NNN Brokers USA – San Francisco Commercial Real Estate Brokers: "The Scoop"

The East Bay Express reports that one of Mayor-elect Jean Quan’s first orders of business was to call up Major League Baseball and tell them she wants the A’s to stay in Oakland. The city is going forward with plans to build at Victory Court, where they could have a downtown, waterfront stadium like some neighbors to the west who seem to be doing quite well. Besides, where are they going to build a waterfront stadium in San Jose? Someone has to think about the kayakers! [East Bay Express]

The People’s Guide is Curbed SF’s tour o’ the nabes, lead by our most loyal readers, favorite bloggers, and other luminaries of our choosing. Have a piece to say? We’ll be happy to hand over the megaphone. Here’s one of our Curbed operatives, blogger Abby Pontzer.

[If you haven't yelled "Wiggler!" at an unsuspecting biker you haven't lived, that's what I say.]

Nabe: Lower Haight. Completely distinct from lovely but yuppie Hayes Valley to the East or touristy and druggie Upper Haight to the West.

Q: Tell us something we don’t know about Lower Haight?
A: You mean you haven’t read the blog? I think most people in the neighborhood will note that Haighteration has been awesome for us, both in helping us know what’s going on and finding new things to like. But something you may not know is that our homeless people are generally very nice. They are still crazy, but I’ve never felt threatened by them the way I have in other ‘hoods. Mainly they just make me chuckle.

Q: Local Customs of note:

A: Smoking! Yes, it turns out people actually smoke cigarettes here, though we do have our very own medical marijuana dispensary as well. On a Friday or Saturday night, sidewalks are clogged with people coming out of Toronado or Molotov’s to smoke.

Q: Hidden Gems in Lower Haight:

A: What first struck me when I moved to the neighborhood was how much good, cheap (and late night) food was available. I could go every single day not spending more than $6 a meal – Love N Haight for sandwiches, the real Rosamunde’s for sausage, newcomer Estrella for tacos…. the list goes on and on. I’m also a personal believer that The Grind is one of the best cafes in the city. Great, cheap food, outdoor seating, and really nice people.

Q: Are your neighbors “Rotten Neighbor” worthy? If so, dish. If not … well, why not?

A: I live next door to Costumes on Haight. They have a secret back patio and I can hear them all the time. They also rent storage space in my building. For the most part, it’s great having so much access to fake blood and afros, and they do a great job keeping their customers under control during costume season (all the time in SF, but notably Halloween, Bay to Breakers, and Pride).

Q: Inflate the bubble or burst it: What’s not-so-swell about your “perfect” neighborhood? If your nabe is an underdog, what’s being overlooked?

A: Did you notice that we’re park-adjacent? Pretty much every park is the start of a new neighborhood. I love taking out-of-towners to the top of Buena Vista park, drinking a tall boy and watching dogs play in Duboce, helping tourists out in Alamo Square, taking panoramas up in Corona Heights, and running or biking to Golden Gate. While Lower Haight can’t take ownership of any of these beauties, we can certainly swing with all of them.

Q: The final word on the Lower Haight:

A: No tattoo, no problem.

Because of the recent slew of drug overdoses at electronic music shows at the Cow Palace, the Cow Palace – which is owned and managed by the state - voted in favor for a temporary suspension of hosting raves. This decision comes after more than a dozen people recently overdosed at the Cow Palace, two of which died. [KTVU]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

A 2-bed, 2.5-bath, 1,715 square foot luxury condo at the appropriately named Lombardia on Lombard has hit the market with an asking price of $1,780,000. Property features include walking through a courtyard with a fountain in it to get to your front door and also being also to say you live in a place called the Lombardia. The unit has east and west garden terraces and what we can only assume is the world’s tiniest kitchen island. We should also note that the master bathroom has three different types of marble in it, and that the buyer’s first item on their to-do list should be to rip out and replace the carpet in the second bedroom. Property downfalls include monthly HOA dues of $1,451.30 and having to constantly deal with tourists asking you to take their photo on “the world’s most crookedest street!”

· 1150 Lombard #5 [Redfin]

[Victorians via Curbed Flickr Pool/Bob Bobster]

· San Francisco plans tolls between Peninsula and the city [Mercury News]
· You can’t sell our state buildings and get away with it! [SF Appeal]
· Being a crane operator can get so lonely [SF Citizen]
· Noe Valley parklet installation begins [SF Streetsblog]
· Newsom stoked about electric vehicle charging stations [SF Appeal]

San Francisco! We have problems. Like too many people dumping their unwanted furnishings on the sidewalk! Which costs the city more than $4,000,000 in finding and disposing said furniture. Today an outreach program titled ‘Don’t Leave it on the Sidewalk,” is starting in Bayview. “Illegal Dumping is not cool,” said Charles Grays, founder of the United Father Coalition. “This is our community and we’re not going to stand by and allow a few people to dump trash.” [SF Examiner]

SFist Flickr pool/user Brandon Doran

• Facebook beats Google in Internet traffic, nerds. [Valleywag]

• Don’t bother baking anything for Thanksgiving, just buy recent Top Chef Just Desserts winner Yigit Pura’s tarts for charity. [Eater]
• Some people might support the America’s Cup, just because Chris Daly doesn’t. [TheSnitch]
• The New York Times called the Outer Sunset “bleak”, people react accordingly: [CurbedSF] [OceanBeachBulletin]
• Speaking of the Outer Sunset: Appeal Editor Eve Batey would like to share it with you in this week’s People’s Guide [CurbedSF]
• With Four Loko on it’s way to an FDA ban, ABC begins a crackdown on Irish Coffee. Because it’s aggressively marketed towards tourists, obviously. [generic]
• Ross Mirkarimi would like you to pay a dime for every paper bag you use [SFEx]

Over at the Appeal, Gal-about-town Beth Spotswood points out that Future-Former Mayor Gavin Newsom has headed off this week for a Thanksgiving vacation in Hawaii. Which might explain why the puddles around town seem slightly less oily than normal, but more importantly Beth got her hands on Gavin’s official schedule for Wednesday, November 24th. If you’re curious, Gavin’s Hair starts its day thusly:

8:00am: LGE (Lieutenant Governor Elect) wake-up via free downloaded iPhone alarm app that plays “Hail to the Chief.”

9:30: Outdoor shower (Aveda products, to be prepped by house staff.

9:50: Personal grooming and ensemble selection.

For the rest of Gavin’s day, which includes a 1983 Ferrari, head over to The Appeal

Photo from SFist Flickr Pool/user Andertho

Sure, rain sucks, but who doesn’t like Otters? Especially when they are startled awake by a quick rain. Shot near Moss Landing, CA.

Green Chile Apple Pie via Yelper Wilhelm Y.

Last week we asked for your Thanksgiving Dinner Pet Peeves, and among other things, the post promptly started some dispute between pro-Pie and anti-Pie factions. While at least some portion *cough* of SFist editorial staff was against “Warm fruit” in general, one reader even took to the tipline to proclaim very succinctly: “Pie is Disgusting.”

Which: fine, you don’t like Pie. In general, cake’s bread-like utilitarianism seems far less divisive than the many forms of Pie which may be fruit, chocolate, meat or gourd-based. But this leads us to further questioning: Why don’t you like pie? Is it the plethora of varieties that offends you? Did you have a bad experience with a savory, meat-smuggling pie? Most importantly, is anyone really “for” Cake?

Back in March, notable internet blog Jezebel held a tournament in the style of NCAA basketball playoffs, which eventually proclaimed Cheesecake (which is a pie!) the champion. But this is San Francisco, where we are arguably on the forefront of both Cake progress and forward-thinking piemaking. So, in the true spirit of San Francisco elections, we’d rather not follow the sports model and instead make this as convoluted as possible by soliciting your votes on the lengthy ballot below. You can choose up to three, so please feel free to vote against some faction if you’d rather see one side be served a plate of humble pie. No one said this would be a cakewalk.

Write-ins are welcome, but keep it civil. Polls are open until Midnight on Thanksgiving, because you might change your mind when you go back for that late night leftover raid.

BAKEOFF: Team Cake or Team Pie?online surveys