Mission District

1050 Valencia Condo Owners Will Be Required Not to Bitch About Theater Noise

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

As we mentioned previously, supporters of The Marsh Theater were fighting the condo development at 1050 Valencia, fearing its construction would see the venue closed over noise concerns.  But at the Board of Appeals hearing yesterday, the Board ruled that residents must sign a disclosure statement acknowledging that they're living next to a venue:

[The Marsh Theater] typically creates sounds typical of an entertainment use, including loud dialogue and amplified sound and live and recorded music. Owners and occupants understand that patrons of the theater will drop off and pick up performers and patrons before and after the show and patrons will queue along Valencia Street at the beginning of some shows and leave en masse at the end of shows, producing parking, traffic and noise impacts expected at such activities.

An interesting move on The Marsh's part, but who knows if it'll stop their new neighbors from behaving like the condo dwellers around Slims and Brick + Mortar.

Anyway, the Board also ruled that a soundproofing buffer must be built between the buildings and the top floor of the condo removed (which will likely see two BRM housing units removed with it).  It's unknown when construction will begin.

[SFGate]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 
Putt Putt Pass

Urban Putt, the Mission's Forthcoming Mini Golf Cocktail Lounge, Seeks Donations to Finish Development

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Edit: Original photo removed due to a copyright issue from Curbed SF, but you can see it here

I’m pretty conflicted on this one.

Urban Putt, which promises a “steampunk-style” mini-golf course and cocktail bar stuffed into an old funeral home, is now seeking $50,000 in donations on Kickstarter.  What for? They’ve always spent $750,000 on construction and they need the cash to finish it all up.

Of course, handing over free money to for-profit businesses over Kickstarter already grates me—especially given how many local non-profits really need the money right now.  And considering Urban Putt is being designed by the folks responsible for Mission Bowling Club and the bar is managed by the mixology thought leaders from Trick Dog, it seems particularly undeserving (seriously, any person who donates to Trick Dog needs to be sent back to their manufacturer under warranty).

But if you look past all that and their assuredly ridiculous clientele, it probably won’t be that bad.  Take the above photo: it’s skeeball and mini golf. Skeeball and mini golf!

The whole place looks like a competent burner’s putt-putt paradise:

It certainly doesn’t look like another twee speakeasy with dreamy assholes in suspenders serving up cocktails in mason jars.

So if this is your sort of thing, you can donate over on Kickstarter.  Or don’t.  Whatever.

UPDATE: Urban Putt’s “Chief Greenskeeper” Steve Fox responds to some our (and commenter’s) criticisms in the comments.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Protesters Block Google Bus at 24th and Valencia

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Here we go again: protesters have setup at 24th and Valencia this morning, blocking Google buses from leaving the city.  Much like May's protest that saw a Google Bus piñata smashed to bits, organizers are protesting the evictions happening in the city:

Heart of the City, the group organizing the protest (which we're told consists of several lawyers from the Eviction Defense Collaborative), writes:

Today we are the San Francisco Displacement and Neighborhood Impact Agency, and we're stopping the injustice in the city's two-tier system where the public pays and the private corporations gain.

Rents and evictions are on the rise. Tech-fueled real estate speculation is the culprit. We say: Enough is Enough! The local government, especially Mayor Lee, has given tech the keys to shape the city to their fancy without the public having any say in it. We say, lets take them back!

Tech Industry private shuttles use over 200 SF MUNI stops approximately 7,100 times in total each day (M-F) without permission or contributing funds to support this public infrastructure. No vehicles other than MUNI are allowed to use these stops. If the tech industry was fined for each illegal use for the past 2 years, they would owe an estimated $1 billion to the city. […]

With $1 billion and counting we can fund: Affordable Housing Initiatives, Eviction Defense, Public transit service improvements, Legislation initiatives to prevent speculators from using the Ellis Act & Costa Hawkins to evict residents … and so much more! […]

The city needs to declare a state of emergency, stop all no-fault evictions, and prevent tech companies from running  buses in residential neighborhoods, which is driving up rents (up to 20% along their route).

UPDATE: A view from inside one of the buses “under siege”:

UPDATE 12:00pm: Now there's video of a Google employee union organizer pretending to be a Google employee chewing out protesters, telling one to move somewhere where they can afford rent.

[Photos by Steve Rhodes]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Local Artist Killed in Valencia Hit-And-Run, Police Seek Leads

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

According to the Chronicle, Kurt Dalen, a local painter and graffiti writer, was struck and killed by a motorist at 2:45am Thursday morning outside a Valencia Street alleyway.  Police say “the driver and his [or her] whereabouts remained unknown” and are currently seeking information. 

As Wiggly Giggle, a friend of Dalen, wrote on Tumblr:

Out drinking in the Mission Thursday night? Maybe you witnessed the hit and run that killed our friend?

HIT BY A CAR at Valencia and Clinton Park (near Duboce) - car continued south down Valencia…

Described as a black or blue 4-door sedan, that will now have collision damage to the front-passenger side of the vehicle, and possibly a broken windshield.

SFPD asks that anyone with information about the incident call them at 415-575-4444.

Below, a 2009 documentary about Dalen and his time at the San Francisco Art Institute:

[Photo by Molly Oleson]

Madrone Art Bar Guy Takes Over Pop's Bar

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Madrone and Pop's bathrooms: kindred spirits.

As we reported a few weeks back, Pop's, the beloved 24th Street dive bar, had been sold to new owners.  There was plenty of doom and disgust associated with the news, including our own fears that it might find itself morphed into another forgettable cocktail bar.  But, fortunately, it appears things might end up okay.

According to Mission Mission, Pop's has been bought by Michael Krouse of Madrone Art Bar, and he plans to keep the name and “AUTHENTICITY.”

“It’s going to be a place where everyone is welcome and everyone feels at home,” Krouse told the glorified Instagram account.  “Any bar that has lasted 67 years has earned the right to continue and thrive. I can’t wait to push it forward with integrity.”

He also outlined his vision for what makes a “good bar”:

A good bar to me is all about AUTHENTICITY. I came to San Francisco because I wanted to be in a place that was unique to everywhere else. I expect the same things from the places I eat and drink at. That’s what makes them special. It can be divey or fancy as long as it’s authentic. And when it’s done right it becomes alive with energy, and you feel that energy the moment you walk in the room. Great bars can and will stand the test of time, they are not trendy, they move beyond what is artificial and become a fabric of the place and time that they exist in.

Krouse didn't lay down any details on what authenticity really means, or if the cheap drinks and barfy smell will remain.  We'll update with answers to our follow-up questions when we get 'em.

UPDATE 11:45am: Michael Krouse followed-up with us with more info.

UA: Are you planning any major renovations?

MK: The structural elements will remain in tact. There will be remodeling, and there will be changes to the look and feel. Much of that is still to be determined. However one of the main reasons for buying is POPS is that it has years of character already built in, and I feel thats important to maintain.

UA: Do you expect to morph it into another art bar, or are you thinking about keeping it more of the dive it is?

MK: It will not be called an Art Bar, it will however have a strong element of art and artifact that is relevant to POP'S History and that of a bar that has been in San Francisco for 67 years.

UA: Any plans for the drink menu? Prices?

MK: Its is still being flushed out, however there will be something for everyone, and at all price levels. Cheep beer for those who want it and cocktails for the folks who like mixed drinks.

[Photo by JJBBLLKK]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Self-Proclaimed Entrepeneurs Too Important To Be Called "Techies"

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

San Francisco is famous for its long list of no-no words—“Frisco,” “Hipster,” “Republican.”  Now it seems we can add “techie” to the list.

While today's crop of adderall-addled entrepreneurs are busy disrupting old industries in their useless pursuit of wealth and Twitter followers, their chill vibes are being rudely harshed by industry know-nothings who insist on calling them techies.  The Chronicle's Nellie Bowles reports on the tech industry's latest sensitivity crisis:

Dan Gailey, a 30-year-old tech entrepreneur who was recently working at Four Barrel, said he didn't identify as a “techie” - and thinks it's actually a pretty rude term.

“If you use the word 'techie,' we know you're not in tech,” said the Mission District resident. “A lot of negative terms like that - yuppie, hipster - are outsider terms. We don't call each other techies - at all, ever.”

The preferred terms, he said, are “hackers,” “makers” or “coders.”

The hostility towards digital artisans is reaching such a fever pitch, makers are now fancying themselves to be the natural allies of oppressed minorities:

[Betabrand's Enrique Landa] felt the word “techie” fit into a long history of words used by natives to describe immigrant groups.

“Whenever you get a mass migration of a new wave of people, you get a negative connotation from the people who were there before - like Mexicans in the Mission. The new wave always gets a bad rap.”

Comparing tech immigrants to the Mexican immigrants may be hard - Twitter's IPO just made an estimated 1,600 new millionaires - but, for Landa, the term “techie” connotes “unwanted newcomer” in much the same way as racial slurs.

…

[SFGate | Photo by Arlen Abraham]

Casa Sanchez Resists Cashing In, Retains Latino Roots

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Al Jazeera America reported on the dreaded gentrification situation (UPDATE: Al Jazeera deleted the previously-embedded video for unknown reasons) at the east end of 24th Street, telling the encouraging story of Casa Sanchez turning down $200k offers from 5-star chefs in favor of keeping location a taqueria and part-time punk venue.

KQED also reported on the situation last week:

When their mother passed away two years ago, Bob and his sister Marta inherited the old Casa Sanchez restaurant on 24th Street, between York and Hampshire streets. The siblings decided they didn’t want to just rent to the highest bidder. Instead, they rented to a local family of Latino restaurateurs who had been displaced from their previous restaurant, also on 24th Street, when the owner redeveloped the building. Marta Sanchez says she and her brother wanted to give them one last shot in the neighborhood. […]

This stretch of 24th Street has had a tumultuous past. It was known in previous decades for gang violence and drug dealing. Marta Sanchez says that in the ‘80s, tortilla companies fought for turf at the street’s taco joints in what came to be called the “tortilla wars.” She says it grew so heated that tortilla delivery men were said to carry guns.

Today, upscale restaurants and cafes have popped up. On weekends, a long line forms at Wise Sons, a Jewish-inspired deli where Mark Zuckerberg has been seen dining — he is reported to have bought a house several blocks west toward Noe Valley. Tour groups now come through to see the murals, and Google employee buses stop near the BART station on their way to the tech campuses on the Peninsula and in the South Bay.

Read on.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

New Video Shows D'Paris Williams Screaming in Pain, Unable to Walk Following SFPD Beating

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

We just received additional footage of the scene that unfolded Friday afternoon at Valencia Gardens.  We will update this post as new information comes forward.

UPDATE: KTVU is now reporting that the District Attorney has “discharged the case against Mr. Williams and another man pending further investigation.”

Neighbors, along with the ANSWER SF, are still planning a protest at Valencia Gardens and Mission Station Tuesday at 5pm.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Fall on Shotwell Street

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Shotwell Street between 21st and 22nd, arguably one of the most choice blocks in the entire neighborhood, is at the tail-end of its yearly show of fall foliage.  Get over there and take it in while you still can.

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