Morning dance parties unite Mill Valley moms, Mission techies

On a recent Wednesday morning, Kristin Slye dropped off her 8-year-old son at school. Then Slye, who lives North of the Panhandle, headed to the Mission District in a shirt that said, “Dance like you need the money.” There, the 45-year-old creative consultant met three friends and danced to electronic music in a scene that had all the trimmings of a good, old-fashioned rave.
Almost.

Yes, Morning Gloryville is a dance party — glowing costumes, pulsing bodies, thumping bass — but the bar was serving coffee and cold-pressed juice. And rather than necking in the corner, people were enjoying free massage. By the time Slye arrived just after 8 a.m., the crowd had been going for an hour and a half. It was over by about 10:30 a.m.

A surge in morning dance parties is bringing many of San Francisco’s increasingly discordant tribes together to dance. Companies Morning Gloryville and Daybreaker have hosted a combined 17 parties since both came to San Francisco in June. Daybreaker SF started with one a month — the first in June had the largest attendance of all Daybreaker parties nationally up until then — and has increased to every three weeks or so; Morning Gloryville’s first San Francisco party was sold out.

'Celebrating our wild side’
This new brand of party — not to be confused with the after-after-party scene at places like San Francisco’s Endup — are a very San Francisco thing, says 27-year-old McKenzie Brill, who is San Francisco’s “head glory agent” for Morning Gloryville, a London company that began in May 2013. “There’s a general eccentricity in the city and a history of celebrating our wild side,” she says. “San Francisco is not afraid to try new things.”

Among the crowd of about 250 was Slye’s friend Robeen Frank, a Mill Valley mom who owns a marketing company; 28-year-old Benjamin Gleitzman, an Alameda software engineer, technologist and co-founder of Ruse Laboratories; SoMa musician and nightlife icon Marcus Scott, 54; and a handful of children (those younger than 12 got in free).

The day before, a Daybreaker party brought 400 to Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. San Francisco was the second location for the New York company, which started in December 2013. It’s billed as a “morning movement” that founders Radha Agrawal and Matthew Brimer started as a “social experiment” all about “dancing your face off” before the day breaks.

Rivals’ welcoming spirit
Daybreaker tickets range from $20 to $35; Morning Gloryville tickets are $18 in advance or $25 for last-minute friends who were persuaded to tag along. (There aren’t many spontaneous drop-ins from passersby.) Although they are competitors, there is a welcoming spirit among the producers; they each put the other on their guest lists. Ultimately, says Daybreaker SF’s Stephanie Lepp, “the real competition is boring, uninspired mornings.”

Brimer says that, initially, before it “became a thing” in New York, people were skeptical about waking up at the crack of dawn to dance. But when Daybreaker announced it was coming to San Francisco, he says, everyone immediately got it. He is keen to avoid the word “rave” because of its reputation for drug use, he says. Rather, attendees are encouraged to focus on the intoxicating effects of collectively dancing to music.

After attending seven morning dance parties, Gleitzman says that doing drugs just doesn’t cross his mind. “Even pot, I’ve just never seen it,” he says. “When you take a holistic approach to a party and you appeal to all the senses, you don’t have to rely on drugs.”

That’s reflected in the ritualistic flow of a Daybreaker event. After yoga, the party gets hopping around 8 a.m., with performances by dancers and musicians. Attire falls into three categories: workout clothes, work attire or extravagantly orchestrated costumes.

Andre Le, a 29-year-old senior UX designer at Wearable Intelligence, says the emphasis on dancing reminds him of Castro clubs. Wearing a button-down shirt, jeans and oxfords, he fit in with Sam Johnson, who was celebrating his birthday in a zebra-print body suit. It’s not often that dance clubs are lit enough to observe fellow dancers, but self-consciousness seemed to have been flung aside with the coats and purses.

'Rave your way into the day’
It’s a format that’s been working for Donna Carroll for seven years. She hosts Ecstatic Dance in Oakland, which hosts free-form dance parties on Sunday mornings for $15 in Oakland’s Historic Sweet’s Ballroom. About 300 people start with yoga until the DJ gradually builds the energy to create a church-like atmosphere.

It’s not surprising that the atmosphere is exuberant. To wake up at 6 a.m. to “rave your way into the day” demonstrates a level of commitment more associated with SoulCycle than clandestine club scenes. One might think that a mom might shy away from sharing her “morning rave” story — but the opposite is true.

“There’s something nice, when you’re a working mom, to go out and dance,” says Frank, who compares the vibe to Burning Man, which she has attended for 14 years. “I was singing as I was picking up the kids from school.”

Early morning music fix
Many participants are frequent Burners, re-creating the festival’s atmosphere in short monthly increments. Jonathan Will is resident DJ with Pink Mammoth, an arts collective that originated at Burning Man. When he performed at Morning Gloryville, he wasn’t expecting people to be as into the music as they are. “A lot of us have fun, we have jobs,” he says. “But as we grow, it’s a cool way to get our music fix without staying out late.”

No longer just the purview of wee hours and coming-of-age indiscretions, electronic music is also growing up. At the same time, dancing is celebrated in pop culture, thanks to reality dance competitions that “bring dance back as an acceptable idea,” Carroll says.

“People give each other permission to be more free,” she says. “I believe that everyone’s a dancer in their heart. There’s some piece of us in our ancestry that wants to dance, and it doesn’t matter what it looks like.”

Article and Photos Sourced From:  http://www.sfgate.com/style/article/Morning-dance-parties-unite-Mill-Valley-moms-5993614.php#photo-7326767 

New S.F. company Shuddle offers Uber-style service for kids

Yesterday morning my 11-year-old daughter was sitting at our kitchen table finishing a bowl of soggy cereal while reading the last pages of a Percy Jackson book when her cell phone let out a gentle buzz. She looked at the screen, hollered “My ride’s here!,” grabbed her backpack, and raced out the front door.





With a toddler gnawing on an apple chunk hanging over my hip, I ran after my speedy tween to meet a woman named Sally Brien who was driving her to school. The San Francisco mom of four recently started working for Shuddle, a new Uber-style service for kids, and we were trying out the service for the first time.

Even though I’d never met Sally before I knew a lot about her.

Shortly after I scheduled my daughter’s morning ride with the easy-to-use Shuddle app, I received a text message indicating the ride was confirmed and directing me to the app for details on the driver. I found a photo of a warm, friendly-faced woman who looked like someone you’d want teaching your child’s second grade class. Her bio let me know that she works for a nonprofit and coaches high school tennis.

Sally got out of her car to help my daughter into the backseat of her spotless pale green Toyota Sienna minivan. I shook Sally’s hand, gave my daughter a hug — and they were off.

Fifteen minutes later I received a text alerting me that my daughter had arrived to school safely.

Shuddle is the brainchild of Nick Allen, who got his start in the ride-sharing business when he founded Sidecar, a company connecting car owners to passengers heading in the same direction. Allen noticed that parents were occasionally using Sidecar to shuttle their kids around the city, and then a light bulb appeared over his head in September 2013 when The New York Times published an article on the busy Manhattan parents who were depending on Uber to cart their kids from school to after-school tutoring, dance classes, soccer practice, and the myriad activities today’s kids juggle.

“Parents were using these services but to have a child riding alone in an Uber is against the company’s terms and conditions,” Allen told SFGate. “It’s confusing for drivers. They don’t have the right insurance. It’s not designed for that.”

“I thought, let’s go out and create the right service that’s designed for families and safe for kids.”

Allen did just that.

Shuddle was in beta all fall and officially launched in San Francisco, the East Bay and the Peninsula in October. Marin service will arrive in a couple weeks. Allen and his team are plotting where to launch next. “Our goal is to be a nationally recognized company that families can count on,” he shared with SFGate.

The slick Shuddle app allows parents to schedule rides up to a week in advance and no less than 24 hours before the pick-up time. This time frame doesn’t allow parents to summon a driver at the last-minute, and Allen says the company isn’t set up like a taxi cab-style service because he wants parents and children to have time to look at the driver’s profile and make arrangements with the school. Parents can schedule any child who can legally ride without a booster seat (generally age 8 and above).

Shuddle requires that all passengers have a phone and for some parents who aren’t ready to let their 8- or 9-year-old loose with a cell phone this is a downside because it disqualifies them from using the service.

“‘I’m really excited about this new service but I’m not ready to hand over a cell phone to my 9-year-old,” says San Francisco mom Elizabeth Leu. “It is the one thing that deters me, but I understand its importance to be able to track her.”

Allen says the phone requirement is crucial to ensure a safe experience.

Another safety precaution: Parents choose a password that the driver must repeat to the child at pick up to verify that she’s a Shuddle driver.

The cost of the ride is charged to the parent’s credit card so you don’t have to send your kids to school with a stash of cash and Shuddle is currently running a promotion where any ride costs $10. In a few weeks when the regular fares kick in, the service will cost about 20 percent more than UberX.

“Our drivers are taking on more responsibility,” Allen explains. “They often have to check a child in or out of school. We’re not trying to be the cheapest option. We want to be the safest option.”






The heart of the company is the team of 100-plus drivers. All of them are female (this isn’t a requirement), and all have experience with kids (this is a requirement). These women are nurses, teachers, nannies and coaches who enjoy children and want to make a little money on the side, or maybe they’re just looking for something to do.

“A lot of our drivers are empty nesters,” Allen says. “Their children have gone off to college. They want to stay involved with kids and give back to other families.”

My daughter tested the service a second time after school and her driver Erica Culp-Garcia is a mom of one who studied child development in college. When Culp-Garcia dropped my daughter home after school, she had fun, upbeat music playing in the car. She uses an app called Songs to make sure the tunes are kid-approrpriate.

Culp-Garcia also works for Lyft, “but I wish I could work for Shuddle full-time,” she told me. “I love kids. Shuddle offers a great break from driving drunk people around from bar to bar.”

Allen understands that safety is the top priority for parents and all Shuddle drivers have undergone criminal background and DMV records checks, provided two employee references, passed an in-person interview, and undergone training that urges them to be friendly with passengers yet respect children’s boundaries. Drivers use their own vehicles and these must be newer than 10 years, have four doors, and pass a 19-point inspection.

What’s more, Shuddle pays for special insurance that allows their drivers to transport kids and this means the insurance agency is regularly conducting inspections of the company’s safety procedures.

While their kids get carted around town, parents can track their driver’s movement. Text messages provide alerts of when kids have been picked up and delivered, and concerned parents can pick up the phone at any time and expect to speak with a live person.

“Unlike other services where you couldn’t get someone on the phone, we’re not just an app,” Allen told SFGate. “We want to offer peace of mind where you can reach someone any time you need to.”

In additiona to managing the phone line, employees at the S.F.-based Shuddle headquarters are also tracking each and every ride. When President Obama was in town and a driver and a child got stuck in traffic that came to a dead stop, the driver and Shuddle HQ worked to alert the parents and keep them updated on their child’s arrival time.

San Francisco mom Rana DiOrio, who wrote a book titled What Does It mean to Be Safe? to help kids learn how to protect themselves, uses Shuddle for her three children with confidence.

“I love the fact that these drivers are all people who know how to interact with children,” DiOrio says. “They have to go through training and their cars must meet safety specifications. They require that your child has a phone and their drivers use a password.”

DiOrio says before she started using Shuddle, she was putting her two oldest kids in Ubers to get across town to school, as she has to drive her youngest to school in Marin. She faced the situation that challenges many parents: You simply can’t be in two places at once.

“My oldest is a bit of a worrier and she was concerned about taking Uber,” DiOrio told SFGate, “but she feels safe taking Shuddle. She loves the password thing and it makes her comfortable and confident.”

DiOrio is now using Shuddle twice a week and sometimes for after-school on early dismissal days. “It really has changed my life,” she says.

Arriving to school in a hired car might sound like a luxury for the rich and famous. Brad and Angelina’s kids and Suri Cruise probably roll up to their schools in sparkling cars driven by chauffeurz. But when you consider what it costs to hire a nanny to drive your kids before and after school, a service like Shuddle is a bargain. Most childcare workers don’t want a 30-minute job. They typically have a two-hour minimum. At $25 an hour for a reliable nanny who you can trust behind the wheel, you’re talking $50. Even without the $10 promotion, the 15-minute ride from my house to my daughter’s school would cost about $10.

I can’t afford to use the service every day nor do I want to because I enjoy taking my daughter to school and she also has fun taking Muni with friends several days a week, but on that day when she has to get to school early and I also have a 7:30 a.m. conference call and my husband left the house at 5 a.m. to be in the field, you know who I’m calling — Shuddle. And actually, those sorts of days come up more often than not.

Article and Photos Sourced From:  http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2014/11/07/uber-style-service-for-kids-launches-in-san-francisco/

Compromise reached on San Francisco’s chain store limits

San Francisco has long debated its rules governing chain stores, but residents shouldn’t expect any big changes soon: A yearlong effort to to rewrite the city’s formula retail controls has culminated in more of a modest tweak than a radical makeover. 

The compromise legislation approved unanimously by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday — a melding of two separate proposals by progressive Supervisor Eric Mar and Mayor Ed Lee — leaves most of the city’s current rules in place. Those rules require large stores with more than 11 locations to get a special permit from the city before moving into any of San Francisco’s neighborhood commercial districts. 

Cap on outlets 
In a win for small businesses and left-leaning politicians worried that the influx of big stores will ruin the character of neighborhoods and drive out mom-and-pop businesses, the city will not raise that cap from 11 to 19, as Lee had wanted, and will now count businesses’ total worldwide locations, not just their U.S. stores. “This is a change that strengthens, updates and modernizes our city’s formula retail ordinance,” Mar said Tuesday. “Our formula retail controls are working in San Francisco, and we did not need a radical overhaul but rather some thoughtful tinkering. One thing that was very important to me was to ... ensure stronger neighborhood voices in the process, and I think we have accomplished that.” Mar said he hopes the legislation will make neighborhood commercial districts less attractive to large multinational corporations and help push down rents for smaller businesses. Under the current rules and the legislation approved Tuesday, once a retailer breaks the 11-location cap, it must receive a conditional use permit, which routinely takes four to six months to obtain and cost tens of thousands of dollars. But Mar said the city doesn’t want to punish homegrown businesses with multiple locations that are looking to expand their footprint, and said he will be working with the Planning Department on follow-up legislation that would allow medium-size retailers to grow without facing an expensive, drawn-out permitting process. 

Grown in S.F. 
Philz Coffee, a homegrown business, currently has 14 locations, for example, and would need a conditional use permit to add any more locations in San Francisco, which can mean paying rent for months on a yet-to-open location while waiting for approvals. “We are looking at specific ways to expedite the process for companies like the San Francisco Soup Co. and Philz Coffee, which many people feel are different than larger chains,” Mar said. The compromise bill also removed professional services — banks, insurance companies, real estate offices — from the law, a change the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce had pushed for. The law exempts grocery stores as well. And the two sides split the difference on a provision that calls for some proposed formula retail stores to first conduct an analysis gauging the impact on the city’s economy, including employment, wages and commercial rents. Mar proposed that any proposed store above 3,000 square feet undertake such a study — the Planning Department had suggested 50,000 square feet. The legislation calls for any formula retail businesses 20,000 square feet or greater to conduct the study. In a letter to supervisors in advance of Tuesday’s vote, Chamber Vice President of Public Policy Dee Dee Workman called the 20,000-square-foot threshold a “reasonable compromise that should not burden small businesses trying to get a foothold in a neighborhood retail district.” She also praised another provision that would allow chain stores taking over a space that was previously used for formula retail to avoid the full conditional-use-permit process and instead undergo an administrative review that could move more quickly. But not everyone in the businesses community was pleased. Ken Cleaveland, vice president of public policy at the Building Owners and Managers Association, which represents commercial property owners, told a supervisors committee last week that changes were unnecessary. “The current restrictions are working,” Cleaveland said. “Why do we need to make them even more restrictive?” Supporters of the changes, such as affordable-housing advocates, agree that the current law is working — and say the changes will further strengthen protections for small businesses. Peter Cohen, co-director of the Council of Community Housing Organizations, called the city’s restrictions “incredibly successful” and pointed out that chains represent just 12 percent of the city’s retail — a number that is even lower in many neighborhoods. Nationally, chain stores represent 32 percent of all retailers.
  
Seeking chain stores 
Supervisor London Breed, who has helped bring some chain stores to her district — at the request of residents — said she believes there is a “time and place” for formula retail and that the tweaks approved Tuesday strike a fair balance. “I think this is a good, solid piece of legislation. A lot of work has gone into it, and in the future, if we determine some things in the legislation create barriers to getting services that some in the community want, we should revisit the legislation,” she said.



Article and Photos Sourced From:  http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Compromise-reached-on-San-Francisco-s-chain-5870444.php#photo-2906449

M&R: Bumgarner wanted to ride a horse in the World Series parade

When pitching ace Madison Bumgarner arrived at Steuart Street for the start of the World Series parade, the cops assigned to the parade were waiting, and just as pumped as the thousands of other Giant fans who were lining the route.

As high fives and knuckle knocks were exchanged, the cops gave Bumgarner the usual lines: “Great series,” “One in a million” — and, of course, the obligatory, “If there is anything we can do for you, just let us know.”

The first call was fine — after all, Bumgarner is an experienced horse rider. At which point, Bumgarner looked over at the line of police horses and said, “Anything? How ’bout you letting me ride one of them horses in the parade?”

Maybe, but this was in the rain, with a huge crowd and confetti cannons ready to go off.

After careful consideration, and thinking about what would happen if he fell off, “we made a compromise,” said Police Chief Greg Suhr, who was called in to make the call.

“How about a picture on the horse, and we keep that golden shoulder?” Suhr said.

Original Article and Photos Sourced From: http://blog.sfgate.com/matierandross/2014/11/02/mr-bumgarner-wanted-to-ride-a-horse-in-the-world-series-parade/#photo-547359 

Robin Williams' Kids Honor Their Dad at San Francisco Giants Game

Robin Williams' children declare, "Play ball!"

The late actor's kids, Zak, Zelda and Cody, showed up on the mound at AT&T Park on Sunday, Oct. 25, for game 5 of the World Series. Before the San Francisco Giants took on the Kansas City Royals, Zak Williams threw out the ceremonial first pitch, while Robin's pal Billy Crystal -- who also paid tribute to his close friend at the Emmys -- was ready behind home plate to play catcher.

NEWS: Zelda Williams: 'Healing the World Starts with Healing Minds'
Crystal seemed quite impressed with Zak's arm, tweeting: "Caught first pitch strike thrown by Zak Williams Robins son.Fans showered him with love."

Robin was a huge Giants fan, and in 2010, he even rallied the crowd for the team.
Your browser does not support iframes.
The Oscar winner was such a Giants supporter that when news broke of his death on August 11, Giants president Larry Baer released a statement on behalf of the team. "We were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Robin Williams. Robin was a true artist who brought joy to the world through his brilliance, humor, talent and love for our community," Baer said. "We lost one of our greatest fans today and he will be deeply missed by the Giants family. Our thoughts and prayers are with Robin’s family and the entire community during this difficult time."
PHOTOS: Remembering Robin Williams
Prior to the first-pitch tribute, the Giants tweeted out a picture of a baseball jersey with Williams' name on the back. "Tonight we honor our dear friend Robin Williams during pregame #SFGiants," the tweet reads.

Robin would have loved Sunday's game. The Giants beat the Royals 5-0.

The actor died of suicide this past August in his California home at age 63. Here's ET's tribute to the beloved star.

Original Article and Photos Sourced From:  http://www.etonline.com/news/153074_san_francisco_giants_will_honor_robin_wiliams_in_world_series/index.html 

New door, more perks for elite flyers at SFO

New door, more perks for elite flyers at SFO

Looking through the frosted glass at United’s exclusive new Global Services/First check in lounge at SFO (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Elite flyers at San Francisco International are in for a few new treats this month.

On Wednesday morning, United opens a new dedicated United Global Services/Global First check in lounge and Premier Check in area in near Door 5 at  Terminal 3. (Other such Global Services lounges are located at Chicago O’Hare and Newark Liberty)
At the same time, American Express is preparing for an early November reveal of its much anticipated Centurion Lounge, located on the mezzanine level at the far west end of Terminal 3 near the International Terminal. (Currently there are Centurion lounges in Dallas, Las Vegas and New York La Guardia airports.)
I took a stroll through Terminal 3 this week and here’s what I saw and heard.

First, starting Wednesday, all United Premier flyers will enter security through a new dedicated check in and security area located near Door 3 at the EASTERN end of Terminal 3. This is also the new PreCheck line. The Premier check in area at the west end of Terminal 3 is now for non-Premier passengers.
Here’s a photo of the new Premier check in area:

New door, more perks for elite flyers at SFO

United’s brand new Premier Check in area in SFO Terminal 3 (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Now here’s a photo of the new Premier security entry point– note the frosted glass door where Global Services/Global First passengers enter from the corridor and exit into security.

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New door, more perks for elite flyers at SFO

United’s new Premier Security line- see the Global Services lounge behind the frosted glass? (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Now, let’s take a 360 degree look at the new United Global Services check in lounge in the video below. This is where Global Services and Global First passengers will enter the security screening area via two sets of frosted glass doors.

To see the video and learn more about the Global Services lounges and progress on the new American Express Centurion Club, click on over to TravelSkills.com 


Article and Photos Sourced From:  http://blog.sfgate.com/cmcginnis/2014/10/15/new-door-more-perks-for-elite-flyers-at-sfo/ 

Assembly to consider renaming Marin tunnel after Robin Williams

Efforts to rename the Waldo Tunnel and its rainbow arches after Robin Williams will reach the state Assembly in December.

Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, said this week he will take up the cause of a Change.org petition that has garnered more than 55,000 signatures since Williams’ apparent suicide at his Tiburon home Aug. 11. Levine plans to introduce a resolution to rename the Highway 101 tunnel north of the Golden Gate Bridge after the beloved comedian and performer.

“When the petition was first circulated, I thought it sounded like a wonderful idea,” Levine said. “It was as though Robin Williams knew us. He knew how to make us all laugh, and for so many of us as fans over the decades, we have spent so much time with him. And in Marin especially, we had a very special relationship with him.”
  
Williams attended Redwood High School in Larkspur and studied theater at the College of Marin before he was accepted to the Juilliard School in New York, where he graduated in 1976.

Two years later, he landed a starring role in “Mork & Mindy,” a spinoff inspired by his “Happy Days” character, but he maintained strong ties to the Bay Area, eventually establishing a home in San Francisco’s Sea Cliff neighborhood that he’d open to locals on Halloween.

Williams spent his final years in Tiburon, where authorities said he killed himself at age 63, after battling addiction and depression as well as dealing with early-stage Parkinson’s disease.
The petition to rename the Waldo Tunnel after Williams was started by Belvedere resident Julie Wainwright, who had hoped to gather at least 10,000 signatures.

“He was my neighbor — I often saw him running errands, walking the dog, performing at the local theater, working at the coffee shop,” she wrote on the Change.org page. “Robin wasn’t just an international icon — he was an integral part of our community here in the Bay Area. We claim him as our own.”

The twin tubes, which carry tens of thousands of drivers through the Waldo Grade to Sausalito each day, were originally named after William Waldo, a Whig Party candidate who ran for governor in 1853.

In 1970, longtime Caltrans employee Robert Halligan persuaded the state transportation agency to paint the cheery rainbows on the tunnel, turning it into a landmark featured in “Dirty Harry” and other films.

Levine said he supported the renaming from the moment the petition began, but wanted to give Williams’ family time to grieve before he asked for their approval. He said he has since spoken to family representatives, who gave him a blessing to go forth with the proposal.

Levine said he does not foresee any difficulties in raising $6,000 in private funds necessary to rename the tunnel. He said the rainbow paint is especially fitting for a man who made his big break wearing rainbow suspenders on “Mork & Mindy.”

“As a child, I had those rainbow suspenders,” Levine laughed, “and I look back on how silly and goofy they were with a smile on my face. Rainbows bring hope and joy to people. I think going through that tunnel, under the joy and rainbow, we will always think of all the joy and laughter that Robin Williams brought to so many people.”


Read Original Article Here:  http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Plan-afoot-to-rename-Marin-County-tunnel-after-5820578.php 

49ers vow to improve postgame Levi's Stadium traffic, but caution it won't be easy

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers and their partners have improved their Levi's Stadium performance off the field over the last six weeks, but one menacing foe won't be easy to overcome: postgame traffic.

About half the fans who drove to Sunday's regular season home opener against the Chicago Bears were trapped in their lots for up to two hours as a constant stream of pedestrians and trains blocked their paths. The team says it may have to slow down train service after the game or make other changes to handle the onslaught of more than 20,000 vehicles.

Fans enter the stadium before the 49ers game against Chicago
Bears at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sept. 14, 2014.
(Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group)

"We're going back to the drawing board. It's taking far too long for my liking," said Jim Mercurio, the 49ers vice president of security and operations. But he added: "I got to be honest -- that's one you can't really solve for, when 70,000 people all leave at the same time, but I'm not going to stop until we make it as optimal as we can."

After two preseason games and a pair of soccer matches, Sunday's prime time event was the first time the entire crowd in Santa Clara left a 49ers game at once. Those who rode the rails or parked in outer lots a half-mile or more away from the stadium zipped out, while fans quickly got through security lines before the game, taking an average of 12 seconds to have their tickets scanned and go through metal detectors, and reported comfortably short waits for bathrooms and food stands.

But Niners faithful who parked in two large inner lots along the train tracks saw their frustrations over the team's crushing defeat compounded by gridlock.

"I went 25 feet in an hour. It was just to the point where it was really, really getting out of control back there," said season ticket holder Jerry Karp of Santa Clara. "It's new, but they don't have it together at all."

Karp, who's been going to games for more than a quarter-century, said the problem was so bad he might dump some of his tickets this year. He was among those who reported that some of the exit lanes appeared to be mysteriously closed, and after an hour or so some attendees decided to take matters in their own hands, knocking over the temporary chain-link fences or driving over obstacles such as medians to escape.

Brian Nitenson, 30, of Daly City, paid $20,000 apiece for club seat licenses and was astonished that the traffic getting out was no better than rundown Candlestick Park.

"The traffic leaving the game was so bad that I was considering getting a hotel for the next home games, but I hope it doesn't come to that," said Nitenson, who was able to back out of his parking space and then didn't budge for the next hour.

Like others, Nitenson, an 11-year season ticket holder, said it looked like the well-meaning parking attendants were "clueless" and that it took an hour for police officers to come.

DON'T BLAME STAFF

But don't blame the staff, Mercurio urges. Those fans in the affected blue and green lots, which hold about 10,000 vehicles combined next to the stadium, have exit lanes that cross pedestrian paths and train tracks, with trains leaving every five minutes after the game. That means there were only small windows for vehicles to exit.

Since so many more people drive than take the train, Mercurio's team will look at slowing down train service, perhaps to every seven or eight minutes, to let more vehicles through, among other potential changes. They have until the next stadium event, a Sept. 28 day game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

On the bright side, traffic before the game was so smooth that more than 68,500 fans were inside the stadium before the kickoff -- a feat Mercurio can't remember happening in more than 20 years at Candlestick. There were also no major incidents for fans during the game and arrests for only minor infractions. And a day after the action, the team reported that the newly installed field had help up nicely.

What's more, the Valley Transportation Authority logged another win following a really rough outing during the opening stadium event on Aug. 2. Gone are the long postgame waits for light-rail trains and over-packed train cars, as the addition of an extra storage track outside the stadium, beefed-up service and a tweak to how passengers are loaded seem to have paid off.

Still, the agency's buses and trains carried 9,400 people, down 11 percent from a peak of 10,600 from the first preseason game last month. While planners had anticipated 20 percent of attendees taking transit to stadium events, only a bit more than 15 percent rode the rails or buses Sunday.

"We have extra capacity," VTA spokeswoman Colleen Valles said.

While most transit riders used rail, more than 1,100 attendees took the bus, and many were stuck in the same traffic as everyone else. Valles said the agency will work with local authorities to try to give buses priority access on the road for future events.

Article and photo Sourced From: http://www.mercurynews.com/southbayfootball/ci_26539518/49ers-vow-improve-post-game-levis-stadium-traffic 

Flower Mart tenants seek assurances about future

San Francisco's development wars are migrating from the waterfront to a sentimental property in the heart of SoMa: the San Francisco Flower Mart. 

Working with former Mayor Art Agnos and former Supervisor Aaron Peskin - who led the battle against waterfront projects like the 8 Washington condominium project and the Warriors arena on Piers 30-32 - a group of flower market tenants are staking out turf for what could be a long fight over the development of a tech office campus that will likely top a million square feet. 

"To me this is the new chapter in the struggle for the heart and soul of San Francisco," Agnos said. 

On Sept. 11 the board of the San Francisco Flower Growers Association is scheduled to vote on the $26.6 million sale of its shares to Kilroy Realty Corp., one of San Francisco's biggest developers and commercial landlords. If the board votes in favor of the deal, the 1.9-acre property would be transferred to Kilroy.

'All lip service'

Tenants say that they have had no direct communication with their future landlord, Kilroy, or their current landlord, the San Francisco Flower Growers Association. The tenants' lease expires at the end of the year, and they want longer leases and guarantees that their businesses will be part of any new plan.
"There has not been one phone call, no information. It's all been through the grapevine," said Patrick McCann, who owns Greenworks, a flower wholesaler and retailer. "Will we be out of business come Dec. 31? Do we all need to find new places to work? It's been all lip service."

Outreach planned

In a statement Kilroy, which is currently building headquarters for Salesforce and Dropbox in San Francisco, said it "remains committed to working with adjacent owners, existing tenants, and the city to preserve the Flower Mart at its current location."
"After we acquire the site from the San Francisco Flower Growers Association, we look forward to conducting an extensive outreach and planning process to create a modern facility to be enjoyed by growers, tenants, buyers and visitors for many decades to come," the statement said.

Tenants are holding a news conference Wednesday to talk about the project and their demands.

Agnos was behind Proposition B, the successful June ballot measure that prohibits development on Port of San Francisco land exceeding zoned height limits unless approved by voters. And he said he would support another ballot initiative if the flower market is not adequately protected. "It would be an easy choice for voters: Do you want another high-tech office park or do you want a flower market?"

The San Francisco Flower Mart is the second-largest market of its kind in the United States, eclipsed only by the market in Los Angeles. About 90 percent of the mart, where 88 businesses are located, is controlled by two major associations: the Italian American-dominated San Francisco Flower Growers Association on the western half of the site and the Japanese American California Flower Market on the eastern half.

In limbo

The property owned by the California Flower Market is not included in the sale agreement with Kilroy, but the group's general manager, Bob Otsuka, said his group is in talks with "an experienced real estate developer" - presumably Kilroy - on a larger project that would include the entire property.
McCann said that tenants are just starting to understand what is happening with the property. "They are out there growing, cutting and bringing flowers in," he said. "When you talk to them about this stuff, they are like deer in the headlights." 

He said the lack of a long-term leases and uncertainty about the future has left business owners in limbo.

"You are at the whim of the owners. You can't market it, you can't sell. Who is going to buy a one-year lease? What if you are sick? You can't get out. I have invested $250,000 in a business I can't sell."

Article and Photos Sourced From:  http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Flower-Mart-tenants-seek-assurances-about-future-5714320.php 

Three-year-old with cancer gets to be foreman for a day in S.F.

The news has been pretty dreary lately, so take solace in this bright, happy little story:

On Tuesday, three-year-old Renzo Lombardi from Seaside, Calif., who suffers from Wilm’s tumor, was the recipient of one cute Make-A-Wish dream. Renzo wanted to be a construction foreman for a day.

 

The Make-A-Wish foundation in conjunction with Swinerton Builders and Trinity Properties arranged for Renzo to visit a construction site at 33 8th St. in San Francisco. After a safety orientation, Renzo got to help operate the heavy machinery and left his tiny handprints in the concrete for posterity.

Throughout his treatment for Wilm's tumor, a form of kidney cancer, Renzo has used play time with his toy trucks, diggers and tools as "therapy," said his mother Crystal. He'll be able to dream a lot bigger now after his big day as foreman.

 

 

 

For original Article and More Photos Please Visit:  http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Three-year-old-with-cancer-gets-to-be-foreman-for-5698474.php#photo-6746918

Real Estate Roundup: 3 Bay Area Cities Rank Amongst Nation’s Coolest

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious:



SAN FRANCISCO 1 OF TOP 5 COOLEST U.S. CITIES
The Bay Area’s thriving economy is perhaps the primary driver of real estate demand, but could our region’s inherent coolness also play a role? Forbes recently ranked San Francisco as the fifth coolest city in the U.S., and the second coolest on the West Coast, behind Seattle.

The publication quantified “cool” by using a mix of the number of available entertainment options, the amount of restaurants and bars, cultural diversity, and of course, population growth. Forbes ranked Oakland as the 12th coolest city in America, while San Jose tied for No. 16.

And while many of us here in the Bay Area would no doubt argue that our three local cities should place higher on the list, we’ll take the compliment in stride.

BAY AREA JOB GROWTH DRIVING BOTH HOME AND RENT PRICES
Whether the cool factor is helping fuel Bay Area housing prices is an open question, but there’s no argument that our region’s excellent job market is a key component.

In a recent blog post, Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko says that job growth is now driving home price appreciation more than the rebound from the recession.“The correlation between price changes and employment changes in July 2014 is 0.53 – a strong and statistically significant relationship,” Kolko wrote.

Trulia notes that exceptional job growth in both San Francisco and Oakland is also pushing rents way up. As of July, the company says, the median monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco was $3,550 – the highest in the U.S. – while Oakland was the third priciest, at $2,600.

SMALL PRICE HIKES IMPACT U.S. HOMEBUYER POOL IN A BIG WAY
A thousand bucks doesn’t seem like a lot of money, especially in the high-dollar world of Bay Area real estate. But nationally, every $1,000 home price gain pushes a surprisingly large number of potential buyers out of the market.

According to a study from the National Association of Home Builders, a mere $1,000 increase in home prices removes more than 206,000 total buyers from the U.S. market. The California market displayed the second-highest “priced-out effect” in the nation, with every $1,000 jump shutting out 14,423 house hunters.

Locally, adding $1,000 to the price of a home in the San Francisco and Oakland metro areas prices out more than twice as many buyers (1,597) as it does in San Jose (729). A $1,000 price hike had less of an effect in the North Bay, removing 262 buyers in the Santa Rosa metro area and 19 in Napa.

CLOSING COSTS UP FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR
Homebuyers who are still sitting on the fence might find some motivation in the fact that closing costs have risen nearly 6 percent from a year ago.

A recent Bankrate survey says that the average closing costs on a $200,000 loan increased to $2,539 in 2014, up from $2,402 last year and $2,263 in 2012. Bankrate attributes the spike to the higher business costs under the new qualified-mortgage rule.

“The No. 1 at the moment is the qualified mortgage rule,” National Bank of Kansas City Vice President Dan Stevens told Bankrate. “That alone has really added additional man-hours to the mortgage approval process.”








(Photo: Flickr/Franco Follni)

Outside Lands has good start, except for phony tickets

There were tears. So many tears. Tens of thousands of people streamed into the west end of Golden Gate Park on Friday afternoon for the kickoff of the seventh annual Outside Lands festival - many only to be turned away at the entrance gates after learning they had purchased counterfeit tickets.

Hannah Yang helps balance Holman Gao as Amanda Bullington holds him up as they practice acro-yoga at Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park on August 10, 2014 in San Francisco, CA.

"I can't believe it," said Elizabeth Cassidy, 23, of Southern California, wearing a flower crown and wiping her cheek. In her hand, she held what appeared to be an official Ticketmaster issued voucher with the word "VOID" scrawled across it in red ink. "It looked totally real. The guy who sold it to me even said he would even walk me in."

San Francisco police said they seized hundreds of the expertly forged passes to the giant three-day music festival, many from groups of scalpers who worked the perimeter of the park, charging up to $1,000 for the fakes. 

Macklemore performs during Outside Lands music festival August 9, 2014 in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Leah Millis, The Chronicle

Officers detained around 35 scalpers over the weekend, said Officer Gordon Shyy. Police are continuing to investigate the ticket scam and did not say if the scalpers were charged.

There was certainly enough demand. With high-profile headliners Kanye West, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the Killers, who close out the festival on Sunday, the real tickets for this year's concert - ranging in price from $115 to $595 - sold out in just 24 hours.

That didn't stop everyone from trying to get in. Officers from the nearby Richmond station said they handed out dozens of citations to people either jumping the fences or charging through the gates.

As many as 200,000 actual ticket holders are expected to attend Outside Lands over the weekend, according to the concert's co-promoters, Another Planet Entertainment and Superfly Presents. This year's festival features more than 100 acts performing across seven stages, as well as 70 local food vendors, 36 wineries, 16 breweries and countless corporate-sponsored tents and activities, including a pop-up Heineken dance music club, Esquire Network barbershop and a culinary themed lounge co-curated by Chefs Feed.

Festival highlights on Friday included a mid-afternoon set of sophisticated country-pop from Grammy winnerKacey Musgraves, contemporary disco from beardy Canadian duo Chromeo and boisterous British guitar rock from the Arctic Monkeys, who played opposite West's massive ego show on the main stage.

The organizers ramped up security all around this year, installing surveillance cameras, hiring additional officers and rerouting paths in and out of the festival grounds after reports of three sexual assaults in 2012.

They also called on extra tow trucks and parking control officers to keep neighbors' driveways clear and hand out $110 tickets to people double-parked along Fulton and Lincoln streets, which swarmed with buses, taxis and a variety of car services.

Citing a surge in ride requests, Uber jacked its prices up to five times the normal rate, sending users a message that referenced several West song titles: "Bound 2 be high demand ... So wait until it all falls down."

Apart from the usual round of complaints - litter on the streets, public urination and attendees trying to sneak in booze - police reported no major incidents. The weather seemed to cooperate as well, with the fog clearing by mid-afternoon to let the sun shine through.

The Killers perform during Outside Lands festival at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, Calif. on Sunday, August 10, 2014. Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle

There was some compensation for those who didn't make it inside Outside Lands. Residents from neighborhoods as far away as Pacific Heights, the Castro and Noe Valley said they could hear the concert just fine from their living rooms.

Kanye West performs on the Lands End stage at the Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park on August 08, 2014 in San Francisco, CA.

Articles and Photos Sourced From:  http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Rash-of-fake-tickets-plagues-Outside-Lands-5678834.php 

Beyonce and Jay-Z close tour with Tosca Cafe, Boulevard and the Melt

Tosca Cafe, San Francisco. Beyonce and Jay-Z went to the North Beach spot twice in two nights.

As you’ve surely (ahem) heard, Beyonce and Jay-Z spent the last two nights in San Francisco for the final leg of their On the Run tour.

The Melt: Beyonce and Jay-Z order over 100 grilled cheese sandwiches for their crew on the last night of the tour.

They stayed at the fancy St. Regis, but it turns out that the most powerful of all power couples has pretty good taste when it comes to local restaurants. On both nights, Beyonce and Jay-Z frequented famous North Beach restaurant/bar Tosca Cafe. 

Beyonce performs during the Beyonce and Jay Z - On the Run tour at AT&T Park on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014, in San Francisco.

There’s a bit of a background with the Tosca connection; Jay-Z is a regular (and an investor) at the Spotted Pig, the New York hotspot also owned by Tosca’s Ken Friedman and chef April Bloomfield. And for the reinvented Tosca, hosting a new generation of A-listers seems oddly fitting, since under the old regime, Tosca was always a haunt for so many superstars of the 80s and 90s: Bono, Sean Penn, Nic Cage, Metallica, Kid Rock and countless others.

No word on what they ordered, but on Tuesday night, one source observed a second order of Bloomfield’s semi-signature roasted chicken for two and “what looked like every pasta dish on the menu” being rushed to them in the private dining room.

Also, the Daily Mail reported that Beyonce and Jay-Z, with family in tow, had lunch at Boulevard, where they had “an hour long meal of seafood and steaks in a semi-private area which they had reserved.” 

Add caption

To cap off their tour last night, Bey and Jay ordered delivery to AT&T Park from the Melt for the entire crew of 130 concert staffers. The order consisted of 100+ Melt sandwiches of several varieties (The Classic, the Shroom, the Mac Daddy, the Italian Job, the Bird, the Shorty), salads and chocolate chip cookies.

Articles and Photos Sourced From:   http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2014/08/07/beyonce-and-jay-z-close-tour-with-tosca-cafe-boulevard-and-the-melt/

A Giant Game of Twister Took Over Dolores Park

Things got messy at Dolores Park when dozens of people played a rousing game of Twister this past weekend. Forward Motion, an organization that organizes extreme adventures and helps individuals live out their dreams, knocking off one bucket list item at a time, set up Sunday’s game. Participants dodged water balloons, water gun squirts and globs of bright paint as they slipped and slid around the massive homemade board.