Posts Tagged ‘nimbies’
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Like these guys.
It would take forever to make it up the stairs to the top of controversial landmark Sutro Tower, so a swaying elevator car is the preferred method.
Click to expand to get a closer look at a sunnier, more colorful San Francisco:
Take the tour.
Tags: 11, 12, 14, 2, 2009, 29, 30, 34, 4.4, 41, 42, 45, 5, 65, 66, 7, 9, ABC, analog, analogue, antenna, antennae, antennas, association, auxilliary, AZT, bay area, broadcast, c. w., cable, cbs, digital, dt, DTV, elevator, Forest Knolls Neighborhood Organization, forrest, Forrest Knolls, Forrest Knolls Neighborhood Organization, fox, gump, High, hill, home, Improvement, inc. sutro tower inc, incorporated, ion, KBCW, KDTV, KFSt TEL, kgo, KKPX, KNTV, KPIX, kqed, KRON, KTNc, ktvu, low, Midtown Terrace, Midtown Terrace Home Owners Association, mount, nbc, neighborhood, nimbies, nimby, nimbys, Owners, pbs, power, radio, re-scanning, red, rescanning, San Francisco, scan, scanning, stairs, sutro, sutro tower, television, tons, twin peaks, Twin Peaks Improvement Association, UNI, white, workers
Posted in TV, architecture | 3 Comments »
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Not that you’d really be able to tell, though. Sutro Tower Inc. has just finished a project that had some of the digital TV broadcast antennas (not “antennae” – that plural term is only used for bugs in our silly English language) gaining a higher altitude.
Not much howver, maybe a seven-percent increase, max. Does that make a big difference? No, not for most people, but at least STI is trying.
Here’s the antenna of KPIX-TV (OMG, that’s the home of Eye on Blogs – big ups, Brittney Gilbert!) a way up top, like 1700 feet above sea level. Now Channel 5 is as high as possible:
Click to expand
The Future is Now, and what’s labeled “CURRENT” is history:
From this:
To this:
Well, they were still wrapping the KPIX, KRON, KTVU antenna assembly, but you get the idea.
So it looks like we’re all set with the Great Digital TV Conversion of 2009. As long as Sutro Tower doesn’t get hit by a shooting star….
…we’ll be all right.
Tags: 11, 12, 14, 2, 2009, 29, 30, 34, 4.4, 41, 42, 45, 5, 65, 66, 7, 9, ABC, analog, analogue, antenna, antennae, antennas, association, auxilliary, AZT, bay area, broadcast, c. w., cable, cbs, channel 2, channel 4, channel 5, channel 7, chronicle, Chronicle Publishing, clarendon, conversion, Cox Broadcasting, digital, dt, DTV, emf, Examiner, Forest Knolls Neighborhood Organization, forrest, Forrest Knolls, Forrest Knolls Neighborhood Organization, fox, gump, High, hill, home, Improvement, inc. sutro tower inc, incorporated, ion, KBCW, KDTV, KFSt TEL, kgo, KGO-TV, KKPX, KNTV, KPIX, kqed, KRON, KTNc, ktvu, law school, low, Midtown Terrace, Midtown Terrace Home Owners Association, mount, nbc, neighborhood, nimbies, nimby, nimbys, Owners, pbs, Peace and Love and Noticing the Details, pelosi, power, radio, re-scanning, red, rescanning, ronald, San Francisco, scan, scanning, Stephen R. Barnett, STI, sutro, sutro tower, Sutro Tower Inc, television, tons, tower, TV, twin peaks, Twin Peaks Improvement Association, UNI, USF, Westinghouse Broadcasting, white
Posted in TV | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
San Francisco’s famous Sutro Tower (owned by Sutro Tower, Inc., the buyer-offer and $hutter-upperof San Francisco’s mid-town NIMBYs) has a new look for Fall.
Here’s Before (a way back in August 2009)…
…und jetzt After, the way it looks these days (when being buzzed by a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 NG heading to El Lay, camera right, see it?)
Click to expand
Très chic! Non?
Now, she’s all set for the next meteor shower:
Courage.
Tags: 11, 12, 14, 2, 2009, 29, 30, 34, 4.4, 41, 42, 45, 5, 65, 66, 7, 9, ABC, analog, analogue, antenna, antennae, antennas, association, auxilliary, AZT, bay area, broadcast, c. w., cable, cbs, change, digital, dt, DTV, east, Forest Knolls Neighborhood Organization, forrest, Forrest Knolls, Forrest Knolls Neighborhood Organization, fox, gump, High, hill, home, Improvement, inc. sutro tower inc, incorporated, ion, KBCW, KDTV, KFSt TEL, kgo, KKPX, KNTV, KPIX, kqed, KRON, KTNc, ktvu, low, Midtown Terrace, Midtown Terrace Home Owners Association, mount, nbc, neighborhood, nimbies, nimby, nimbys, north, Owners, pbs, power, radio, re-scanning, red, rescanning, San Francisco, scan, scanning, south, stack, sutro, sutro tower, television, tons, twin peaks, Twin Peaks Improvement Association, UNI, west, white
Posted in TV | Comments Off
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
[UPDATE: Whoops, apparently the Chronicle has two Andrew Rosses covering similar beats? Oh noes! Well, all the better. Speaking of mistakes, what are the odds that I'll see a lit up snowflake on Market Street tonight? About 100%, based on the past two weeks' observation. Oh well. Good thing those snowflakes don't use petroleum-based electricity, huh?]
You see, normally the San Francisco Chronicle’s Andrew S. Ross is lumped together with PhilMatier, thusly:
But sometimes they let him run wild and unchained, all by his lonesome, thusly:
As here, where Andrew Ross gives his take on the order of battle of this morning’s Whole Foods Showdown: Six Flags Over Noe Valley, Don’t Mess With Texas. See what Andrew did there? He fleshed things out, he gave more detail, he added to the story.
Que bueno!
(Now, you give those limited column inches to somebody like C.W. Nevius to check in with 24th Street and what would you get? Well, maybe vitriol and emotion, and maybe that would be it. Oh well.)
Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with M&R together (a quarter mil. we have to pay for horrible, soon-to-be-cancelled Trauma, where the average worker, we’re talking median and mode here, makes rock-bottom minimum wage?), but they should let Andrew out of the bizness ghetto and allow him to run wild over any and all subjects of the day
And that’s the The Bottom Line.
[UPDATE: Whole Foods has started to construct a defensive wall made of pumpkins, but how strong could it be? We'll find out soon enough.]
[UPDATE 2, Electric Boogaloo: War Reporter Andy Wright has extensive coverage from the field of battle]
Tags: 24th, 24th street, 30, 30th, 3950 24th, Andrew Ross, andrew s ross, association, bags, bell, bevan, blog, boycott, Bread Baking Ceremony, CEO, chronicle, Church Street, Community Benefit District, dufty, editorial, facebook, Friends, girlcott, goodie, goody, grand, grocery, health care, healthcare, inc, Jennifer Dobrowolski, John, John Mackey, Mackey, market, matier, Mayor, Merchants, neighborhood, neighbors, nimbies, nimby, nimbys, noe, Noe Valley, NVMPA, opening, payola, Professionals, protesters, Reform, ross, San Francisco, september, single payer, street, supermarket, upper, upscale, wall street journal, wez, whole foods
Posted in protests | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
Oh, it’s going to be on tomorrow morning at the Grand Opening of the new Whole Foods at 3950 24th Street in The Valley. San Francisco’s fifth WF will start the sacred Bread Baking Ceremony at the same time protesters arrive to raise a ruckus about health care reform and CEO John Mackey, mkay?
Everyone is welcome to the store and the protest – highly unlike the invite-only events Whole Foods has recently held for the fearsome neighborhood groups. It’s called outreach or something. Whole Foods just ought to put these neighborhood associations on the payroll the way Sutro Tower, Inc. pays money to neighborhood groups around Mount Sutro to shut them up. A little payola (or granola in a huge goodie bag) can go a long way when you’re trying to placate the NIMBYs, of course.
Anywho, be there at 9:45 AM tomorrow to see San Francisco’s upscale version of Harlan County, USA.
And just think, after the boycott, “You’ll feel proud to come in and get food to serve to your family, friends, and neighbors.” Remember how embarrassed you were serving up that slop from the old Bell Market? Those days are over, soon as the boycott ends.
And if you’re not boycotting, sign up for the store tour on Tuesday, October 6th:
Tuesday Tours: A Taste of Whole Foods Market
10-11am Please sign up in advance, but the tour is FREE and limited in size. | Details
Both seasoned shoppers and new customers can benefit from a guided store tour, especially with so many unique choices available! In this tour, we’ll showcase what we mean when we say we offer all-natural, real food, at the best possible price. This is your chance to ask, listen and learn everything you want to know about our market. Please sign up in advance, but the tour is FREE and limited in size.
And here’s the bacchanalia you were excluded from:
“We are eagerly awaiting our opening next week on Wednesday, September 30th ! We have been working hard and are so delighted that we’re almost there! Further, we feel incredibly grateful for the support, well wishes, humor, smiles and hospitality that our new community has shown us! As a very small token of our thanks, we’d like to invite you to join us at our very own “Whole Foods Market Tapas Truck” on Saturday, September 26th from 11a-2p (really it’s a Taco Truck, but we’ll be serving Spanish Tapas—but you can’t miss it in our parking lot.)
Marketing Team Leader
Whole Foods Market, Noe Valley”
This is a special invitation ONLY event for our neighbors in the associations that we have been working with.
Have a look at the attached & either print a copy of this to bring with you or contact me so that I can get you printed copies that I have here at the store.
Any question, please ask—we’ll see you very soon!
Best regards,
Jennifer Dobrowolski”
Choose your side and get on out there!
Dead and wounded on either side/
You know it’s only a matter of time
Tags: 24th street, 30, 30th, 3950 24th, association, bags, bell, blog, boycott, Bread Baking Ceremony, CEO, Church Street, Community Benefit District, editorial, facebook, Friends, girlcott, goodie, goody, grand, grocery, health care, healthcare, inc, Jennifer Dobrowolski, John, John Mackey, Mackey, market, Merchants, neighborhood, neighbors, nimbies, nimby, nimbys, noe, Noe Valley, NVMPA, opening, payola, Professionals, protesters, Reform, San Francisco, september, single payer, STI, street, supermarket, sutro tower, upper, upscale, wall street journal, whole foods
Posted in protests | 5 Comments »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
Well here’s this scene this morning up on Mount Sutro (former home to the SF-89C Mount Sutro Nike Missile Control Station, don’t you know.) Can you see what’s missing?
Sutro Tower is losing antennas (that’s right, not antennae or antennea or anything else) and getting other updates all in the name of Our Digital Future. Get some deets here at the Burrito Justice.
The West Stack appears all nubbed out these days, no? Click to expand.
Make your necessary adjustments and your Wheel will come in just fine every evening, as per usual.
Touch me.
How can it be.
Believe me
The Sun always shines on TV
Tags: 11, 12, 14, 2, 2009, 29, 30, 34, 4.4, 41, 42, 45, 5, 65, 66, 7, 9, ABC, analog, analogue, antenna, antennae, antennas, association, auxilliary, AZT, bay area, broadcast, c. w., cable, cbs, change, digital, dt, DTV, east, Forest Knolls Neighborhood Organization, forrest, Forrest Knolls, Forrest Knolls Neighborhood Organization, fox, gump, High, hill, home, Improvement, inc. sutro tower inc, incorporated, ion, KBCW, KDTV, KFSt TEL, kgo, KKPX, KNTV, KPIX, kqed, KRON, KTNc, ktvu, low, Midtown Terrace, Midtown Terrace Home Owners Association, mount, nbc, neighborhood, nimbies, nimby, nimbys, north, Owners, pbs, power, radio, re-scanning, red, rescanning, San Francisco, scan, scanning, south, stack, sutro, sutro tower, television, tons, twin peaks, Twin Peaks Improvement Association, UNI, west, white
Posted in TV | Comments Off
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
Now I’m sure that other people are out there on the Streets of San Francisco (™, a Quinn Martin Production) commuting to work on a Segway scooter, but this guy, this guy*, he’s the man. Why? Staying power, baby. He’s been doing it for while. With style.
Note the black suit, black gloves, stick-it-to-the-Man lawyer’s ponytail(?), saddlebag, auxilliary lighting – it’s got to be the same dude I used to see years ago on Market Street. Apparently, he has a safe and convenient way of storing his rig at home and at work, and he’s worked out a good-enough system for safekeeping while performing errands. Good for him.
Click to expand. On Market crossing problematic Octavia Boulevard, San Francisco’s Greatest Public Policy Disaster of the 21st Century**
You see, he’s not riding on the sidewalk, not tromping on the grass, not riding on the train tracks, not clowning around in Golden Gate Park like Lily, not skylarking himself into a painful (at the very least – that poor, poor woman) faceplant, not killing himself at 5 MPH, not playing soulja boy, and not wearing a tuxedo while escorting a high-heeled woman(!) to the exclusive Black and White Ball.
In short, the man has his dignity.
Quite unlike Gob, for another example:
Truth be told, the San Francisco man you see in the first photo is using the cleverly-designed Segway exactly as it was meant to be used. (There was some issue before about allowing Segways on sidewalks, but all the effort by a bunch of lobbyists failed. So, the street is where these things belong, apparently.)
The problem Segway Inc. has is that there was no way IT (a former name, along with “Ginger”) could possibly live up to the hype that came from Segway Inc. and Various Famous People.
But that’s ancient history now. What’s the future of the Seqway PT? Only Time Will Tell.
*Note the use of a Canon 135mm 2.0 lens avec full-frame digital camera. The key is to use this combo wide-open, so you use either Aperture Priority or Manual Mode to set the lens to f/stop 2.0. (That’s the full Clockwork Orange setting, no squinting allowed.) You end up with a diffuse, fuzzy background (depending on geometry of where you’re standing, etc.) and clear view of whatever you focused upon, assuming the not-so-hot auto focus feature of your Canon 5D (Mark II or Mark I) got the job done. This special kind of look is why some people get digital SLR cameras.)
**So far. The NIMBYs of Hayes Valley have nine decades left to top themselves.
Tags: accident, accidents, Allan, Allan Jacobs, Allan B. Jacobs, architecture, award, Berkeley, blvd., boulevard, Boulevard Book, Boulevards, california, central, commuting, crash, dean kamen, department of public works, design, Design of Multiway Boulevards, dpw, electric, Elizabeth, Elizabeth Macdonald, evolution, freeway, general motors, gm, gob, golden gate park, hayes valley, History, human, Human Transporter, i2, illegal, Jacobs, legal, Macdonald, market, movement, Multiway, night, nimbies, nimby, nimbys, octavia, octavia boulevard, offramp, onramp, pacifica, personal, ponytail, pt, rental, Rofé, San Francisco, scooter, segway, sidewalks, silver, street, suit, The Boulevard Book: History, traffic, transporter, university, x2, Yodan, Yodan Rofé
Posted in transit | Comments Off
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009
All right, you already know about Sutro Tower, right? Well, here’s an update. Digital TV is here, not that you care, cause you get cable from the Comcast monopoly.
But, just in case you’re struggling with a free digital to analog converter box you just got from the govmint, there might be some good news coming in a few months when they lift the digital antennas up higher on the tower.
So, do you see this vertical array in the middle of this photo? Them’s the digital antennas:
Click to expand.
Kind of an afterthought, they were, so there was a big fuss about getting them up there. They weigh a ton (or rather 10 tons, actually). I’m a little hazy on all the deets of high-def and digital and whatnot, but whatever, this 125-foot long array is not long for this world. Check it:
See? All the “DT” antennas are going up all the way to the top (and losing the DT suffix). Match up the chart with real life here:
So what this all adds up to is that there’s a chance your reception will improve in a few months. No promises, however. Most of the people who are bummed with DTV are still going to be bummed with DTV, but it’s a Worthy Effort. Listen to a KQED Forum podcast from Scott Shafer and Glenn Phillips, field agent for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
And, as always, re-scan if you run into trouble. What’s that? You still can’t see Wheel and all your stories? Sorry.
Oh, and what about the Not In My Back Yard millionaires who never cottoned to Sutro Tower in the first place? Well, they’ve been bought off for peanuts.
Check it:
13. STI agrees to contribute:
a. $ 3,000.00 per year to the Midtown Terrace Home Owners Association. The initial contribution payable prior to December 31, 2008. Subsequent contributions to be made on or before July 1 of each year.
b. $ 4,500.00 one time contribution to the Twin Peaks Improvement Association for an open space improvement project.
c. $ 6,000.00 one time contribution to the Forrest [sic] Knolls Neighborhood Organization to replace the Forrest Knolls [sic again - Run Forrest Run!] entrance sign.
d. $ 10,000.00 one time contribution for the benefit of the surrounding area to purchase two drinking fountains one each at the walking paths around two area reservoirs. The contribution will be payable only when the fountains are approved by the appropriate agencies and actually purchased.
How’s them apples?
Anyway, hang your antenna high and hope for the best.
Tags: 11, 12, 14, 2, 2009, 29, 30, 34, 4.4, 41, 42, 45, 5, 65, 66, 7, 9, ABC, analog, analogue, antenna, antennae, antennas, association, auxilliary, AZT, bay area, broadcast, C.W., cable, cbs, digital, dt, DTV, Forest Knolls Neighborhood Organization, forrest, Forrest Knolls, Forrest Knolls Neighborhood Organization, fox, gump, High, hill, home, Improvement, inc. sutro tower inc, incorporated, ion, KBCW, KDTV, KFSt TEL, kgo, KKPX, KNTV, KPIX, kqed, KRON, KTNc, ktvu, low, Midtown Terrace, Midtown Terrace Home Owners Association, mount, nbc, neighborhood, nimbies, nimby, nimbys, Owners, pbs, power, radio, re-scanning, red, rescanning, San Francisco, scan, scanning, sutro, sutro tower, television, tons, twin peaks, Twin Peaks Improvement Association, UNI, white
Posted in TV | Comments Off
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Boy, it was touch and go for a few years there, but news comes today that our beloved NIMBYs have managed to preserve the Great Northern Parking Lot of San Francisco.
See it? 700 spaces, free of charge. It’s historic, you know. When the U.S. Army wasn’t out there killing a million or so Filipinos it managed to create the GNPLoSF. Therefore, these parking spaces are sacrosanct:
Now that that pesky modern art has been gotten rid of, a question remains over what to do with the upper end of the Main Post. You know the Burger King corporation had an outlet that served as an Army Mess on the Presidio for so many years, it would be only fitting to give it the right of first refusal to get a chance to replace the famous itty bitty bowling alley that’s up there now.
An artist’s conception, avec just one installation of evil modern art thrown in to see if the NIMBYs can tolerate it.
You see, that old, historic Presidio BK was a place “where a simple guy serving his country could get an inexpensive meal with a stunning view.” Wouldn’t it be nice to honor those memories with the biggest Burger King in the world? Put it right where the museum was supposed to go.
Either that, or a Jollibee. Your choice.
Tags: 2009, 22, 22nd, 6:30, 7th, analysis, Anthony, april, april 22, april 22nd, art, association, Bechtle, benz, Berkeley, bmw, board, california, camp, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, Craig Middleton, Crissy Field, Curtis F. Feeny, Curtis Feeny, David Bancroft, David Grubb, David R. Grubb, directors, don, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, dyads, eir, eis, environmental, Executive Director, Family, Film Society, fisher, gap, Golden Gate Bridge, heights, hotel, impact, J. Michael Shepherd, landmark, lodge, Lori Brook, Main Post, marina, Mercedes, Michael Shepherd, military, modern-art museum, museum, nancy, Nancy Conner, Nancy Hellman, Nancy Hellman Bechtle, National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, nimbies, nimby, pacific, palace of fine arts, PM, porsche, presidio, Presidio Historical Association, report, Robert Burke, San Francisco, T. Robert Burke, texan, the gap, theater, theatre, tony, transportation, trust, Veerkamp, walking tour, William Wilson, workshop
Posted in museums | Comments Off
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
This recent post here regarding the Presidio inspired a correspondent to take pen to paper (so to speak) and leave a comment. Below are the words of “PresidioPal” along with some queries. (Surprisingly, he’s not a NIMBY.) Anyway, enjoy.
The mighty, historic Great Parking Lot of the Presidio is jeopardized by the Main Post Plan. The Presidio Trust just might unpave this paradise and put up a…lawn. Heaven forfend. What happened was the Army put it in and then left. Are we bound to have it forever?
Says PP:
“If we are talking about the “decay” of the historic character of the Presidio, which is a rare national historic landmarks district chosen for the layer upon layer of American history visible on Main Post…”
What does that mean to people – landmark status? Why should people care about this? The historic character of the South was Jim Crow laws (not that we didn’t have James Crow laws outside the South, but that’s another story) - would the “historic character” argument be useful for maintaining segregation? Would you like to turn the Presidio itself into a museum, where nothing ever changes? Isn’t it an underpopulated Land of Wind and Ghosts now?
“…the Fisher art museum…”
Isn’t the name of the proposed museum Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio (CAMP). Isn’t it specifically not called The Fisher? Isn’t that one of its selling points? Isn’t it going to have like a “b” as in boy billion dollars of art in it or something, that’s not otherwise available for public view?
”…a hotel…”
Or lodge, some people are calling it a lodge, in keeping with the whole “park” theme of the Presidio. What’s wrong with a lodge in a park?
“and a modern movie house”
Or “modernized,” I’ll give you that. Didn’t it used to seat something like 1000 GIs back in the day? Do you think your millionaire NIMBY allies would like to have all those blue-collar types back in the Presidio in “their neighborhood” near the houses they inherited from their parents fair and square? Isn’t it true that the Presidio Theatre seats zero people today and that’s the way the owners of competing theatres in San Francisco like it? Isn’t it true theater owners kicked in money to oppose the Main Post Plan because they don’t want competition? Is that a good reason to oppose opening up a small three-screener that would seat far fewer people than the 1000 it was built for back in the day?
“…ADD to the “decay” by introducing non-historic elements that detract from the historic site itself…”
Does the non-historic TransAmerica pyramid detract from historic San Francisco? Should nothing ever change in town? Did a collection of histrionic societies, millionaire NIMBYs and movie theatre owners object to the Louvre Pyramid in Cour Napolean? Probably, but isn’t the pyramid a good thing, despite its “non-historic” status?
“If you take “decay” to mean delaying needed repairs to historic structures, the new buildings have nothing to do with that.”
You and your NIMBY allies are fighting for the status quo, whether you realize it or not. Congress, in its wisdom, could have put your organization in charge of the entire Presidio. It didn’t though, right? Do you acknowledge that? Why should anybody pay attention to your unfunded mandates? Your half-baked if-we-had-some-ham-we-could-have-a-ham-sandwich, if-we-also-had-some-bread-but-only-if-five-million-dollars-fell-from-the-sky alternative plans? Back in the 1990s, Congress did something quite unique with the Presidio. Of course, it could have sold off a lot of land to condo developers. Would you prefer that?
“Let’s get it straight, the proposal is for three major new structures in a national historic landmark.”
Is that really an argument? Shouldn’t you go further and explain why people should care about national historic landmark status? And actually, it’s more than three structures, but I get what you mean. Is the 700-car parking lot historic? Was the Burger King historic? Should we bring it back to honor the military?
“Why not a contemporary museum on Alamo Square?”
The reason why is that millionaire NIMBYs and the Planning Commission would tear that one apart. That’s the short answer.
If I had any advice for the Main Post, it would be this – lively up yourself, mon! This may or may not happen, depending upon the lawyers, the judges and the juries associated with the forthcoming lawsuits.
We’ll see.
Tags: 2009, art, board, camp, chronicle, comment period, contemporary, contemporary art museum of the presidio, contemporary art museum presidio, cow hollow, David Grubb, directors, Disney, don fisher, doris, doyle drive, eir, eis, gavin newsom, hotel, june 1, landmark, lodge, Main Post, Mayor, military, modern-art museum, museum, museum nimbies, nimbies, nimby, nimbys, pelosi, presidio, presidio pal, presidiopal, San Francisco, socketsite, theater, theatre, trust, whit hall
Posted in parks | Comments Off
The Pros and Cons of Progress at the Presidio Main Post – A Kind of Dialogue
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009This recent post here regarding the Presidio inspired a correspondent to take pen to paper (so to speak) and leave a comment. Below are the words of “PresidioPal” along with some queries. (Surprisingly, he’s not a NIMBY.) Anyway, enjoy.
The mighty, historic Great Parking Lot of the Presidio is jeopardized by the Main Post Plan. The Presidio Trust just might unpave this paradise and put up a…lawn. Heaven forfend. What happened was the Army put it in and then left. Are we bound to have it forever?
Says PP:
“If we are talking about the “decay” of the historic character of the Presidio, which is a rare national historic landmarks district chosen for the layer upon layer of American history visible on Main Post…”
What does that mean to people – landmark status? Why should people care about this? The historic character of the South was Jim Crow laws (not that we didn’t have James Crow laws outside the South, but that’s another story) - would the “historic character” argument be useful for maintaining segregation? Would you like to turn the Presidio itself into a museum, where nothing ever changes? Isn’t it an underpopulated Land of Wind and Ghosts now?
“…the Fisher art museum…”
Isn’t the name of the proposed museum Contemporary Art Museum of the Presidio (CAMP). Isn’t it specifically not called The Fisher? Isn’t that one of its selling points? Isn’t it going to have like a “b” as in boy billion dollars of art in it or something, that’s not otherwise available for public view?
”…a hotel…”
Or lodge, some people are calling it a lodge, in keeping with the whole “park” theme of the Presidio. What’s wrong with a lodge in a park?
“and a modern movie house”
Or “modernized,” I’ll give you that. Didn’t it used to seat something like 1000 GIs back in the day? Do you think your millionaire NIMBY allies would like to have all those blue-collar types back in the Presidio in “their neighborhood” near the houses they inherited from their parents fair and square? Isn’t it true that the Presidio Theatre seats zero people today and that’s the way the owners of competing theatres in San Francisco like it? Isn’t it true theater owners kicked in money to oppose the Main Post Plan because they don’t want competition? Is that a good reason to oppose opening up a small three-screener that would seat far fewer people than the 1000 it was built for back in the day?
“…ADD to the “decay” by introducing non-historic elements that detract from the historic site itself…”
Does the non-historic TransAmerica pyramid detract from historic San Francisco? Should nothing ever change in town? Did a collection of histrionic societies, millionaire NIMBYs and movie theatre owners object to the Louvre Pyramid in Cour Napolean? Probably, but isn’t the pyramid a good thing, despite its “non-historic” status?
“If you take “decay” to mean delaying needed repairs to historic structures, the new buildings have nothing to do with that.”
You and your NIMBY allies are fighting for the status quo, whether you realize it or not. Congress, in its wisdom, could have put your organization in charge of the entire Presidio. It didn’t though, right? Do you acknowledge that? Why should anybody pay attention to your unfunded mandates? Your half-baked if-we-had-some-ham-we-could-have-a-ham-sandwich, if-we-also-had-some-bread-but-only-if-five-million-dollars-fell-from-the-sky alternative plans? Back in the 1990s, Congress did something quite unique with the Presidio. Of course, it could have sold off a lot of land to condo developers. Would you prefer that?
“Let’s get it straight, the proposal is for three major new structures in a national historic landmark.”
Is that really an argument? Shouldn’t you go further and explain why people should care about national historic landmark status? And actually, it’s more than three structures, but I get what you mean. Is the 700-car parking lot historic? Was the Burger King historic? Should we bring it back to honor the military?
“Why not a contemporary museum on Alamo Square?”
The reason why is that millionaire NIMBYs and the Planning Commission would tear that one apart. That’s the short answer.
If I had any advice for the Main Post, it would be this – lively up yourself, mon! This may or may not happen, depending upon the lawyers, the judges and the juries associated with the forthcoming lawsuits.
We’ll see.
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