Potrero

Visualizing Mental Maps of San Francisco

— By Alissa |

Neighborhoodr clued me in to this awesome new set of San Francisco maps today. Started by a couple of Berkeley students, Visualizing Mental Maps attempts to map how San Franciscans feel about their neighborhoods & the city, and the results are really interesting. From the site: 

 
The Visualizing Mental Maps of San Francisco project taps into San Francisco residents' perceptions of the city and its neighborhoods, which aren't always reflected in the geography of a street map. The first part of the project was a qualitative investigation in which we interviewed residents and asked them to draw pictures of their internal images or “mental maps” of the neighborhoods they lived in and of San Francisco. The second part was the creation of visualizations informed by the qualitative research, resulting in this atlas of mental maps.
 
One of my favorite parts of their project is Storymaps, where you can hover above a map of SF neighborhoods and see how the study participants characterize them. 
 
I like the one participant who says about the Marina, “Y'know, its not really necessary. I don't really need this.”
 
The map of hills and pedestrian barriers is also a cool reminder of how San Francisco's unique topography dictates neighborhood boundaries and how we move about the city on foot/bike. I've frequently argued that San Francisco really isn't all that hilly, but I think the only reason I feel that way is because I've become so adept at avoiding the hills, especially when biking. When I lived on Fulton & Stanyan, I'd regularly ride a mile out of my way to avoid that steep two block hill on Stanyan between Fell and Fulton. Because I'm lazy. 
 
 
I just wanted to share this, but you should definitely have a look for yourself because there's waaay more interesting data and pictures on their site than I could possibly hope to unpack in a single blog post. These students really did an amazing job of mapping the spirit of the city in a way that traditional cartography never could. And don't forget to check out the Gallery, featuring drawings of SF maps and neighborhoods from study participants. This one looks like a dinosaur!
 
Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

BREAKING: Sushi Shortage Hits San Francisco

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Terrible news, guys! According to CBS, there was some earthquake in Japan and now San Francisco sushi chefs are worried about delays in shipping fish to Potrero Hill:

At Umi on Potrero Hil, owner and executive chef Stewart Chen has a large variety of fish from the Japanese markets. […] But he’s already starting to see the impact of the earthquake on overseas deliveries.

“There are a lot of delays, especially the fish that might be a special request. They have been saying, we don’t have that,” he said.

Umi is one of several sushi restaurants in the Bay Area that is expecting long-lasting effects from the disaster in Japan.

Well, that just fucking sucks.

I'D BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR!

— By Zach Perkins |

The Dogpatch badasses at Treehouse Gallery are opening their 'Under 100' show featuring local artists' work, all of which is for sale for (you guessed it) under $100.  Some of the work seems pretty rad, and under $100 is pretty solid price for art of any caliber.  The opening is 7pm to 10pm tomorrow (Saturday), and I'm told there will be PBRs on hand.  So ya know, there's also that.

Eli Trujillo 

 

David Fiveash 

Looks like there'll be some quality stuff on hand.  I'd buy that for a dollar.

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Viral Video Attempts to Sell Voters on Prop 19, "Mark of the Beast" Not Sold

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Someone made a design-heavy video in attempt to sell employees of the Googlebooks and readers of thedailywh.at/boing boing/laughing squid/other memetumblrs on the merits of voting for Prop 19.  Admittedly, I dig the video myself.

On the flip, SF street artist Eddie Colla (Correction: the artist was “Mark of the Beast,” Eddie only took the photo) isn't really sold on the prospect in living in a state full of McMarijuanas':

DFL Cyclocross at Toxic Beach

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

I know this race was last weekend and I didn't even go myself, but Team Chica has put together a pretty rad post about the race and an even radder collection of snaps.  And with that, I'm going to Yosemite for a week to hang out in the rain, snow and cold.  Lucky for me, there is no cell phone service out there.  Lucky for you, there is a way for me to schedule posts on this blog.  Later!

(hat tip MASH SF)

Hip Publication Anoints Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous "The Top Ice Cream Parlor in California"

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

USA Today, a zine distributed for free in hotels and airports across America by a guerilla army of wage slaves, has declared 5-month-old Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous to be the most bomb-ass ice cream in all of California:

Finally, a full-on, sit-down ice cream parlor in San Francisco a simple, soaring space in the up-and-coming Dogpatch neighborhood. Ian Flores and wife Annabelle Topacio, aka Mr. & Mrs. Miscellaneous, do 10 flavors a day, delicate hand-rolled cones, and a killer frozen fudge pop served stickless on a biodegradable plate. 699 22nd St.; 415-970-0750

Not sure how in a state of 39 million people some place that just opened could be the place to get ice cream.  Hell, I didn't even know this place existed until the other day when I went to 3rd to buy a 40 to chug while enjoying a Toxic Beach bumfire.  The Yelppies go at length to compare this place to Humphry Slocombe, which we all know isn't ice cream, but two scopes of tortured Straus base dumped into an otherwise edible waffle cone.  That alone makes me want to jump headfirst into a bathtub full of Hood, but I guess I should withhold my judgment until I eat enough of this stuff to get type II diabetes.  After all, it's the best.

(link - photo by eviloars)

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

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