Mission Mission

Shitty economy or not, the entrepreneurial spirit is still alive. Take these bright Mission youngsters, for example. Gaucho Dave snapped this shot of them and explains:

I remember when I was a kid, trying to make a buck in the summer I’d sometimes mow lawns. SF is different, these boys tried to charge me $1 to take a picture of them with a condom they blew up. I told them I had lots of friends and would do free advertising for them in exchange for a picture.

Done and done. They might still be around at 19th and Florida if you want to take them up on their offer. New decks and bearings are expensive.

People seem to have a lot to say about the new Levi’s Workshop that recently opened on Valencia between 16th and 17th Street in the future location of a Charles Phan restaurant.  Some residents find it a little ironic:

You find it odd that the hood went nuts when AA tried to move in but they had very little issue with Levi’s opening a pop-up which is a company 5000 times the size?
Have you seen all the vandalism all over the front of the Levi’s store?
They hit the store two nights in a row and completely destroyed the front of the shop, took 15 people 2 days to clean it up and still can’t get parts off.

The graffiti in question may or may not be the work of some anarchist chick that Kevmo ran into.  Whatever the case, the incident seems to have prompted the hiring of a full-time private security guard to patrol the block in an attempt to stem the vandalism, as MM reader Elle points out:

guess what? starting yesterday evening and throughout the entire summer, there is a security guard on duty 24-7 on the block of Valencia between 16th and 17th.  this is private ‘police’ monitoring your activity in public space. they don’t stop people from being robbed or killed, they are just there to watch the stuff.

For their part, Levi’s says the workshop is good for the neighborhood:

Each workshop is designed to focus on a specific craft including printmaking and photography, and will feature forums where local pioneers in design, sports, technology, sustainability, and other interests can engage and collaborate

So, what do you guys think about it?

[Photo courtesy of Uptown Almanac]

Previously:

American Apparel Comes to the Mission

Details on the American Apparel Hearing (NSFW)

American Apparel Says Peace

The Tenderloin Geographic Society captured this somewhat unsettling scene over the weekend. Your childhood, rendered bigger than life and then crammed in the back of dirty camper.

I do remember seeing this guy at that X-21 antique place on Valencia back before it shut down. I also remember seeing it at the original X-21 (at 21st and X Streets in Sacramento) back before they moved to SF, like 15 years ago. Maybe after all these years, early-’90s nostalgia finally kicked in just right and this Sonic finally found a home.

Or maybe they’re on their way to the dump.

Why are you not at Dolores Park right now? What, are you watching Spain Paraguay? Fair enough, but as soon as that’s over try to get in on this drinking game in progress. Definitely look for overdressed Goth chick to come back with a vengeance!

[Photo by Annette]

Previously:

Dolores Park Bingo Card Includes Charming Illustrations of Public Urination and Ganja Treats

Looks like Valencia is getting some official flyer postin’ posts on those halfsie telephone poles. With this increased visibility, maybe now we’ll finally find Grease Lightnin’ the parrot or stop staring at our cell phones.

Mr. Eric Sir has the scoop.

We’ve gone round and round about the issue of a human body parking in a spot for a car (and it seems the debate has finally ended . . . ?) but what about a car parking squarely in an intersection, yet just along the outside of a human walking area that is not a sidewalk?

Do we have a problem here? It seems to me that a car is parked in the middle of the street.

The construction crews have finished re-paving the street and have commenced painting the new boundaries for vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians.  At first glance, it might look a lot like the old Valencia.  However, the discerning viewer can appreciate the myriad improvements here. 

First of all, that wide, unnecessary, center-dividing “parking lot” has been eliminated in favor a simple, sensible yellow line that widens only at intersections to allow for left turns.  Sorry bros, no more parking in the center divider just so you can pop into Puerto Alegre for a quick marg.  Gonna have to stick with the party bus from now on.

As a result, this creates significantly more space for vehicles in the middle of the road, which consequently allows the bicycle lanes to not only be wider but also further away from the rogue suddenly-swinging-open parked car doors that have a nasty habit of clotheslining unsuspecting cyclists. 

Vehicles still have enough space to park (as before), while pedestrians also manage to come out ahead since they get a few extra feet of sidewalk space.  So if I see you and 4 of your friends all walking towards me on the sidewalk in a horizontal line so you can all pleasantly chat together, I’ll still think you’re an asshole, but at least I’ll be able to get by you.

So, what’s the final equation, Prof? 

[Valencia] – [center divider] = [more fucking space for everybody]

Of course, I’m all for the “greening” of San Francisco, but I think the city planners might have taken things a little too far in this case . . .

Previously:

Coming Soon: Valencia Streetscape Improvements

Valencia Doing Work

Getting A Feel For The New Valencia

Chris Collin got in touch with us again to share another poignant story about living in the Mission.  It’s just as gripping (and heartbreaking) as his last tale of Randy the wanderer, but this time focuses on some complicated gentrification issues:

We were thoroughly friendly—even jokey and playful at first—but the guys just didn’t like us. Maybe we were interlopers on a block they’d dominated for years. Maybe our earnestness was annoying: our sputtering veggie oil car next to their monster V8s, our cheerful cat Biggie gazing innocently at their snarling dogs. Whatever it was, they unwelcomed us with glares and mutterings that only grew bolder over time. Sometimes we’d come home to a broken fence or a bottle smashed in our pathway, the stares from the stoop daring us to comment. Increasingly we didn’t. They had gangbanger friends, spoke intimately of violence. And, in my head, I turned muscle-bound and ridiculous, raining righteousness down upon every insult.

Have at it!

Previously:

Randy: Productive and Uptight Vs. Marginal and Odd

Crazy Mission Neighbor

Finding a new place to live in this city can be tough, you guys. Like super tough, right? Yesterday, Jen Gann broke it down. Like a poet or something:

Get a new voice, get a new email, get super charged Craigslist eyes. Stalk the columns. Separate ads from each other. Know the rental companies, the short cuts in applications, the fastest way to beat another’s application with your own. Offer to pay and pay now. Carry your checkbook like it’s a change purse and use it just as often.

Read on.

Photo by Robby Virus.

Sometimes you just need a place where you can put your feet up.

[San Jose at 23rd]

Previously:

Moto-Siesta at the Palace