Western Neighborhoods Project board member and architectural historian Richard Brandi will show you how to search city records and other archives to find the builder or architect of your San Francisco house and when it was built.

Richard will demystify the process and show how you can find the information without too much heartache. The seminar is focused on houses built in the western part of SF, but many of the techniques can be applied to homes in any city neighborhood.

Please bring any building records or questions you have about your house. This is a fundraiser for Western Neighborhoods Project.

Admission is just $15 and benefits the Western Neighborhoods Project

Jul 15th, 2009 7:00pm (Wednesday) at

Covenant Presbyterian Church

321 Taraval Street @ Funston 

Contact: Richard Brandi richard@outsidelands.org

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Adam Greenfield recently produced a video with the Neighborhood Empowerment Network covering the first Inner Sunset farmers market back on June 7th.

As expected, the Farmer’s Market was a hit!  

As an aside, there are more Farmer’s Markets to come in San Francisco, including one coming to the Outer Sunset as well!

Adam also founded the Inner Sunset Neighborhood Group of Facebook, which he still helps run.

Through the Facebook page, several hundred members have a steady stream of information to keep in touch with the Inner Sunset neighborhood. The group also organizes monthly social gatherings, which have gotten a great response since they began last December.

The community is really taking off now. And if you live in the Inner Sunset, I’m sure you’ll enjoy being a part of it!

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Urbia Adventure League kicks off the first Saturday of Summer!

View the city from secret hilltops where butterflies delight via a new adventure booklet

What: Unveiling of new sense-of-place seasonal treasure hunt for San Francisco families

When: This Saturday, June 27th, drop-in between 10 a.m. and noon to pick up a free adventure packet

Where: Starting at the bottom of the colorful mosaic stairway at 16th Avenue and Moraga Street

This summer, a staycation opportunity debuts in the form of a new series of outdoor “sense of place” treasure hunts for families. Urbia Adventure No.1 is being offered for free and guides you to numerous surprises as families work as a team to solve riddle-like clues in a booklet titled “Islands in the Sky.” Adults and children together sharpen their abilities to read the natural landscape features easily missed in this urban environment and enhance their future travels in the city or out in the wild.

Unlike traditional guided tours, Urbia Adventure League offers themed, seasonal adventures-by-mail that allow you to decide when to go and who to bring along. The tools: an adventure booklet, a pencil and a team’s collective wits and senses. The rewards: serendipity, a deeper “sense of place” in San Francisco, and fun team-building. Each journey is an experience to treasure, and a hidden box at the end contains an added reward for finding your way by solving the clues in this new booklet.

Following his recent outing, travel writer Larry Habegger remarked “Finally I discovered that amazing wild land in the heart of the Sunset and got to explore it with my family. My girls can’t wait for our next Urbia adventure.”

Upcoming booklets will explore rocky outcrops near Twin Peaks and a unique „green‟ corridor in the Mission District. Subscriptions to the Urbia Adventure League benefit San Francisco non-profit Nature in the City.

For more information about this new San Francisco tradition, please visit www.urbikids.com or contact Damien Raffa by calling 415.992.8141, or email@urbikids.com.

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The Neighborhood Parks Council (NPC) is collaborating with Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF), Timberland, and SF Rec and Park on Dig It!, an Outer Sunset greening event on Saturday morning, October 18, 2008.

Approximately 400 volunteers will work on various greening projects throughout the Outer Sunset, including tree plantings, and playground, park and schoolyard cleanups.

Two of the playgrounds that volunteers will be working on, Sunset and West Sunset Playground, received a failing grade in NPC¹s 2008 Playground Report Card, meaning that these sites have safety and health concerns for the children of the Outer Sunset who play there.

Therefore, Dig It! is an exciting opportunity for San Franciscans to improve the condition of the recreational spaces in the Outer Sunset that need the most attention. Moreover, Dig It! addresses the fact that the Outer Sunset is an area of the City that greatly lacks adequate street trees and parks.

EVENT DETAILS

The event kick-off will begin will begin at 8am on Saturday, October 18 at West Sunset Playground at 3223 Ortega. At 1:00pm, volunteers will reconvene at West Sunset for lunch and prizes. Scheduled to appear are Sunset District Supervisor Carmen Chu and world-renowned environmental photographer James Balog.

The first 400 volunteers will receive a special Timberland t-shirt and a ticket to a concert that evening from 6:00 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. featuring Stone Gossard, founding member of Pearl Jam, at the Regency Center¹s Grand Ballroom (1290 Sutter).

VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP

To volunteer at a Dig It! park, playground, or schoolyard cleanup project, contact NPC Outreach Coordinator Matthew Silva at (415) 621-3260 ext. 116 or msilva@sfnpc.org.

To volunteer at Dig It! tree plantings contact Reed Milnes at the Friends of the Urban Forest at reed@fuf.net or (415) 561-6890 ext. 103.

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Thursday, October 2, 6-8pm
City Hall, North Light Court

This promises to be a unique and exciting community event to help rebuild West Sunset Playground for our families and residents. Come join us for an evening of gourmet food and wine and good company at City Hall. There will be a silent auction with items such as spa and restaurant certificates, lunches with local politicians, and many more great items donated by local businesses and friends of San Francisco’s parks.  If you are interested in donating a silent auction item or know of any local businesses interested in helping West Sunset Playground, please let us know!

To register for the event and make your donation, visit our website at http://www.fowsp.org/SunsetSoiree.php

West Sunset Playground, located in the Sunset District on 39th Avenue and Ortega, is a heavily used playground surrounded by a high concentration of schools, a public library and residential homes. This playground is in dire need of repair as it was deemed unsafe by the Neighborhood Parks Council in their recent April 2008 assessment survey. Let’s work together to rebuild this playground for our children and our community!

For more information contact us at 415-839-8875 or events@fowsp.org.

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Saturday, September 27, 11am-4pm
Sunset Rec Center, 28th Ave and Lawton St
FREE

The Sunset Community festival will include exhibits and entertainment that celebrate the neighborhood’s successes, will feature exhibits highlighting all that is “green” which will help community members learn how to better manage natural resources and control waste, and ensure that the greater Sunset community will continue to be a safe, family-friendly environment that is culturally, socially and economically inclusive. Of course, we will continue the tradition of providing a truly fantastic, delightful day in the Sunset with live performances, fun activities, great food, and much, much more.

In keeping with the “green” theme of the Festival, this year’s event will feature garden displays from Eco SF, a Bike Roadeo for kids to learn the rules of the road, a Bike Doctor to tune-up your ride, SF PUC’s “GoSolarSF” show with many solar companies on hand, an electricity generating bike from West Sunset RecConnect’s Sunset Green youth, and many more fun and exciting ways to explore going green.  And don’t forget to bring your electronic waste for free e-recycling!

FREE E-Recycling at the Sunset Festival!

Bring your unwanted and broken electronic items to the Sunset Festival on Saturday, September 27, 11am-4pm, at the Sunset Rec Center and we will proeperly and safely recycle them.

We CAN take:
Screens (i.e. televisions, monitors & LCD displays), home and office electronics, small kitchen appliances, computers, wire, metals, batteries, vacuum cleaners, etc.
 
We CANNOT take:
Refrigerators, stoves, florescent light bulbs or other hazardous materials for disposal such as paints and chemicals (or anything with liquid).

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So this just in from the Police Captain at Richmond District Police Station.  SF Surfers – you gotta keep your eye out for car thieves because they’ve got their eye on you.

From Richmond Station Newsletter:

As some of you may remember, last year at about this time, we had numerous reports of cars being stolen from the area of the Great Highway. Many of the victims were surfers who hide their car keys somewhere on the outside of their cars while they are in the water. The vehicles were usually found the same day parked nearby and personal property had been taken from the cars. We have had an increase of this crime within the last month and

want you to be aware of this. Surfers are again being targeted as the suspect watches were they hide their keys. An investigation is on going and plainclothes officers from both the Richmond and Taraval districts are working on identifying the suspect. 

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From the Sunset District Safety Network comes some pretty cool news:

Free Trees and HUGE Tree Planting Event Coming to the Sunset

As you may know, Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF) are always working hard to secure funding that will enable us to further subsidize the planting and maintenance of street trees for  residents in the Sunset.  FUF is delighted to say that Timberland has awarded us a major grant that will make this possible.  Trees will be FREE for residents.

On Saturday, October 18, FUF is planning to manage a 100+ tree planting, from 19th Avenue to the Great Highway, while coordinating simultaneous park and beach clean-up efforts.  We need to engage 400 to 500 volunteers throughout the Sunset to meet these goals.  To ensure success, we need all Sunset residents to take part in this neighborhood event.  Please contact Suzanne@fuf.net or 561-6890 x101 for more information.  

There is a great way for Sunset residents, groups, and organizations to beautify our neighborhood for FREE.  All we need to do is provide our time and energy.  Please let me know if you are interested in helping out at darrow@snbc.org.

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I know I’ve neglected The Avenues Blog for a little while now. 

To be honest, I’ve had some personal stuff take my mind off of everything but the bare basics of life.  Which are family (including my remaining dog), food, work (including my San Francisco Real Estate blog) and sleep, pretty much in that order. 

But, now I’m back, and I want to make it up to you. 

And to do that, I’m giving away FREE STUFF!

I’ve got FREE tickets to two great events! 

You just have to be the first to CONTACT ME and tell me which event you’re hoping to attend! 

And just for your peace of mind, I just want to note that I will never do ANYTHING with your email address.  I will not sell, rent or raffle it and in fact, you’ll never hear from me after you get the tickets!  

  
San Francisco Zoo Night Tour Tickets!

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I just received the Taraval Police Station Crime Report For Wednesday, July 30, 2008.  And I have to say, this particular incident gave me a chuckle.  I’m guessing the commentary at the end was Captain Chignell’s addition. 

07/30/08        1:55 am                                        12th and Irving

A woman looked out her window and observed a man driving a car, crash into a parked car, stumble out of his vehicle, start arguing with his passenger, and then get into the car and drive one block away but then stop again as his vehicle was inoperable. The woman called the police with Officers Jordan King and Justin Erb arriving on the scene. The officers made contact with the driver, who was quite inebriated. He stated that he had not been driving at all and that he was feeling “euphoric”. The suspect, who lives on the 1400 block of 48th Avenue, failed field sobriety and chemical tests. He was arrested for drunk driving and hit & run. His euphoria may have dissipated.

Case #080795518

To get your own copy of the Crime Report, email the captain and request one. 

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