SFMTA is at it again! Yup that's right, there will be another N Judah shutdown and construction in the neighborhood this weekend. I spoke with Jay Lu and Jeannette Sanchez (SFMTA Community Relations Division  about the tentative completion date of this long project. Answer: "The project...will reach substantial completion around Thanksgiving. Minor miscellaneous work will continue for two or three months after that."

Be sure to share your photos and frustrations with us on Twitter. Click below if you’d like to let SFMTA know how you feel by using the #sfmtacarl! 

Weekend Construction in Cole Valley

November 2nd (Friday) at 7pm to November 5th (Monday) at 5am

What to expect during construction this weekend:

• Track repair between Carl Street and west of the Sunset Tunnel 
• Grinding and paying Carl Street at Cole, Shrader, Willard, and Stanyan Street intersections, one intersection at a time
• Work on the overhead wire poles at various locations along Carl Street
• Noise and dust will be controlled in adherence with City Codes
• Electronic messaging boards will be used in affected areas to alert motorists and cyclists of detours
• Local businesses will remain open during construction

Note: Street work will generate noise, including jackhammering (during daytime hours only) 


Street closures and parking restrictions:

• Street will be closed on an as-needed basis at Cole, Shrader and Stanyan street intersections during street repaying
• Street parking will be temporarily unavailable near those intersections and around the areas where overhead wire pole repair work takes place

Note: If you live on the affected streets, please consider parking your car at an off-street garage or a parking lot such as UCSF Parking Garage and Kezar Stadium on Stanyan Street.  The project will reimburse you for parking charges. Please submit your parking receipts for reimbursement to: SFMTA Carl Street Rail Replacement Project, One South Van Ness Avenue, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103 Attn: Ha Nguyen.


Muni Service:

• N Judah will be shut down during the weekend
• N bus will travel on Frederick Street

The schedule is subject to change due to weather and other unforeseen conditions.

The next shutdown on N line is scheduled for the weekend of November 16th.

Cole Valley residents (and SF Bay Area residents), get ready because tomorrow night is Halloween! Many know that this will mean loads of candy and tons of little kids running around with sugar highs. But here in Cole Valley, we go all out! If you are new or not familiar with this Cole Valley tradition, you definitely have to check this out! Belvedere Street, from Parnassus and 17th Street will be closed off to cars (yup police barricades). There will be haunted garages, dry ice cauldrons, and lots of adults (and kids) in costumes! It will be big and loud - definitely a party (check out some pics from last year)!  Okay, some of the house decorations might be a bit scarier for the wee ones so parents take note. While you're there, be sure to walk around the neighboring streets and get some candy there (most of CV are houses and not large apartment buildings). Our neighborhood knows how to do halloween - pumpkins, parties, costumes, and decorations! This is definitely a trick-or-treat spot where your kids will score big!

Festivities (i.e. hoards of people) begin at dusk! 

If you are not WALKING, please note that PARKING will be awful, and when we mean awful, we mean AWFUL!!!

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

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!