Posts Tagged ‘nimby’
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
Things were worse back in aught-seven, back when drivers waiting to fill up at the always-cheap ARCO station on Fell Street in the EaPA would queue up in the bike lane. But it’s no picnic these days neither, as you can see in this shot from a few days ago:

Well, comes now award-winning Michael Helquist of BIKE NOPA to learn us about planned changes:
“‘We have a design hashed out to take out parking on the south side of Fell Street,’ James Shahamiri, MTA Assistant Traffic Engineer, told BIKE NOPA. The new design would designate the former parking spaces as a curbside queue for motorists awaiting entry to the gas station.”
(IMO, that’s a painfully obvious solution that any other town in ‘Merica would have implemented years ago when the issue first cropped up. But oh well.)
So, you see them cars parked on the left side? You know, the Porsche 944 (or 968?), the Saturn S-Series, and the Honda CR-V cute-ute SUV? They’re parked in spaces that could soon be the ARCO queue.
What’s that, NIMBY? Over your dead body you say? O.K., well, I think this cake is already baked, but maybe you’ll be able to hear more about all the deets at this meeting:
Thursday, March 18th
7:00 pm, visit with neighbors
7:30 pm, meeting begins
9:00 pm , meeting ends
Change is Good, huh?
Tags: 1775, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 76, arco, area, Assistant, association, automobiles, autos, bicycle, bike, BIKE NOPA, block, blocking, BP, cars, cyclists, divisadero, divisidero, EaPA, east of panhandle, engineer, fell, fulton, gas, gasloline, golden gate park, intersection, James Shahamiri, jannah, lane, Line, meeting, metropolitan transportation agency, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, michael helquist, mta, Muni, neighborhood, nimby, NOPA, nopna, north of panhandle, oak, panhandle, parking, queue, San Francisco, SF, sfist, SFMTA, Station, street, traffic, union, vehicles, wait, Waiting
Posted in bikes, cars | 8 Comments »
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
From District 5 Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi comes this newsletter update concerning floats at the upcoming 2010 ING Bay to Breakers footrace. Certainly appears as if last month’s plan to start floats only at Divisidero and then stop them 1.2 miles later in Golden Gate Park is dead.
The new idea is having two staging areas for floats to enter the race – at the beginning in eastern SoMA and at Civic Center. Deets below.
These mariners will need a place to sail their float again in 2010:

Oh, whoops, they abandoned their stripper pole-equipped vessel in the Golden Gate Park Panhandle last year. Oh well.

Bay to Breakers Update
The 99th Bay to Breakers will be run on Sunday, May 16th. Last year’s race saw a significant reduction in problems and impacts on the neighborhood, although there is still more work to do be done. Plans are still being developed for how floats will participate this year. Race organizers initially proposed having all floats start on Divisadero; however, this raised concerns with both neighbors and with float advocates. Supervisor Mirkarimi organized a meeting with the race organizers, the Mayor’s office, float advocates, and neighborhood representatives. We are still waiting to hear the organizers’ revised plan, but they have indicated that they now plan to have two staging areas for floats: at the beginning of the race and at Civic Center.
We are encouraged to hear that the organizers plan to adopt Supervisor Mirkarimi’s suggestion to implement a registration system for floats. This will generate additional revenue to pay for the impacts of the floats, and also create a new level of accountability for floats that are abandoned on the streets. Despite the improvements last year, the impact on the Panhandle area was still unacceptable. Supervisor Mirkarimi remains committed to changing the practice of floats celebrating in the Panhandle for hours after the race has passed. Ross continues to encourage the race organizers to provide an end-point for floats in Golden Gate Park. He believes creating an event in the Park that encourages floats not to stop in the Panhandle will significantly reduce the impact on the neighborhood.
More information:
- www.baytobreakers.com
- Float registration information (to be posted soon)
Tags: 12k, 2, 2008, 2009, 2010, 5 fulton, 7, 97th, 98th, alcohol, alix rosenthal, annual, anschutz, b2b, bad, Bay, bay to breakers, bay2breakers, beer, body, breakers, cars, carts, channel, Chepkurui, chris fox, citizens, Conor Johnston, cops, corrals, CPBB, crawlsf, cups, david scott, David William Scott, department, dept., destroyed, direct, district, divisadero, divisidero, dj, dpw, dumpsters, edelman, Edward Sharpless, Elite, eventbrite, facebook, fell, floats, footrace, footstock, foto, fundraiser, gabe, garbage, gavilanes, Gavin, glass, golden gate park, good, Greater Body Expo, haight Ashbury, howard, ing, John, John Gray, Jon Dishotsky, kegs, Kelsey Nagie, kgo, KGO-TV, Kipsang, Korir, Lineth, liquor, Liz Brusca, map, Matt Seliga, Men's, Mike Moscuzza, Muni, naked, nat ford, Newsom, nimby, nimbys, nude, paint, panhandle, photographs, photos, plastic, police, police department, pr, preservation, public relations, purple, recycling, red, richmond, roe, ross mirkarimi, sam singer, Sammy Kitwara, San Francisco, SFPD, smoove, store, street, sunset, tickets, towed, trash, TV, ugly, vehicles, Wilson Ling, women's, zaq, zero tolerance
Posted in events, sports | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Via ActionNewsSF, you might search to find a KGO-TV bit covering the traffic-disrupting venting steam pipe at McAllister and Larkin today – it’s more steam than usual, that’s for sure.
But this area of Civic Center right in front of our Asian Art Museum (this year, it’s Shanghai) is basically steaming all the time, right?
HC SVNT DRACONES:

Click to expand.
This intersection is usually steaming, unless it’s flooding. Like this:

via Lulu Vision
Oh well.
As per usual, it all happens on (or near) McAllister Street, Gateway to the Golden Gate Park Panhandle and home of the Snickerdoodle bike path (Route 20), your best way of getting over Alamo Heights while avoiding the abysmal, Hayes Valley NIMBY-designed Octavia Boulevard 24-7 traffic scrum.
Tags: 20, 7, alamo heights, art of the city, asian art museum, bicycle, bike, boulevard, broken, channel, civic center, cover, crosswalk, ctiy hall, cyclists, department, dept., disrupt, disruption, dpw, dragons be here, flodding, flood, hayes valley, HC SVNT DRACONES, Here Be Dragons, hic sunt dracones, hill, intersection, kgo, larkin, macallister, manhole, market, nimby, octavia, octavia boulevard, pass, path, pipe, public works, repair, report, restaurant, route, San Francisco, shanghai, snick, snickerdoodle, soluna, Steam, steaming, street, tc, traffic, vent, venting, water
Posted in streets | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
[UPDATE: Word on the street is that, for 2010, floats will be confined the 1.2 mile stretch betwixt Divisadero Street and Arguello Boulevard. Is that a fact? No se, hermana/o. And people, use your words - this new rule ruins B2B because....]
Let’s see here, the Citizens for the Preservation of Bay2Breakers (Bay to Breakers) are upset about not being consulted with a change to where the floats start at the 2010 ING Bay to Breakers coming up on May 16th?
Today’s Beef of the Week:
“Even with an organization of more than 25,000 members built in just a couple of weeks in 2009 to fight AEG’s bans and preserve the traditions of the race, AEG did not approach CPBB or any of its officers to discuss the new 2010 restrictions prior to their announcement. AEG did not approach Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi’s office or the Board of Supervisors to discuss the new 2010 restrictions. AEG did not approach Mayor Gavin Newsom’s office to discuss the new 2010 restrictions. AEG did not approach the North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association to discuss staging floats in their neighborhood instead of at the start of the race.”
All right. Spokesman Sam Singer is saying that the rules will be the same as last year, except for the float starting point. Actually, I thought people were mad in 2009 when they were required to start their floats down in the SoMA starting area. Oh well. Won’t this all get worked out when the permits get issued, and during the ISCOTT hearing ’n stuff? I mean the Third Sunday in May is three months away, right?
Haven’t run this photo in two or three months, or something. Click to expand:

Maybe changing the float starting point is a bad idea, I don’t know. There are pluses and minuseses.
This change wouldn’t seem to be enough to be able to “destroy” the B2B race though…
Tags: 12k, 2, 2008, 2009, 2010, 5 fulton, 7, 97th, 98th, alcohol, alix rosenthal, annual, anschutz, b2b, bad, Bay, bay to breakers, bay2breakers, beer, body, breakers, cars, carts, channel, Chepkurui, chris fox, citizens, Conor Johnston, cops, corrals, CPBB, crawlsf, cups, david scott, David William Scott, department, dept., destroyed, direct, district, divisadero, divisidero, dj, dpw, dumpsters, edelman, Edward Sharpless, Elite, eventbrite, facebook, fell, floats, footrace, footstock, foto, fundraiser, gabe, garbage, gavilanes, Gavin, glass, golden gate park, good, Greater Body Expo, haight Ashbury, howard, ing, John, John Gray, Jon Dishotsky, kegs, Kelsey Nagie, kgo, KGO-TV, Kipsang, Korir, Lineth, liquor, Liz Brusca, map, Matt Seliga, Men's, Mike Moscuzza, Muni, naked, nat ford, Newsom, nimby, nimbys, nude, paint, panhandle, photographs, photos, plastic, police, police department, pr, preservation, public relations, purple, recycling, red, richmond, roe, ross mirkarimi, sam singer, Sammy Kitwara, San Francisco, SFPD, smoove, store, street, sunset, tickets, towed, trash, TV, ugly, vehicles, Wilson Ling, women's, zaq, zero tolerance
Posted in events | No Comments »
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 »
Friday, January 15th, 2010
Didn’t make it to the entire meeting of the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council yesterday but everything seemed pretty copacetic from what I could see. A representative from Whole Foods made a presentation about their proposed store at 690 Stanyan. Then came the Q and A:
Will they have organic food? Yes. Will they have stuff on sale sometimes? Yes. That’s how it went.
Attention developers – this is the kind of get-together you need to hold before you can begin developing in San Francisco. Paying thousands of dollars a year to nearby community groups, as Sutro Tower, Inc. does, might also help but outreach meetings like these are mandatory. Just saying.

The next stop is a rubber stamp from the Planning Commission on January 28th. Then you can look forward to having a place to shop for Thanksgiving in Autumn.
Hooray!
Tags: $28, 1833 page, 2010, 690, 94117, ashbury, branch, cala, calvin welch, clayton, cole, commission, council, district 5, food, grocery, haight, haihgt, hanc, january, library, market, meeting, neighborhood, nimby, nimbys, page, park, Planning, San Francisco, spate, stanyan, store, street, upper, whole foods
Posted in food and drink | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
It’s all going down this Thursday, January 14th, 2010, at the Park Branch Library on Page Street in the Upper Haight – representatives from Whole Foods will be on hand to discuss their proposed new store at Stanyan and Haight.
Get some history on this projecto here, courtesy of Curbed SF. And read “the whole story” from purported “fossil”Calvin Welch right here.
The proposed residences upstairs are no longer in the works but there’s still lots to argue about. Grab your pink popcorn and show up at the library at 7:00 PM for the next Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council Community Meeting:

See you there!*
*At the meeting, not at Whole Foods, which is too rich for my blood.
Tags: $28, 1833 page, 2010, 690, 94117, ashbury, branch, cala, calvin welch, clayton, cole, commission, council, district 5, food, grocery, haight, haihgt, hanc, january, library, market, meeting, neighborhood, nimby, nimbys, page, park, Planning, San Francisco, spate, stanyan, store, street, upper, whole foods
Posted in food and drink | 1 Comment »
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
Get up to speed first.
Now, here are the debut menus for Baker & Banker. Click to expand:


The neighbors, like Ashley H., seemed pleased, anyway:
“I live right around the block from Baker & Banker, and when I saw that a new restaurant was opening I was so excited to try it out, so I went for opening night, and it was great!
The inside decor is pretty nice and simple with low lighting and mirrors on the walls. To start I had a salad with goat cheese, pomegranate, persimmon, and I think pear, which was super delicious. It was a nice light way to start out the meal. For my main course, I had the scallop dish with brussel sprout leaves and sun choke puree, and it was superb! For desert I had the cheese cake apple crisp, and as a cheesecake expert, it was a great mixture of a traditional cheesecake with apple in the middle – I totally recommend it!
For me this place is a really cute neighborhood restaurant, and I definitely plan on going back. I also think it’s definitely worth a trip even if you aren’t in the neighborhood – it’s great!”
Tags: +3, 1, 1701 octavia, 2, 2009, 4, American, baker, Baker & Banker, baker and banker, banker, bar, bus, bush, Collin Casey, contemporary, Cuisine, december, Designer, director, home, japantown, jeff banker, lori baker, market-driven, meetinghouse, menu, menus, michael brennan, Muni, New American, nimby, nimbys, octavia, open table, opening, pac heights, pacific heights, pine, quince, reservations, restaurant, San Francisco, wine, yelp
Posted in food and drink | Comments Off
Monday, November 30th, 2009
Combining our twin obsessions of food and money, it’s Baker & Banker! And they’re all set to serve up steak, cast-iron potatoes and more starting this week (probably tomorrow, December 1, 2009) at 1701 Octavia betwixt Bush and Pine.
Will our Quince replacement get along well with its NIMBY-ish neighbors in this residential hood? We Can Only Hope.
As it looked a few weeks back:

Eater SF has the deets:
“As you’ll recall, Jeff Banker (of Home fame) and his wife Lori Baker are opening a new American, “welcoming neighborhood restaurant” there, and lo and behold, it’s coming along quite nicely. Notable designer Michael Brennan has spruced up the cozy interior with some dark leather banquettes and a dark wood bar…”
Why don’t you drop by sometime and see the results of the efforts of this cute couple? It’s already(!) rated five stars on Yelp, so that’s a good(?) sign.
The aforementioned Baker and Banker:

More details, after the jump.
Bon courage, B&B!
(more…)
Tags: +3, 1, 1701 octavia, 2, 2009, 4, American, baker, Baker & Banker, baker and banker, banker, bar, bus, bush, Collin Casey, contemporary, Cuisine, december, Designer, director, home, japantown, jeff banker, lori baker, market-driven, meetinghouse, michael brennan, Muni, New American, nimby, nimbys, octavia, open table, opening, pac heights, pacific heights, pine, quince, reservations, restaurant, San Francisco, wine, yelp
Posted in food and drink | Comments Off
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 »