People are being swept out of San Francisco, washed away by pulsating torrents of tech cash. Children, always in short-supply in this Peter Pan playground, are being replaced by a rising population of designer dogs, who soon enough will have their own dedicated restaurant, probably called “Doggy Diner.” African Americans, making their last stand at…
Denise Smith and her youngest son, Roland Byrd, Jr., 23, moved into 626 Mission Bay Boulevard in 2018. They’re the first family to occupy a two-bedroom, one-bath townhome in the 100 percent below-market-rate (BMR) rental building, which opened last fall under Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) management. Smith was born in San Francisco in 1956.…
Although Styrofoam trays and plastic straws have been banished from its cafeterias, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) still relies on individually packaged meals and disposable utensils for the bulk of the 6.8 million meals it serves annually. According to SFUSD estimates, the school system generates some 6.3 million gallons of landfill-bound trash,…
The San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA) will alter its 22 Fillmore route and field the 55 Dogpatch next year, triggering significant reductions in parking access on Potrero Hill. More than a dozen spaces will be eliminated to make room for new bus stops and provide adequate turning areas at corners. As a result…
In July, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed legislation establishing a one-year pilot program in which Department of Building Inspection (DBI) fees will be waived for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and 100 percent affordable housing projects. Under the legislation, co-sponsored by District 4 Supervisor Gordon Mar and District 5 Supervisor Vallie Brown, charges…
Following a June community gathering to update neighbors, Recology submitted a project application to the San Francisco Planning Department to develop its 900 Seventh Street truckyard as a Special Use District (SUD) that’d mix commercial and industrial space with housing. Modified from a preliminary scheme the employee-owned waste management company submitted to the Planning Department…
The View turns 49 years old this month. It’s an astonishing accomplishment: almost 600 issues produced, perhaps 15,000 pages, by an un- or poorly paid crew dedicated to civic journalism. By all accounts the monthly is a beloved community institution, a colorful, informative, thread in the fabric of our neighborhoods. It’s a place – now…
District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton was quick to deliver on at least one campaign promise after he took office last January, announcing in his first week that switchbacks on the T Third Street Muni Metro line would be eliminated. Mayor London Breed helped Walton secure the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority’s promise to end the…
Associate Capital presented alternative Potrero Power Plant development designs to the San Francisco Planning Commission last spring, which included restoring the 300-foot concrete smokestack and adjacent 131-foot Unit 3 control room, as well as preserving elements of Station A. Claus Spreckels, who founded the company that became the Western Sugar Refinery, built Station A in…
By J. Eric Miller Robots have walked, well, rolled, the streets of 21st Century San Francisco, but whether they’ll do so in the future is uncertain. Led by District 7 Supervisor Norman Yee, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed legislation last year that restricts the use of delivery robots. Initially calling for an outright…
After years of political promises, 53 Potrero Terrace households moved into brand new apartments last month at recently constructed 1101 Connecticut Street. Once dubbed Project X, the building reflects completion of the initial phase of a plan to fully redevelop the Annex-Terrace complex into mixed income housing by 2029. Johnnie Ledbetter was the first resident…
From its perch at 1050 Wisconsin Street the Caleb G. Clark Potrero Hill Health Center (PHHC) serves a wide range of City residents, including long-standing Hill patients, municipal employees, and new clients from the Excelsior and Tenderloin. “This health care center stands out because patients feel like they’re coming home. Many patients at the center…
Crane Cove Park, a long-awaited waterfront commons located at Pier 70, is expected to open early next year without the iconic crane booms that gave the park its name. The greenspace will offer public access to a beach, boat landing and, in 2021, an aquatic center featuring a small cafe and meeting space. But the…
More than 6,400 backup generators – not counting the thousands of small engines in household garages and backyards – are littered throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, squatting at police stations, health care facilities, internet server farms and other places. Ninety percent use diesel, a fuel that when burned can emit high levels of asthma-inducing…
Workers at Potrero Hill’s Anchor Brewing Company – the production facility and Public Taps – voted to unionize last winter. The action made the “craft-brewery” – if it can be called that, under beer-giant Sapporo’s ownership – an early adopter of labor organizing in the industry. Anchor Brewing was founded in 1896 in San Francisco.…
Citing economic and neighborhood needs, the Golden State Warriors want to build a hotel and condominium complex instead of the retail building that was initially approved as part of Chase Center construction. The new facility, which’ll adjoin the Chase Center on the northeast corner of South Street and Terry A. Francois Boulevard, would feature 142…
San Francisco Port Commissioners want vaping company, JUUL, to relocate from Pier 70, by shortening the firm’s lease or enacting a municipal ordinance that bans vaping firms and firearm manufacturers from leasing or subleasing commercial property. The nicotine-supplying e-cigarette enterprise sublets offices in Building 102 on 20th and Illinois streets. As reported in the View,…
Improvements to the 22nd Street Caltrain station are on schedule, with work to remove the asphalt walkway and replace it with a larger concrete plaza – along with additional plantings and lighting – on the facility’s southbound platform starting this month. Covered scooter and motorcycle parking opened at Iowa and 22nd streets earlier this year.…
Most San Franciscans probably believe that if a neighborhood experiences a plethora of intermittent fires someone would attempt to find a way to stop them. But when it comes to blazes occurring between Highway 101 and Potrero Hill, overlapping jurisdictions amongst several state and municipal agencies has left oversight largely to nearby homeowners, who are…
In 2015, voters approved Proposition K to streamline the process of identifying surplus municipally-owned land that could be used for affordable housing. The voter guide indicated that there’d be specific reporting dates for public agencies, hearings and oversight by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (BoS). Three years later, the City has passed on the…
The San Francisco Unified School District held a briefing last fall to collect community reactions to a planned pre-kindergarten through fifth grade campus, to be built adjacent to the Owens Street traffic circle. The first of many anticipated public engagements, the meeting, held at the Mercy Housing Community Room on Fourth Street, was well attended by…
The Esprit Community Advisory Group (ECAG) was formed last year to recommend approaches to the San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department about how to best maintain and renovate Esprit Park. Members include Dogpatch resident Susan Fitch, Irma Lewis of Toes and Paws for Green Space, Green Benefit District executive director Julie Christensen, and Dogpatch Neighborhood…
Halfway into a three-year lease, the Dogpatch Neighborhood Association (DNA) is generally supportive of extending the Central Waterfront Homeless Navigation Center’s stay and expanding its number of beds from 63 to 68. A presentation last fall by the City’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) to DNA drew a positive response. DNA president Bruce…
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has floated a plan to deploy several types of parking management tools on Potrero Hill’s North Slope, including weekday time limits to discourage commuters from leaving their cars and parking meters to offer short-term options for shoppers, visitors, and other daytime users. If implemented the proposal would impact…
Last fall, Measure D, which’ll place an additional tax on cannabis businesses, garnered 65.7 percent of the municipal vote. City Controller Ben Rosenfield estimates that the tax will generate between $7 million and $16 million, with proceeds to be deposited into the general fund. Cannabis businesses and advocacy groups want some of these funds to…