213. City streets

Life resumes

My day-after-HSB rest day is now past (I really didn't have any kind of cramps or post event distress, yay!) and I started the top-to-bottom cleaning of my building. It's still a little smoky here due to all the wild fires up north, but the wind is changing now and it's getting cooler -- good cleaning weather.

There's actually a number of HOA tasks on the near horizon. End of the year documents to create, our annual fire inspection to schedule. When I get home I'm going to test our emergency lights again. Really, it doesn't amount to that much. I need a new book.

Some things that have been sitting in my notes for a while now...

SOMA

Sitting at the 4th street Peet's, needed a little oak and granite. Walked here the long way through the middle of the Financial District and the new "Downtown" SOMA. Work is progressing on Salesforce Tower and the Transbay Transit Center but neither is on the cusp of opening. 

Walking past some other projects that are still in early stages of construction, I was thinking that the best thing about the over budget Transit Center is that it gave the authorities political cover for going higher-density than SF is usually comfortable with. It's still too soon to be able to envision what this new neighborhood will look like when built out in (maybe) ten years, but it will be something new for SF.

And while I'm downtown, here's something I wrote about cities. 

Why I love cities

And by cities I mean truly urban streets. Yesterday my plan had been to eat lunch and work in a cafe out by Lincoln Park, but I had forgotten they only accept cash and I didn't have enough cash for lunch. I had enough for iced tea and a snack, and that was fine.

But today I walked down to the Peet's on Market (because I also need to buy some more septic-tank-cleaning-enzyme-stuff) and, when I got in line I realized I had even less cash and using a card for under $5 is just silly. But this is downtown and my bank has ATMs directly across Market, and there's even one of the grand, older branches a block away. In fact, I have the option of at least a half dozen Wells Fargo ATM machines within about a block radius. 

Yesterday I could have paid a fee and used a third party ATM machine if I was desperate, but in a proper city the services you want tend to be magically available thanks to the "invisible hand" of the free market. (I'm misusing Adam Smith's concept here, but just a little. And, while not affirming his theory, my variation -- that business entities, while attempting to maximize their business, end up providing services where they are most wanted, I think is true and is particularly visible in urban areas. Starbucks -- I'm looking at one directly across the street -- is the best example of this at the moment. A block from here there are two Starbucks locations directly across 4th Street from each other. One has been there forever and serves the convention trade and people flowing in and out of the massive parking garage that houses the cafe. The other is new and associated with the Target store. They both look busy every time I'm in the area.)

This is why it drives me nuts when neighborhood interests reject increased density for fear of traffic. Yes, "traffic," in the sense of cars on the road doesn't effect me personally because I don't have a car, but traffic in the sense of people, foot-traffic, on the streets is the main factor in determining the value of urban real estate. 

And, Yes, developments like La Defense are a spectacular and indefensible waste of foot-traffic density. But here, around Union Square, most of the buildings and the urban design is 19th century (pre-City Beautiful!) and the exorbitant cost of real estate has driven landlords to maximize rents by creating as much retail space as possible accessible to the sidewalks. The best example of this being the Metreon, which had to be completely redesigned to take advantage of all the sidewalk frontage they were wasting.

The worst frontage wasters in the area now are the convention center and some of the newer hotels, but even the Hilton is attempting to do what Macys did and rent out spaces on their perimeter to retail tenants. Unfortunately for them, they are on the Tenderloin side of Union Square and, for the moment, much of their foot traffic is interested mostly in their chemicals of choice and social services.

76. The New Financial District

Previous - 75. Life + History

Another Peet's

As a change of pace, and because I needed to go to the P.O., I'm at a different location of Peet's today. I've only been in here a couple times, when I was in a rush, but had been thinking I should check it out again. We are in the heart of the old Financial District -- what was known as the Wall Street of the West. Though, technically, that was Montgomery street and we are half a block east. But this space is adjacent to the old Pacific Coast Stock Exchange (now an expensive gym.) 

The reason I'm writing about this is the change in the food available now in this area. Previously it was, from my perspective, pretty vile. You might be able to get lunch at a reasonable price, but for a vegetarian the options were limited and the quality sub-par. Not anymore.

It seems that almost every block has some sort of juice stand. The Plant - Cafe Organica, an upscale and high quality local chain of organic cafes, now has a location at the corner of Pine and Montgomery, a half block away from me at the moment. And this Peet's -- taking advantage of its location and the little space to the side that isn't an alley or a courtyard, exactly, but that does have seating -- shares it's space with a business called "Specialty" that allows you to walk up and order lunch off some computer displays while using those little radio-puck thingies to let you know when your order is ready. Or you can order online. The options for veggies, even vegans, are enticing. (He says without having tried any of them yet.)

Now the truth is that when I eat in this neighborhood I either eat at Caffe Bianco -- an old school place I love -- but the food is mediocre at best, or Bun Mee -- my favorite Vietnamese sandwich place. I may have to reconsider this with these new options in mind. 

So can we agree that not all the changes wrought by the current wave of young tech people are evil? Probably not. My guess is that locals incensed by Trump will take it out on the tech bros since they are the only target at hand. And here's a related conundrum: Because tech buses stopping in a neighborhood has the effect of raising local property values and rents, the anti-change forces are arguing for one central pickup location for all the buses. But it is estimated that that would reduce by as much as 50% the number of people riding those buses and put them back in cars clogging all the roads and freeways. 

Since "it will increase traffic" is the battle cry of the anti-change people fighting any new development, they find themselves caught with no good alternative. Either the people with good jobs outside SF get to continue to ride their fancy buses in peace, or everyone else gets to deal with more traffic. I predict the whining will be endless.

Next - 77. YouTube + Alice