I am queer and on our 4 block street, we don’t feel alone!

We sold the car, so the J, BART and taxi to the airport gets us where we want to go. I could give a damn about parking at WF. I would actually vote to close 24th to traffic between Sanchez and Noe. Why someone needs a 1/4 ton hunk of steel to get them and their organic bananas home is beyond me.

The weather is pretty good too; I like the blend of fog and sun and just love to watch it swirl in over twin peaks from the top of sanchez and hill st.

The NV CBD has done a great job of planting 24th with trees and now too the whole of church street has been planted with magnolia trees. I so look forward to watching them grow and bloom.

Actually, now that WF is coming in, Nutracellulite has no chance of a viable business in NV. Lets hope they sell the property and we can move on from this sorry episode.

Tom.

My family and I recently moved from Menlo Park to a house in Noe Valley. We have two girls – 1yr and 2 1/2yr old. So far we love it, but we’re thinking to move to Cole Valley to try it out for the sake of comparison.

How is it living in Cole Valley with young kids? Are there reasonable markets within walking distance? My wife loves that produce store on 30th in NV– anything like that in CV? What about super markets? What about a rec center? The new one in NV is great on rainy days. Maybe the gym on Fredrick has something? Are there good kid friendly restaurants in CV too? What’s the traffic like in CV? We live up the hill a bit, and the cars can get going pretty fast going down. Plus the streets are so wide in NV compared to CV — I think that leads to cars driving faster.

As far as comparing NV to Palo Alto, I think there’s a very different vibe in NV. PA always felt very competitive, kind of a keeping up with the Jones thing and my kid does more activities than your kid, a lot of focus around money with everyone working long hours and traveling. NV feels more cooperative and down the earth. More relaxed. Definitely more diverse. Great public transportation. Plus, talk about dog-friendly. In PA it’s getting tough to find any place where you can have a dog off-leash.

Maybe by SF standards, NV is more like PA than other areas in the city, but in a direct comparison, I don’t think it holds up.

http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2008/11/25/fun_with_public_shaming_dog_shit_edition.php

“The store will probably have a butcher to cut and trim meats, a fishmonger, a bakery, a team of chefs preparing takeout meals, and an emphasis on straight-from-the-farm produce, she said.

“The main thing is we try and bring in as much local products as possible.”

At some of its 21 locations in the Bay Area, Whole Foods has set up mini farmers’ markets in parking lots. That’s not likely to happen at the 24th Street site–both because of the facility’s small parking lot and because Whole Foods does not intend to compete with the Noe Valley Farmers’ Market, Cornish said. The weekly Saturday-morning event, where vendors sell organic fruits and vegetables, has been a fixture on 24th near Vicksburg since the Real Food Company closed its doors five years ago.

Cornish said Whole Foods does, however, envision using “local foragers,” who will “go out to local fields and bring their products into the store.” The store may also “bring in local farmers to give samples of their products.

“While conventional supermarkets take a ‘cookie-cutter’ approach to their stores, this Whole Foods Market store will be customized with products and services most in demand by the Noe Valley community,” Cornish said.”

We will also continue to support NV Cheese Co, PJ, etc.

I don’t think a lot of people come from outside of Noe Valley today to shop here, since there is no major draw. An anchor tenant like WF would change that, and hopefully people will stop and shop at other stores. Certainly once they understand the charm of the street and the businesses they will.

My one concern is that we locals continue to shop at the local specialty merchants instead of WF once it opens – I know I will, even if the convenience isn’t there. The NV cheese shop for cheese, PJs for wine, the Chocolate shop and others… we need to continue to shop locally.

If WFs has a good sense of community and recognizes their limited space, they will limit their selections in these areas (and others where there is local competition) and focus on the gaps in the neighborhood as a whole. I don’t hold out much hope for this (they are a business after all), but net-net, I think WF is a big win for the neighborhood.

As for the Battle Royale… It’s a nicer walk to WF through Noe Valley than to the Haight from Cole Valley.