From SFKayak:

This is not the typical franchise. 7 Eleven require that 50% of the earnings of the store be handed over to the 7/11 corporation. Since 71% of this company is foreign owned I don't see how it can be called a local business.

Typically 7/11 crimes are robberies involving the use of a gun. Employees of this stores have been shot and killed. Not sure why 7/Elevens have been such targets of these types of crimes but it's a major concern.

It was the cafes that sounded the alert to the neighborhood. The cafes are all owner operated and they know that 7/Elevens sell more coffee than any other beverage they sell.

This area has 14 bars and clubs (4 block area). The so-called NIMBYs have worked with those that sell alcohol to work towards a safer neighborhood, a neighborhood that has suffered from gang and random acts of violence. Shootings, stabbings, brawls etc. none of which is good for business or the people that live in and near Mission St.

So what has worked to reduce some of the violence in this neighborhood? Making sure that people go home once the clubs and bars close at 2 am. The street closes down except for Safeway. The 7 Eleven won't be closing at 11 as the name implies. It will stay open all night long. It will become a destination for those that have had too much to drink or are interested in continuing to party (based on what has gone on in other neighborhoods). In an effort to keep the peace neighbors and merchants don't want a 7/11. Anything but 7/11. We're willing to work with him to come up with a better business plan. A business that does serve the neighborhood like he claims to want to do.

BTW the owner lives in Marin and owns a Shell station in Sausalito that has a car wash. His 76 station in SF used to be an independent station which offered full service auto repairs. Now it will offer fast food and plenty of trash. The Burger King down the street is home to huge numbers of rats because of the trash (leftover food).

If wanting the real local merchants to be successful and desiring a neighborhood with reduced violence is NIMBY I'd be proud to wear that label. It was only a few months ago when this very location was the site of a drive-by spray of bullets.

BTW there is no Whole Foods in this neighborhood. The businesses are owned by a wide diversity of people serving foods from all over the world. Large numbers of day laborers frequent the Latino bakery (International). 7/11 wants that business so they are targeting that population by placing free construction magazines to entice them into 7/Elevens and learning about “the tastes” of Latino male construction workers.

I've lived here all my adult life. Raised a family here and will die here. It's not pac hts nor do I want it to be that. However, I do want folks to be safe on the street. The 76 station owner bought the station a year ago and he is clueless about what he's getting himself into.

And finally, the CU permit process is in place to give neighborhoods the opportunity to weigh-in on issues such as this. The question is asked: is it desirable, needed, or necessary and merchants/neighbors don't want or need it.

For once, I actually agree with an SFgate commenter:

This poor man is about to lose his business because some self-proclaimed guardians think they've got the world figured out. 

Seems like everyone on Valencia St. already knows about the PBR brand, but we're getting a new mural anyway.  Maybe it's a cross promotion with Ben Davis?  New York City?  Whatever, I dig how this appeals to the industrious, hard-working, blue-collar Mission cool kids.

Just to kick it off, I was wondering who sprayed the “We're Here, We're Queer” arrows across town.  Eddie Colla takes credit:

If you can't Find SF Pride… from Eddie Colla on Vimeo.

I wonder if whiny NIMBY neighbors are “cool” with this kind of graffiti because it “celebrates diversity?”  I mean, at the end of the day, it is still spraypaint on Market Street.  Are they just hypocrites?  I digress...  Eddie emailed in to tell us that it was actually spray chalk, so it will disappear shortly.  “Just long enough to be up for pride.”

Borrowed, Bought, Stolen. calls this Valencia and 18th piece “Take My Hand.”  I don't think I could do any better than that.  (link)

(photo by captain_nod)

Found at 20th and Tennessee (photo by eviloars)

Finally, in drug-induced mural news, Flickr user micromero has the scoop on the latest in Balmy Alley:

I heard there was a new mural in Balmy Alley by famed, old school muralist Mario Torero and when we went for a walk this morning this is what we found. The blank garage door here had been crying out for a strong, beautiful mural. Well, here it is.

(link)

One of my favorite things about living on Capp is that it's not a rare day that someone pisses or pukes or shits on my stoop.  In fact, the decrepit pieces of nature at the corner of 23rd and Capp are usually full of shit.  Literally.  Fresh Step to the rescue.

Problem Solved.