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THE VOICE welcomes your letters to the editor. Write the Noe Valley Voice, P.O. Box 460249, S.F., CA 94146. Or email editor@noevalleyvoice.com. Please include your name and contact information. (Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication.) Be aware that letters may be edited for brevity or clarity. We look forward to hearing from you.
Look Outside the Lair
Editor:
Subj: Let's Keep Noe Close Minded!
The half-page ad in the May edition of the Voice by the "Let's Keep Noe Open" group is the all too typical poisoning of the public mind towards our own government. Blame government is always the solution for those who don't get what they want. The United States is a representative democracy, and that means you can participate in your own governance. Or not. You can do nothing. You can be uninvolved. That's okay in our democracy.
But when a civic move is made, to then come out of your lair screaming, "This is top-down planning, masquerading as community-driven design!" is unconscionable.
If you want to know what's going on politically in your community, city, state, and nation, then pay attention. Otherwise, when civic movements happen that you have blithely ignored, please refrain from screaming you've been victimized. I knew all about the planned parklet at Noe and 24th Street for months, and I live over half a mile from that intersection.
Howard Fallon
27th Street'Progress' or Rudeness
Editor:
I idly read the letters in the May issue concerning the proposed Noe Street plaza, but when I finished the one from Mary C. McFadden, I was jolted. I couldn't believe it! Where did the people she describes come from? Apparently, many pro-plaza folk think long-term residents like her should go die, should get out of the way of progress. Bicyclists give her rude hand gestures, and other supposed neighbors call her names to her face.
If there is a reason that Noe Valley (and indeed the City of San Francisco) is unique, is special, it is because of the families like that of Michael J. McFadden, M.D. [Mary McFadden's father]. These new arrivals have little understanding of the history and continuity of this neighborhood and thus little understanding of why the opinion of a Mary McFadden should be valued.
Years back, on a random weekday afternoon, one could find men sitting in Finnegan's Wake [now the Valley Tavern] while waiting for Dr. McFadden's receptionist to call them next door for their appointment. If the men weren't working, they weren't charged. These people's lives evolved in what was a true neighborhood, when churches and cultural centers and recreational activities gave focus to the families.
The proposed street plaza will do little more than mimic benches at any mall food court.
These new folk see Noe Valley as a bedroom community, a place to sleep after the commute down the peninsula, folk that can afford to live here because of that job somewhere else and who will move away when that job is eliminated in the inevitable mergers and buyouts of the industries down there.
But meantime these folk can apparently impress their friends at work with how they are "a little bit special" because they reside in Noe Valley, without ever knowing that there actually were people who once made Noe Valley special. People are not special because of where they reside but because of what they contribute to their community in how they help their neighbors. Free wi-fi is not a shared experience.
If "progress" is turning Noe Valley into the Serramonte Shopping Center, then the true residents should be against it.
Kim Kubik
San Jose AvenueAssociation Approves Plaza
Editor:
On May 11, the Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association went on record supporting the proposed trial of the Noe Valley Plaza [see resolution, below]. The vote taken was one hundred percent in favor of the proposed trial.
We are wholeheartedly in support of the proposal and believe that once a trial is under way the community will be in favor, including those adjacent as well; that a neighborhood center where neighborhood activities can be conducted and presented will benefit the entire community; and that the Noe Valley Plaza will be a model for future urban design and the cornerstone of the Mayor's Pavement to Parks program.
The Noe Valley Plaza is beneficial to our community, our neighbors, our customers, and our fellow merchants.
Robert T. Roddick, President
Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals AssociationRESOLUTION
WHEREAS the Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association believes that the Noe Valley Plaza would serve the community as a whole by providing an open space to be used as a neighborhood center;
WHEREAS the Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association believes that the location at the south side of Noe Street at 24th Street is the ideal location for such a community center because it is the center of the 24th Street Commercial Corridor and has the recommendation of the San Francisco Planning Department;
WHEREAS the Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association believes that the installation of the Noe Valley Plaza will boost business along the 24th Street Commercial Corridor which has been confirmed by past studies. One such study was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle's Parade, "...outdoor seating areas boost foot traffic by 20%, leading to 10% more retail sales. Local property values also increase by 7%. In San Francisco four new plazas will be open this summer."
WHEREAS the Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association believes that the installation of the Noe Valley Plaza will add to the community, making Noe Valley a destination location for tourists and visitors;
WHEREAS the Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association believes that once the trial installation of the plaza is established that the community as a whole will find it beneficial and prefer that it become permanent; and
WHEREAS the Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association believes that with the proper study that the trial will afford a well-designed plan balancing the needs of the pedestrians, drivers, customers, and merchants; and
WHEREAS the Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association believes that the Noe Valley Plaza is on the cutting edge of urban design for better living and will be an inspiration for other neighborhoods. This summer San Francisco is opening four new plazas;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association goes on record of supporting the installation of the temporary plaza on the south side of Noe Street at 24th Street on a trial basis to determine the benefits and the detriments in accordance with the Mayor's Pavement to Parks program.
Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association
Two More Homicides
Editor:
I wish the sidebar in the May 2010 issue about recent homicides in Noe Valley was totally correct. However, it forgot to include the 2004 case on 26th Street, and longer ago now--it took place more than 10 years ago--the shooting in the Upper Noe gym. The Voice wrote articles about both of these incidents. I think it best if we remember our full history, even the unfortunate parts.
Steven Fama
26th StreetEditor's Note: Our story about the more recent case, "Death of Randy Hendricks Hard to Accept," is archived online in the April 2004 issue.
The Meat's as Good as the Cheese
Editor:
Thank you very much for your coverage of local issues every month! The Noe Valley Voice is always a great source of information for my husband and me.
The picture on your April issue (at www.noevalleyvoice.com) reminded me of something I've wanted to write about for a while now. As a background to Lucy the Lamb, it shows the 24th Street Cheese Company.
My husband and I love 24th Street Cheese. Nowhere in a 20-block radius can compare. In fact, nowhere even comes close. Having lived in Switzerland, my husband has a weakness for cheese, and he gets his fix there. But that is not all. We have recently discovered their excellent selection of meat: our favorite is the Jamon Iberico. The Cheese Company is one of only two locations I know that even sells Jamon Iberico. Truffled ham from Italy, Buendnerfleisch from Switzerland, I had not hoped to find that in our neighborhood.
I very much enjoy coming into the store and talking to the people, always knowledgeable about their cheese, and always up for a chat, the employees as well as the owner.
So I write to all the Noe Valley residents to help me keep this place in business. I know there are more convenient places to shop, but I often shop at another grocery store, then backtrack to this store to pick up my cheeses and meats, with hardly any extra effort.
I encourage you to go inside, try the cheeses, try the meats. And I am sure you, as much as my husband and I, will be sold on the better quality and reasonable prices of 24th Street Cheese. These days the store faces a lot of stiff competition. I really hope that the store remains a Noe Valley fixture for years to come, because I have come to really love it.
Sue Y.
Noe Valley residentBird of Paradise Lost?
Editor:
I live on Duncan Street between Church and Sanchez, and there is a bird that chirps from the hours of midnight on. Last year, I noticed it on 24th Street. It makes siren sounds, mimics car alarms, the boop-boop when you unlock your car. What the heck is it? I look for it during the day, but I haven't seen anything but a nest. That's my Noe Valley voice.
Chris Lohman
Duncan StreetIt could be the next version of the iPhone, but our guess is it's a mockingbird. --Ed.
CLARIFICATION
In our May 2010 story titled, "The Life and Untimely Death of Charles McAleer-Bonilla," the Voice implied that Charles McAleer-Bonilla's son was now residing with his grandmother. The youth is living with his mother, Natasha Morton-Morimoto. We apologize for giving the wrong impression.
Letters to the EditorTHE VOICE welcomes your letters to the editor. Write the Noe Valley Voice, P.O. Box 460249, S.F., CA 94146. Or email editor@noevalleyvoice.com. Please include your name and contact information. (Anonymous letters will not be considered for publication.) Be aware that letters may be edited for brevity or clarity. We look forward to hearing from you.
THE NOE VALLEY VOICE
P.O. Box 460249, San Francisco, CA 94146
www.noevalleyvoice.comThe Noe Valley Voice is an independent newspaper published monthly except in January and August. It is distributed free in Noe Valley and vicinity, on or before the first Friday of the month. Subscriptions are available at $30 per year ($25 for seniors) by writing to the above address.
The Voice welcomes your letters, photos, and stories, particularly on topics relating to Noe Valley. All items should include your name, address, and phone number, and may be edited for brevity or clarity. (Unsigned letters will not be considered for publication.) Unsolicited contributions will be returned only if accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
The Noe Valley Voice is a member of the San Francisco Neighborhood Newspaper Association.
Email: editor@noevalleyvoice.com
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July/August Issue: June 18, 2010
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