Mission Mission

Our pal Mollie is on the scene:

Do you know about cops and garbage services taking down encampments around design district? Division and 9th

Looks like 5 cops, caltrans and garbage gearing up to take things down but I’d go check there for more info, unclear but they’re prepping

It’s like they’re all:

And then your home is like:

(Thanks, Mollie.)

Just walked past this scene, out by 30th and Mission.

SF Gate has more details:

The painting should be done by March or April, at which time the Municipal Transportation Agency will start banning left turns at every intersection between 14th and Cesar Chavez streets and requiring right turns off of Mission Street at 16th, 20th, 22nd, 24th and 26th streets. [link]

So if you’re like me and love driving all the way down Mission Street, you better do it now while you still can. (Also, they eliminated some inefficient bus stops, so make sure your favorite stops still exist before trying to use them.)

Mission Local reports:

The Department of Building Inspection on Friday ordered the demolition of the fire-damaged building at the corner of 22nd and Mission Streets, citing a concern that a moderate earthquake would collapse the building outward and cause harm to the public.

If the building is demolished, more than 60 tenants displaced by the fire may lose the right to return to their units after reconstruction.

San Francisco guarantees rent-controlled tenants who are displaced by a fire the right to return to their units after repair at their previous rent, though few do. But with the demolition, that protection no longer applies: New buildings are not subject to rent control because of state law and are not bound by the right of return. No-fault evictions on the basis of demolition are also allowed under city law.

Read on for lots more.

[Photo by Google Maps]

Broke-Ass Stuart last week published an in-depth interview with Bender’s co-owner and longtime SF bartender Johnny Davis. Here’s a peek:

BAS: Are you worried about dive bars disappearing in San Francisco?
JD: Well, it does suck that a lot of them have gone by the wayside. But it’s just the nature of change, the nature of progress, and there’s really nothing to be done there. Someone buys something, they want to make it their own, make it a little bit nicer. A lot of the time, the city forces them to make it nicer through ADA compliances and things like that. Yes, the classic dive bar is going to be a thing of the past at some point, but I don’t know. Some of us still enjoy that, some of us are still trying to run those.

[...]

BAS: What do you miss about bartending back in the ‘90s compared to now?
JD: It was a little more lawless, you know? There wasn’t— [laughs] you could scream at someone without hurting their feelings, you know? I don’t know. The town was a little looser. There were more wild things going on then, which meant the bars were a little wilder, the whole scene was a little wilder. There were better bands and more bands, really. It was more of a blue collar town back in the ‘90s, which meant folks could get by on a serious budget. You could find a place to live for 300 bucks a month. You could eat burritos every day of the week for you know, $4 a burrito back in the ‘90s. It was an easier town where you could get by without killing yourself working.

Read on for the whole thing.

Oh and also: the time Johnny Davis saved my life.

This Sunday the Bon Vivants present a night of booze, bones and babes at Pops Bar! Stop in from 7-9pm for some clackin’ and throwing bones all while slugging back some chocolate Jell-O shots with Ancho Reyes and Mandarine Napoelon. The Bon Vivants’ own Ethan “Bone Daddy” Terry will be hosting the event with DJ Chili Killi (aka Nicolas Torres) playing a menagerie of jams to keep you bonin’. Pops’ girls Ally & Ellie will be tending bar and they’ll be sure to wet your whistle. Come on down to the boneyard.

This week at Pops Bar:

(more…)

Just look at it:

The fries are fucking fantastic too.

So much to choose from! We’ll start at the southernmost option and head north:

1.) Oldies Night at the Knockout! It’s nasty!

2.) Roger Niner Karaoke at Pop’s! Now every 3rd Thursday!

3.) Haçeteria’s 5th anniversary party at F8! Best dance party in town!

4.) Smiths vs. LCD Soundsystem dance party at Rickshaw Stop! Live bands + DJs!

If you have any curiosity, at all, about the 1906 Earthquake (especially a morbid one), the Mission District is probably the most interesting place to look. Here are the top 3 reasons history nerds should take a closer look in the Mission.

1. LIQUEFACTION

Turns out that when you fill a marsh in with sand and debris, build lavish 3 & 4 story buildings on that sand and debris, then shake the ground for half a minute, those buildings pretty much sink right down into the ground.

Sinking buildings were built over what was once lake or marsh.

Guests on the 4th floor of the Valencia St. Hotel (top) simply stepped out of the window onto the street. Those sleeping on floors 1-3 weren’t so lucky. Most of the buildings destroyed by the earthquake were wiped out by fire. But this block of victorians on South Van Ness (below) survived 3 days of fires to become a tourist attraction.

South Van Ness between 18th & 19th.

2. FIRE LINE

The fires burned out in the Mission leaving a dramatic contrast between prosperity and homelessness (just like today!), thriving commerce and total annihilation (just like today!), Victorian architecture and Edwardian. Walk down 20th street from Dolores Park to Valencia paying attention to the architecture on the North side (post 1906) vs. the south side (pre 1906).

Much of the commercial hub in the Mission District survived. There weren’t many places left in the city that you could buy anything so thousands flocked to the Mission for goods and services in the days, weeks, and months after the fires.

3. DOLORES PARK

At the corner of 20th and Church remains one of the few fire hydrants in the city that was functioning after the city’s water mains had burst. This hydrant is credited for helping stop the fire for pushing forward and is painted gold on April 18th each year.

Dolores was also the temporary home for some of the quarter of a million refugees (more than half of the city’s population). A handful of these Army built earthquake shacks remain in the city.

Next week Mission Bicycle Company begins hosting 1906 Earthquake bike tours which include a theatrical simulation of the 46 seconds of the earthquake, 10 stops with before and after pictures, little known stories, a few surprises, lunch and a rental bike (more info).

[via Mission to Market]

Who’s Diane Coffee, you ask? Get this:

Shaun Michael Fleming (born May 31, 1987) is an American actor and musician. He is best known as the drummer of the indie rock band Foxygen and the creator of his solo project Diane Coffee as well as his Disney voice acting career.

And now have a listen:

Here are the show details:

Diane Coffee plus Hazel English, Be Calm Honcho, Dick Stusso
Tuesday, February 23rd @ Brick + Mortar
8pm (7pm doors) $15 / 18+

If you’d like to win a pair of tickets, leave a comment on this blog post, or retweet the tweet we send about it, or comment on the Facebook post we post about it. A winner will be selected at random. Contest ends Thursday night at 6pm.

Tickets and more info here.