Is North East San Francisco The “Northeast” Of San Francisco?

San Francisco is a city comprised of transplants. But are there an unusual number of transplants from “back east” living in the north east part of city? Have the Marina, Russian Hill and North Beach neighborhoods become the “Northeast” area of San Francisco?

Being born and raised on the east coast provided an insight to the nuances associated with people from the Northeast. Below is a list [in no particular order] of “anthropological observations” that make a case for why this particular area of the city has become so desirable for people from the Northeast to settle in.

1] If you lose your Red Sox hat, you can easily replace it as there are normally four Boston hats in every “lost and found” at bars in Russian Hill

2] Brunch is not a meal. It’s a pastime.

3] People wear suits to bars

4] Number of areas where sailboats are visible, thus sparking off-topic nautical conversations

5] Striped shirts from the 8th grade remain in style

6] 9 times out of 10, the Dartmouth alumni reunion is held at Tonic

7] Going anywhere west of the Marina or south of Russian Hill is considered a road trip

8] If a “Bud heavy” is ordered at a bar the bartender knows what you’re asking for

9] A surfboard, largely unused and hardly scratched, is kept in a highly visible place in an apartment.

10] The insistence that Cow Hollow is an actual neighborhood

11] It’s tough to find a juke box in the Marina that doesn’t celebrate the entire musical career of Dave Matthews.

Conan O’Brien Live From San Francisco

First three minutes of Conan O’Brien performing in San Francisco on “The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour”. April 23, 2010

Children In San Francisco Are Serious About Their Bicycles

One can only guess that this little guy or girl just recently took the training wheels off their bike before locking it to this tree. This chain would prevent even the most dedicated criminal from stealing their ride.

Well done, little hipster. Your bike is safe.

Medalla Light Soon Available On Haight Street?

A new Puerto Rican restaurant, Parada 22, is set to open in the Upper Haight this week. According to a post in the San Francisco section of UrbanDaddy.com, along with a few select “obscure beers” there are “rumors of Puerto Rican brews if all goes right with customs.”

This opens Upper Haighters to the possibility of being able to enjoy an ice cold Medalla Light whenever the mood should strike. Sure, we’ve got a quality beer selection at Magnolia Brewery, but not only does Medalla Light taste good, you can also use it to water your lawn (If you actually happen to have a lawn in San Francisco).

The availability of Medalla Light at Parada 22 is still uncertain, but if you’re going to import a Puerto Rican beer this is the one.

World’s Greatest T-Shirt, Shark Bites Cat

Until Ice Tubes prints t-shirts with an image of Derek Jeter fist pumping accompanied by the words, “Fist Pump Like a Champion,” the below t-shirt purchased from Park Life on Clement St. in San Francisco will remain the greatest t-shirt ever.

Contributor Will Madey rocks this shirt on the streets of New Orleans, to which I’m told he receives a number of odd looks.

Books Are Not Just For Reading, You Can Lock Bikes To Them Also

In a recent post we wrote about the “Bike” bike rack located in the Western Addition. The name says it all, it’s a bike rack designed to look like a bike.

Apparently other neighborhoods in San Francisco have gotten creative with their bike racks. Check out the below photos of the “Books” bike rack installed outside the Richmond/Senator Milton Marks Library in the Inner Richmond.

Photo by: Shaun Charity

Photo by: Shaun Charity

Both these racks look really great, but I think they ultimately went for style over function. Seems like it would be tough to lock multiple bikes to these racks.

The MUNI Fare Box is Not a Vending Machine

Perhaps this post is a bit more fitting for the Muni Diaries, but nevertheless it has occurred to me that people who ride the MUNI in San Francisco don’t know the possibilites for  how dollar bills can be inserted into the fare box.

With the recent fare hike back in July, the cost of riding a bus/light rail in San Francisco has gone up to $2. Now you either a] use a pre-paid bus pass, b] have eight quarters ready, c] contain a fist full of dimes, nickels and quarters adding up to $2, or d] have two $1 dollar bills.

In most cases (at least the situations I’ve seen) people get on the bus with two of the crumpliest, torn, overwashed $1 bills in their pockets. These people then proceed to carefully “iron” out their bills of all wrinkles so that the fare box will eat up their dollars with ease. However, it seems that no matter how long you rub the dollar across your leg or bus hand rail to flatten it out, you will be met with resistence trying to ge that flimsy $1 bill into the fare box.

I’m writing this because I was once one of those people – I thought the MUNI fare box was a vending machine. It was scanning my dollar for authenticity and would spit out any bills that weren’t crisp enough. In actuality the fare box is not a vending machine and there are two ways to make inserting worn out bills much easier.

1. Fold your bill in half the long way. (Aside from making you look cool, this will make it easier for the fare box to catch the bill)

2. Stack two bills on top of each other. (Two worn out bills combined to form one sort-of-kinda-decent bill)

You’re welcome, San Francisco.

Bike Bike Rack

I stumbled across this bike rack in the Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco. If you commute by bike on a daily basis you’re most likely always on the lookout for new things to lock your bike up to – street signs, parking meters, tall trees… This particular bike rack caught my eye.

I give you the Bike Bike Rack

I thought this was interesting because I recently read David Byrne’s (of The Talking Heads) book, “The Bicycle Diaries“, which has a section at the end devoted to the New York City-themed bike racks that he’s designed. Byrne’s bike racks are inspired by the neighborhood for which they are meant to be installed – “The Wall ST” is a dollar ($) sign, “The Bowery” a liquor bottle, and so on. They are creative, but still serve their purpose – providing cyclists with a structure to lock their bikes to. I don’t necessarily think this yellow bike with a sun-smiley face provides the proper representation of the Western Addition (although it was outside an elementary school), but it’s still super creative and more functional than most other bike racks in the city.

My brother sent me a post from DesignPhiladelphia that showcases the winner and finalists in their bike rack design competition. There are some pretty interesting designs that made it to the top of their list.

Surfing the Golden Gate Bridge – Fort Point, San Francisco

Fort Point isn’t the best place to learn how to surf. It’s not even the type of surf spot where a seasoned surfer would choose to paddle out in. The San Francisco Bay is notorious for its dangerous riptides. Add to those strong currents a mix of cold water, boulder-sized rocks that appear and disappear with the tide, and massive cargo ships crawling beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, and you’ll find yourself in a situation about as far from the warm beaches of Hawaii as possible.

The below footage was shot on January 9, 2010. It was cold, overcast and felt very much so like San Francisco. It’s a rough video, but then again, so are the conditions at Fort Point. So there.