A Bird’s Eye View of Bernal Heights in 1938

/ Todd_Lappin / 9 Comments

La Lengua rebel propagandist Burrito Justice recently alerted me to the existence of an online set of aerial photographs taken over San Francisco in 1938.

Within that set of pics, there are some very detailed shots taken over Bernal Heights, with crazy-spooky Google Earth-like resolution. The detail is stunning. So strap in to your seat, and let’s tour some Bernal Heights highlights, way back in 1938, shall we?

First, look to the east: There’s no 101 freeway yet; instead, Bayshore Boulevard carried traffic as US 101. Also clearly visible is the micro-hood centered along Adam and Eve Streets, all of which was plowed under when the freeway was built.

To the north, along Precita Park, we see the tracks of the 36 Folsom streetcar line, which terminated at the park:

There’s no playground at the east end of Precita Park, but it looks like the neighborhood kids created an impromptu baseball/stickball diamond in the center of the park, just west of the walkway that cuts through from Harrison Street:

A little farther west, on Tiffany near the junction of Valencia and Mission, there was a streetcar shed, with “San Francisco” painted on the roof, and an arrow pointing north. (A navigational aid for aviators, perhaps?):

The late 1930s were a particularly interesting time up on Bernal Hill. There were two homes on the hill, Nos. 26 and 39 Prentiss Street, and both were occupied until the 1960s:

At the time when this photo was taken, Bernal Heights Boulevard was less than three years old. Bernal’s circular road-to-nowhere had been carved out of the hillside in 1935, as a WPA project. But construction of the roadway triggered a landslide in February, 1936, on the north slope of the hill just east of today’s Folsom gate. As you can see above, the debris from the slide was still present in 1938. Here’s a ground-level perspective on the landslide from 1936, courtesy of the SFPL:

In the southeast, we see the overgrown site that would become the Alemany Farmer’s Market during the 1940s:

Compare with 2011, which also includes the 101/280 “Spaghetti Bowl”:

Over on Cortland, the lot has been cleared to begin construction of the Bernal Heights Branch Library (which was dedicated in October, 1940):

Just west of the Bernal summit, Elsie Street was still an unpaved dirt path:

Meanwhile, east of Alabama Street, the area of today’s Ripley, Peralta, and Franconia streets was still just plain… dirt:

Okay, so now how do you explore Bernal Heights in 1938 on your own? You can either download individual photo tiles (tedious), or you can use the Google Earth-enabled Web interface (much easier) to cover more terrain more quickly.

Have fun, procrastinate wisely, and please do share any other discoveries you might make about what Bernal Heights was like back in 1938.

PHOTOS: via the David Rumsey Map Collection

TV’s “Portlandia” Could Also Be Called “Cortlandia”

/ Todd_Lappin / 14 Comments

Over the holiday, I discovered “Portlandia” on Netflix (It’s available for Instant View). Two things about the show stood out for me:

  1. It’s wickedly hilarious.
  2. It could just as easily be set in Bernal Heights, if you don’t mind having a few laughs at our own expense.

But what is “Portlandia?” There’s a nice writeup about the show in the current issue of the New Yorker:

“Portlandia” presents a heightened version of [Portland’s] twee urbanity: a company sells artisanal light bulbs, a hotel offers a manual typewriter to every guest, and a big local event is the Allergy Pride Parade. The mayor, played by Kyle MacLachlan, becomes an object of scandal when he’s “outed” as the bass guitarist in a middle-of-the-road reggae band. (The real Portland’s mayor, Sam Adams, who is openly gay, plays MacLachlan’s assistant on the show.) Armisen and Brownstein, wearing anthropologically precise wigs and outfits, portray most of the main characters: bicycle-rights activists, dumpster divers, campaigners against any theoretical attempt to bring the Olympics to Portland, animal lovers so out of touch that they free a pet dog tied up outside a restaurant. (“Who puts their dog on a pole like a stripper?”) Many characters recur, and, because they often seem to know one another, their intersections from sketch to sketch give the show the feel of a grownup “Sesame Street.”

“Corlandia” “Portlandia” is  excruciatingly funny, very spot-on, and highly recommended. Want a preview? Try this:

New Precita Eyes Mural Looks Great, Hauls Freight

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True Confession: I haven’t been thrilled with some of the more recent pieces created by the muralists from Precita Eyes. Kind of tired. Kind of formulaic. But the organization got a new(er) van recently, and the graphics they painted on it look really great. Plus, whenever it’s parallel parked, it becomes a mobile mural installation. Genius.

PHOTO: The new Precita Eyes van at Precita Park. By Telstar Logistics

More Bernal Love in the New York Times

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Dogpatch/Miller Memorial Garden

While you were resting and relaxing and not really paying attention to the media over the holiday, Bernalwood’s glamour-obsessed editorial team kept a vigilant eye on the news wire. Here’s one mention you may have missed.

In the Bay Area print edition of the New York Times on Christmas Day, Bernal Heights got another shout out, this time for the semi-secret Dogpatch-Miller Garden on the east side.

The Times sayeth:

The east slope of Bernal Hill, which was settled in the 1860s by Irish farmers and dairy ranchers, has stayed true to its roots and now has an abundance of community gardens utilizing the steep hillsides, including this 8,750-square-foot spot. There are 35 city-owned community gardens in San Francisco, overseen by the Parks and Recreation Department and run by volunteers. 

NOMENCLATURE
The garden’s official name comes from the streets it lies between, but locals know it by other names. It is most commonly referred to as Miller Memorial Grove, named for Roosevelt Miller, a friendly old-timer who is now deceased. The green space is also known as Dogpatch, a local nickname that preceded the Miller moniker and refers to its former life hosting neighborhood dogs.

GRASS-ROOTS VICTORIES
Snaking below the garden, narrow Brewster Street was developed in the mid-1990s after residents complained about fire trucks not being able to get through. Residents agreed to sweep the newly paved street themselves to avoid parking hassles.

HIVE OF ACTIVITY
Flowers, fruit trees, vegetables and succulents cover the 20 plots of this hillside garden. A rustic sign at the top announces: “This is a nice neighborhood garden.” A six-tiered wooden beehive also shares the land.

More where that came from, right here.

PHOTO: Dogpatch-Miller Garden Sign by Steve Bowles

Futuristic Airship Scouts Locations for Bernal Air Terminal

/ Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

Neighbor Catherine spotted the Airship Ventures Zeppelin NT yesterday as it made an early-evening cruise over Bernalwood. She says:

“Blimp, Bernal, Sunset…. Ooooh!”

Ooooh! Definitely. But “blimp?” Well, not quite. For those keeping score at home, the Zeppelin is a rigid-framed, steerable dirigible, not a balloon-like blimp. (For a closer look at this Zeppelin, here are some photos I took during a flight aboard it in 2008.)

But what was the Zeppelin doing over Bernal Heights? There can be only one answer: Scouting potential landing zones to convert Sutrito Tower into our futuristic Air Terminal of Tomorrow!

PHOTOS: Neighbor Catherine

Vote: Which Costumed Canine Is Cutest of All?

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

Remember the doggie fashion show organized by fitBernalfit during the 2011 Holiday Stroll on Cortland? Well, the dogs showed up to strut their stuff, and many photos were taken, so now it’s time for the Citizens of Bernalwood to decide which dog is cutest of all.

The vote is happening at Fit Bernal Fit’s page on the Facebook:

Please vote only ONCE by commenting under the picture of the the dog you think should win the 2011 Holiday Winter Wear Competition, not just liking the photo. Each comment counts as a vote (only one vote per person please). The winner will receive an on-location Dog Portrait photo shoot within San Francisco from Photography by Jean Pedigo.  A $250 value! Voting ends Dec. 31st!!!!

This means that come next week, when you’re sick of hanging out with your family and relatives, you can slip away to the computer for a few minutes to review the canine competitors and absorb a little cuteness. Review the 2011 fBf Winter Wear Competition album, and cast your vote!

PHOTOS: fit Bernal fit

Your December 2011 SFPD Bernal Heights Crime Report: Crooks on Cortland, Car Thefts, and a Busted Burglar

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

SFPD Harley

Bernalwood’s intrepid volunteer scribe on the Police Beat, Reader Sarah, attended the SFPD’s Ingleside Station Community Meeting on Tuesday night December 20. Here’s her excellent summary of crime-related issues in and around Bernal Heights.

Notes from Ingleside Community Meeting, 12/20/11
Captain Daniel Mahoney led the meeting.

GENERAL UPDATE:
Capt. Mahoney has been conducting “Safe Shopper” programs in the district since Black Friday, and these will continue until January 2. This entails increasing visibility via foot beats, bike beats, undercover officers, motorcycle police, and sector cars on the merchant corridors, including Cortland. In addition, they send officers onto MUNI lines. There’s lots of theft from automobiles because of packages left inside.

I asked about the recent spate of thefts from merchants on Cortland. He mentioned several thefts that involved ruses – like when a couple of people come in and ask for something, and then while the person in the store is getting it, they take laptops, iPads, etc. He mentioned incidents at Rock Candy Snack Shop, Piqueo’s, and Martha Brothers. So the key message to merchants is to watch out for these ruses/diversions, and I suppose we as shoppers can also keep an eye out when we’re in stores. There were three of these kinds of incidents just last weekend.

CRIME STATISTICS & TRENDS:
These are from the period November 20 to December 17. % Change Month refers to the change vs. the prior four-week period.

Crime/# Incidents/% Change (month)/% Change (YTD)/# Arrests

Aggravated Assault/25/19%/-29%/16
Robbery/29/4%/-2%/10
Sexual Assault/1/0%/38%/0 (note: 11 for year vs 8 last year)
Burglary/35/-5%/-15%/3
Auto Theft/49/-5%/-12%/0
Theft from Auto/46/-18%/-8%/0

Aggravated Assaults refer to shootings/stabbings and domestic violence. The majority of these incidents were domestic violence.

Robberies are down YTD for the first time this year. He has tried to be aggressive on robberies – using decoys, etc.

Lots of cars are stolen from Precita Park and Bernal more generally. They’ve found many cars in the Outer Mission. They think this is people “borrowing” the cars for a day. There has been a series of Auto Theft Task Force operations, including the IDing of several parolees in the Ingleside (who were convicted of auto theft in the past), and officers are working with parole officers to do home visits, etc. The captain started having all recovered cars dusted for prints so they can ID who has been in the cars. Thefts the past two weeks are way down for some reason.

There is a new trend in car thefts where the thief takes the registration and insurance cards, which can lead to identity theft and later burglaries (since the home address of the car owner is known).

Ingleside made one significant arrest related to burglaries. Captain Mahoney credited Officers Almaguer and Hauscarriague. They worked with investigators to ID fingerprints from a burglary. They found the guy and arrested him. He confessed, and then they searched his house, where they found lots of stolen driver’s licenses, checks, passports, etc. They ended up being able to close seven open cases.

Captain Mahoney continues to run pedestrian-safety operations. Recently, they did one at Mission and Lawrence involving five separate traffic stops. They issued 37 citations. This came about because a parent or staff member from Longfellow Elementary called and asked the station to do this since it was a danger for kids/parents going to and from school. I wanted to highlight this since some of you may have identified similar issues that could use attention.

I asked about the recent homicide on Justin Dr. He said that because it was an open investigation, he couldn’t comment, but the suspect appeared to be “mentally challenged” and is in custody. I also asked about the Mission rapist, and he reiterated the information that has been out there – attacks on solo women, two in the past two months, early morning hours.

One thing that came up in the questions from the attendees was what to do if your wallet is stolen. The captain’s opinion is that you shouldn’t cancel your credit cards for a few hours because usually the thieves will buy gas, and basically every gas station has video cameras, and this is very helpful to the police. He conceded that the credit card companies would disagree with this approach.

Someone asked about what to do if you encounter someone dumping stuff. The captain said that if you see it IN PROGRESS, call the police. If you come across dumped items after the fact, call DPW.

KEN CRAIG – NEIGHBORHOOD EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAMS
Ken Craig from NERT came to talk about safety and self-defense. He pointed out that he holds three grandmaster-level black belts and still tries to avoid confrontations where you NEED to defend yourself because you don’t know what your opponent is on (meaning drugs) or is carrying. He handed out safety whistles. The convention for alerting others that you need help is THREE SHARP, SHORT BLASTS. Also useful if you’re stuck in rubble after an earthquake. In that case, one whistles means YES, two whistles means NO, and three means HELP. The sound of whistles carries much farther than human voices.

He handed out a brochure on self-defense that used the acronym BEWARE.

B: BEFORE you go somewhere, think about your routing and what you might encounter.
E: EVADE – as soon as you recognize a dangerous situation developing, do anything to avoid it. Run away, change routing, etc.
W: WARN – warn your attackers that you will defend yourself. Most attackers are cowards and are looking for an easy target.
A: ATTRACT – attract attention of others around you and make them aware of your situation. Shout “fire” instead of “help” because people may be more likely to assist.
R: REACT – when all else has failed and you cannot get away or get assistance, you must react.
E: ESCAPE – your goal should be to escape from the situation as quickly as possible and immediately report it to authorities.

Ken suggested leaving yourself a voicemail or writing down details about the attacker as soon as you can get away from an incident since your memory will fade. If someone wants your property, give it to them. The case where you should NOT be compliant is if someone is trying to get you into a car or take you to a secluded area.

Community Patrol USA is holding self-defense seminars in January at the Eureka Valley Rec Center – for more info, email info@CommunityPatrolUSA.org or call 415-967-3080.

NERT is also starting up its training sessions again in January – see for dates and locations: http://www.sf-fire.org/index.aspx?page=879. These are free.

UPCOMING EVENTS & UPDATE ON STAFFING ISSUES:
Three holidays are coming up – Christmas, New Year’s, and MLK Day. Staffing can go as low as 80% of normal now, and the holidays are often a time when it does. Crime is typically lower then anyway, but he wanted us to be aware of the staffing issues SFPD is facing. They lost all eight probationary officers and got three officers back, but still a net loss. Occupy SF still requires 24-hour coverage and Ingleside sends one person every seven hours. They send two to Critical Mass next week. They send two to every 49ers game and, when requested, send officers to the hospital to monitor prisoners (the sheriff’s department no longer does this). So his point was that staffing is getting tricky with so many external demands.

Foot beats are the first thing to get cut when resources have to be diverted elsewhere. He is now having officers do split beats – e.g., Geneva/Mission corridor, then Cortland. These will continue to be a challenge. 267 officers are retiring by June ’14. They lose nine captains and 17 lieutenants in June ’12, 100+ sergeants and inspectors in June ’13, then officers. The Police Academy has a class of 50 graduating in April. The captain said that when he started 30 years ago, there used to be a class every seven weeks.

The next Ingleside meeting is January 17.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics