The Gentrification of Upper Haight
"The closing of the full-service, unionized Cala Foods in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury district has prompted a neighborhood battle over the future use of the site. Longtime neighborhood builder John Brennan purchased the property, and plans to construct between 50 and 60 condominiums above a new full-service supermarket. Opponents of the project believe the proposed 176 underground parking spaces will create a traffic nightmare, and many prefer affordable housing to condos (though Brennan rents out his condos). But the bigger question involves the plan for a non-union Whole Foods supermarket to replace Cala. As the Bay Area’s unionized supermarkets fight to survive against non-union competitors, Whole Foods expansion could come at the expense of the industry’s living wage blue-collar jobs... " [Beyondchron.com,
posted by Todd @ 11:07 AM
18 Comments:
Sorry, Todd, but having lived near Haight and Stanyan, this grocery store really served nobody any better than a corner liquor store would. If you think Albertson's is bad (from your posts/comments elsewhere in this blog), you would have been apalled at the service and offerings of this Cala.
And just as we see in so many parts of San Francisco, a property owner who wants to build 50-60 RENTAL units and provide a new full-service grocery (Whole Foods is just RUMOR at this point) is going to be shoved into political hell, while the housing and grocery will just fall by the wayside.
We'll all be dead and buried by the time this project gets built based on the scrutiny it is already receiving. And not only will the neighborhood be without the grocery and 50-60 homes (some of them below-market-rate, too), but that corner is already a blight for the neighborhood.
Change is inevitable. But in San Francisco, so is unnecessary political infighting.
* Full disclosure: Todd and I are former HOA partners (here in NoPa), and we have a long-standing debate on these types of items, so I'm sure we'll end up having to agree to disagree...
Matt,
I think we can agree on the following:
1. Haight doesn't need a Whole Foods since it has 2 health food stores already--unless you want those stores to close.
2. Adding high-end condos gentrifies the neighborhood, increasing housing costs. Maybe you can enlighten me on how these condos will be rented and not sold (i.e., what's the legal prohibition against selling?) And would these rentals be rent controlled? Do we agree that permanent rentals are better than high-end condos?
3. Below market means the units sell for a hell of a lot. How much is it again 90% of market value or something?
4. Change is inevitable but, unfortunately, this change will hurt middle class workers. Btw, many cities in Europe have changed little in decades. I guess these guys actually like what they have. Don't we?
So, Matt, we do agree on stuff.
Todd
The Middle Class would better survive if The City didn't do everything in their power to preserve the Lower Class.
Just think about the logic of "below-market-rate" housing. The non "below-market-rate" units are marked up to offset the loss which in turn causes the units to be more expensive!!
Anything in that location is better than what we have today. That Cala store was awful. I'm thrilled that a Whole Foods might open there. And why is it that adding 50-60 housing units hurts the blue-collar worker. This is new housing, i.e., increasing supply, which we desperately need in SF. I love the Haight, but I won't walk along that stretch of it, or the park across the street. If this development cleans up some of the blight (I suspect it will), I am ALL for it.
Anonymous said:
"The Middle Class would better survive if The City didn't do everything in their power to preserve the Lower Class."
So the middle class being squeezed is the fault of the lower class?! Haha. That's some funny shit. I would ask for some hard evidence before arguing with you because you're just too wacky.
Dan said:
"And why is it that adding 50-60 housing units hurts the blue-collar worker."
As the article said, union workers would be fired from Cala.
Dan also said:
"This is new housing, i.e., increasing supply, which we desperately need in SF."
The article said these were rentals, which is great. But increasing the supply of high-end condos doesn't necessariliy reduce prices. If that were true, cities with higher housing densities would have lower prices.
Dan & Todd,
You could add housing to the point that it becomes painful to live here. That would reduce prices because people would leave and supply would go up and no one would want to live here, so demand would go down.
So adding housing (and I mean tons of it) would both increase supply and decrease demand. Prices would drop and I could buy!! If I still wanted to stay here that is.
Todd, union workers aren't being fired because a developer wants to build a new complex. they're being fired because Cala was an awful place to shop and the store was no longer viable... hence Cala pulling out of NoCal in general.
I didn't say increasing supply would reduce prices.
I'm glad someone has the vision to take that eyesore down and do something better with that space. would Whole Foods be my first choice? probably not. but I can think of a lot worse.
next up, the McDonalds across the street...
Anonymous,
You made some great points, and frankly I agree with all of them. I'm not against the project.
I would like to see more housing with smaller units, maybe with common areas, selling for say $300,000. I talked to someone from Planning who said that could work with the right developer and zoning, but maybe he was wrong.
Also, I think that SF should support only chain store that have unions. So that's where I'm coming from with the gentrification title.
Anyway, I agree about McDonalds and the Cala Foods is not great, and the project is not unreasonable.
Um... shouldn't this discussion be on the SoPa board?
j/k
Todd-
Here's your hard evidence on how the Middle Class is being driven out...
http://www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/berube/20060708.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/22/MNG6HJIDMM1.DTL
Hopefully you'll educate yourself.
Dear Anonymous Teacher,
I could only access the link to the article, "The middle class is missing
Increasingly in N.Y., there are rich
and poor — and nothing in between"
I'm not sure what I'm supposed to learn, and I agree with all of it. Perhaps you'd like to give me a lesson.
The truth about Whole Foods:
http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/wholefoods062806.htm
It'll fit right into the Haight as well as Gap does.
Edit:
Whole Foods
It really was a pretty rotten store...
Just imagine what the traffic will be like -- the 33 and 71 bus trying to get around the corner of Haight and Stanyan with all those cars.
Looks like Todd got his way - more "open space" for San Francisco! Check out http://www.sfist.com and read the 7/21/2006 article titled "HANC Hampers Whole on Haight".
San Francisco is destined to be dragged down by the lowest common denominator...
Don't get your point, dude. Sorry.
Why don't you refer me to a quote of mine, so I can understand its relevance. Thanks.
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