valencia

Valencia's Bike-Friendly Traffic Signals Becoming Permanent

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

According to Streetsblog, the traffic lights along Valencia will remain timed for 13 MPH travel for years to come:

Valencia Street’s nearly two-year-old Green Wave signal re-timing aimed at prioritizing bicycle traffic speeds continues to please street users, city leaders, and advocates alike. What started as a temporary pilot will become a permanent institution this week with the installation of four new Green Wave signs along the corridor. […]

Following examples in cities like Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Portland, the signal optimization keeps vehicles traveling at a steady cycle-friendly 13 mph from 16th to 25th streets while garnering benefits for all users.

“The Green Wave signals and the safer, calmer speeds are another step in the right direction for Valencia Street, which is already a thriving commercial corridor thanks to its wide sidewalks and bike lanes and plentiful on-street bike parking,” said Renee Rivera, acting executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

The article goes on to say that the program has not only made biking down Valencia better, but has actually decreased travel times for cars and reduced the amount of air pollution emitted along the street.  Unfortunately, the city does not plan to expand the program (why not?), but is considering doing another “Green Wave” pilot program on the already bike-friendly 14th Street.

Read on.

Another Valencia Restaurant Up For Sale

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Jay B. over at Grub Street noticed this specifics-free ad on Craigslist:

This Is Approximately 1500 Sq. Ft. Restaurant Located On Valencia St. (Between 16th & 17th Streets) In San Francisco. Same Owner Has Been In Business For 9+ Years. The Restaurant Has Full Kitchen With Hood And Can Seat About 50 People. A Beer And Wine License Is Included In Sale. There Is A Lot Of Potential To Grow.

Very Motivated Seller!

Jay went on to rule out that it couldn't be Puerto Alegre (currently expanding, full liquor license) or Limon (more than 50 seats), but speculated that it could possibly be Maharaja, Sunflower, or Frjtz.  I'm putting my money on Maharaja, the killer north Indian restaurant whose website is still a MySpace.  Unlike Frjtz and Sunflower, which are just too popular to have “potential to grow,” Maharaja is frequently empty.  After all, it's hard to compete with the BYOB Pakwan just up the street.  Plus, it barely looks like a restaurant from the street.

That said, I hope I'm wrong.  Maharaja is not nearly as bad as the yelptards make it out to be and it'd be a damn shame to lose it.

(link | photo by Steve Rhodes)

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Seemingly Abandoned Valencia Garage is Actually a Fine Looking Showroom

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Ever wanted to know what was behind the garage door adjacent to to the grisly condos 18th and Valencia?  If you had assumed it was just another abandoned building, you'd be wrong.  According to Lynda over at Mission Local, taker of the above pic, the garage has actually been the of the “showroom” of 724, a hybrid gallery and space for table-makers and metal sculptors for the last 5 years.

“We just never opened the door,” said Anthony Marschak, the managing director of 724.

This raises the question, why a space such as this one have never opened the doors to their showroom before?  Trying to be exclusive?  Stay underground?  Hate dealing with people? Couldn't figure out how doors work?

Regardless of their motive, they've finally figured out how to unlatch their garage door and they'll be showing off Amanda Lopez's photography starting tomorrow night.

(link)

100 Days of BBC Headlines Now Up Along Valencia

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Peep this: local artist Johnny Selman has taken up the seemingly impossible task of illustrating a BBC headline everyday for an entire year for an Academy of Arts master's project dubbed “BBCX365.” No days off, not even while sick or for an all day drinking session in Dolores Park.  Commitment!  Anyway, while you can check out each poster for the day on the project blog, Johnny recently unveiled an outdoor exhibition displaying the first 100 days of the project in various Valencia storefront windows, giving us laypeople our first opportunity to see the works in real life.

Johnny claims his goal for project is to “draw attention to world events that people might not otherwise be aware of, and thus begin to drive people to seek out international news on a regular basis.”  That sounds nice and all, but I find this more of a fun way to have an end-of-the-year review of the year's top stories, from Gap's embarrassing branding misstep to some guy in a funny hat telling us it's okay to use rubbers.

Anyway, I didn't take a complete list of businesses where you can find the posters (mainly because rain causes me to slouch forward in apathy as I trek down the street), but the short list is Mission Bikes, Aquarius Records, Community Thrift, Ritual, Valencia Whole Foods, Borderlands, and Slingshot Gallery.

(Posters, from left to right: US SENATE LIFTS ‘DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL’ GAY SOLDIER BAN, POPE BENEDICT CONDONES CONDOM USE IN SOME CASES, OBAMA RECEIVES 12 STITCHES TO LIP, ANONYMOUS RECRUITS WIKILEAKS ‘DATA ARMY’, TWITTER SCRAMBLES TO BLOCK WORMS, NORTH KOREA’S KIM PAVESWAY FOR FAMILY SUCCESSION)

Cute Overload: Street Art Edition

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

I'm really digging the versatile nature of this guy.  For example, if you ditched its dueling vagina ears, it could be any woodland creature.  Slap on a tail and it's a beaver.  Ditch its tail, it's a hamster.  Run it over, it's brunch.

Valencia Storefronts Playing Giant Game of Dominos

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed a recent uptick in businesses leaving the stretch of Valencia from 16th to 18th.  Just this fall we've seen five shops hit the road:

  1. Mariachi's Taqueria closed Oct 1st. (reports indicate a Russian Hill sushi place is opening a second location in the vacated space).
  2. Z-Barn (for lease).
  3. Bombay Creamery and Bombay Bazar closed November 1st. (the future of the space is unknown)
  4. Amore Pet Supply shuttered less than two weeks ago (for lease).
  5. John's Jaguar Service recently relocated to Ceser Chavez.

And this is all on top of Levi's Workshop and Weston Wear closing over the summer (and Abandoned Planet before that).

Some people who think they own the neighborhood will call this gentrification, but make no mistake—this is anything but gentrification. The metaphoric battle for Valencia was lost long ago, even if people fight tooth and nail for token victories.  What this trend does do is speak volumes of the character transition that the Little Street That Could is undertaking.

See, Valencia has always struck me as fairly representative of (modern) San Francisco.  An overpriced tapas restaurants (soon to be an overpriced Italian restaurant) sitting across from taquerias.  A local furniture store near a posh fries place.  Galleries next to realtors and community centers.  A chain Thai restaurant on the same block as a liquor-free music venue and a publisher.  Cheap books, cheap Ethiopian, and cheap sandwiches a stone throw away from Range and a car mechanic.  And let's not forget all the street art, bike lanes, bike shops, schools, and appliance/supply shops

Now, I understand some locals recall the street in the '80s as being “dumpy” with “only a handful of places to listen to punk music and grab food,” so this change is nothing new.  But the recent bloodbath says a lot.  Hell, we're trading one of the best, non-pretentious ice cream places around so we can have stores that sell artisan bread and cheese.  Little Otsu is on its way out and Lost Weekend Video may soon be following.  Meanwhile, as MrEricSir notes, “Slanted Door” is moving back in:

    

All this doesn't make me angry.  I don't even think I've earned the right to be angry.  Plus, I love Tartine as much as the next person, Delano's cheese selection isn't much to be desired, and this is a town were change (progress?) is inevitable.  If the invisible hand doesn't reshape Valencia, surely an earthquake or a fire will.  That said, I still reserve the right to mourn the loss of Birthday Cake flavored ice cream and being able to gawk at British imported cars on lifts.  After all, if we lose all the shops and spaces that makes the neighborhood interesting and replace them with more unaffordable food, who's going to really want to hang out here?

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