Volume XL, No. 9
November 2016
Our 40th Year
THE NOE VALLEY VOICE
Square Speaking: Young Molly Crawford (left) pleased the opening day audience with her eloquent testament to the hard work of her mom, Leslie Crawford, in bringing the Noe Valley Town Square to reality. Photo by Pamela Gerard
Town Square Makes Its Debut Ribbons Snipped on Schedule at New Plaza on 24th Street By Matthew S. Bajko
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It Feels Good to Fill It. David Eiland, co-owner of Just for Fun, brightens up during the holiday season as he and other Noe Valley merchants contribute to neighborhood events and favorite charities. Photo by Beverly Tharp
Noe Valley Businesses That Give There Are So Many, It’s Hard To Count By Richard May
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ave you ever wondered how Noe Valley businesses year after year donate to school fundraisers, church festivals, street fairs, and numerous other local events? The Voice has, so we decided to ask them: how do you manage to be so generous? Several businesses say they give because it’s the right thing to do. “Not everybody is fortunate in life,” says Max Conti, owner of La Ciccia Restaurant on 30th Street. “We should go back to taking care of each other.” Firefly Restaurant’s owner, Brad Levy, agrees. “In this world, we have to find a way to make a difference,” he says. “We’ve got to give back to the people who’ve made it possible for us to be in business,” says David Eiland, co-owner of Just for Fun on 24th Street. Other proprietors say they respond to appeals because they themselves work and quite possibly live in the neighborhood. “We’re a big part of the neighborhood,” Marcia Thomas, director of sales at Zephyr Real Estate, says, adding that
several of her office’s agents live in Noe Valley. “Because we’re part of the community too,” seconds Nick Demopolis, manager of the local Sterling Bank branch. A third reason often mentioned is that donating makes good business sense. “The better the community is, the better business is,” attorney Robert Roddick of Noe Valley Law says. He should know—he’s a longtime president of the Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association. The owner of Cliché Noe Home + Gifts, Dani Sheehan-Meyer, notes that “local community support is important to our success.” Janell Pekkain, owner of Olive This Olive That on Vicksburg Street, says, “If it wasn’t for our local community, we wouldn’t exist.” Paying It Forward What businesses give might surprise you. Many give money, of course. Zephyr has ponied up $12,000 to date to pay for the hayrides along 24th Street “since the first horse hit the street,” according to Thomas. Umpqua Bank donates money every year to support the Noe Valley Garden Tour. Sterling Bank wrote an annual CONTINUED ON PAGE 12
ts groundbreaking in January was greeted with rain, so it seems fitting the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Noe Valley Town Square also coincided with a fall shower. The light dusting of raindrops, however, did little to dampen the celebratory mood of the event. The city's newest open space, the 221st park unit, debuted on schedule Thursday, Oct. 27, after 10 months of soil remediation work and construction of the actual public plaza. Neighborhood leaders and city officials gathered at the site at noon that day for an official grand opening celebration. SF Rec & Park General Manager Phil
Ginsburg joked he wished the sky had opened up with the same deluge as earlier this year, for it would be “perfect poetry on this 10-month project.” Addressing the nearly 300 people who turned out for the opening event, District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener said the park project “was a labor of love” for Noe Valley residents. “Noe Valley doesn't have any community spaces in the commercial corridor, and we will now have a beautiful public plaza," said Wiener, who helped secure city funding for the project and who championed rezoning the land so it could be used for recreational purposes. “This is a huge win for Noe Valley.” Located at 3861 24th St., between Sanchez and Vicksburg streets, the park CONTINUED ON PAGE 9
Decline in Rents Over Past Year A Ceiling May Have Been Reached As Inventory Swells By Corrie M. Anders
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andlord Jeff Maso figured his large studio apartment on Diamond Street—with its new dishwasher, thick carpeting, and lovely views of Twin Peaks—would rent fairly quickly after his last tenants moved out. That was at the end of July. Since then, Maso has dropped the studio’s monthly rent from $2,500 to $2,400 to $2,350 to $2,295. So far, he has had only one serious applicant, who subsequently decided to take an apartment elsewhere. The unit, which was still vacant in midOctober, is only one apartment. But it is a clear example of how the balance of power in Noe Valley’s rental market has shifted over the past year. According to rent specialists, prices for vacant apartments have dropped any-
Remember These? Window signs are still a rarity, what with the popularity of digital bulletin boards like Craigslist. But experts say there is other evidence that vacancies in Noe have increased. Photo by Corrie M. Anders
where from 3 to 10 percent in the neighborhood since October 2015. Feeling the pinch, some apartment owners have begun offering incentives to attract new renters. Others—those with full apartments—have foregone rent increases to keep their current tenants happy. There CONTINUED ON PAGE 11