue… Keep Reading
Located a few steps from Muni’s 20th and Third Street T-Line stop, the Sea Star is a contemporary bar with a long history. The establishment’s décor – a canoe hangs above the pool table, there’s seaweed-esque wallpaper, a diving helmet sits behind the bar – pays homage to its name and Bay proximity. Its extensive… Keep Reading
Cycling Potrero Hill can demand more than a strenuous climb or two…or three. It can be an adventure, intended or not. I first discovered the Hill as a bike messenger after moving to San Francisco in 1982. A notable neighborhood feature is that while it’s a hill, it’s shaped like a mountain. Most San Francisco… Keep Reading
There are roughly 1,600 species of native bees in California. The insects are active when their favored flowers – those that provide nectar and pollen to support reproduction – are available. When those florae aren’t present, neither are the bees. Although some bees are active during the rainy season, most are either still developing or… Keep Reading
The San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH) offers medical care to people experiencing homelessness throughout District 10. Two programs, Street Medicine and Shelter Health, play a predominate role in these efforts. According to Rachael Kagan, DPH communication director, Street Medicine is mobile, serving people sheltering in encampments, roads, parks, and under bridges. Street Medicine… Keep Reading
PlayGround, a resident company and founder of Potrero Stage, located on 18th Street, is in its twenty-fifth season. The theater group started 2020 with its third annual PlayGround Solo Performance Festival, presented through February 9. “Showcasing eleven creator-performers, including eight Bay Area premieres, this festival pairs two one-act solo performances together into full double-bill evenings… Keep Reading
Now through 2/9/20 SundayTheater: Playground Solo Performance FestivalThe festival features 12 double-bill performances by 11 local artists, curated to celebrate the intersectionality and diversity that exemplifies the San Francisco Bay Area. Tickets $31.50 to $46.50 with multiple accessibility options available. Potrero Stage, 1695 18th Street. For more information and to purchase tickets. Now through 2/13/20… Keep Reading
My Gym’s Dogpatch location, which offered fitness classes for children from six months to six years-old, permanently closed at the end of last year. Part of a franchise that has more than 600 locations worldwide, it’d operated at 901 Minnesota Street since 2004. Owner Marci Briskin said her own children, Amanda and Jonah Briskin, were… Keep Reading
Decathlon, one of the world’s largest sporting goods retailers, opened an outlet at Potrero Center last fall. It’s the French merchants’ third Bay Area location, joining a large Emeryville store and a small space at 735 Market Street. The 40-year-old company fancies itself as the Trader Joe’s of sporting goods, integrating in-house design, production… Keep Reading
Proposals to relocate the 115,000 square foot San Francisco Flower Mart to 901 16th Street and 1200 17th Street, known as the “Corovan” site, or to Indiana Street between Cesar Chavez Street and Islais Creek, appear to be gaining traction, while efforts to repot the blossom businesses at the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market, in… Keep Reading
My wife, Debbie, and I often marvel at the steady stream of airline mileage points we collect just because we purchase items through our credit cards. The freebie enables us to periodically fly to Michigan to visit Debbie’s family at little or no cost. It’s a regular reminder of the adage “the rich get richer.” … Keep Reading
Over the past decade and a half Potrero Hill has become denser and more lux. The latest development wave may have started in 2007, when Whole Foods moved into a 165-unit complex at 450 Rhode Island Street. In 2016, Martin Building Company started constructing 177 apartments at 88 Arkansas Street, across the street from Jackson… Keep Reading
Al Giddings first opened Bamboo Reef, a scuba diving shop located at Fourth and Brannan streets, in 1961. Ten years later Sal Zammitti bought the store. In 2016 father and son duo, Mark and Brian Stanley, purchased the shop, which also has an outlet in Monterey. “I have to tip my hat to Sal for… Keep Reading
1/4/20 Saturday through 1/19/20 SundayFamily: Complimentary Ice Skating LessonsLearn from professional skate instructors, offered to those over three years-old, skate rental included. Reservations required, available one week in advance. Limited to 50 people per session. Free. 8:30 a.m., weekends through January 19. Union Square Ice Rink, Geary and Powell streets. For more information and to reserve… Keep Reading
Dogpatch, once thought of as Potrero Hill’s ugly stepsister, not long ago emerged as San Francisco’s up-and-coming neighborhood. The area is in the midst of a growth spurt the likes of which it’s never before seen in its one hundred-plus year history. Cranes dominate the landscape, multi-unit buildings sprout from long-empty lots and cinderblock warehouses,… Keep Reading
Editor, I live at 19th and Mississippi streets. Ganim’s is at 18th and Mississippi. Don’t let Damon Guthrie write any other comic strips without proofreading them. In the December issue strip he stated twice that it’s on Mission Street. That’s not a typo, it’s just a dumb mistake. Josephine Firth19th Street Editor, Thank you for… Keep Reading
Murder One woman is dead, another in custody, after a stabbing last month that occurred on the 1400 block of Kansas Street, according to the San Francisco Police Department. The victim, identified by the San Francisco Medical Examiner as Latanette McDaniel, 35, was transported to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. Officers arrested Vernisha… Keep Reading
Earlier this fall, the San Francisco Board of Education unanimously denied the New School of San Francisco’s charter school re-authorization request. Launched on Potrero Hill in 2015, currently serving kindergarten through fifth graders, New School had applied to expand to the eighth grade. The Board rejected that appeal and refused to reauthorize the school’s existing… Keep Reading
Townsend Street from Third to Eighth streets – an area encompassing the Fourth Street Caltrain depot – is being significantly renovated to improve safety and transit speed, with the installation of Muni bus loading zones, protected bikeways, and an 1,000-foot-long raised sidewalk where no safe footpath had previously existed. The Townsend Street Corridor Improvement Project… Keep Reading
Over the past ten years California’s four large investor-owned utilities (IOUs) have been rocked by disturbances. The 2010 San Bruno natural gas line explosion was followed by more than 2,000 wildfires in the ensuing decade, sparked by IOU equipment. The 2017 Camp Fire, caused by a Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) transmission line, was the… Keep Reading