i’m just saying that, for the most part, development in our hood is a good thing – not “the thing that’s wrong” – and that you all should be PROUD of your accomplishments and place in our changing community.

imho, condos with tax-paying, potentially-jeans-buying humans that might actually give a fuck about the mission, are CLEARLY better for the hood than derelict parking lots in an area thick with public transpo.

maybe not as good as a big block of housing slated for first-time buyers (which these will likely not be)….but still good.

I understand that this complex next to our store will bring in clientele, but I want it to be known that this type of clientele is not our main focus. Many people in this post think this is who were are catering to, but really our intention is to accommodate for any walk of life that walks into our store. I am proud of our lack of judgment and relentless passion to get ANYONE just as enthusiastic about our products just as much as we are.

I understand that this complex next to our store will bring in clientele, but I want it to be known that this type of clientele is not our main focus. Many people in this post think this is who were are catering to, but really our intention is to accommodate for any walk of life that walks into our store. I am proud of our lack of judgment and relentless passion to get ANYONE just as enthusiastic about our products just as much as we are.

that said, i’d argue “the real fucking problem with the Mission” is the complete lack of a current and inclusive voice in city politics, and a backward, dated, hollow, ineffective, corrupt notion of “progressive activism” that has consistently defined / hobbled the neighborhood.

a condo development on your corner is decidedly NOT “the real fucking problem with the Mission”(though i do agree 5 stories on that corner is silly).

more than likely, some of the folks that live in those condos will shop your store.

Self Edge is part of the changes our hood has seen and will see – a good part – but don’t think you’re not.

and as you say, your part of the change is positive. be proud of it. change is inevitable. change is good. change is (if managed & considered) progress, particularly in the mission.

This is healthy discussion and some points are very uneducated and are formed as puberty mood-swings tiffs, but most comments are posing good questions and tactful rhetoric.

As one of the employees at Self Edge (a local), I live around the block, I drink coffee from everywhere because the Mission has delicious coffee everywhere, from 14th to 24th ST…I buy my groceries mostly from Mi Ranchita on Mission x Sycamore, or other small markets (even Bi-Rite because they have hard to find quality shit) and frequent pretty much every bar, restaurant, live venue shows, punk house shows, and fuck I even give people alcohol and food at my own place when throwing music/art shows out of my garage in Clarion Ally. I support my neighborhood, just as Kiya does.

Point being, to live in the mission means to be able to experience all of this. Self Edge proves that the Mission can still offer more. Let’s be honest, the Mission has been changing ever since Willy Brown came in to the SF office. Thus bringing in higher rent control and options for even larger companies such as Sketchers on Mission to set up shop. Self Edge finally gives this once punk, diy, and now clearly gentrified area something to look forward to. For example, who the fuck made it ok for a 5 story condo complex to go right next to our store??? Probably that asshole Newsome. Definitely not us holmes. We have nothing to do with the large scale building changes which are the real fucking problems with the Mission. In fact we are supporting so much that “was” the mission…by taking over a rundown business and giving a historical retail space a new and thriving face for the future. Fuck your self-righteous arguments and nay-saying on quality product. I dare any of you to visit the WORK SHOPS in Japan where our products are made, and then visit your beloved Levi’s sweatshops in god-knows-where Asia. Then try to tell us we are gentrifying and hurting the businesses in the Mission. It’s time to grow and keep this beautiful neighborhood alive. It’s time for people who were the punks to start making businesses that reflect their passions… and at last making it a possibility for the Mission to stay somewhat intact with conscious and kind businesses.

Thank you.