Anne Kihagi, the city’s most infamous landlord, recently launched a charm offensive, hiring a publicist to seed positive stories in local media. That required quite a bit of cheek, considering Kihagi has been found guilty by a succession of San Francisco judges of harassing and/or illegally evicting indigent, rent-controlled tenants — including terminal cancer patients and disabled senior citizens. Her...
The 1906 earthquake leveled most of San Francisco and its old glamour. But the city persisted, rebuilt and now looks to the future. We thought it would be neat to look at some nearby places and see what they looked like during or after the great earthquake and compare it to how the city looks now. All of the archive...
Take a stroll along Mission Street and you’ll see two sides of the ever-changing city: the family-owned, brick-and-mortar stores that go back decades, and the new-school minimalist design of the more recently opened shops. No matter their tenure, nearly all of the 59 active businesses along the two blocks between 21st and 23rd streets on Mission Street are trying to...
At 8 a.m. Wednesday, after more than two years of dormancy, one of the Mission’s favorite brunch spots will reopen its doors. While its interior is a bit cleaner, with freshly painted walls and new flooring, its menu will be the same. Per a sign posted in its window, it will be serving all of its classic hits, including “Temple...
Six days out of the week, Mo fills packs his car with TVs, chairs, hand sanitizer and video game accessories and takes to the streets to set up a streetside studio where anyone can play on ancient Nintendo video game consoles. He sets up his video game consoles and monitors on top of his Honda Accord wagon and opens up his...
As the mayoral race heats up, the city got some sobering news: despite all the talk about the need for more housing, the city added fewer new units last year than it had in 2016. San Francisco added 4,441 housing units in 2017 — a 12 percent decrease, compared to net additions in 2016. Last year’s additions, however, are well...
The Mission has long been an entertainment zone for the city — home to racetracks, bear and bullfights, beer parlors (including The Willows), and other amusements. Some of those old bars, such as Elixir (established in 1858) and Homestead (since 1902), still stand, while several have gone the way of the dinosaur. This week, we will be exploring some of the watering...
Discolandia closed January 16, 2011. This post was published on July 22, 2010, and was written by Melissa San Miguel. Ritmo Latino, Virgin Megastore, Tower and Mission Music are all gone. But on any given day, customers still drop by Discolandia on 24th Street to listen to albums and visit with its owner, Silvia Rodriguez. The store is more sparse...
As Facebook’s appetite and dependence on user data became increasingly clear during Mark Zuckerberg’s congressional testimony this week, Mission District users interviewed on Thursday said they rarely use the website but remain reluctant to opt out completely. Recent studies have shown that Facebook’s user base is becoming older, while younger users are abandoning the site for other platforms, such as...
Dryer Fire on Valencia St. A one-alarm fire caused by a couple of dryers at a laundromat near 19th and Valencia streets sent black smoke billowing onto the corridor at around 10:10 a.m. Friday. The fire was under control within five minutes, according to Acting Battalion Chief Mike Mullin, who was standing in front of the laundromat at 789 Valencia...
Past and present Mission District representatives are doubling down on their support for mayoral hopeful Mark Leno. Indeed, unlike recent past mayoral elections, the Mission District appears to be in play. On Thursday morning, standing beside District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen and her predecessor David Campos at the 24th Street BART plaza, Leno trumpeted his plans for small business, housing...
This poll undermines the narrative that Leno was “fading.” But it also prompts the question of how credulously the media should cover outside polling in the first place. So, here’s a funny story. And, to boot, it’s true: A million years ago, sometime in the early 1940s, a pharmacist’s mate in the wartime U.S. Navy named Joe Pearl mouthed off...
Buena Vista Horace Mann School could be hosting 20 homeless families in one of its gyms, come October, as part an ambitious — and some would say controversial — proposal to help the high number of homeless students at the school. Outside the K-8 Mission District school on Wednesday morning, many parents — aware of the population of homeless students...
Young entrepreneurs, beware: by June, Valencia Street will be getting a permanent lemonade stand near the corner of 20th Street. Its name? Gourmonade. And it will serve the “the best, freshest, realest lemonade possible,” says Gourmande owner and founder, Vicktor Stevenson, who, in a past life, did “all things hair.” “I want people to taste lemon when they try my...
