Twenty years in the future, 2040. “So, Grandpa, what was it like during the pandemonium?” “That’s pandemic, sweetie.” Robert squinted into the iAir; his eight-year old granddaughter’s face pixilated into a rectangle, then a triangle, until finally settling back into being recognizably Mona. “How’re things on Mars?” “Good! Wanna see?” the view into the…
Mission Bay School Designed San Francisco Unified School District staff presented design details for the Mission Bay elementary school and Linked Learning Hub planned for Block 14 to the Mission Bay Citizens’ Advisory Committee (CAC) at a virtual meeting in December. The design was enthusiastically received by CAC members, and prompted remarks that school construction…
Slow Streets Phase III of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Slow Streets program launched last month, with the addition of Minnesota Street from Mariposa to 22nd Street, 20th Street from San Bruno to Pennsylvania, Arkansas from 23rd to 17th streets, and an extension of the Mariposa Slow Street from Texas to Mississippi. Enjoy! Food Union…
Jackson Park Bonded Two thousand postcards sent to Mayor London Breed calling for Jackson Park to be included in the 2020 Health and Recovery Bond that’ll appear on the November ballot resulted in the inclusion of $10 million towards park improvements in the proposed measure…one-fifth of Crowded Fire Theater’s acting ensemble has fled San Francisco,…
Park and Rec Hassles Kids Four San Francisco Park and Recreation staffers took the time to hassle a teenager, two adolescents, and two eight-year-olds for playing soccer at the Potrero Hill Recreation Center last month. The officials accused the group of not being a “coronavirus pod,” even though two were siblings, and all have been…
Flowers At an April Potrero Boosters online video meeting the San Francisco Flower Mart design team presented its latest plans for 901 16th Street and 1200 17th Street. According to Brian Liles, Jackson Liles Architecture principal, the existing water tower at the back of the site would be removed and a modular office constructed on…
Merchants The Good Life Grocery is limiting customers at its Potrero Hill store to five at a time. Raises have been given to all employees, along with bonuses and unlimited paid sick leave…San Francisco Natural Medicine is seeing chronic patients who receive injections, as well as offering telemedicine…Rickshaw Bagworks is selling masks, which can be…
Coronavirus COVID-19 triggered a run on grocery stores, and a collapse of other economic activity. Early in the shelter-in-place period, Good Life Grocery’s co-owner, Kayren Hudiburgh, said the store’s Bernal Heights outlet has been swamped with shoppers. “They are buying the usual…lots of toilet paper, water, disinfectant, juices, chips and tons of canned food. Lots…
Flower Moola Last month Kilroy Realty Corporation, the company developing a large mixed-used complex on top of the current home of the San Francisco Flower Mart at Sixth and Brannon streets, bought 901 16th and 1200 17th Street for $99 million. Kilroy has launched a “community process,” with an eye towards siting the Mart at…
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!”…
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…
Shots A 27-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries last month when he and another male were shot while walking in the area of 17th and Mississippi streets at around 10:45 p.m. on a weekday. The younger fellow was taken to a hospital; the older bloke was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. No suspects have been identified…In another…
American Patriot On a lovely summer day last month, Farley’s was packed with caffeinated conversationalists and computer-focused singles, spilling onto the outside parklet. Suddenly, a voice bellowed, “Go back to where you’re from! You’re ruining our country!” A White guy sporting shades, a straw hat, and accompanying white mustache and soul patch started loudly haranguing…
Industrial Plant Potrero Hill’s northern neighbor, the Design District, is host to both an increasing concentration of high-end condominiums and specialized manufacturing. Not long ago, Tempo Automation opened on Alabama Street, producing prototype circuit boards. The future is unfolding right before our eyes. Blink once, and family-owned pharmacies and soda fountains are gone; blink twice,…
Bagels and Cream Daily Driver, a café, creamery and bagel bakery, opened last month in a 7,000-square-foot, two story, space in Dogpatch’s American Industrial Center. One of the owners, David Kreitz, developed the bagel recipe, which apparently is not quite Montreal nor New York style, but an excellent vehicle for the establishment’s cream cheese and…
Hotel for Warriors The Golden State Warriors want to add lodging and condominiums next to the Chase Center basketball arena under construction in Mission Bay. The basketball team plans to propose a 142-room hotel and up to 25 upper-floor condos at the northeast corner of the 11-acre project site, near the intersection of South Street…
John Martin and Eugene de Sabla started out as gold miners along the Yuba River, harnessing hydroelectricity to power their excavations. After successfully building hydro plants in Nevada City and elsewhere in Northern California, in 1900 they created the Bay Counties Power Company, constructing a 140-mile transmission line, the world’s longest at that time, to fire…
Crime The San Francisco Police Department’s Bayview Station has a new captain: Valerie Matthews. Captain Matthews has been with SFPD for 28 years; most recently with the Major Crimes unit. She was posted to Bayview three years ago, and since then has noticed an alarming increase in the homeless population and street garbage. She’s working…
Parks Reviewed The latest Controller’s Office scorecard on park maintenance revealed a mixed bag for green spaces in District 10, which as a whole was rated at the lowest end of the upkeep spectrum. The Utah-18th Street Mini Park and Potrero Hill Recreation Center appear to be in great shape, with rankings that exceed 97…
Hilltop Hilltop Grocery, at 1309 20th Street, is being absorbed into what’ll become a two-bedroom single family home. The store, which’d been owned by 90-something-year old Linda Wong and her late husband since 1958, closed two years ago, after being only intermittently open the previous decade. A residence has existed above the retail space since…
Burglaries According to San Francisco Police Department officer Pat McNichol there’s been (another) uptick in automobile burglaries and break-ins, particularly around Illinois and 22nd streets. And earlier this fall there was a robbery on 20th and Connecticut streets. If you call 911 from your cell phone, make sure to give your location. Electric The University of…
Serpentine Subject to Shakedown Recently, Serpentine, in Dogpatch, got an email from a person calling herself a “PR manager” with the subject line “Reputation.” The sender, who said her name was “Natasha Nixon,” claimed she’d been hired by one of Serpentine’s competitors to share negative information, such as “awful photos of the food containing hair…
Recess Over Recess announced that it’ll close at the end of this month; the building the play business occupied recently sold again, and the asking rent for the space is increasing another 35 percent. Not so long ago Potrero Hill was home to do-it-yourself teddy bear factories, mom and pop ice cream stores, and video…
Out-of-State Politics Potrero Hill residents Steve Phillips and Susan Sandler are leading efforts to invest $10 million to support Stacey Abrams’ quest to become Georgia’s first African-American woman governor. Phillips is a former San Francisco Unified School District board member and author of Brown is the New White: How the Demographic Revolution Has Created a…
Nabbed Last month, the San Francisco Police Department arrested a prolific automobile burglar near the Potrero Annex-Terrace Housing Complex. According to Officer Patrick McNichol, the suspect was nabbed as a result of solid constabulary work and luck…Prompted by an increase in pedestrian activity, an all-way stop has been installed at 18th and Minnesota streets. Walk…