Volume XXXIX, No. 3
April 2015
THE NOE VALLEY VOICE
Old and New Faces. The last several years have seen a rise in construction of modern homes in Noe Valley. While some residents clearly approve, others worry the trend will diminish the neighborhood’s Victorian heritage. Photos by Art Bodner
Is Noe Valley at Risk of Losing Its Charm? Group Says Yes, Asks for Limits On ‘Monster Homes’ By Matthew S. Bajko
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zzie Rohm and her husband, Theodore, moved into one of three identical homes on the 400 block of Clipper Street in 1995. Initial construction on the house began in 1905, but due to the scarcity of building materials after the 1906 earthquake and fire, the dwelling was not completed until 1908, and lacked any “bells and whistles.” In 2000 the couple added gingerbread details to their home's façade, and rather than visibly expand its size, dug a garage
The Ambitious Aims of Ames and Quane Alleys
under the existing foundation. “We stuck to the original footprint we inherited when we bought the house,” said Rohm, 58, now retired from a pharmaceutical job in the technology sector. Before starting the remodel, the Rohms decided it was important that any work they had done maintain the Victorian charm of Noe Valley. That’s what they’d found so appealing when they first moved into the neighborhood. “For the most part, Noe Valley has quintessential Victorians built for everyday men and women. It was traditionally a working-class Irish neighborhood,” ex-
Greening, Lighting, and Permeable Paving By Richard May
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Firefly Friendly. A simple glass-jar solution provides gentle illumination to Ames Alley. Photo courtesy Keith Martin
Tails of the City
Creature Features Starring Raccoons, Skunks, and Rats By Corrie M. Anders
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Out of the Shadows. Larry Reed will immerse himself and the audience in the Indonesian art of shadow play at a special welcome-home performance at the Noe Valley Ministry on Saturday, April 11. For more on the artist and the show, see page 13. Photo by Beverly Tharp
accoons have bedeviled Gabriele Edwards for years. They plow up the dirt in the back yard of her Jersey Street home. They rummage through the compost bin, ransack the trash container, and greedily plunder her tomato and strawberry plants. This year, a female raccoon with three cubs has been visiting almost nightly, traveling on what Edwards calls the “raccoon highway” across Noe Valley’s back yards. “I’m not sure I want to do a garden this
eighbors in the northeast corner of Noe Valley are banding together to change two currently nondescript alleys into attractive and ecologically sound places for them to gather and for everyone to use. They call their effort the Green Alleys Project, which aims to improve Ames and Quane alleys through neighbors’ own efforts and by working with the CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
year,” says Edwards, especially since it might mean “wasting all this precious water on vegetables I can’t even eat.” Edwards is not the only one having close encounters of the furred kind. In recent weeks, residents have reported numerous sightings of raccoons, skunks, and assorted other wildlife. “It’s the denning season,” explains Capt. Vicky Guldbech, operations supervisor for the San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control. “This is the time when you will see them and their babies coming out” of their lairs and going on foraging expeditions. The city’s population of raccoons and skunks may just look as if it’s bigger, she notes, because the animals, normally noc. CONTINUED ON PAGE 15