This was the scene last week when the Marin Institute went after The Wine Institute trade association and the “Myth of the California Family Winery.”
The protesters are boosters of AB 1019, the Assembly bill in Sacramento that would establish an Alcohol-Related Services Program paid for with a tax on alcohol.
Here’s the takefrom SFGate bidness reporter Andrew “Don’t forget the S“ Ross.
Click to expand:
More details here at ALCOHOL WATCHDOG GROUP ATTACKS WINE INSTITUTE.
Napa’s in the Bay Area, right? It’s super close to San Francisco. So let’s take a look and see how the Great Recession of 2007-???? (aka the “late-2000s recession“) is affecting our Neighbor to the North.
Let’s start with the view from the St. Helena Highway, aka Route 29, aka Main Street. (It’s the main drag for the whole entire valley, you know.) Here’s the old Radio Flyer on the train tracks motif:
What happens if you can’t afford the rent and a car? What happens if you, as many in Napa and Sonoma counties have done before you, get a DUI or two and you lose your license to drive? How do you get to work or the store without a car? Let’s take a look:
Napa can’t afford sidewalks? Apparently. Of course, if you’re on a bicycle (not recommended) you would pedal along on the shoulder/breakdown lane, but if you’re on your feet, well, remember all the drunk drivers? I mean, DWI is a Way of Life up there.
I mean, bacon-rich Cincinnati has its local Hog Report so shouldn’t lush-rich Napa have a local DUI Report? Oh wait, it does!
By the way, be sure to “Avoid the 9″ policing agencies that will bust you:
“Napa County Sheriff’s Office, the Napa Police Department, the California Highway Patrol, St. Helena Police Department, Calistoga Police Department, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Napa Valley College, American Canyon Police Department and Napa County Probation.”
OMG, can you believe that bucolic Napa has (or had) 2400(!!!!) outstanding DUI arrest warrants? Mercy!
Anywho, walking in Napa is no picnic. Perhaps it makes the most sense to just amble on the old train tracks (which, of course, are the newish home of the despised (and beloved) Napa Valley Wine Train.)
But what about the wineries, how are they doing? Well, the Disneyesque Robert Mondavi Winery had no waiting for their famous 75-minute Signature Tour and Tasting on a recent balmy October Sunday. (Of course, back in the day, the place was packed to the gills, reservations required.)
And how about Francis Ford Coppola’s Rubicon Estate, where they have mandatory valet service and a red carpet and where they don’t let you in without a $25 cover?
Well here it is, during Sunday primetime, it was totally wide open. A handful of cars in the lot, no valets, no $25 charge, it’s just y’all come down.
Now let’s head up to St. Helena proper, where the millionaires live and you can buy Rolexeses and high end choco all you want? Let’s check out David’s Jewelers, Since 1976:
Dave has sweet window displays (man, that Rolex fish, that’s art ready to hang, baby)…
…but no goods to sell. Uh oh.
There are Halloween decorations but that’s it. It’s closed down, apparently. Oh well.
And let’s not even think about heading Further North to the St. Helena Premium Outlets place. Cue tumbleweeds.
So, what’s worse:
Busy, crowded Napa Valley; or
Ghost town* Napa Valley?
That’s a tough choice for some people. Oh well.
But now’s your chance to get on up there and see what it was like back in the day, before Napa became a major tourist destination. COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts isn’t around anymore, but all the other places will be staffed with folks happy to see you, I’m sure.
I almost wanted to buy something, but then I remembered about the Buy Local Movement. I’m not a local, really, so I probably shouldn’t spend my hard-earned up there.
But you, you’re welcome to visit, especially before things pick up again in the Spring of 2010.
See you there!
*Be aware that the Great Recession has seemed to pass by the popular eateries, such as Mustards Grill (man, it’s tough to get in there), Taylor’s Automatic Refresher (busy, busy, but the wait isn’t too long) and Yountville’s bestarred (c’mon, it’s a word) The French Laundry (forget about it).
Oh Lord, if I ever see or hear the cliche “world-class” again, it will be too soon. But now, They’re using the Phrase That Shant Be Named twice in the same monkey-fighting sentence:
“A world-class city like San Francisco needs a world-class boulevard. We’re optimistic this plan will lead to a renaissance of Market Street,’ said Nathan Ballard, Newsom’s spokesman.’”
Now first of all, we already have a “world-class boulevard” – it’s called Octavia and it’s turning out to be a public policy disaster.
Second of all, “world-class: cliché (avoid)”:
Now, do you want to use this phrase the way it was meant to be, like saying that Cleveland has a world-class symphony orchestra. I don’t know if that’s true or if it even ever was, but it’s surprising that a sub-million-population city like Cleveland would have such a good symphony so world-class is apropropriate, right? And indeed, the same could be said for the San Francisco Ballet, which acquits itself quite nicely considering S.F. is the fourth-biggest (and falling – Sacramento, where you at Sacramento?) city in the state.
But I mean, does everything in town have to be world-class? The Strybing Arboretum? Really? “Just look at that tree, man, that’s one monkey-fighting world-class tree!”
Or, how about:
“A world-class boyfriend like me needs a world-class omelette, don’t you think, honey?”
Oh, how they must laugh at us:
“I despise the hackneyed phrase “world-class.” It’s a tired cliché supposed to inspire and excite where it only deadens and dulls the senses. In a world where everything is touted as “world-class”, nothing is exceptional or intimate.”
“Here’s my deal: I’m a world-class talking head. I’ve made my bones and I’ve got all my bona fides.”
“Is there anybody else who winces at the use of “world class”
What would the Encyclopedia of Business Cliches say about us? Nothing good, that’s for sure.
Or Gaia, maybe She could help with this issue. Yes, Divine Intervention will be required at this point.
Or you know, Whomever, just please make it stop.
Apparently, there’ll be some showdown this afternoon at the City Hall SFMTA meeting regarding the proposal to add trailers to some buses on Union Street. That plan, according to some Cow Hollow NIMBYs, turns buses into “monsters.” Perhaps not as monstrous as this 300-passenger job from China or the Knight Bus, but enough to “destroy” the entire neighborhood.
Let’s hear from C.H.N. Marcie Judelson, from her recent letter to the Chronicle. Some excerpts from “No monster buses“:
You get the idea.
Here’s something to ponder – if 60-foot buses going down the street destroys the surrounding area, that means that all the other hoods in town with 60-foot buses have already been destroyed, right? So all you godforsaken souls in the Mission and the Richmond, well you’re dead but you just don’t know it. How can you tolerate subsisting in your non-charming non-village?
That’s the NIMBY mentality.
But, maybe the buses will roll and Life in the Cow Hollow will go on as before?
Yes, in all probability, yes.
Let’s check in with the Cow Hollow area on Union Street, where lots and lots of business lots are for rent these days, per this recent bit from Sally Kuchar at CurbedSF. Well, here’s the news of the day: There’s a new proposal from MUNI to have bigger bus stops and longer buses on the 41 Union line.
The reaction? Crazy, Kramer-esque banners from millionaire homeowners. See? But don’t laugh, signs like these get results, sometimes. Like when the World’s Smallest Burger King over in the Inner Sunset went under after being subjected to one man’s incessant campaign. RangeLife has the story on that one.
But let’s hear from today’s Union Street NIMBYs themselves. Happy reading!
60 FEET-LONG MONSTER MUNI BUSES
THREATEN TO PUT SMALL UNION STREET INN OUT OF BUSINESS
A SF Muni proposal is currently in the works to establish a 291 feet long Bus Terminus at Union & Fillmore. This is to accommodate 60 feet long articulated buses which are planned for service on Union Street. This act of folly places the terminus at the very doorstep of the Union Street Inn, and could place the very existence of the jewel-like Inn in jeopardy.
Objections to the ill-conceived plan voiced by merchants of the Union Street Association at recent meetings were summarily dismissed, leaving the impression that the plan is a done deal. The proceedings were termed “farcical” by some merchants.
The impact on The Union Street Inn and other merchants in the area could be crippling. With the small inn already struggling to survive in a bruising economy it is inconceivable to think that Muni would even consider removing five revenue-earning meters directly outside the Inn in order to make way for a totally inappropriate, peace-disturbing terminus that would start operation at 5 am and continue throughout the day.
Closure of the award-winning Inn would not only be a tragedy, wrought by bureaucracy run amok, but would also result in a loss of $40,000 a year paid by the inn through the City Hotel Tax.
An appeal for intervention by Supervisor Alioto-Pier has, as yet, only elicited a polite formal response from a Legislative Assistant.
CONTACTS: David Coyle, Innkeeper, Union Street Inn, 2229 Union Street; Lesley Leonhardt, Union Street Merchants Assn.
An angry “Solopreneur,” Adryenn Ashley, recently demanded a jury trial because Yelp deleted her account. She feels “public humiliation, liable, and defamation,” so somebody at Yelp is going to pay.
What’s that? The class-action lawsuit is only just being developed right now, per Yelp-Sucks.com?
Perhaps IHateYelp.com could help get this suit off of the ground? Uh oh, apparently ‘Public’ online spaces don’t carry speech, rights. That could be a problem.
Let us rue for the happy days, back in ought-five, when Yelpers could celebrate their success without fear of lawsuits. Thusly:
It was the Golden Age of the Wired.
