Month: March 2011

Lighting Up Our Hill with a 1999 Jeep Cherokee

/ Todd_Lappin / 5 Comments

Beam Me Up
A few weeks back, when our neighbors in Noe Valley and Potrero were all atwitter over the weird floodlights that were installed atop Bernalwood, I took a drive up the hill to see what all the fuss was about. But the hill was pitch black when I arrived, so my investigation was thwarted.

Instead, I decided to create a little weird light of my own, using a police-style spotlight mounted to the windshield pillar of my 1999 Jeep.

This nighttime photographic technique is called light painting, and it’s usually done with flashlights and tiny penlights in small spaces. But since I had a big light, I opted to try a big light painting — by illuminating the summit of our favorite hill with a fuel-injected flash bulb.

Beam me up!

Photo: Telstar Logistics

Is There a Way to Make the New Lowe’s Less Ugly?

/ Todd_Lappin / 32 Comments

Lowe's
I’ll start with a confession: I am not, and have never been a hater when it comes to the new Lowe’s on Bayshore Boulevard. The old Goodman’s was an eyesore, I always disliked driving to the ‘burbs just to buy a few things from a big-box hardware store, I still visit Cole Hardware whenever possible, and Bayshore itself is an ideal location to accommodate this kind of commercial roadside architecture. So bring it, I said back in the planning days.

And for the most part, I still think Lowe’s is a good use for that patch of land. Yet it must also be noted that the portion of the store that faces Bernalwood’s gateway intersection at Cortland is a complete disaster — a blank wall of stucco soullessness doesn’t even attempt to engage the flow of the surrounding streetscape. Total. Design. Fail.

Sure, it photographs well if you want to capture an image that typifies the bland impersonality and brutal aloofness of American big-box architecture. (See Exhibit A, above) But otherwise, it’s pretty heinous — even if the store itself is a net positive.

Yet now that the building is up and what’s done is done, is there any way the Cortland-facing portion of the Lowe’s structure can be redeemed and de-uglified in a neighborly sort of way?

UPDATE: 11 March, 2011

Reader Waldo has come up with an excellent proposal for the wall in question:

Photo: top, Telstar Logistics

Visualize the Topography of Bernal Heights in 1853 (Hint: More Wet! Even More Hills!)

/ Todd_Lappin / 8 Comments

Although no one is alive today who ever once saw it, much of the land around Bernal Hill used to be riverbeds and wetlands — particularly to the north and east. But what exactly was the local topography like roughly around the time of the Gold Rush, before all the infill and reclamation that made yesterday’s wet parts dry today?

Architect Glenn Lym has created a 3D CAD map that illustrates the answer. Combining topographical data with historic surveys and a 2010 street grid, Glenn’s way-cool map reveals what was where around Bernalwood in 1853. Glenn explains:

The pics show the 1852-3 US Coast Survey showing Bernal, the Mission and Potrero Hill as they were, as if overlain by the current shoreline and the current streets (101 and 280 shown in orange). Among the items here are:

1. The old Precita Creek Marsh that was a part of Islais Creek and Marsh sneaks up what is now Cesar Chavez, the creek itself shown wiggling between Chavez and Precita Streets on the Bernal side of Cesar Chavez.  Note that Precita Street zigzags parallel to the old Serpentine Road/wall that was erected in the 1800’s, with the Precita Creek running down in the valley between these two landmarks (EDITOR’S NOTE: This is why Precita Street zig zags, even today.):

2. Bernal Heights had two other major peaks to it, to to the north east of the current peaks – roughly under what is now the flat planes that lie between Peralta, Rutledge and Franconia Streets .  Vicky Walker of the Bernal History Project sent me a couple of their aerial survey maps that show that these two peaks were removed sometime between 1938 and 1948.  Terry Milne said that they have been trying to find records which usually exist for 1900’s large excavations, about where all that hillside was dumped, but so far to no avail.  Note that the peak between Rutledge, Massasoit and Brewster was not just chopped off, but gouged out from the Bernal hillside:

Lots more detail on Glenn’s clever 3D CAD project here.

Images: Courtesy of Glenn Lym

Wildflower of the Moment: Star Lilies

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

Children’s book author and illustrator Ashley Wolff has volunteered to serve as a Bernalwood flowerspotter, and she brings us this up-to-the-moment report on what’s blooming right now:

March is wildflower month on the Hill.

Walk the goat path on the north slope and look for Star Lilies nestled in the springing grass. Star Lily is right at home here because it prefers rocky outcrops and grassy slopes. It is fleshy and delicate, barely white with a greenish tint and has no scent that I could detect.

The Star Lily’s Latin name is Toxicoscordion fremontii.

Of the Latin name, Scott Earle of Larkspur Books says: “Scordion is a Greek word for garlic, thus ‘poisonous garlic’ from the rather remote resemblance of the death camases to Allium sativum (typical garlic).”

The fremontii part harks back to that gadabout John Charles Fremont (1813-1890). An army officer and presidential candidate, Fremont was all over this part of California — as immortalized by a San Francisco street and that suburban town in the East Bay. Nicknamed “the Pathfinder,” Fremont also collected plants on four hazardous journeys exploring the western United States.

Photo: Oakley Bobcat

Campos Reveals Details of Plan to Save Bernal’s Coca-Cola Mural AND Historic Signs Throughout San Francisco

/ Todd_Lappin / 16 Comments

Supervisor David Campos’s office called today to share some very good news: Campos plans to introduce new legislation that will amend the City’s planning code to create a straightforward mechanism for preserving the historic-but-endangered Coca-Cola mural in Bernal Heights — as well as other historic signs throughout San Francisco. Wooot!

The legislative digest of the Campos proposal explains why this matters:

The look and style of signs have evolved over time. For that reason, a sign that has existed in a particular place for years gives continuity to the public space and becomes part of the community memory. In an era where signs are mostly uniform, a historic sign can add some individuality to the neighborhood in which it exists and also to the City as a whole. Michael J. Auer, in his article “The Preservation of Historic Signs,” notes:

Signs often become so important to a community that they are valued long after their role as commercial markers has ceased. They become landmarks, loved because they have been visible at certain street corners — or from many vantage points across the city — for a long time. Such signs are valued for their familiarity, their beauty, their humor, their size, or even their grotesqueness. In these cases, signs transcend their conventional role as vehicles of information, as identifiers of something else. When signs reach this stage, they accumulate rich layers of meaning. They no longer merely advertise, but are valued in and of themselves. They become icons.

Yes. Precisely. Just as Bernalwood and so many of our neighbors have argued all along.

In a nutshell, the new legislation would:

  • Create a clear definition of a historic sign as being one that “depict(s) in text or graphic form a particular residential, business, cultural, economic, recreational, or other valued resource which is deemed by the Planning Commission to be of historic value and contributes to the visual identity and historic character of a City neighborhood or the City as a whole.”
  • Stipulate that historic sings can be restored, framed, and regularly maintained, BUT property owners cannot change the art or copy of the original design.
  • Enable preservation of a single sign through a standard conditional-use permit issued by the City Planning Commision, without the need to go through all the hassle, expense, and hoo-ha of creating a special “Historic Sign District.”

This is great news, because it holds out the promise of a lasting solution not only for Bernalwood’s beloved Coke mural, but for historic signs throughout the city. Bravo!

Kudos to Supervisor Campos and his aides for making this happen, to the City Attorney’s office for the assist, and a round of snaps to every Bernalwoodian who raised hell to make it clear that the eradication of Bernal’s Coca-Cola mural was intolerable.

Supervisor Campos plans to introduce the legislation during the Board of Supervisors meeting that will take place this afternoon. From there it will go to a committee (probably Land Use), yadda yadda, then (hopefully) it will secure approval during two votes of the full Board of Supes before heading off to the Mayor for his John Hancock. Or his Edwin Lee. Or whatever.

We will keep you posted on the status and progress of this proposal as it moves through the lawmaking process, but for now, this is great news for our neighborhood, and for the fate of other historic signs all over town.

Photo: Coca-Cola mural by Telstar Logistics

Get Hip to a Free Concert by the Bernal Jazz Quartet

/ Todd_Lappin / 1 Comment

Hey Daddy-Os and Hip Cats: Want to tune in to some homegrown jazz? Saxophonist Michael Gold passes along a tip about a free concert by the Bernal Jazz Quartet tomorrow evening, March 9, at the Bernalwood public library. Dig it:

Three of four members of the quartet are Bernal residents, and our bassist lives near Dolores Park, which we figure is close enough. And while our performances take us to many corners of SF and the Bay Area, we really like to play in our own backyard. For several years we’ve been bouncing around various Bernal and near-Bernal restaurants and cafes (Liberty, SoCha, etc.).

Here are the details: We’ll be playing Wednesday, March 9, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm in the community room of our beautifully renovated neighborhood library (500 Cortland Avenue). Our band’s unusual make-up, which features vibraphone and saxophone along with the more conventional lineup of acoustic bass and drums, yields some unique sounds and creative arrangements.

We’ll be doing two sets of standards as well as lesser-known jazz compositions written by such great musicians as Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, and Jessica Williams.

Photo: Susan West

Attend an Important Meeting at City Hall to Make Bernalwood as Safe as Can Be

/ Todd_Lappin

Police Telephone

Sad Fact: Crime happens, even in Bernalwood. Fortunately, several civic groups in Our Faire Neighborhood pay close attention to crime statistics and patterns, and they work closely with the SFPD to make sure we get the most effective law enforcement our tax dollars can buy.

Toward that end, several of these groups have put out a call for neighborhood representation at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee andthe Police Commission that will take place tomorrow, on Wednesday, March 9th at 6:00 at City Hall, in the Board of Supervisors Chambers.

Veteran community organizer Buck Bagot explains:

OK, neighbors, it’s time for us to make our voices heard at City Hall in regard to reducing violence in our community, and the role of SFPD in helping us to do so – through community policing and beat cops. Our Supervisor David Campos has set up a crucial hearing on these issues, of both the Board of Supervisors Public Safety Committee, and the Police Commission on WED, March 9th at 6:00 at City Hall, in the Board of Supervisors Chambers.

Any Bernal resident that cares about these issues must attend – and speak. All you need to say is: “My name is __ ____. I live at _____ in Bernal Heights. I want more effective cooperation between my community and the Police because _______.”

Come and listen, but better come and testify – which is just a fancy word for speak. We can win this thing – a safer neighborhood through community policing.

Photo: Police telephone box, Folsom at Precita, by Telstar Logistics

How to Annoy Your Neighbors: Park Like This Guy

/ Todd_Lappin / 17 Comments

Two Spaces
This car was parked near my house on a recent morning. Normally, there’s room for two cars to park in this space. But on this day, there was only one. And somewhere, I heard a neighbor gnashing her teeth in exasperation.

If cars that park too close to a driveway cutout are a bane to some Bernalwood garagistas, the equivalent for street-parkers must be cars that greedily occupy two street parking spaces as if they were just one.  As reader Marco put it recently:

Is there a DPT sign to put on windshields of cars that leave six feet between the edge of the driveway and the front bumper and take up two parking spaces?

Miss Manners would like to remind all Bernalwood motorists that we do not live in the suburbs, so please refrain from taking up two parking spaces when one would suffice. But let’s also remain mindful of those driveway curb cutouts. Not too far and not too close. Happy parking makes for a happier neighborhood. Thank you and carry on.

Photo: Telstar Logistics

When Infrastructure Attacks: Rogue Water Plume Menaces the Portola District

/ Todd_Lappin / 4 Comments

Water Plume
From her observation post in Bernal Heights, peephole spotted this rogue water plume inundating our neighbors to the south.

Viewed from our Bernal Window. It’s over at Bowdoin and Burrows in the Portola District. It’s been going a while now.

(I noticed it about 15 minutes ago, still going around 10:30am. Exciting update. At 10:44, it was gone.)

This may have been another gift from our friends at DPW, but based on the color, at least it doesn’t look like the icky Sewage Fountain they installed recently on Bocana.

Photo: Peephole