And They’re Off
Last month District 10 Board of Supervisors candidate Mike Lin filed Form 470 with the San Francisco Ethics Commission pledging not to raise or spend $2,000 on his campaign. Lin has secured the 20 nominating signatures from registered voters in District 10 necessary to be placed on the November ballot. June 9 is the last date for candidates to submit required paperwork to be election eligible… The price of rental housing rapidly increased this year, according to the Office of the Controller, with AI-jobs drawing highly paid workers into the City. The 94107 ZIP code, which encompasses parts of South-of-Market as well as Dogpatch and Potrero Hill, had the largest year-over-year rise, with estimated median rents jumping 26 percent to $5,556 in April this year.
Staircase Construction
Construction of the 22nd Street Staircase – a hillside route to access the Potrero Hill Recreation Center – will begin this month, with completion expected by the end of the year “Weather is always a question mark,” said Julie Christensen, consultant to Friends of the Potrero Hill Recreation Center. We should be OK for the next four months at least…not 100 percent sure how difficult it will be to deal with the rocky hillside until we start digging. We know it will be tough.” The staircase will traverse an almost 30 percent rocky grade. During erection the hillside will be blocked off. “We are asking people to please refrain from cutting through the site during construction to avoid damage or injury and added cost and delays. It will be so wonderful when completed!” said Christensen. “Residents remain excited and supportive. We had…a 300-foot radius notification. Not a single objection was raised, just one neighbor’s wish for expansion of the project.”
Hill Bottom
As it enters its final act, Bottom of the Hill’s 35-year history as a music venue is being turned into a feature-length documentary film by San Franciscan Kevin Smokler and Albuquerque filmmaker Christopher Boone. The project partners first worked together co-directing Vinyl Nation, a 2020 movie about the resurgence of vinyl records. “The heart of this documentary is the story of Ramona Downey, Kathleen Owen, and Lynn Schwarz, the co-owners of Bottom of the Hill, their staff, and how they welcome both artists and audiences to a space that’s known as one of the world’s best places to see live music,” said Boone. According to Smokler, a conversation about that topic gave him the idea for the movie; the club’s announcement that 2026 would be their final year wasn’t the impetus to begin recording. “Still, it speeds up our production schedule. We plan to film four times this year, by season. Of course we’ll film on New Year’s Eve, for Bottom of the Hill’s last show,” said Smokler. “Bottom of the Hill is a huge part of Potrero Hill’s history. It’s made the Hill a part of the City that the whole country knows about. We want to give everyone involved credit for that.”
What’d You Say?
A new University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) hearing institute will be built in Mission Bay that, upon 2029 completion, will consolidate hearing loss-related medical care and research under one roof. The UCSF Bakar Ear and Hearing Institute will be housed in a five-story, 150,000-square foot building at Nelson Rising Lane and Fifth Street. Construction is slated to begin later this year. The facility will expand UCSF’s ability to treat hearing loss – a common and often under-recognized condition among older adults – as that population grows, and its potential link to dementia. No word as to whether the edifice will be ear shaped.
Beyond Boxes
Bed Bath & Beyond will move back to its previous Ninth Street location following its April acquisition of The Container Store. The repositioning is part of a chainwide “store changing,” with 98 of the Store’s outposts across the U.S. overhauling their offerings to incorporate Bed Bath & Beyond products. The move marks a rejuvenation of the 555 Ninth Street shopping center – despite it’s generally unpleasant parking situation – with Sprouts Farmers Market expected to shoot up in the old Nordstrom Rack space next year.
Biological Truth
The following is a verbatim reprint of an actual U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) press release: Secretary Scott Turner Moves to Restore Biological Truth and Sanity to HUD’s Policies, Washington, DC: Secretary Scott Turner today announced a new proposed rule to restore biological reality and protect women across all HUD programs. “God created two sexes: male and female. The Left’s war on biological reality through radical gender ideology will no longer take precedence over the safety and security of America’s most vulnerable women,” said Secretary Scott Turner. “This proposed rule will bring biological truth and sanity back to HUD’s policies.” Under the proposed guidance, HUD would remove radical definitions of gender identity, sexual orientation, and gender, replacing them with sex across nearly 50 regulations. HUD’s Equal Access Rule would be adjusted to protect women’s shelters and replace the prohibition on discrimination against “gender identity” in all Community Planning and Development programs. Common terms such as father, mother, man, woman, boy, and girl would be defined consistent with biological reality across HUD’s regulations.
