March 2011
FREE
Serving the Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, Mission Bay and SOMA Neighborhoods Since 1970
City Transit Effort Mission Creek Survives Despite Two Centuries of Abuse Rides Past the Hill By Nicole Spiridakis By Lisa Gunther Last month the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) held a community meeting at the Recology Community Center on Seventh Street to discuss the Eastern Neighborhoods Transportation Implementation Planning Study (EN TRIPS). According to Steve Wertheim, a San Francisco Planning Department representative who spoke at the meeting, “the EN TRIPS is looking at the transportation ramifications of the eastern neighborhoods, which is expected to accommodate 11,000 new housing units and 13,000 jobs in the next 25 years.” Despite the meeting’s location at Potrero Hill’s northern edge, EN TRIPS does not include plans to notably increase transportation options in the neighborhood, especially when it comes to traversing its steep hills.
On a clear, warm winter day, Mission Creek gleams in the sun. Birds wheel and dive for their lunch. Water laps gently against the houseboats moored on the banks. Locals bicycle past native plants and an eco-system that’s home to 60 species of shorebirds – including Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Pelicans, Night Herons and Cormorants – most probably unaware of the complicated ecological storyline evolving nearby. In the middle of a busy city, there’s a tranquility to Mission Creek. Not so long ago the creek was used as a repository for sewage overflows, and a dumping ground for oil and paint. More recently, ongoing construction associated with Mission Bay redevelopment has radically altered much of the 300-acres surrounding the creek. As buildings rise above the water, and concrete is poured for pedestrian walkways, the habitat for birds and other species has been changed; plants disturbed. But the birds didn’t leave, nor did the fish, according to Ginny Stearns, a long-time resident of Mission Creek’s houseboat community and a Mission Creek Conservancy (MCC) member. Mission Creek runs along a three-quarter-mile stretch from AT&T Park to Seventh Street. A decade ago it was considered a regional toxic hot spot by the San Francisco
Photograph by Nicole Spiridakis
Houseboats line Mission Creek, home to a thriving wildlife community that boasts a variety of birds and native plant life.
Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, mostly because of the seven sewer discharge points installed along the creek in the late-1980s. The City and County of San Francisco is permitted to discharge sewage overflow into the waterway during heavy rains. In 2007 and 2008, seven dumps were made; during 2008 and 2009 there were four. According to Stearns, who’s lived with her husband Bob Isaacson on her Mission Creek houseboat
since 1988, the occasional sewage discharge, while not ideal, is vastly preferable to the days when a nearby paint company dumped its effluent into the creek, flooding the water with white or colored pigments. Today, on hot days, if there hasn’t been a sewage discharge within a few months, Stearns says she might even swim in the creek. Isaacson, who moved into a see mission creek page 5
New Neighborhood Restaurants Cope With a Bad Economy By Halley Cornell
Source: www.sfmta.com/cms/oentrips/indxentrips.htm
The study was initiated in 2008 as a joint effort by SFMTA, the Planning Department and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. It covers 3,500 acres, and focuses on big transportation corridors and major streets. South-of-Market (SoMa) is particularly emphasized, as the City expects a 70 percent increase in travel demand in that area alone. In addition to transportation and circulation improvements, the study also recommends pedestrian-friendly infrastructure projects. The neighborhoods included see en trips page 10
INSIDE
Short Cuts p. 3
A flock of new restaurants landed in Potrero Hill and Dogpatch last year, filling vacancies left by recently departed eateries Eliza’s and the Lingba Lounge, as well as longclosed establishments, like Third Street’s Franklin’s Bar. And while lower lease prices during the economic downturn may have attracted the restaurateurs, a shaky economy has made it challenging to carve-out a nitch in San Francisco’s crowded dining scene. An important ingredient for success, according to Joel Bleskacek, owner of 18th Street’s nascent breakfast-and-lunchery, Plow, is offering something that’s both unique to the neighborhood and in touch with would-be diners. With just a couple
p. 8
other restaurants close by offering full-service breakfast, and none other providing it right on the Hill, Bleskacek and his wife, chef Maxine Siu-Bleskacek, felt confident enough to sign a 15 year lease, starting last September. “There was a need in the neighborhood for this kind of restaurant,” he said. “The first six months can be the toughest, but we feel like we’re successfully building clientele, mostly by word-of-mouth, and now we want to sustain it,” said Bleskacek, who also owns nearby wine seller Ruby Wine. He and his wife’s long-time residence and understanding of the neighborhood helped guide their concept of simple, well-prepared, locally-sourced foods. He reports that Plow is “exceeding expectations,” filling 35 seats and managing 230 to 250 covers on a
typical day. Business may pick up even more now that a beer and wine license has been issued, the addition of 12 outside seats, and the availability of the space for private evening functions, like wedding rehearsal dinners. Rocketfish Sushi, which took over the Lingba Lounge space at 18th and Connecticut last June, faces competition from established sushi spots in the neighborhood, like Moshi Moshi and Live Sushi, as well as from a myriad of nearby Mission eateries, according to Marco Rodriguez, who co-owns the establishment with exBlowfish chef, Kenichi Kawashimi. “We get some comparisons to the other sushi places, and it seems like there’s a new place opening up every see restaurants page 8
Calendar p. 17
Curt Yagi p. 9 p. 12
Crime & Safety p. 22 p. 19