Neighborhood Newswire - Featured Articles

City Welcomes Urban Agriculture

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:39:39 +0000

Last April Mayor Ed Lee signed a new ordinance governing urban growing practices in San Francisco. “The ordinance makes it explicitly clear that gardens, commercial and non-commercial, are welcome in San Francisco,” explained Eli Zigas, co-coordinator of the San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance, which promotes food growing in the City, and was central in the effort to pass the urban agriculture ordinance. Prior to passage of the law, areas of Chinatown and elsewhere were zoned “neighborhood commercial,” where gardening was prohibited.

San Francisco General Hospital Trains Doctors to Become Community Leaders

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:34:20 +0000

“Pediatrics does not deal with miniature men and women,” wrote Abraham Jacobi, MD, considered the father of American pediatrics, in his 1889 book, Contributions to Pediatrics. Echoed repeatedly through the halls of pediatric wards during residency training, Jacobi’s words form the guiding principle of modern pediatric practice. Not only do children’s physiologies and disease exposures differ vastly from adults, so too does their capacity for self-advocacy. With little political voice, society’s most vulnerable members are dependent on adults to meet their medical needs.

Arab Festival Comes to San Francisco

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:37:42 +0000

Michel Shehadeh, the Arab Film Festival’s (AFF) executive director, is a man on a quest. He yearns for the day when he’ll be able to produce his screenplay about an Arab poet-warrior into a feature-length film. On a sunny afternoon at San Francisco’s Crossroads Café courtyard, Shehadeh discussed the arcs and archetypes of different storytelling cultures: will western popular culture ever be able to understand the deep literary traditions of the Arab world and, in particular, appreciate its emphasis on lyrical poetry? Or will Arab identity remain trapped by politics and stereotypes?

Literacy Programs Help Low-Income Preschoolers Grow

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:33:10 +0000

Sometimes reading isn’t as easy as A-B-C, especially for preschool age children who don’t have access to books and a structured educational environment. By the time they start kindergarten, students without preschool experience tend to fall behind, especially in reading skills. One Potrero Hill early literacy group, The Reading Tree, is working to close this learning gap.

Giants Bring Customers to Neighborhood Businesses

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 20:29:49 +0000

The San Francisco Giants began their 128th season in April, bringing crowds – and demand for nearby restaurants and bars – to their home at AT&T Park, which borders the Mission Bay and South Beach neighborhoods. “We survive through the Giants fans,” said Darren Fanelli, public relations director at O’Neill’s Irish Pub on Third Street.

Bike Plan Pedals Forward

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:54:32 +0000

Development of the San Francisco Bike Plan resumed last month after the San Francisco Superior Court lifted a 2006 injunction that halted new bicycle-related construction. The City adopted its first Bike Plan in 1997. Under the latest update, adopted in 2009, 31 miles of bike lanes would be added to the existing 48 miles on San Francisco’s streets over a roughly five-year period. The plan includes 14 projects in and around Potrero Hill and South of Market (SOMA).

High Speed Rail Slow to Take Off

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 23:00:32 +0000

Though a recent state audit questioned the High-Speed Rail Authority’s ability to secure necessary funding, if everything goes as planned by 2026 bullet trains will travel at 220 miles per hour over roughly 800 miles of track stretching from San Francisco to Los Angeles. A few years after that, high speed rail will extend from Sacramento to San Diego. When it’s completed, California’s high speed rail will be the longest such transit system in the nation. Policy makers have demanded that the system provide transportation at a cost that’s competitive with airplanes and automobiles, though preliminary estimates of likely fare levels have recently jumped in price.

Potrero Hill Grapples with Its Socioeconomic Divide

Mon, 10 May 2010 21:13:38 +0000

In 2008 San Francisco experienced an alarming number of homicides – 98 – matching a similar number committed the previous year. Five of the murders took place on Potrero Hill; 25 in Bayview. One Potrero Hill incident was particularly shocking. In broad daylight in early-April of that year, two men opened fire into a minivan, killing the driver, a Fairfield resident, and sending the vehicle into the Oscaryne Williams’ Infant and Toddler Center’s playground on Turner Terrace Road. Fortunately, the kids were safe inside the center for naptime.

Trans Bay Cable Delayed

Mon, 10 May 2010 21:10:38 +0000

Decommissioning the Potrero Power Plant, the City’s largest single source of polluting air emissions, continues to be elusive. Technical flaws discovered in the Trans Bay Cable may delay the plant’s expected closure at the end of this year. Last month tests found a component of the 53-mile long cable wasn’t working properly.

In Depth with District 10 Supervisor Sophie Maxwell

Mon, 10 May 2010 21:00:15 +0000

Google District 10 Supervisor Sophie Maxwell and you’ll get the standard biographical information. Wikipedia lists her terms in office: elected to a transitional two-year term in 2000, re-elected to two four-year terms in 2002 and 2006. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ website provides a description of her work related to environmental justice, clean energy and equitable distribution of public resources. But, if you continue down the list of entries you’ll find links to blogs and articles calling for her ouster. In fact, a recall petition failed as recently as February, just 10 months before Maxwell’s final term will come to a close. It seems that even as she prepares to leave office, some believe that exit can’t come soon enough.