Comments on: Pre-gentrification Hayes Valley looked a little different

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 20 Aug 2014 19:38:10 +0000

When the freeway dropped cars off directly onto Fell Street, Fell Street felt like a highway for folks trying to zoom to the Sunset or Richmond. I lived at Fell and Fillmore, and it was horrendous. As a pedestrian, crossing Fell felt dangerous and was really unpleasant. The Fell Street overpass that used to cross Market Street at Octavia divided the neighborhoods that bordered Market Street . . . those east of the overpass (Civic Center and Downtown) from the west end of Market Street (Castro and the area around the Safeway). It was a wasteland under the overpass. It was a homeless encampment most of the time, lots of human waste and garbage. Very few folks walked on Market Street if it required traveling under the overpass. As soon as the Fell overpass was removed, traffic on Fell calmed down, and it became pleasant to walk on Market. It did gentrify Hayes Valley where there had been a lot of interesting restaurants and shops that catered to the neighborhood which was more middle to lower middle class even through most of the 1990′s. This is the only part that I miss . . . some of the old hangouts in Hayes Valley. There was even a gym that catered to mostly a gay clientele right on Hayes Street, and Mad Magdas was an interesting tea house.

By: NIGGA JIM X

NIGGA JIM X — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 04:45:36 +0000

KILL WHITEY!!!

By: Pacific Standard Simon

Pacific Standard Simon — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 04:10:26 +0000

What’s your point, sausage-breath?

By: that dude

that dude — Sat, 16 Aug 2014 03:13:54 +0000

i hate your statement so much. you cant play white guy victim in this game. just close your laptop and walk away forever.

By: Pacific Standard Simon

Pacific Standard Simon — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 18:42:53 +0000

Nope. And the real problem is parking rage. If you can’t park, you can’t explore with a car.

By: ETR

ETR — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 17:54:37 +0000

This is probably a naive thought since I didn’t live here when that freeway existed. In all the years I’ve lived here, though, I’ve wondered how much more of the city and surrounding areas I might have casually explored if there were the freeway available to get across the city faster. Did it/would it relieve street traffic and ensuing road rage as much as I fantasize it would?

By: window washer

window washer — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 03:22:29 +0000

Cool your jets, Maria Callas. Everybody dies of something, sooner or later. You don’t get special consideration for an earthquake.

By: Some Jerk

Some Jerk — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 20:12:00 +0000

Bob thanks for saying something intelligent that recognizes the tragedy of a changing SF without the typical simplistic “artist vs techies” finger-pointing.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 17:49:38 +0000

That might be so, but they work too hard to engage in the kind of weirdness that was common here. I don’t blame them, but I also don’t expect them to be able to do things that a 23 year old slacker that works randomly can do. I have no doubt they want to engage in it, and enjoy seeing it, but it will die out.

By: DomPara

DomPara — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 17:20:52 +0000

Tech kids are young weird people. They aren’t patchouli and poncho weird, but I’m pretty sure they count as social misfits in most other parts of the country.

By: DomPara

DomPara — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 17:15:00 +0000

Pearl clutching about earthquake jokes aside (I thought it was grimly funny), removing freeway connectors will only make SF more gentrified, isolated, and expensive. See: everywhere else the Central Freeway was cut back.

By: Skyscraper

Skyscraper — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 16:59:22 +0000

My dad died in the ’89 quake.

Jerk.

By: rod

rod — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 08:41:51 +0000

Insult. Insult. Slur. Bile.

By: This dude

This dude — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 05:58:49 +0000

The other option is plack beople drive by shooting the place up.

By: scum

scum — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 05:11:13 +0000

So say’s the pasty cat dude who has probably never been though a quake bigger then 4.7.