Mission Mission

Right abouts here. Thanks, Johnny0!

The portion of today’s hearings prior to the American Apparel portion was devoted to recent New Mission Theater news. Apparently, at one point, one of the planning commissioners said something to the effect of, “It’s come to my attention that the nightclub on the roof of Medjool might be illegal.”

Wha? I had to get back to my dayjob, so could not investigate. Did anything come of this?

P.S. Regarding the liveblogging of the AA thing, I tried. But I had to get back to the office. Andy Wright of SF Weekly is on the scene with a reporter’s notebook and everything, and she promises to call me the minute anything exciting happens. Right after she calls her office of course.

Riding the elevator up to the fourth floor with another person who, like me, is wearing jeans and Converse All-Stars.  When we exit the elevator a bunch of other people dressed exactly the same way inform us, without us even asking, that the hearing is going to be pushed back an hour but that there is an overflow room where we can wait.

The person from the elevator says to me, “I think it’s funny how everybody knows right where we are going.”

A number of Mission merchants have written in this morning to explain why they’re not affiliated with the Mission Merchants Association, mentioned in a post yesterday. Today’s comments begin right about here.

Johnny0 mentioned this last week, but Streetsblog yesterday published a big feature on the future of Cesar Chavez Street. They’ve got tantalizing graphics, details on the organizations behind the revamp, and a full outline of the plan (which includes bike lanes, a big green median, and numerous pedestrian improvements). Link.

This morning, the Mission Merchants Association came out in favor of American Apparel’s bid to move into a space on Valencia Street. In a letter to the planning commission, they cite the chain-store-is-better-than-an-empty-storefront argument, as well as American Apparel’s responsible business practices. They denounce the notion that AA is a gateway to the Gap, and make clear that this endorsement is NOT a “blanket endorsement of allowing chain stores into the Mission.”

Click image to view actual size.

Nick writes:

Hey Guys,

Exciting times! Looks like IGA Delano’s on VanNess @ 23rd is spicing things up with an Organic aisle, aisle 6. Now you can feast on Annie’s Organic cracker snacks with out having to go all the way to Wholefoods.

Go Mission

Curbed SF reports.

Plus a Victorian two-piece dress, an iPod, a a navigation device and some colorful feathers. Saw this item on items of interest to me and, possibly, to you and found it to be of interest. Link.

MAC enters the fray, with a post titled Your Recommended Daily Allowance of Irony:

[W]e cannot overlook the irony and contradictions that the “locally owned businesses on Valencia “Your Mission” campaign present. Many of the displacements have been at the hands of non-neighborhood serving boutique shops, or destination restaurants or just plain expensive shops that many Mission residents can not shop at. I noticed a comment on the No American Apparel site that stated that it was these shops that had saved the Mission from 99 cent stores and, I assume, other lower-end businesses. It is this short sighted analysis from the group that makes us pause.

Lots more here.