Via SFist: Awww ... In a recent issue of Newsweek, Cornell grad Erin Geld reminisces about an undergrad weekend jaunt to Brooklyn— Bushwick, no less— that yielded a couple of twee brunches and a neat little column for her student newspaper. Topic: hipsters, natch. Gawker snapped up the piece— girl, did you even dream that wasn't going to happen?— and its feared and revered Comment Commando sent Ms. Geld into hiding (not to mention therapy, no doubt). A couple of thousand-plus miles later, she walks among us in San Francisco. As for the hipsters? Not so bad, comparatively. To wit:
They are similar: name-dropping obscure bands, writing novels “secretly” and being endearingly vain. But in the Mission’s sweet-smelling cloud of tolerance, hipsters are relaxed and just a bit more lovable. Being from somewhere else is a good thing. It’s expected, interesting. There’s no convenient Internet venue through which to pick on people, as they lick their own outsider wounds. Instead, people comment on restaurants and farmers’ markets. They’re usually nice. Helpful. Memories of 1967 still linger in the Bay Area, and people are a little goofy for my East Coast taste. But, thank God, they don’t take themselves very seriously—they’re way cool with being cool.
Have a question? Need an answer? Consult the oracle that is the Ask Curbed SFinbox.
"What a reasonable neighbor" we thought, sifting through today's offerings from the Curbed SF inbox. Let's allow allow democracy to do its magic, shall we?
Hey Curbed: So I live in the Castro— have lived there for a long, long time, actually. Us old timers have heard some rumors circulating around the younger set that the Castro might soon host several new chain stores. I'm feeling a little conflicted about this, and so given that your readers have been pretty vocal on the Mission retail ban, I thought I'd ask you to put it to them. I'll be interested to see how other people feel about having more big-name stores in the neighborhood.
The bomb squad's on the scene at Van Ness Avenue, between 22th and 24th streets. There has been a bomb threat (obviously) and initial reports suggest that it may have been levied at the school. The surrounding nabe has been placed on lock down— reports are welcomed in the comments, or via the Curbed SF inbox. [Curbed Inbox]
Hey listen, just because the folks at Ritual Roasters appear to be hipsters doesn't mean that they're even about to tolerate Mission hipster bullshit such as the following dooze. An Eater operative spotted this response to a recent graffiti job on Four Barrell, the next outlet in the Ritual coffee empire, at 375 Valencia Street. It goes a little something like this: Dear "subversive muralist," Your ignorance is showing. You obviously know nothing about this business nor its practices. You know nothing about its minority owner, his history or his intentions. Instead of jumping to conclusions and writing pointless unfounded "quips," try doing something productive with your anger. Maybe it'll cure your impotence. Fuck off [Ed. note: possibly "fuck you"], Fourbarrel To the rhetorician who penned this note, we say: hired. [Eater SF]
The New York Times must have chosen a few of their hippest journos (criteria: oh, we don't know. A tattoo? Mismatched socks?) and shipped 'em out on Virgin Atlantic for a week of embedded journalism on the crazy Left Coast. We've counted four— four— articles pubbed since Friday's wax on Berkeley. San Francisco and Brooklyn. Sisters? Yes, according to the former Fruitvale resident—hold geographic commentary, please— Eve Levine, former chef-cum-broker and current doyenne of Home Buying for Hipsters, a seminar aimed to help the, how do we say this delicately, younger set get its shiz together enough to buy. Quoth Ms. Levine: “You can make money in both cities ... Can you make money in Portland, Ore.? It’s a cool city, it’s got lots of hipsters, but can you make money?” (Note: the Times cites Home Buying as an SF thing— that party actually goes down in Brooklyn. It's not just the bloggers that 'f up, y'know.) There is, the Times claims, a "beaten path" between Brooklyn and SF or Oakland, which is at times treated here as an SF nabe instead of its own city. Another geographic conundrum we noted: there seems to be some discrepancy over which part of San Francisco, exactly, most resembles Brooklyn: SoMa or the Mission? It's an admittedly close call; SoMa has a touch of the post-industrial about it, sure. Subtract the drunks, and add a few brownstones, however, and Valencia Street might suddenly begin to feel like Bedford Avenue. We know better than to pit the two against one another in a reader vote, but please, do tell: SF and Brooklyn 4-ever? SoMa, Mission, Greenpoint, Williamsburg?
· Sisters in Idiosyncrasy [NYT]
· Says Fisher, Frankly: "I'm Rich, Bitch!" [Curbed SF]
· 36 Hours in Berkeley: NYT Gets its Snob on, Left Coast Style [Curbed SF]
· Hipsters Still Need Help [Curbed]
Greener Than Thou is our report on San Francisco’s obsession with all things green, calling bullshit in the poseurs and lavishing praise on those who have secured their place in environmental paradise. Nominees, holler!
With all of the pretty prefabs and LEED saints about town, it's been easy to hand out compliments on Greener Than Thou lately (yes, even for us). That is, until this reader hit "send:"
Just when I thought those Missionites couldn't get any more out of hand with the D.I.Y. bikes made of copper pipe and melted Vans, I spotted this puppy outside of Community Thrift on Valencia on Saturday. The hipster aboard knew he'd fallen between the crosshairs, and sat there like a deer in headlights as I snapped away from across the street. It looks like a rickshaw had an orgy with a fleet of construction equipment and the PG & E solar installation team. Somebody? Anybody?
A reader just sent us this snap with the following report:
At least the snow has melted. Kinda hard to see here (I couldn't get any closer) but the building's still standing. No demo work yet, though the facade is charred to a nice, crusty crisp. Notice how calm everything is as compared to yesterday! It's as though nothing even happened. Typical.
A few weeks ago, a reader wrote in asking about the Golden Gate Lutheran Church at 601 Dolores Street. It's a gorgeous building in an incredible location, but of course, there's a catch: massive seismic retrofitting needs to occur before it'll be ready for occupancy. Who could step up to this challenge? Who could, as the marketing pitch said, "navigate City departments and answer the calling of this property"?
That man has been revealed as Siamak Akhavan, who appropriately enough, is the owner of seismic retrofit engineering company, BMP Construction. Assisted in his purchase by the real estate team-up of Woodruff-Miller with Hill & Co, Akhavan will not only make his home in the newly secular space, but will also provide non-profit space to the community. So there you have it. You ask, Curbed SF answers.
· Sale of Historic Church, a True Blessing [PR.com]
· 601 Dolores Street [website]
· Ask Curbed: Holy Land on Dolores Street [Curbed SF]
About Curbed SF
From the Golden Gate to The Mission, in San Francisco, it all comes back to our neighborhoods: where we live, where we work, where we eat, and where we play. Covering real estate sales, rental prices, and news-making deals and much more, it's all on Curbed SF. More about Curbed SF...
Via SFist: Awww ... In a recent issue of Newsweek, Cornell grad Erin Geld reminisces about an undergrad weekend jaunt to Brooklyn— Bushwick, no less— that yielded a couple of twee brunches and a neat little column for her student newspaper. Topic: hipsters, natch. Gawker snapped up the piece— girl, did you even dream that wasn't going to happen?— and its feared and revered Comment Commando sent Ms. Geld into hiding (not to mention therapy, no doubt). A couple of thousand-plus miles later, she walks among us in San Francisco. As for the hipsters? Not so bad, comparatively. To wit: 
Comments
"What a reasonable neighbor" we thought, sifting through today's offerings from the Curbed SF 
The bomb squad's on the scene at Van Ness Avenue, between 22th and 24th streets. There has been a bomb threat (obviously) and initial reports suggest that it may have been levied at the school. The surrounding nabe has been placed on lock down— reports are welcomed in the 
Hey listen, just because the folks at Ritual Roasters appear to be hipsters doesn't mean that they're even about to tolerate Mission hipster bullshit such as the following dooze. An Eater operative spotted this response to a recent graffiti job on Four Barrell, the next outlet in the Ritual coffee empire, at 375 Valencia Street. It goes a little something like this: Dear "subversive muralist," Your ignorance is showing. You obviously know nothing about this business nor its practices. You know nothing about its minority owner, his history or his intentions. Instead of jumping to conclusions and writing pointless unfounded "quips," try doing something productive with your anger. Maybe it'll cure your impotence. Fuck off [Ed. note: possibly "fuck you"], Fourbarrel To the rhetorician who penned this note, we say: hired. [Eater SF] 
With all of the pretty prefabs and LEED saints about town, it's been easy to hand out compliments on Greener Than Thou lately (yes, even for us). That is, until this reader hit "send:"
A few weeks ago, a reader wrote in asking about the 
