Reader Jason left the following comment on our post about last night’s shooting/stabbing/car wreck:
7:25, I saw this car speeding away from the guerrero st shooting…was in my room, window open (streetside), heard 3 shots coming from the Valencia Gardens guerrero street entrance..then a pause, then full on 8-10 more..this was proceeded by people screaming, guy running and this car, scene above, speeding away north on guerrero…it’s 10:30 and cops still have the scene blocked off and are posted up outside..just used the Mission Mission images to confirm with the cops outside that this was indeed the car I saw. funny side note, the inspector’s first question to me was when my lease was up..she suggested moving. [link]
To which reader mission watcher responded:
I know that the cops have a lot on their hands and they can’t be everywhere at once, but it’s pretty infuriating that they suggest moving instead of actually doing their job and monitoring trouble spots like this one on Guerrero.
And it definitely appears to be a trouble spot. The night previous, our pal Erika tried to get a reservation at neighboring Mission Beach Cafe over the phone. The host told her not to bother coming in, and when pressed, explained thusly:
There is a man outside with an automatic rifle, so you probably should choose to dine elsewhere at the moment.
Serious trouble two nights in a row. Shall we all move to Hayes Valley?
, heard 3 shots coming from the Valencia Gardens guerrero street entrance..then a pause, then full on 8-10 more..this was proceeded by people screaming, […]</p>
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An acquaintance had her iPhone stolen while she was riding her bike down the shitty area of Market St. (~6th St.). Someone jumped into her way, forcing her to stop, while an accomplice grabbed the phone out of her back pocket. The cops responded by telling her to just basically not go on that section of Market St., ever (this was in the middle of the day). Well done, SFPD.
Its an old addage, if you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. Yes, move to hayes valley.
WHAT ?! NO DONT SEND THEM TO THE HAYES VALLEY !
Will this craziness ever manage to unseat “topless jell-o wrestling at benders” in the #1 slot of the top 10?
Those projects have been a cesspool for decades. The neighborhood would have been better off had they not rebuilt them a few years back. You couldn’t pay me enough to live near there.
Yeah, poor people suck. Subsidized housing = cesspool. Boutiques rule.
Go back to Pleasanton
Oh, what a typical Bay Area knee-jerk reaction. I think public housing has proven to be a failed experiment, no? But you already have your mind made up, so what’s the point? Keep on raging against the machine, son.
How ignorant to distill his argument to “poor people suck”
The unfortunate truth is that the particular housing project in question has attracted some totally unsavory people. The police have blamed their relatives, i blame the city. To ignore the impact of projects on surrounding neighborhoods is a head-in-the-sand tactic that is fronted with the age-old “You’re a racist if you don’t like living near the projects” name calling routine.
Cramming a boat load of less-than-classy into the middle of a nice-ish neighborhood will always have adverse consequences, but ignoring the consequences (or blaming it on outside influences) has really screwed the rest of us over.
so we should a) filter for ‘classiness,’ somehow, and b) just keep all the poors sequestered in the tenderloin where they can bang on each other.
talk about a head-in-the-sand tactic.
Was that a nice neighborhood when they built the projects? Doesn’t really seem like it.
no, it was a terrible, terrible neighborhood 25 years ago. rebuilding the projects was followed by storefronts followed by yuppy hipsters. i know families who live in the valencia gardens. they are poor but great citizens. be careful who you blame.
Hayes Valley is FUN!
Hayes Valley is great, I live there and like it, but it’s not w/out it’s share of gunshots, drive-by’s,etc(projects on/around grove and buchanan/webster) although over the past few months it’s been quiet, wasn’t that way earlier this year.
When they tore down the big pink ones, the neighborhood really blossomed around the ruins, and once they rebuilt these mixed-income, New Urbanist buildings, it seemed like everything was harmonious.
Given the past two years, though, it seems modern, reconsidered projects inevitably nose-dive into the same shit as their old-school counterparts.
You woulda thought the sculpture garden would have made things right. Next time let’s try granite countertops.
“Hey, let’s try to make poor people look like the rest of us! Here! Here are some double pane windows! And here! Here are nice trees!
…
Oh, you are going to keep robbing people and fucking in-fighting with each other. I didn’t see that coming!”
awww come on this is what makes the mission a cool/gnar gnar place to live bros.
and fer yer pal Erika i’ll be damned if i wouldnt have called back the next night and demanded a window seat, yo. keep it real!
ps granite countertops are real nice
Gnar gnar? How old are you bro?
Chill out, bro. Its the language of the intertubes.
Someone forgot to tell Mission Beach they should have charged extra that night, because violence is what makes the Mission cool.
I’ve lived around the corner from Valencia Gardens for the last decade and things drastically changed for the better when they were re-built. But, this past week has been crazy. We heard the shots last night and earlier in the week I stumbled across six cop cars surrounding some incident at the liquor store. There’s been a lot of weird vibes surrounding Valencia Gardens. In general, I believe nothing good happens after ten o’clock, outside the bedroom (amirite?) but this shooting was pretty early. Still, I’m probably not moving.
Every single great thing that has ever happened to me. In my life. The whole time. Every one.
Has happened after 10pm.
at what point does “after” become “before”? is sleep the measure? if i stay really jacked up until 9:45AM does that count as after?
either way, yes, 10PM. everything after, or before.
The whole city has gone to Hell in a Hand Basket! The sad part is that the citizens allow the government to dictate the concealed carry rules for the “city by the bay!” If more people were carrying, or people thought they were, the bad guys would think twice before rippin’ off a cell phone.
thug life!
Wow, gun nuts populating even here!
Pretty basic equation that more guns = more shootings.
The whole “an armed populace is a polite populace” myth is total codswallop.
and an armed ghetto? what about that codswallop?
I’m confused, are you arguing that an armed ghetto is a safe ghetto?
if only there were more guns out there, no one would ever get shot!
Either there should be NO GUNS or ALL GUNS. this middle ground is bullshit.
Yeah, cuz that ALL GUNS thing is working out so well in Somalia, Afghanistan, etc.
Seems to work in Switzerland, maybe it’s because the Swiss are white? Somalians are black? Or might be that the good protestants of Switzerland are so much more responsible than those zealot muslims? Or maybe it’s a class thing, impoverished Somalians can’t handle guns while the rich Swiss can?
Except that isn’t really the situation in .ch. The guns that men in the citizen-military age have are giant rifles (that is to say, about as non-concealable as possible), and the disposition of same is strictly controlled/regulated. Similarly, each rifle is issued with a single sealed/serial-numbered/registered pack of ammunition.
So, will that level of registration/gun control stop someone from going postal and firing off that ammunition at people? Nope. But it does seem to guarantee that the weapons do not find their way onto the street for random crimes.
Except that’s not quite the case. Here’s a snip from wikipedia
“In some 2001 statistics, it is noted that there are about 420,000 semi-automatic rifles stored at private homes, not assault rifles because assault rifles are select-fire (fully or semi automatic) firearms. mostly SIG SG 550 types. Additionally, there are some 320,000 semi-auto rifles and military pistols exempted from military service in private possession, all selective-fire weapons having been converted to semi-automatic operation only. In addition, there are several hundred thousand other semi-automatic small arms classified as carbines. The total number of firearms in private homes is estimated minimally at 1.2 million to 3 million.”
There is a strong and vibrant gun culture in Switzerland. It may stem from the concept of a citizen army but it is a bit more than that.
Switzerland: very few poor and desperate.
Somalia: extremely poor and desperate.
Here: alarmingly large chunk of the population is pretty poor and pretty desperate.
Unless im out drinking I always conceal carry. Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6 and all that. If caught it’s only a misdemeanor while my blackjack would be a felony. Funny but I trust my fellow law abiding citizens with a gun if they pass the background test. More civilian carry equals less crime. Does the First Admendment only apply while you’re at home?
First Amendment…? To paraphrase Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that phrase. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Gee..I’m pretty sure I got that one figured out.
LMAO. Non sequitur insertion of the First Amendment into an argument about guns for the win.
First Amendment applies everywhere. You can rail about the lousy government from your street corner. Why would the Second Amendment apply only while in your home?
It takes an extra-special brand of nutbag to argue that the First Amendment entitles him to carry a gun around.
The number you are thinking of is “four”, not “one.”
So right now, you’ve got to ask yourself four questions: Do you feel lucky?
Actually, that’s a common non-lawyer’s misinterpretation of the First Amendment, which only applies to gov’t limitation of free speech (not, for example, of limitation by private parties, except in particular instances such as that in Amalgamated Food Employees Union v. Logan Valley Plaza). So yes, you can rail about the lousy government from your street corner, but not from inside your corner store (or on someone else’s blog’s comments string, etc.). I point this out not to continue this particular conversation, but just as a general point of education on our Constitutional rights, that’s one misinterpretation that’s a pet peeve of mine!
That’s hilarious! You’re the guy who was trying to pull a moral high-ground on me for being willing to lie to my landlord, and you are out on the street illegally carrying a gun?
Heh. Shoulda figured you’d be that kinda hypocrite.
Funny I don’t remember signing a paper saying I would not carry a gun. And I didn’t “pull a moral high-ground” on you. I called you dishonest for knowingly breaking a legal document.
Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to.
Always glad when my instincts about someone turn out to be so wonderfully and hilariously justified.
I could be reading this wrong — perhaps Mr. Allan Hough can answer my suspicions — but I don’t think think this is the same “Glenparker” you were arguing with previously. The earlier one seemed much more… literate. Of course, it COULD be the same person, only more fucked-up… heaven knows, I’m familiar enough with that condition.
And, mind you, the original “glenparker” had a little bit of a point, unless you have declared a righteous guerrilla war on all bigoted, shit-headed, lying, scum-sucking landlords everywhere.
COMG: Fuck you too.
I’m not saying that ALL landlords are bigoted, shit-headed, lying, and scum-sucking (mine isn’t)… but, if the shoe fits…
If you live near Valencia Gardens, I suggest joining the Guerrero St. Neighborhood Association, just knock on a door across the street from the projects along Guerrero and ask your neighbor about joining. I went to their meetings when I was on 15th and Guerrero, where I lived for 15 years. The meetings were at the police station and the police were receptive and responsive.
I promise you the projects and neighborhood are better and safer than they were before they were rebuilt.
That said, I uh *cough* moved to Hayes Vally *cough*. Thing is I hear just as many gunshots and see just as many arrests at my corner store over here by the projects on Hayes as I did on Guerrero, so I can only guess Jean hasn’t spent much time over here in Hayes Valley, but yah, other than that it’s all handbags and ice cream cones.
No matter where you move here in the city there is a project close by to keep you on your toes.
I want to move somewhere safe where only white people commit crime.
safe? how old are you bro! prolly like hella old
Old enough not to say hella bro.
I’m a big boy now that I made my grammar proper. I’m mature
Not mature, just not from SoCal.
i blame the economy. unemployment sucks!
You’d think so, but the truth is more complex than that.
not the place to be…
good thing he had his getaway car parked right in the parking lot. i don’t understand why subsidized housing in a central part of SF comes with free parking. i’m not poor, but i can’t afford to own and park a car in this neighborhood.
i’m ok with the idea of my taxes being used to provide housing for those who can’t afford it. but i have some mixed feelings about that money being used to provide someone with a luxury that i can’t afford myself . . .
That’s easy: if the government didn’t provide reserved parking for the poor, they would park on the street, and that is the one thing the neighbors will not stand for.
I couldn’t get a reservation at A16 on Chestnut St. either. Not sure if there was a gentleman with an automatic weapon.
Next hotbed of gang violence in the city. I wonder if this will make the marina edgy and hip.
http://sfappeal.com/news/2011/09/nimbyism-or-railroaded-by-the-nonprofit-government-complex-showdown-over-marina-district-affordable.php
Somebody should call the Guardian Angels. I’m sure they could stop all this…err…maybe stop the bullets from hitting somebody else?
The Guardian Angels have been to the Mission at least a couple times.
And if you want to complain about that attitude, or about the gun violence, or get some follow-up info:
Show up at the monthly Police Community Relations meeting next Tuesday, 9/27, 6pm at Mission Station on the corner of 17th & Valencia.
I think the bit about the automatic rifle on sunday was a police training event. A couple times I heard someone on a megaphone announcing “this is not an emergency” followed by mostly unintelligible words, but I’m pretty sure I heard “participating in a training event”.
Here’s the funny thing, I own New Jack City the vintage throwback clothing store on the corner of 15th and Guerrero, AKA VG’s Territory, and on a daily basis deal with black women of all ages yelling, dudes rolling spliffs, and overall thuggish sh*t going on daily. So “why” you ask did I move into this location? I did it because it still has the heart of what SF was years ago. You need ghetto and richness living together in harmony to sustain a dope environment. Look at NY, LA, Chicago, DC, hell even Miami…all cities mixed with poverty and the rich, and all places Id rather live and own a business, then be stuck in the midwest with no mixed culture.
The majority of the problems from the Valencia Gardens is that you have people who are 2nd and 3rd generation welfare section 8′s that refuse to work cause their parents were lazy and now they have grown into it. Blame it on Public Schools, blame it on welfare, blame it on the president, but the reality is that these kids are only taught two things, sit around and be lazy, or hustle (drugs, crime, sex) and make money. U wanna blame someone blame their upbringing…
Valencia Gardens IS a dope environment.
Why dis the midwest bro? Have you been to the midwest? There’s just as much mixed culture in Minnesota as there is in the cities you listed. Don’t knock it before you try it.
having 2 different brands of beer, and homade meth is not a culture…. lol
You’re an idiot.
I don’t think m$ was talking about Duluth or Menomenie. Check out Minneapolis some time. Say what you want about it’s brand of culture, but you can’t say it doesn’t have culture.
I am guessing bwals was referring to shittier small towns rather than metropolitan areas. If someone can’t find culture in a metro area, then they’re just a boring person.
… and by shittier I meant less diversity/culture, not to imply that small towns by default are shitty by default.
No. There’s not.
Grew up there. Have family there. It’s a fucking mono-culture in MN.
No wait.
It’s heterogeneous as fuck…. some people like Garrison Keillor, and some don’t. That’s about the extent of your hip MN, bro.
LOLs
But I do love me some MN parody.
Check it:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1597802840/
Here’s the funny thing. I live in the mission, and on a daily basis deal with bratty entitled kids vomiting on my sidewalk and screaming at the top of their lungs at 3 in the morning because their boyfriend wouldn’t walk home with them and they’ve done too much blow.
The majority of problems from Valencia is that you have people who are 2nd and 3rd generation trust fund babies that refuse to work (other than at a cafe or clothing shop) because their parents continue to support them and don’t see the social value in letting their overgrown teenagers grow up. Blame it on MTV, blame it on gentrification, blame it on Forever 21, but the reality is that these kids are taught two things, that they deserve to have whatever they want when they want it, and that there is no reason that they shouldn’t expect parents on welfare, who are forced to complete a full time job’s worth of useless job training activities and to run around filling out dozens of forms, waiting in line, and re-sending paperwork that their overworked case manager lost in order to get their measly poverty level check, to ensure that they personally take responsibility for ameliorating the systemic effects of poverty and structural racism on their children. (Afterall, shame on those “section 8′s” for not magically pulling themselves up by their bootstraps and overcoming the various hurdles placed in front of them.) U wanna blame someone, blame their upbringing….
gotta agree
people getting shot and killed is a lot more troubling than your jealous feelings towards some harmless kids. welcome to America, some people have more than you, tough titty.
ugh, what an a**hole. that store predominantly profits off of borrowed black, 80s hiphop culture and he has the gall to say that crap??? NEVER setting foot in there.
bwais, I live a couple of blocks down the street from your store, and was glad to see when you moved into that spot. I am happy to be living near the *new* Valencia Gardens, because I hope it will help stem the tide of gentrification in this neighborhood. Ghetto is fine with me, but. . .
People shooting at each other do not make a dope environment. It doesn’t make us richer culturally. We don’t and shouldn’t shoot each other in the Ghetto. I’m a mama with a baby, and I don’t want mmy baby accidentally shot and don’t want anyone else’s baby shot, whether they be 2 or 20 years old.
Viva Valencia Gardens, but stop the shooting.
lol chicago is in the midwest
but definitely has poverty mixed in with the rich
do you know anybody in the gardens? have you actually had a conversation with many of them? this sounds like recycled, republican racist welfare-queen propaganda to me.
Good take on the VGs….I remember when it was hardcore there in the 80-90s. Place is super tame nowadays by comparison. It would be dope if the carwash was still across the street from New Jacks – that place had soul! And when Frisco Choppers was in approx(?) the space 4-Barrel is now and their t-shirts said “In The Ghetto”. North Mission is so not ghetto no more. But whatever – I’m not complaining.
Fasten your seat belts. You’re in for a bumpy ride.
Things are only going to get worse. Long drawn out recession. Big paychecks vs. no paychecks living near each other. Lots of guns around. Desperate people. I’ve just calculated that over the next 3.5 years, the chances of your single drip coffee cup being hit by a stray bullet on Valencia St. are 1 in 2,051. The chances of your pork belly entree being hot while dining (not take-out), rises to 1 in 876.
What I’m trying to say is, if you insist on patronizing all the hot spots on Valencia, your odds of encountering stray projectiles (also includes errant spit and izakaya skewers) rises to 1 in 426. Walk around with mobile devices fully exposed payin’ no mind to your surroundings and your chances of being relieved of sim card, credit card, cash, hash, gelt, belt, keys, fees is so high over a 3.5 year period that I don’t want to scare you. Tiny Tim’s rec.: move to the Marina and hang out on Lombard St., which is always busy and you can run into the middle of traffic if accosted.
You 2 cent crackers are so boring…this is not your Momma’s backyard in the Mid West somewhere…this is The City!!! There is crime, there is filth, there are grimy people, this is part of City life. If you get your phone nabbed or your mask cracked it’s because you’re not aware of your surroundings. All you pansies should move to Marin with the hot tubbers where you belong..oh and take Valencia Street people with you too because we’re tired of your faux armpit smell, got money but, prefer to look dirty, skinny, chain smoking, wanna look rough on your bike but, can’t handle a lil roughing up on the streets! HA!
Blah blah blah.
You sound like someone who would like things to get worse, so they could be more “real”.
So, phony-toughguy-pansy-sissy-pinche-puto, tell me how much worse you would like things to be. Would you like rampant home invasions, to make your neighborhood more “real”? Maybe you would prefer armed warfare between cops and gang-bangers? How about a complete breakdown of the infrastructure, involving zero trash pick-up for months? What would it take to make you happy?
And we all know that North Beach is a hard ass getto.
ZOMG you’ve been to North Beach?! You’re so hard.
I’ve been driven through once but I wouldn’t let the driver stop or slow down. Not even at the red lights.
LOUD NOISES!
before everyone speaks up on the upbringing of crack head rat-thieves(valid subject;yes)how
about cute white girls who venture down alleys(alone)full of crack rats..in the highest crime rate sections of the city..are “we” adventure hunting????cause your sure gonna find some!!at least go with a male or at least a couple of female associates.lets smarten up a little bit..oh yeah.those ridiculous $1 locks they leave on their $800 mountain bikes while they are visiting or running an errand in crack rat territory..where are ya all from???..fargo;north dakota???
VG consists of 218 family units and 42 senior apartments. My hypothesis is that the oldest kids when the project opened in 2007 are now teenagers living in a neighborhood where they can’t afford to go to any of the places that surround their home. They’re bored. And when teenagers get bored, they get into trouble. In poor urban populations, trouble often means guns, because guns make you feel powerful in a world where you are otherwise powerless. That’s not to justify any of the shooting, but my theory of what is happening.