Man, writing for a 'real' newspaper must be a total bummer.  When Mission bloggers have nothing to write about, we just scour Tumblr for a sweet graffiti pic, come up with a killer pun and start drinking.  But when the poor fucks who write for the Wall Street Journal have no news to report, they're forced to scribble some 'trend piece' about where people with disposable incomes and a fancying for $9 appetizers hang out.

Awful, just awful stuff.

But, it seems some people—namely realtors and landlords, although I suppose they are people too—do take this stuff seriously.  So join me in acknowledging the Wall Street Journal's acknowledgment that NOPA/Divis/Western Addition is “San Francisco's new Mission District”:

The Divisadero Corridor, which runs roughly north and south between Haight and Turk streets and stretches a few blocks west and east of Divisadero Street in the Western Addition, has become San Francisco's new Mission District. Once a mainly black, working-class neighborhood, with some crack houses and prostitution, the Divisadero Corridor is becoming home to hip eateries and young, largely white techies. In doing so, the neighborhood is dealing with some of the same gentrification issues, such as rising rents and demographic shifts, that the Mission has faced in recent years. […]

The younger residents moving into the Divisadero Corridor are often coming after being priced out of the Mission District. Meghan Murray, a 28-year-old marketing employee for a technology start-up, says she and her boyfriend moved into a large studio near Alamo Square Park for $1,900 a month after failing to find one under their $2,000-a-month target in Mission. “It's sort of the same vibe here,” she says.

The same is true for business owners such as Brian Belier. The hairstylist wanted to open his salon, Population, in the Mission. But he found everything was too expensive and instead opted for a former check-cashing place on Divisadero and Fell streets, where the rent is less than half the $7,000-a-month going rate for a storefront he considered in the Mission. He says the clientele at his shop, which opened in August 2010, includes tech employees, students and artists.

And the money shot:

“People are thinking it's the Mission 2.0,” says Jarie Bolander, a board member and former president of the North Panhandle Neighborhood Association, which includes the Divisadero Corridor. “It's a great place to hang out and window shop.”

Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing but love for Divisadero. Just a few weeks back, I went to Fly Bar for the first time and chowed down on what might be the best happy hour menu I've ever seen in San Francisco.  And Green Chili Kitchen, while technically not on Divisadero, cooks up one of the meanest breakfast burritos around.  But this neighborhood v. neighborhood deal is getting kinda played out; never mind reeking of attention-seeking desperation.

Can we all just agree that the only two neighborhoods that should be compared are the Mission and the Marina, with the conclusion being the Mission is always better?

Anyway, time to start drinking.

[Photo by Clinton Perry]