I knew going into the SIT Study Abroad program in South Africa last fall that I’d be one of two white undergraduates in a group of less than a dozen students, each of whom came from a different American university. I took no issue with being a minority, rather seeing it as a learning opportunity.…
Almost every Sunday my mom, brother and I would go to the matinee at the New Potrero Theatre on 18th and Connecticut streets. We’d have our usual lunch of pasta, quickly do the dishes and be at the movie house before the 1 p.m. start. The theatre was owned and operated by a couple, Mr.…
Editor, I saw “Proposed Bike Lane on 17th Street Hits Speed Bumps” in the October issue and wanted to write as a Potrero Hill resident to say that I strongly support the plan to put protected bike lanes on 17th Street. My wife, children and I frequently bike on 17th to get to the gym,…
Last year DM Development invoked Senate Bill (SB) 35 to request streamlined review of its 11-story, 450-unit project proposed at 300 De Haro Street. Last month it was quietly entitled by the Planning Department, with numerous planning code waivers, no health and safety review. There were no hearings and no opportunity for meaningful public input. …
I’ve spent my entire life in San Francisco, am raising my family in the Western Addition, with an art studio located at the Pacific Felt Factory on 20th Street. I love my City. My biggest complaint is seeing families relocate from my hometown for their children’s education. Parents aren’t “anti-public schools”, they’re “anti-San Francisco public…
While helping a friend build a retaining wall in his backyard to prevent water from seeping into the basement, Donald J. Trump’s slogans began to make sense. “Build the Wall!” Yes, I want that wall built. “Drain the Swamp!” Exactly, that’s what we’re doing. These common affairs of humankind, necessary behaviors to ensure survival throughout…
The Black Lives Matter movement may be the largest in American history. As many as 26 million people of all colors participated in marches sparked by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and so many others. White people who thought racism was occasional hyperbole took to the streets. It brought tears to my eyes;…
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…
I’ve come to terms with the loss of Dr. Video and The Daily Scoop, 18th Street stalwarts of yesteryear. But the way San Francisco has changed more recently reveals a shift in the City’s nature, who it’s made for and how it’s being experienced. I lived on Vermont Street my whole life. When I became…
Editor, I just pulled up the View on the web as I was recounting my involvement in founding it in 1970 and there was an obituary for Ruth Passen. What a beautiful picture…does it bring back some fine memories! I recruited Ruth to do a culture page for the View in early-1971. E. Cahill Maloney…
Forty-four years ago, Goat Hill Pizza opened its outpost in our then working-class, diverse, neighborhood, quickly becoming a beacon for good food, friends, and family. Since its launch it’s grown to three locations, 100 employees, while still serving its world-renowned – or at least San Francisco-renowned – sourdough crust pies. Co-owner Philip de Andrade is…
Editor, Your March article (“Other Neighborhoods Less Enthusiastic About Adopting Green Benefit District Model”), which stated that the San Francisco Department of Public Works provided $60,000 in funding for Inner Sunset Green Benefit District formation, is incorrect. An October 31, 2017 internal DPW memorandum and contract addendum shows that funding was raised to $120,000. The document was…
Development of the 29-acre Potrero Power Station could bring much needed public services and shoreline access to our waterfront. And yet, no firm commitment to any specific community benefits that would support area growth has materialized as the project moves rapidly through environmental and design review. Although we hear affordable housing is a priority at…
I’m excited to see the A-Team of powerful women – London Breed, Kamala Harris, Dianne Feinstein, and Nancy Pelosi – representing San Francisco on the national stage. These experienced leaders, working together with young idealistic activists, gives hope that we can make progress on social justice and environmental issues. The Blue Wave was actually a…
Editor, Apropos of “View Hopes to Make it to 50, and Beyond,” in the March issue, 48 years ago two women, Babette Drefky and Emma Fleming, were instrumental in writing articles for the neighborhood paper, Hills and Dales. They asked me to join them. We made sure the articles fit on one side of one…
Friends of Jackson Park appreciates the View’s coverage of efforts to improve our neighborhood park. Our design continues to evolve as we work hard to incorporate the many needs and wishes of our diverse community. As we get closer to a final redesign, we’d like to clarify and correct points made in the April article,…
Golden State Warriors fans can claim bragging rights as supporting the “best team in the United States” for another year, after the squad’s takedown of the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2017 National Basketball Association title. But San Franciscans who support the team’s move to the City should consider what it’ll do to their neighbor, Oakland,…
In the more than 20 years I’ve lived and worked in Dogpatch I’ve seen a lot of housing, transportation and demographic changes. Through it alls the neighborhood has had a proud, firm, and correct grip on its historic, industrial and creative character. More change will occur as a result of development at Pier 70. But…
I’m not a conspiracy theorist, nor do I know what that term means. But I’ve become increasingly aware that letters to the editor in liberal, East Coast newspapers are predominantly anti-President Donald Trump. To that, I say: sad, horrible, unfair. I also ask two key questions: Are the liberal, East Coast newspapers not receiving letters…
Last month’s The Potrero View’s coverage of Forest City’s Pier 70 “Mega Project” extolled the many benefits of the 28-acre development, with little consideration of its negative impacts. Contrary to what was reported, the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) identified nine “significant and unavoidable” impacts. A massive increase in Dogpatch’s population, along with large numbers…
Development plans for Pier 70 call for five apartment buildings, six stories or taller, to surround the last piece of historic Irish Hill, a rocky outcrop backed by tall eucalyptus trees, easily seen from Illinois Street between 20th and 22nd streets. If those designs are realized, Irish Hill would be only partially seen through openings between the structures from Illinois, 21st – a proposed street –…
An opinion piece in last month’s The Potrero View (“Pier 70 Building Heights Would Block Bay”) and flyer distributed in the neighborhood that claimed that new buildings developed by Forest City at Pier 70 would create a “wall slightly below the middle of the smokestack” and block waterfront views prompted phone calls and emails from…
Lingering controversy over “tech buses” – shuttles conveying high technology workers here, there, and everywhere – is related to who gets to ride them and how far a would-be passenger has to walk to catch a public or private bus. The free ride and exclusive social element sets the tech buses apart, and causes animosity…
It’s 8:19 a.m. We’re hustling to get out the door. If you walk past our house around this time you’ll hear my morning battery of questions: “Where are your shoes? Do you have your backpack? Please don’t open the umbrella in the house. We need to find your jacket. Let’s GO!” Out the door we…
The City and County of San Francisco intends to grant Forest City Enterprises rights to build a wall of nine-story buildings along the Central Waterfront, from 20th to 22nd streets, which would completely obscure scenic Bay vistas for many, if not most, Potrero Hill eastern slope residents. As one travels down 20th Street from Missouri…