San Francisco and what to do in it

yeah otm

they are kinda ugly, but you don't need more than a sentence to express that thought

one of the most frivolous editorials i have ever read

yeah ok they're ugly but at least ~theyre there~

make em look nice later imo

it's just silly because a bunch of bike racks on a street with a lot of bike traffic is something that most everyone would agree is a great thing - except this guy who complains they are ugly.

guessing he is like the only person in the city who cares about this issue in the way that he has framed it ("racks ok but just not ugly ones ewww!")

it's such a bizarre middle ground

i actually think they are attractive

Maybe if the city was awash in cash it would make sense to criticize the lack of aesthetic value of something so practical.

I really don't have a problem with them and I don't always agree w/King but I kind of like that they have a regular columnist who deals in urbanism and architecture.

As a cyclist, I have yet to use them, primarily as there's nothing wrong with using the 1000s of parking meters and street sign poles that litter the streets that King never once addresses in his corniness.

Micro-hoods. Mint slope. Hmph

http://thebolditalic.com/events/1402-meet-a-microhood-mint-slope

Kyle, is that your comment about al's?

that is some other kyle m, we are legion

re: bike racks, i'm all for them, and also would like to say that the new bus shelters are fucking ugly and this guy's aesthetic sense sucks.

oh god an awful person i am familiar with was apparently involved in this "micro-hoods" business. it's the kind of shit that makes me sorta never want to live in SF even though i actually want to

mint slope = nu-lower market?

Really, gbx? It's just marketing for local retail and it's kind of cool (having lived near there) that they're trying to forge a local identity though it should really extend from the Mint all the way to at least Valencia and they should have made some effort to reach out to the LGBT center - maybe they will when their restaurant space opens eventually.

but there really isn't retail in that area outside of market st, no?

Not really, no, but it's a somewhat neglected stretch of Market that is nonetheless far less skeezy than Market past Van Ness.

There is a sort of Gourmet Corridor tucked about a block away with Zuni, Cav and Hotel Biron clustered together there.

the area just needs to be built up - which I think they're doing? - I remember reading something about them replacing that abandoned gas station? I don't see it ever turning into a 'neighborhood' unless they decide to pull back the freeway even further.

I don't see it ever turning into a 'neighborhood' unless they decide to pull back the freeway even further.

Which they won't since it just went in. It's further cut up (as a comfortably walkable neighborhood) by the Valencia to Franklin, North?South corridor.

yeah I meant more like...I dunno, 20 years from now

Market Street is even more of an obstacle then Octavia imo but anyways, this is a make-believe neighborhood at best.

market street seems easier to reform though, no?

Hmm, I think the problem really is Valencia/Franklin and the Octavia offramp. Even before it was a gay haven, the Castro thrived on Market but also on Castro and on 18th but it has residential areas all around it whereas further down the pedestrian access (the lifeblood of a high street 'hood) is harder and more distracted. On the north side of "Mint Slope" you might tend toward Hayes and on the South side, you'd tend a little toward the Mission.

Also the hill up to Dolores doesn't help, either.

Michael, I've missed your erudition on the food fight threads.

it's pretty sad cause - unlike much of the city - it's already well set-up when it comes to transit. it just also happens to be a mini-freeway.

WmC, it's kind of like ILM, I can't really be bothered. Gustibus disputandum non est and all. I like cooking and I like dining but I get bored talking about food unless it's in actual preparation for shopping or making it.

I've voted, though.

x-post

Also the hill up to Dolores doesn't help, either.

― Un peu d'Eire, ça fait toujours Dublin (Michael White), Thursday, July 29, 2010 8:07 AM (5 minutes ago)

you mean down to Dolores? or up to Duboce?

When did The Mint last print money and what is it used for now? It takes up a huge chunk of real estate and I believe it still has "Federal Level" security 24/7.

they're turning it into a museum

You know what's funny is that I look philtwo out on the town we met at Zuni, walked up Market see Jaxon spin at Cafe Flore, then had coffee with Mrs. Alex in SF across the street. philtwo (a New Yorker) thought that corridor was interminable.

iatee, it's not really THAT sad. The Mint (bar) does well as does Martuni's and the Orbit Room. Destino was pretty good when I went a few years ago. It's Tops, the theater/movie memorabilia store, and the travel store are all cool. Further down, Delessio and Trieste. Flax is amazing - one of the best art supplies places around. CAV and Zuni are fantastic and so, I guess is Hotel Biron. The little antique district around there is kind of cool and Brady Street has that great little decor place, Bell'ochio. Espetus is good, if you need to channel your inner caveman and it's been ages by Bistro Clovis used to be okay.

The hood is what it is but it's cut up more so than the Castro is by cross arteries, has a hill to deter the wusses, and is too wide to feel intimate like a real neighborhood.

Re: Dolores, I mean walking west on Market. It crests just before Safe way, iIrc.

I think the downtown Mint is turning into a museum (finally). I think the Mint is more a depository than an actual Mint but I don't know.

yeah it's not the biggest tragedy in the world...I just think it would be nice to have market street built up + pedestrian friendly from downtown to the castro

MW -- fair 'nuff. Thanks for voting!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/4833097573/

That's kind of mesmerizing, Shakey.

totally feelin it tbqh

I'm going to Boris from Uva's new place, Citizen's Band, tonight.

If you like to eat at new places and are interested in what Steve Shasta thinks is the one of the top 3 restaurants in the Bay Area, you should definitely try to get a reservation for Benu before it books up 90 days out (which honestly probably won't take long). I did a soft-opening menu tasting and a proper 4-seating 3 hour affair and I'd say this is up there with Ron Siegel and Thomas Keller's best. It's a *little* bit pricy but is an ideal special occasion place.

I would like to dispute It's Tops being cool.

I am always curious about what Steve Shasta thinks are good eats.

many xposts but MW the reason i was hatin has basically 95% to do with disliking a specific person

i call this wasteland "north of metreon" or NOME

actually I don't

m.white. Citizen's Band is a block from my place. my wife worked briefly at Pinkie's Bakery (connected next door), but it didn't work out due to schedule conflicts. i'm stoked that area is getting more stuff. another 'micro-hood' - folsoma

we went to that underground market last week, and then tried to have drinks at citizen's band, but it was fuckin BONKERS inside

Boris invited us to the opening but I had other plans and I've heard it's small and swamped.

Steve, where is Benu?

Where Two used to be, kinda near Moscone. Same block as culinary juggernauts Chevy's and Thirsty Bear.

Citizen's band was good. Pinkie's bread was amazing - they made a levain that tasted kind of like Poulain.