Developments: 5 Stages of Coping with Think Pieces

Happy #BARTFriday to you all! In this week’s edition of Developments in Development your favorite roundup of Mission real estate and development (and more!) from the Mission District, there’s so many things. Just keep reading!

More like Business Outsider

Let us walk you through the roller coaster of emotions we felt upon reading this, now surely infamous, piece in Business Insider titled (trigger warning) “The Mission District is More Hipster than Brooklyn.” Call it the five stages of Mission-think piece response.

1. Denial: Surely this is some kind of a joke? Was this a piece perhaps written in 2008 and accidentally republished in 2014? Are we dreaming? Are we being punked?
2. Anger: The Mission is more than burritos, Bi-Rite, and bike messengers!! Editing!? How many pieces must make false equivalencies between East and West Coast cities before it becomes a violation of some sort of professional code of ethics?
3. Bargaining: Hey, you know what? It’s good that people are curious about the Mission. It’s a fascinating place to visit, live, and write about. Some of the photos are nice. Rising tides lift all boats, etc.
4. Depression: This is what the internet has done to journalism. We can only imagine how many pageviews and retweets this fairly inane article got. As long as sites are monetized in part by how many eyeballs see a page, “snackable” (and perhaps intentionally provocative) listicles will remain supreme and we’ll all just become a cackling horde getting outraged on Twitter… [Editor’s Note: if you’d like to support local journalism that will never, ever, ever, ever write think pieces comparing the Mission to Brooklyn, sign up to become a Mission Local member today!]
5. Acceptance: Listicles gonna’ list (heck, we just made one!), it’s part of the diverse, multifaceted media ecosystem in which we live. We probably should just ignore them or move on. We’re already embarrassed by how many words we’ve dedicated this point.

Gentrification Station

Speaking of intentionally provocative headlines, Slate says gentrification ain’t no thing and we should worry about other issues affecting the urban poor. An intriguing read….

Unless, you yourself have been displaced by the rising cost of housing. Buzzfeed has got a video portrait of Kai, one the kids who went to City Hall re: Mission Playground.

Meanwhile, if you’ve got $7,500 a month to spare on rent, Uptown Almanac knows just the place for you. It’s one of the hundreds of new condos you probably can’t afford.

Etc.

David Chang wonders, is it the end of Ramen?

SFist has the details on yet another longtime institution closing its doors.

Ed Lee says you get a train, you get a train, everybody gets a train!  …  aaand a house. (Hopefully, something affordable.)

Capp Street Crap reports that Toshio “Japanese Jimmie Rodgers” Hirano, the country crooner often spotted at Amnesia and the Rite Spot, will be taking “a long break.” Happy trails, Toshio! We sing the cowboy blues in your honor. (His last show is Tuesday, January 27 at the Rite Spot.)