Oh, that‘s what that was. Thanks, Burrito Justice post about the Beer & Nosh beer dinner!
Update: Beah says, “Also, it’s the site of Harriet’s apartment from So I Married an Axe Murderer.”
Allan Hough (7858)
Brittany Janis & Katie Cruz (104)
Authors
Thank God that this formula retail is no longer sullying the Mission.
yay! well, except for the scores of middle class families that used to buy their children school clothes there. now they live in s.city and rich brats live can live in a ‘formula’ free mission. way go displacers!
I used to live in the Old Sears building. I’ve watched, appalled, as the efforts of the Valencia Corridor crowd stymies any effort to stimulate the local economy. They’re like the GOP in DC, obstructionists, clueless, and working against the interests of those less fortunate than themselves. Do they even know about American Apparels’ awesome labor policies?
They want to live in gilded ghettos. Hopefully, a little good might come out of the economic downturn, by ridding us of them.
I live here! And I agree. The empty storefronts, increasing crime and gang activity … it’s just demoralizing in this neighborhood. Silly silly protestors screwing what they purport to love. How romantic.
But your block is coming up, what with the BBQ place and all.
Also, I like in this picture how the S on the west-facing signage looks like a ! on the end of the north-facing signage.
geez. thanks for ruining this post for me guys. let’s not blame everything wrong with the mission on the american apparel decision.
this whole american apparel thing (which i thought was over) has very little to do with mission street. i’m not sure it’s a good thing, but valencia street is so disconnected from the rest of the mission. mission st could certainly use some stores, and i’m not opposed to chains so long as they are good for the neighborhood. this is not a nimby thing – i spend more time on mission street than i do valencia, and there are huge visible differences between them. the mission is historically a big shopping district for the surrounding neighborhoods). its got big big spaces which need big stores. whatever happens there is going to have a much bigger impact than whatever boutiques (chain or not) move into little 600-square foot spaces on valencia, and i think we need to be careful. personally, while i was very much against american apparel on valencia, i’m not against potential (chain) stores on mission that serve middle- and low-income communities (ie, that i can afford things at). at the same time, i would really hate to see mission street turn into downtown walnut creek.
too bad we don’t have a shot from further west on Army — the other S would be an inverted exclamation point, so we’d have
¡SEARS!
La Lengua is the place to be — Baby Blues, Blue Plate, a gun store, Kragen, Dickies, Safeway, a locksmith, cambodian, indian pizza, peruvian, papusas, El Rio, an art store, a couple of galleries — we have the most retail-friendly non-dollar store blocks in the Mission.
I second that. La Lengua is it.
Also, I would totally shop at ¡SEARS!
also yeah, i live up in that area (upper mission? outer mission? kind-of-bernal heights? didn’t curbed sf come up with a name for it?) and its got a lot of new hip stuff over the past couple of years. its like some kind of mission st-valencia st hybrid. i guess because they meet there.
i’ll admit it, i wanted to hate socha the same way i wanted to hate ritual (and still do a little bit), but i can’t. apparently they now me better than i know myself. anyway, i’m glad people aren’t calling that area socha. that would be gross.
LA LENGUA!
oops, i guess it was already settled while i was typing my screed out. la lengua it is.
la lengua also has a nice little guatemalan joint called San Miguel…frijoles to die for, among other things.
i think they also do that little antojito cart at 16th & mission bart by the same name.
viva chapin.
Dude, we so are not Bernal. We have our own logo! And none of this first syllable contraction silliness. (Except for MiHosPo! Perpendicular parking for everyone!)
On the subject of La Lengua (which is awesome), there’s a tiny, nearly-unmarked place called Pastores at Mission and Cortland that serves pretty awesome chilaquiles. The Salvadorian food kicks in as you work your way up the hill (La Santaneca, etc).
balompie #3 mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
lived in that area my whole life and i always thought it was considered bernal…whats this ‘la lengua’ you speak of? i’m intrigued
It is worth noting that the death nell to the Miracle Mile was Bart construction. The whole of Mission from Army to Division practically was upended for a decade. That’s what killed what had previously been (along with its sister street Van Ness between California and Division) the major hard good retailing core of SF.
That Sears was shoplifted to death.
@mark
Thank you for making a rational argument in an otherwise senseless discussion.
We all know socha will happen as so the hipster name it for the people who slum too far down on Valencia. What about props for the Dovre Club?! Best truly Irish bar within 2 miles.
Mark,
Mission street works for the people that live in the neighborhood. It may have more litter and graffiti than Valencia, but formula retail or gentrification is not the answer.
What happens on Valencia affects Mission Street. More restaurants like wierd fish, the one next to cha cha cha’s will continue to locate on Misssion street and attract the valencia crowd.
What do you think is going to happen to the rents and businesses along Miision.
You are so funny, valencia street is so precious and unique that AA is not appropriate, but chains are ok on Mission Street. AA is actually the perfect chain store for valencia, if you are only considering the type of store.
It was so disappointing to see the work on that former drugstore was all for a bbq place. Peanut mock duck at Angkor Borei forever.
I thought the 10 year figure was for the whole line and that Mission was dug up from 1969 to 71.
http://www.leanos.net/projects/missionY2K/doc_1969.htm
But regardless, construction plus suburban flight were a hell of a blow. SF did better than other cities like Detroit and St. Louis, but still…
Anyone have any pictures of BART construction on Mission? I’m coming up with bupkis.
Some interesting neighborhood perspectives on BART from 1970 — let’s just say they weren’t fans:
“Is Senor Taco the type of urban renewal we want? BART will bring tourists from downtown to 16th and Mission in three minutes. Our homes will become hotel rooms and restaurants and serape stores, and Topless Taco Clubs that do not serve Mexicans.”
A little known fact is that Topless Taco Clubs are indeed the secret to urban renewal. My European friends pay top dollar for that.
All I know is I want my BART station at 30th and Mission. Anyone got any extra stimulus package?
What happens on Valencia affects Mission Street. More restaurants like wierd fish, the one next to cha cha cha’s will continue to locate on Misssion street and attract the valencia crowd.
yes, i totally agree. i was more trying to say that aa being or not being on valencia wouldn’t change mission street because it is so similar to what is already on valencia.
formula retail or gentrification is not the answer.
i don’t think it’s the answer; i’d much rather have locally owned businesses, and like i said, i’d hate for mission to become pricy and ritzy. i don’t think “chain stores are ok;” i think we need to be really cautious, but i think it’s fair to recognize that mission st is built for a different kind of retail than valencia street. if walnut creek-style chain retail is the only other option, i’d rather it stay as it is. but mission street is going to change a lot over the next decade or so. i’m not altogether unhappy with how it is now, but all those discount stores probably won’t be around too long, and we need to start figuring out what we want mission street to look like, because the people behind the new mission project and all the condo development obviously have their own ideas.
You are so funny, valencia street is so precious and unique that AA is not appropriate, but chains are ok on Mission Street.
uck, that’s not what i was saying at all. valencia street is virtually all locally-owned and is making a lot of money. it’s not “precious” (jeez) and a lot of it is gross. mission street already has some chain retail. some of it is kind of bad, but some of it (anna’s linens for example, or at least it seems to me) actually serves people in the neighborhood and hasn’t really set any kind of precedent (the way american apparel absolutely would have on valencia) because there isn’t as great a demand for retail space on mission street and it isn’t (yet) seen as being up-and-coming the way valencia is. i don’t necessarily want to see more of it; i’d just much rather have another store like that than an urban outfitters or a pottery barn.
Doherty Brothers Used Cars???
Wasn’t that the location of Ben Alexander’s (from Dragnet fame) Used Cars?
Mar,
“because there isn’t as great a demand for retail space on mission street and it isn’t (yet) seen as being up-and-coming the way valencia is.”
How do you know there is not a great demand for retail space on mission street? Mission street, I would bet, has fewer or just about the same number of empty storefronts as valencia.
The 99 cent stores and discount stores are not going anywhere. The demand for them is too great, that why they have been around for a while.
mark says:
“mission street already has some chain retail. some of it is kind of bad, but some of it (anna’s linens for example, or at least it seems to me) actually serves people in the neighborhood and hasn’t really set any kind of precedent (the way american apparel absolutely would have on valencia) because there isn’t as great a demand for retail space on mission street and it isn’t (yet) seen as being up-and-coming the way valencia is.”
This is what seems so bizarre to me about this debate. Do you really think a zoning board is qualified at all to determine what businesses will “serve people in the neighborhood”? Or what the “level of demand” is for retail space? The answer is obviously no. In fact, an American Apparel would have definitely served people in the neighborhood. I see people in the neighborhood wearing their clothes all the time. And why should a zoning board make any effort to regulate the “level of demand”? Does that principle make any sense at all?
I wish everyone in this debate would just take a minute and try to understand what a pecuniary externality is. It would really raise the level of intelligent discourse a level of magnitude.