November 27, 2005
In which I revel in being contrary; Or, Turk and Hyde
I appreciate the bustle of the (big) city as much as the next condo-dweller, but I especially like the quiet moments when the city sleeps. I revel in seeing which other lights are on, who is walking down the streets (insomniac joggers and groggy dog-owners, mostly, of a Sunday morning). In the interrgenum between the time that bars shut down and greasy-spoons open, the newspapers noisily arrive, thumping on stoops whacking against iron gates. Between last call and day-break, city crews patrol the streets, picking up trash from the night before. Between four and five this morning, a pile of old clothes and a cracked coffee maker appeared and disappeared from the corner. I even caught sight of a MUNI Owl bus service, ponderously making its way west'ards. What shops are open in the early hours? Nothing, in this neighbourhood: the grates drawn across the windows belie the bright neon signs and wheezing air conditioners of the bodega across the street. A few blocks and a few hours away, the café-owner, clad in a beret and crisp blue shirt, shakes his head and says, "I never thought that anyone will be here first thing on a week-end, but you always are!". The croissants are still warm from the bakery, and the espresso machine is yet warming up. I have never seen the corner of Turk and Hyde as cheery as in this photograph of Felipe Dulzaides's "incidental vista", part of the Double Take installation art project.... Read more
October 22, 2005
Mandela Parkway and 14th
A West Oakland park commemorates the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and the fallen Cypress Parkway in West Oakland.... Read more
September 12, 2005
In which we are not equal under the law.
Today's Examiner discusses community-planned intersections: Most importantly, the studies will seek input from the community on those improvements and then offer suggestions on how to make them a reality within five years, by identifying funding and resources for the project, said project manager Julie Kirschbaum, who works with San Francisco County Transportation Authority. "We want to create a tool kit so neighborhoods can help themselves," said Kirschbaum, adding that there could be many more similar projects in the future. "And we want to focus on showing real returns for implementation." Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, whose district includes Mission Terrace and the Excelsior, has lobbied hard for the project and other traffic-calming measures. He said the area is especially dangerous because both Mission and Geneva streets are used as thoroughfares. Five years? That's all we've got? I mean: that's how long it takes to implement traffic-calming solutions? In other intersection-related news, an Oregon bicyclist was charged with manslaughter: A bicyclist was charged with manslaughter after he ran through a stop sign and struck and killed a 71-year-old woman, police said Monday. Jean Calder died at Good Samaritan Hospital after she was struck Friday night as she crossed a street at an unmarked crosswalk, Corvallis police Capt. Ron Noble said. Christopher A. Lightning, 51, was charged with manslaughter and reckless driving. "A car and a bicycle are both vehicles and if they are operated in a way that could be criminal, then charges are filed equally in both situations," Noble said. "He was going right through a stop sign." Lightning was being housed in Benton County jail with bail set at $57,500. He will be given a court-appointed lawyer at his arraignment in Benton County. I do not believe that a motorist would be incarcerated or even charged for a similar offence. I know this to be fact in San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo counties.... Read more
August 18, 2005
In which I request bicycle parking at Waller and Fillmore
After seeing the bicycle rack at the south-east corner of Fillmore and Waller vandalized (probably during a theft: the bolts securing the u-rack to the concrete sidewalk were pulled completely out on one side!) and subsequently removed, I began to wonder how the city of San Francisco treats these racks. I requested a replacement rack via the San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic's Bicycle program site. About two years ago, I placed a similar request (over the telephone: the web site had not yet appeared) when a speeding car took out the bicycle-rack outside Jack's Oak Fair Market at the corner of Oak and Scott. The replacement rack did not arrive for almost six months, but Jack was gracious enough to allow me to leave the bicycle inside while I shopped (invariably for Mexi-Snax tortilla chips, coffee ice cream, or Payday candy bars).... Read more
May 22, 2005
Waller and Fillmore
Just a few weeks after workers tore out the ersatz Picasso mural(e)s, the storefront at the corner of Waller and Fillmore boasts a new design: Cafe du Soleil. A young boy was splashing red paint onto the concrete threshold this afternoon when I walked past. A man -- Mustapha Akhou, the managing partner of this shop? -- spoke from inside the door and told me that the café will open on Tuesday morning at 7, and stay open 'til 10, 11 -- "as long as there is demand". And tables will be placed outside, on the broad and sunny sidewalk on the north side of Waller. This café is another in the rapidly-expanding chain begun by the Boulangerie on Pine, near Fillmore. That shop had a certain je ne sais quoi, but now that one finds that shade of blue everywhere -- just so! -- the ridiculously high prices become less interesting. Rigolo on California and the café in the former Tassajara Bakery on Cole are also part of this enterprise, as is another sandwich-and-salad shop downtown. Pascal Rigo, the man behind Bay Bread and all this Francophilia, also runs a handful of restaurants (Chez Nous, Cortez, Petit Robert ... the list goes on) in San Francisco. No word on why the Movida Lounge closed down. Perhaps their vision of being the wine bar where everyone waited for their table at Thep Phanom and the Indian Oven across the street never materialised? The several times I stopped in, the tables were humming but never crowded. As for the Café de Soleil, it will continue to serve sangria, but not any hard liquor. The chalkboard inside listed a long list of bieres à pression, and the pretty counter-top had racks waiting to burst forth with buttery pastry and tasty sandwiches. Just like all of Rigo's other shops.... Read more
April 21, 2005
the 404
has the mother of all interchanges. Somewhere I have a sadly-unread copy of the intimidating, scholarly Houston Freeways, Erik Slotboom's labour of love. It too has many impressive photographs, as well as interestingly detailed accounts of many roads, flyovers, and intersections.... Read more
April 09, 2005
Mission and 24th / Valencia and 16th
BART stations drew violence yesterday: at 24th Street, a youth wielding a machete (!! -- where had he concealed it? down his baggy pants?) chased a man off a Razr Scootr and around a truck parked next to the McDonalds. Other youth, perhaps a third party to the fray, threw filled bottles of beer noisily into the street as they drove past. A few hours later, at 16th Street, a lanky young man kept sticking his head in the corner store and hollering crude obscenities at the shop-keeper. Eventually he goaded the shop-keeper into coming out of the store and assailing him, while he pretended to dial 911. A tattooed man came along and very calmly separated the two, while the instigator kept screaming obscenities interspersed with an imaginary conversation with the police. And to avoid it all, we hopped into a cab. The hackie told us that we could go anywhere except where those rambunctious Tiburon folk were: someone had just shot a tollbooth operator on the Golden Gate Bridge... Read more
April 06, 2005
Scott and Haight, Part II
Eastbound cyclists and skateboarders rarely heed the stop sign at the bottom of Haight, where the street meets Scott. Sometimes this has dire consequences. The car did not fare well, either. Three prowlers, two police motorcycles, two hook-and-ladder trucks, and one ambulance later, the cyclist was taken to hospital. He was at least alive: five years ago, I saw a cyclist receive severe cranial injuries at this same intersection.... Read more
March 14, 2005
Scott and Haight
Pasted at the northwest corner of Scott and Haight was this poster:... Read more
January 12, 2005
Masonic and Fell
At the Board of Supervisors' Land Use Committee meeting, the Fell St. bike lane became a fixture, and the Board now moves on to consider the long-overdue improvements to the Masonic intersection At the Board of Supervisors' Land Use Committee on Monday, the much-loved Fell St. bike lane between Scott and Baker Streets was made permanent, a final victory for a campaign that has lasted more than 10 years. In addition, on Tuesday, the Board approved the removal of three parking spaces on Fell St. at Masonic to improve visibility between cars and bikes. This approval will allow for implementation of other Phase I improvements for the Fell/ Masonic intersection, such as ladder crosswalk striping, advanced phase for bikes/ peds, and advanced stop line, all expected in February. Stay tuned for news on our push for additional improvements down the road. If you are interested in volunteering with the SFBC's Panhandle Xing Guard effort, send an e-mail to xing-guard@sfbike.org... Read more
January 06, 2005
Fell and Divisadero
Dino had his first opening in ess-eff tonight, as part of a show called Monster at Madrone Lounge. Now, this is a storied space: at the corner of Fell and Divisadero, a decaying Victorian with an old pharmacy space on the ground floor. When I moved to the Lower Haight in 1997, a deli called Mr Falafel occupied the space. It closed shortly after I moved, and the developer famous for opening a Burger King in the Inner Sunset bought an interest in the space. Sure enough, he was planning another 900-square foot fast-food joint in this neighbourhood. Local civic leaders and business people raised a ruckus, and the fight went to City Hall and back. And forth. And back and forth for three or four years, during which the space was covered with graffiti, taken down to the joists, and had all its windows broken. With the space still unoccupied, the building became an emblem of the neighbourhood's lack of development focus (cf. the next corner, which has been vacant for 2+ years). After another year, another developer (also from the Sunset, if word on the street is to be believed) secured a liquor licence and proposed to open art bar. Tempers on Divisadero flared: why can't we have a full liquor licence, wondered the other bar owners who have meagre beer-and-wine licences. Eventually (2 October 2004), Madrone opened. I'd stuck my head in once, but never had a drink there before tonight. They stock second-rate gin for their $8 Martini.... Read more
December 01, 2004
I need a kamera
.flickr-photo { border: solid 1px #000000; } .flickr-frame { float: right; text-align: center; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Lost Camera advertisement, originally uploaded by Lasagna Boy. On the window of a hair salon, at the corner of Scott and Haight streets in San Francisco.... Read more
October 29, 2004
October 28, 2004
Sanchez, Steiner, and Duboce
.flickr-photo { border: solid 1px #000000; } .flickr-frame { float: right; text-align: center; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; } .flickr-caption { font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px; } Picture(3).jpg, originally uploaded by sprout.virji.... Read more
September 19, 2004
Waller and Steiner: "The more you buy, the more you save!"
For the past month, I have not seen the Santa-hat-wearing fellow who sells books each Sunday mid-day at the corner of Waller and Steiner. He stopped me one morning out on the stoop, while he was negotiating three shopping carts laden with his stock-in-trade, and asked if I wanted to sell him the stuff I was putting out onto the sidewalk. I told him he could take it all in exchange for three books. I wonder if he's moved to another intersection? Have we fallen from favour? (He brought levity to the oddly grimy corner, and also kept it neatly swept. He gave picture-books to kids.)... Read more
September 10, 2004
Haight and Pierce
On the southwest corner, attached to a utility pole:... Read more
