t should come as no surprise (considering the financial relationship between Blue Bottle and the architects involved in this project) that the neighbors’ concerns were ignored in favor of providing greater benefit to Blue Bottle and their habitual customers. Blue Bottle is a tiny cart in a block-long mixed use street. It’s also a relative newcomer here (2005), and has never made much of an effort to make nice with the residential neighbors nearby.
[It's worth noting that they went through the motions of soliciting input from the community when they were trying to get the permits in 2008, until the neighbors voiced the very concerns and objections that are now becoming realities. They made no effort to change the plans to alleviate our concerns -- just paid us lip service and thanked us for our feedback (which they ignored). All communication stopped when we refused to sign a document that would make us perpetually responsible for additional maintenance costs and liability.]
This entire project is really just an expansion of Blue Bottle, who will soon get the benefit of a rent-free plaza, owned by the city and used almost exclusively by their customers (if this weren’t about Blue Bottle, it would be at the other end of the street, where it would logically connect with Patricia’s Green and the impending pop-up spaces in the city-owned lots).
I predict tables and no more through traffic, within two years — the complete elimination of this as a public roadway. That’s great if you’re running a cafe (permitted as a kiosk/cart), and want a place for your customers to sit…but it’s not so good if you happen to have a 20 car garage that opens into someone’s living room.

And if you believe in meritocracy, good for San Francisco and the karmic balance of the world. Maybe this will motivate the cafe to make a decent espresso instead of sitting back on the wide wide tush of their ridiculously lucrative location.

However, I’m a bit surprised Four Barrel didn’t jump on that first. Wouldn’t it be cool if they had a cart that was made out of four actual barrels?

Too often privatizing scheme that are ideologically sound, have been ruined by implementation where the friends of the politically connected get to buy trains, water, petroleum infrastructure for pennies on the dollar, and this looks like that sort of deal brought local.

Would have been nice to have brought this little piece of news up at the community meeting. Because it sure has been kept awful quiet…

Just sayin’.

Also, carts have already been in Dolores Park for a long time. There’s an ice cream guy that goes around, a popsicle guy, etc. There’s sometimes even a pot truffle guy.

What I don’t like is this idea that Blue Bottle should be held to a different standard than any of those other carts. The posicle guy never got permission from Dolores Park Cafe or the neighbors to sell posicles. And, as MrEricSir points out, neither did the Tamale Lady. But the same people who whyne about Blue Bottle “appropriating space for corporate use” hail the Tamale Lady and the popsicle guy as “grassroots” and “local.” You can’t really have it both ways. If they get a pass, so does Blue Bottle.

And no, that doesn’t mean the door is open for McDonald’s and Starbucks to come set up in Dolores Park. Blue Bottle is not a multi-billion dollar corporate chain and it never will be.

Lastly, if they are giving 10% of their profits to Dolores Park, then that seems like a good thing. Of course the whyners will spin it as a buy-off, but I see it as giving back. Who else is doing that for the park? Good on them.