 Thanks to our fellow bloggers at Uppercasing, we have gotten the low down on next steps to reinvision the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. In 2011, the Haight Ashbury Merchant's Association (HAMA), the Haight Ashbury Improvement Association (HAIA), the Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council (HANC), and our lovely Cole Valley Improvement Association (CVIA) came together to discuss a new plan for the neighborhood. They wanted to create a more functional and enjoyable neighborhood for both people who live and work in the area, without "gentrifying or altering the character of the neighborhood." You may have seen some parklets and tons more bike racks along Haight, especially near Martin Macks and Haight Street Market. Now, fast forward last night when the neighborhood associations came together to work with Supervisor Olague to further discuss the plans to move forward on the long term project to improve the public spaces along Haight from Central to Stanyan Street. Uppercasng spoke with a rep of HAMA that the rep stressed that, "they don't want to turn the Haight into a pedestrian mall or tourist trap. What they want to do is to make it so that 'the street reflects the vibrant community that lives and works in the neighborhood.'" Below is a list of some of the improvements the plan will include: - improved street lights
- decorations for the holidays (think lights on trees, banners, flags, etc)
- public art installations (think the side of buildings, and the 'listen to this wall' concept)
- planned street closures (think Sunday Streets, fairs, neighborhood events)
Tentatively, the goal for completion for this plan is envisioned for the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love, aka 2017. If you want to get involved and come to one of the community meetings, the next meeting will be on Wednesday, October 24th from 6-7:30pm at Urban School. The HAMA "urge you to 'share your ideas for how the neighborhood's streets and sidewalks function and how to make them more enjoyable, safe, and convenient for residents, workers, and visitors.'" Blog adapted from Uppercasing's article, "More Details on the Haight Ashbury Improvement Plans."
 Tully's abruptly closed on Cole Street in mid September, along with closing down all but one location in San Francisco. Haven't heard anything from Tully's why the sudden closing of most of their coffee shops but it might have something to do with SF somewhat unfriendly approach to franchises (what about Peet's and La Boulange (now owned by Starbucks?). More store fronts in our little neighborhood have been going under, from EOS this spring to Occasions, Hama-Ko, and now Tully's. Who will be next??!!
We will miss the many evenings where the ColeValleySF team sat at those bench seats near the window and worked on blog post ideas and social media plans. We will miss those delicious coffee cake slices and their caffe mochas.
What do you think will go into Tully's store front or rather what would you want in our neighborhood! We've heard neighbors ask for a bookstore, smoothie place, or thai restaurant. We want to hear your thoughts - share them with us on at @colevalleysf!
 Just received this letter in the mail. Looks like it will be another noisy, disruptive weekend. We have listed some of the important information below: N Judah Shutdown Sept 14th - 17th Construction begins Friday Sept 14th 7pm to Monday Sept 17th 5am and will continuously work around the clock. (oy) Work that going to be done during the shutdown: - concrete placement of the tracks near Sunset Tunnel (east of Cole)
- JACKHUMMERING
- manhole removal and concrete repair
- trolley pole construction
- more JACKHUMMERING
Street closures and parking restrictions: - no parking will be allowed on either side of Carl from Stanyan to Cole
- driveways on the north side of Carl St from Stanyan to Cole will be blocked by construction for the duration of the shutdown.
- no parking on Carl St for approx 150ft in both directions of 375 Carl (between Hillway and Willard)
- no parking will be allowed on Carl St for approx 250ft east of Cole St.
Got Questions?! SHIMMICK Construction has gladly given you their phone number if you have any questions or concerns. Jeremiah Kent (Project Manager): 510-817-0729 Got photos or complaints? Share them with us all this coming weekend on Twitter by using the hastag #sfmtacarl!
That's right folks. It is that time of year again, the wonderful Cole Valley Street Fair is coming Sept 23rd 2012! From the Cole Valley Improvement Association, there seems to be a pretty good line up of musicians and loads of vendors. Below is a brief snapshot of the fair's events. For more information, please check CVIA's website: http://www.cviasf.org/cole-valley-fair-2012/. Vendors: - Drywell Art (drywellart.com)
- Jfish Designs (jfishdesigns.com)
- Nohi Kids (nohikids.com)
- Made in the Haight (madeinthehaight.tumblr.com)
- YoungPunks.com
- Like Minded People (likemindedpeople.us)
- Trestman Chiropractic (trestmanchiropractic.com)
- Farm Fresh to You
- Randall Museum
- SCRAP: Scrounger's Center for Reusable Art Parts
- Cara Lyndon Designs (caralyndon.com)
- Voice Keen Jewelry (vocekeen.com)
- Urban Bazaar (urbanbazaarsf.com)
- BookSmith Bookstore (booksmith.com)
Entertainment: - Buki the Clown
- John Roy Zats
- The Fly Right Sisters
- Daniel Mandel
- Young of the Beast
- Dubious Ranger
- jumpy house (yes!!!)
Food: - Soul Groove (chickenandwafflesandwich.com)
- Happy Dumplings (happydumplsings.com)
- El Porteno (elportenosf.com)
See you all there! We'll be walking around, mingling, and enjoying the fair! We'll be giving away our ColeValleySF postcards!
 The small, somewhat unknown sushi restaurant near the Carl/Cole intersection is rumored to be closing around the end of September 2012 after 28 years of being in operations.
From the little knowledge we got from Chowhound, it seems as though they are closing up shop because the the husband and wife owners for retiring.
So you know what this means? If you haven't been to this little hole in the wall wonder, you better get your bum over there this month before they close their doors forever! And for those of you who are fans, be sure to come in every day to get your last tasty fixings of Hama-Ko's yummy sashimi.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/865923
ColeValleySF's Spotlight of the Month "1930's style soda fountain serving organic homemade ice cream"  The newest success story to Cole Valley is the one of a kind, Ice Cream Bar. Owner, Juliet Pries decided to open a 1930's style ice cream bar due to her love of baking and ice cream! Though she did not realize how long the process would take. From city zoning and planning committee meetings, it took Pries practically 2 years to finally open her shop. Like in any city, there is always a lot of bureaucracy and formalities in order to get a restaurant approved. This might explain the storefronts that are vacant for months on end.
Luckily during this process, Pries decide to devout her time to finding items and pieces to make her shop unique. That back wall cabinet you see in the main picture (the soda fountain bar), that piece was found on eBay. The purchase included the 'Ice Cream Bar' sign. "Let's call it that," Pries said when she decided to keep it simple and keep the old school name. From then on Pries was motivated to have the 1930s style aesthetic. From old ceiling lamps to the vintage cash register and soda carbonating machine, the shop slowly came alive. Even the menu itself was influenced by the 1930s prohibition soda fountains.
Pries wanted to, "try to do it the way they did it," in the 1930s. She decided to bring on board, famous mixologist, Russell Davis, who together with Pries, created the soda fountain menu, full of tinctures and lactarts. "Everything is from scratch, and everything is made in house." The ice cream selection offers a wide variety of unique flavors. There's even some fantastic vegan options (see photo in slideshow). Pries is super excited about the summer season because that means lots of different fruit options to choose from. They just announced their blueberry ice cream. She's also thinking of incorporating peaches and other summer fruits this season.
 As with every ColeValleySF Spotlight, we always want to know, "What do you like best about Cole Valley?" For Pries, who was previously a Cole Valley resident, she loves how diverse and friendly the neighborhood is. As a new store to the area, she stated that all the other merchants were very welcoming and excited for the new addition to our quaint little neighborhood.
The Ice Cream bar is a great addition to the neighborhood. It's a place where all different types of people are welcome. Those not interested in the bar scene in the Haight, can enjoy a unique nightlife experience while drinking sodas infused in tobacco! There are even folks that come into the restaurant that remember the soda fountain era. They reminisce and tell stories about various soda jerks and tinctures that were their favorites. While the older generations are telling stories, there are young children running around, giddy from their ice cream sugar highs. It's even a place where Pries has seen many first dates and, "they were definitely first dates!"
The Ice Cream Bar is definitely a unique spot in San Francisco. A place to go back in time and experience a period of American history that many of us were never alive to experience. So come on by and get yourself a scoop!
New quaint vintage children's store opens on Cole Street! The old shop, Occasions, recently went out of business and it seems like in no time, a new shop has taken shape. Quite amazing how speedy the change was; there must be a story behind that one!
Owners, Amanda Weld and Michelle Spear, offer a circus-type atmospshere with loads of vintage toys, clothing, and household items.
Hours are every day 11am-7pm.
Word on the street is that there will be a grand opening sometime soon, which we hope will bring must fun activities to the neighborhood. Hey, if the store is circus themed, we're thinking circus themed grand opening with clowns?! Who knows!
We want to welcome Tantrum to our lovely neighborhood and look forward to checking them out soon! We just love locally owned businesses coming to our mellow little oasis of the city! Best of luck!
So SFMTA has an update for what to expect this weekend, which begins the Carl Street Rail Replacement Project, set to be completed next year Feb 2013. This weekend will be the first of a long stretch of consecutive weekend construction on Carl Street. Residents and Merchants on Carl StreetThis weekend consists of sewer replacement from Arguello to Willard from 7am to 9pm Saturday and Sunday. There will be one westbound traffic lane open and eastbound traffic will be detoured around work zone. Driveways on south side (address 341-399) will be impacted but not permanently blocked. Expect delays. These addresses have already been notified. Traffic Closures and DetoursThese closures and detours will be between 7pm Friday to 5am Monday this upcoming weekend. - Carl Street will be closed to EASTBOUND traffic, though westbound will be open between Arguello and Willard. - Detours will be posted and signed. - NORTHBOUND Hillway Street will be closed at Carl Street. - Bike routes will not be affected. - BUS stops on Frederick Street (two at Cole and one at Stanyan) for N bus shuttle will require temporary parking removal. Local access will be granted and all businesses will remain open. Street parking will not be available in and around the construction sites. Muni ServiceThe N Muni line will be adjusted and served by a bus shuttle during the weekend's construction. The shutle will operate between Ocean Beach and Church. The service will run as an express between Cole and Frederick and Castro and Duboce. N Owl bus will be rerouted from Carl Street onto Frederick Street. Share your thoughts about this construction, your experience during constructions with photos and videos. Follow our hastag on twitter #sfmtacarl. This information has been provided by SFMTA's website.
This cornerstone neighborhood eatery is set to close at the end of the month. This confirmation is from Exec Chef Christopher Long, who "attributes the closure to the owner's cash-flow troubles (GrubStreet)" Though the restaurant is known for their tasty small plates, folks have continued to come back. I guess the customers are flocking enough to keep up with the expenses, not to mention SF real estate has been exceedingly expensive and hard for most to afford. GrudStreet states that, "it will surely be missed by the 'hood, but that is some prime real estate right there. It's likely to get snapped up fast...it already has."
Mamacita, a semi-upscale Mexican restaurant, has bought the space and plans to open, "a more refined version of Mamacita there called Papazote," which happens to be the male equivalent of mamacita. Papazote aims to open mid-summer.
ColeValleySF says so long to the neighborhood's prized EOS and welcomes the space's new restaurant, Mamacita.
So construction is beginning, many of you might have seen the no parking signs, construction trucks, etc. Seems like they are prepping for weekends upon weekends of construction. Looks like the first set of weekend constructions are set to begin Feb 24th, below is more details regarding timing and type of construction. Remember, we are all in this together! Hopefully it won't be too horrible. Share your stories, your noise complaints, and your photos of this project and how it affects you. Humorous pictures and stories highly encouraged! colevalleysf.webmaster@gmail.com, tell us on twitter @colevalleysf #sfmtacarl or on our tumblr. February 24th 7pm until February 27th 5am Sewer work on Carl between Arguello and Hillway Ave (south side) Sewer work on Carl between Stanyan and Shrader (south side) March 2nd 7pm until March 5 5am Sewer work on Carl between Arguello and Willard (south side) Sewer work on Carl between Stanyan and Shrader (south side) March 9th 7pm until March 12th 5am Track and sewer work on Carl between Arguello and Willard (center) Track and sewer work on Carl between Stanyan and Shrader (south side) March 16th 7pm until March 19th 5am Track and sewer work on Carl between Arguello and Willard Track and sewer work on Carl between Stanyan and Shrader March 23rd 7pm until March 26th 5am Track and sewer work on Carl between Hillway and Willard Track and sewer work on Carl between Shrader and Cole Street March 30th 7pm until April 2nd 5am Track and sewer work on Carl between Hillway and Willard (including Willard intersection) Track and sewer work on Carl between Shrader and Cole Street SFMTA wants to make note that all schedules are subject to change due to weather or unexpected conditions. N Judah Shut-down So the N Judah Muni line will be shut down and replaced with a bus shuttle service from Ocean Beach to Church Street. The N Line will not operate in the subways, however there will be a supplemental rail service between Castro Station and Caltrain Station. These adjustments will begin approximately 7pm Fridays until 5am Mondays. There will also be longer partial shutdowns of the J Line and a full shutdown of the N line beginning May 25th. The N Owl, 22 Fillmore, 37 Corbett and 43 Masonic will also be rerouted. Note to Residents and MerchantsResidents and merchants can expect bike lane closures and detours during construction. Traffic control officers and police will direct traffic at critical intersections. There will also be electronic messaging. Access to local businesses, residences and driveways will be maintained. Updates will be given on an ongoing basis. For more information and updates check out: www.sfmta.com/carl
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