After 20 years of transformation, Hayes Valley reflects on the event that started it all

“We just had faith, that if the freeway came down, it would change the neighborhood forever,” said business owner Keyvan Behnia, looking back 20 years into the past.

Like many of his original Hayes Valley neighbors, Behnia now only remembers a time when he was too afraid to leave his house at night, the many months he had to close up shop before dusk, and the day his best friend – the future president of the Hayes Valley Merchant’s Association - was mugged and beaten up in broad daylight only two blocks from their businesses on Hayes Street.

The reason: the city’s Central Freeway hovered darkly over the community, creating an unsafe and unsightly haven for crime, drugs and prostitution.

Then the earth shook.

In the early evening of October 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta Earthquake brought the Central Freeway to the ground in pieces, leaving room in its wake for one of the city’s greatest neighborhood transformations. Now on the 20^th Anniversary of the quake, residents look back on the community’s changes and think ahead about what’s next to come.

Behnia, a long-time Hayes Valley community member, says that now “Walking from my house to here (his store) is like walking through a locker room. I know everybody.” He says that 20 years ago small business owners and residents alike were “solely attracted to Hayes Valley because rents were cheap,” an image hard for new residents to imagine because the neighborhood is currently “one of the most desirable zip codes in the city.” According to Behnia, the freeway’s destruction sparked development that led to an intimate small town vibes in this central San Francisco setting - a great source of pride for the people who live and work in the Hayes Valley of today.

Ron Davis, a native to San Francisco, moved to Hayes Valley with his life partner just after the earthquake, because he says more families moved into the area and new housing developments were being constructed. “Back then, I was still contributing to the mayhem. I was young,” says Davis who was in his early twenties back then, remembering that the neighborhood didn’t exactly embrace change for the first few years after Loma Prieta. He added that the neighborhood today is unrecognizable from Hayes Valley 20 years ago, with the worst crimes before being murder, now petty theft and vehicle robbery.

Other relatively new residents of Hayes Valley say they were attracted to the area after the quake because of certain developments and neighborhood improvement projects that popped up after the city government decided it was too expensive, and far too opposed by neighborhood organizations, to restore the Central Freeway’s lost on-ramps and exits. With multiple vacant lots and freeway parcels left to undecided fates, plans began arising on what became the creations of the Market Octavia Plan, Octavia Boulevard and Patricia’s Green.

“The green was an on-going project after the freeway’s destruction,” says Mark Thompson, manager of a boutique furniture store on Hayes Street. He says the completion of the park at Octavia Boulevard and Hayes Street is what gave Hayes Valley businesses an overhaul. “The area is its own little neighborhood shopping district now.”

Mitch Satram, a native of Trinidad in the Caribbean, has been working at The African Outlet for over 20 years and lives just down the block from the famous store. He says the most significant changes to the neighborhood have happened in the last 10 years with a new population of people moving in. “Some of the kids around here used to be terrible,” he says speaking of the days when he too was afraid of being out at night. Now Satram, sitting on the sidewalk watching a football game on a plasma screen TV in The African Outlet’s storefront window, says the neighborhood is peaceful and a place where “everyone gets along.”

Behnia also attributes the success of the neighborhood to the new populations of people moving in, specifically those that brought business and new money to the up-and-coming community during the dot-com boom, when the entire city’s population increased. He says that although this inflow of new residents may contribute to gentrification of the neighborhood, but that the neighborhood has maintained most of its historically African-American community institutions and population. “Instead of hair salons and funeral parlors, those same people now own corner markets and restaurants.”

Although some community members may debate over the human impact of the neighborhood’s growth and newly acquired affluence, they’re at least on the same page about what they want in the next 20 years in Hayes Valley – increased pedestrian safety, expanded municipal transport, and cleaner streets.

A balancing act occurs between older residents and the younger generations of families and single professionals that live and work in the area today, leading some residents to believe the future of economic prosperity and social connection in Hayes Valley relies on a time when these younger generations begin to take the place of neighborhood leaders and business owners.

The key to this, according to Behnia and others, is taking pride in the community harmony that exists today.

Unused freeway parcels offer Hayes Valley temporary possibilities

From an electric car plug-in station to an outdoor cinema, a pop-up art exhibit space to a slow food vendor market, community members speculate on possible future installments for the unoccupied freeway parcels of Hayes Valley left as ruins of the once grand Central Freeway.

The power over who gets to decide what happens to these unused freeway parcels, now overgrown by weeds and littered with garbage, transferred from state authority to the city in January of 2001, according to the San Francisco Planning Commission. But since then, the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association led by community activist Frances Neagley, says they have the right to decide the temporary uses of certain sites.

Although permanent developments for the parcel spaces will not begin for many years to come, proposals for lot K at Fell and Oak streets, and lot L at Octavia Boulevard and Laguna Street, both in the heart of Hayes Valley, may be put to action in the next coming years, according to the HVNA.

Funding for the proposed projects, all oriented around community social and economic benefit, is yet to be determined. But that certainly hasn’t stopped residents, tourists, and the HVNA from spreading enthusiasm and excitement through the neighborhood’s side streets and businesses as the proposals for lots K and L make their way to the mayor’s office.

Selling nostalgia, one woman’s fight to keep people awake

While peeking her head above a counter filled with hundreds of books, from mythology and architecture, to art, bestsellers, and philosophy, one unorthodox woman takes on the corporate book industry by putting used books in the hands of her community.

At 47, Melissa Richmond is in the business of selling nostalgia in a neighborhood popular for its high-end posh furniture stores, expensive shoe boutiques and affluent 20-somethings roaming the streets. Beyond her short grayish-brown hair, black jeans and casually unbuttoned t-shirt, a self-proclaimed “no nonsense, utilitarian spirit” manages to match small town vibes and progressive ideas in her shop all at the same time, creating an innovative little used bookstore in San Francisco that reflects the uniqueness of her personality.

After opening shop five years ago, Richmond says her store Bibliohead in Hayes Valley is a channel for her creative spirit, getting people to “stay awake in their brains,” by challenging her costumers to learn about themselves by simply enjoying a good book. Instilled by her parents from a young age, a love of reading and “self education through books” became an escape from a chaotic family life and inspired a 20-year career in the book business.

Raised in New Haven, CT, the daughter of a social worker and a “crazy gay guy,” Richmond says she belonged to a “non-traditional traditional family.” She moved to San Francisco in her late teens and began a new life in the big city.

“I had my career in reverse,” says Richmond chuckling, reminiscing about the days she worked for a major book corporation before deciding to head in a new direction, as the owner of a uniquely non-conforming shop – homemade cardboard category labels stuck in between rows and piles upon piles of unorganized books scattered throughout the store’s quaint reading nooks, all outright poking fun at the Borders and Barnes & Nobles of the world. “Through my career, the book business has changed a lot,” Richmond says.

“People think the book business is dying,” says Richmond, “but think of books as antiques.” As long as she can create an environment inviting people to shop, Richmond says people will want to find something to read, especially a book that provokes emotional reaction, something the Internet or electronic reading devices can’t offer. Smells of age pour over the shop with every turn of a page, irreplaceable product authenticity as far as Richmond is concerned.

Richmond believes her business is contributing to a greater culture and society, even within the one-room confines of her rental space on the block of Gough Street where it intersects Hayes Street. Through her thick-rimmed glasses, Richmond sees value in things others might cast aside. Being in the used book business is not only about recycling novels and encyclopedias, according to the Bibliohead owner, it’s about recycling knowledge. In her eyes, that’s precisely why customers return to her store time and time again. Regulars searching for discount bestsellers bring stacks of their once loved literature to the shop, trading them for someone else’s forgotten wisdom and a warm environment to explore other worlds through words.

“I’m pretty down to earth. I have a ton of stuff you can buy for a dollar,” says Richmond, genuinely excited about her generosity. Bibliohead also has a free book bin, which Richmond says is sometimes checked multiple hours a day by the same people. “I actually get kind of mad. It’s like, leave some for other people!”

These business philosophies only help to increase her sales, even in times of economic recession, says Richmond. “People just want to buy stuff to be out in the world.”

It also doesn’t hurt to sell memories to people clinging to the “good old days” when an economic depression was only a distant event learned about in high school history class. A grandmother’s favorite cookbook or a childhood bedtime story, long out of print and off the selves of huge chain bookstores, can be found in Richmond’s shop with little effort and a lot of fun.

Richmond also contributes to her host community by expressing concern for the neighborhood so willing to shun franchise businesses. Where her small business, like many others in the community can thrive, residents struggle to find hardware or grocery stores within a reasonable distance from their homes. As a resident of Excelsior herself, Richmond may have gravitated to Hayes Valley for business purposes, recognizing potential used book sales in a “slightly alternative, forward thinking” community, but she believes the up-and-coming neighborhood isn’t yet the right place for her to live.

10-foot-tall bookcases lining the walls of Bibliohead, literary artifacts like “Moby Dick” and “Treasure Island” offer Hayes Valley residents and tourists alike a haven for the imagination. Richmond walks by the various sections of her store, hoping her young employees will think of her as “big hearted and cranky all at the same time,” while giving thoughtful instructions on which book should go where in the store.

A fan of art, poetry, fiction and cooking above all other genres, Richmond sees a better future for not only her customers, but for the global community – by selling one used book at a time. And not unlike the lone reading stools placed throughout quiet corners of her shop, Richmond herself ends every day as one individual person swallowed by a sea of possibilities.

For more information on Bibliohead, please visit

http://www.bibliohead.com/

Deck The Halls of Hayes

As the holiday season thrives and Christmas time quickly approaches, the boutique haven of Hayes Valley transforms into a winter wonderland – sparking shopping mania and festive cheer in every storefront.

The holiday spirit is alive and well on Hayes Street, with Christmas lights, wreaths, and even a giant blowup Santa decorating the most visited blocks of the neighborhood. To the east of Patricia’s Green, a vacant plot of land transforms into the Delancey Street Christmas Tree lot, where the young families of Hayes Valley watch their specially chosen tree be cut down and tied to the top of their car, ready for its journey to their warm living rooms. The line for Le Boulange Bakery at the corner of Octavia St. and Hayes St. stretches out the door and into the cold December air, giving people even more desire to sample the café’s fine coffee and baked goods after a pleasant afternoon of gift shopping. The boutiques along Hayes Street celebrate the heavy influx of holiday season customers, while residents walking through the neighborhood enjoy people watching and a cheerful community feel. On the lesser -traveled streets of Hayes Valley, old Victorians and historic homes add simply and elegant holiday décor to their facades, inspiring a romantically nostalgic atmosphere for the community’s residents. Even the neighboring Civic Center Plaza celebrates lighting a tall Christmas tree in front of City Hall.

For all the Ebenezer Scrooges’ out there, who just can’t seem to catch up with the season’s merriment, come on down to Hayes Valley and be reminded of the holiday spirit of your childhood. This time of year, Hayes Valley seems to be the picture perfect image of the holiday season.

Exploring Asia

On the first Sunday of every month, the Asian Art Museum opens its doors to the public at no cost to you. That’s right - for free you can spend an afternoon exploring the art and culture of the ancient Asian world, in a completely modern setting. From the dining terrace of Café Asia, to the grandeur of Samsung Hall, the Asian Art Museum surely delivers an educational experience with a trendy edge. This is an experience all residents of San Francisco should take advantage of. Money is no excuse. Even if museums aren’t on the top of your “to do” list, once you are inside the warm galleries of the museum gazing at hundreds of ancient artist works, you’ll feel like you’ve time traveled back to the Silk Road.

Beautiful and exotic all at the same time, the Asian Art Museum inspires thought as much as it arouses your senses. The curators suggest beginning your visit on the 3^rd floor and working your way down through the exhibits. Each exhibit represents specific regions of Asia, starting with southern Asia and the Middle East, moving through China and Japan, and ending with Korea. The journey through these exhibits follows the spread of Buddhism throughout the eastern world – what the museum’s designers say is the most culturally and artistically significant period of the Asian world.

Cravings and statues of Hindu deities line the teal colored walls, their gold details illuminating by soft lighting. A room of glass walls inlaid with Jade jewelry and pedants from China, allows guests to view the art and each other at the same time, creating a connection between visitors. And a wall of intricately decorated daggers amazes as much as it terrifies.

At various sections of each exhibit there are dark leather benches, plush with cushions, perfect for resting tired feet and studying some of the museums most impressive pieces. Some exhibits even have a living room like feel, with modern couches, carpet, and cube shelves filled with hardcover Asian art books. The atmosphere of these exhibits is inviting and peaceful, hinting at you to take time in enjoying the sites and sounds of the museum.

As for museum highlights, it’s hard to choose. But in my opinion, the Indonesian rod puppets on the third floor are a must see. Brightly colored and strangely shaped, these puppets are amusing and though provoking at the same time. The museum’s gift shop even sells replications of the puppets (but they come at a hefty price.)

The Asian Art Museum located in San Francisco’s Civic Center truly impresses.

For more information on current exhibits and events, please check the museum’s website

http:/www.asianart.org

For more information on free admission days at other San Francisco museums,

http://www.famsf.org/

Through The Lens: Hayes Valley and Civic Center

Thinking Green

In the heart of central San Francisco, one of the nation’s most densely populated cities, hidden gardens and parks flourish in full bloom.

Hayes Valley may be best known for its shops and restaurants, but the neighborhood’s outdoor getaways are some of the most pleasant in the city. For an afternoon escape from the congested traffic of Oak Street or the tourists flocking to Hayes Street, these gardens and parks add an accessible sense of peace to the community. Most of these hidden green treasures are quite on a daily basis, almost vacant even – making them perfect for a stroll with friends, walking the dog, or just simply having some time to relax and reflect all by yourself.

One of the more exclusive neighborhood gardens is located on Page Street at Laguna Street. This garden is a true retreat. It’s only the size of one vacant lot set between two private homes, like a tiny heaven with benches, sandy paths, flowers, and trees. Only known to passersby’s and residents, and not found on any maps, this garden is a romantic secret.

Just down the street lies the largest and most fun park in Hayes Valley. Koshland Community Park and Learning Garden is home to an up kept playground, basketball court, garden, and lawn space. On any given day, students from John Muir Elementary shoot hoops while young families visit the playground slides. Surrounding the Koshland Park is the Western Addition Peace Wall, decorated with creative mosaic-like tile art.

Along the borders of the neighborhood rest Duboce Park to the southwest and Alamo Square to the northwest, two of the most famous green areas in the city. Both sites are synonymous with popular culture images of San Francisco, having been filmed in movies and television shows. The Painted Ladies, a row of old Victorians on the Steiner street side of Alamo Square is a highly visited tourist attraction. And Duboce Park is perhaps the most canine friendly lawn in the entire city.

The nearby Civic Center Plaza can also be considered one of the best open spaces in the community. Although the city’s homeless population congregates in the plaza, because of it’s close location to the southern Tenderloin and the Civic Center Bart/Muni Station, the park is a safe open space patrolled by police officers. Civic Center Plaza may in fact be the nicest of the district’s green spaces – offering food carts, bathrooms, playgrounds, a nearby outdoor market, and great people watching opportunities.

The environmental havens of Hayes Valley and the surrounding communities are best enjoyed on a bright warm day, which luckily, happens quite often in central San Francisco. But even without ideal weather conditions, think green in Hayes Valley and you won’t be disappointed!

To learn more about the parks mentioned here and other city parks, please visit

http://www.sfgov.org/site/recpark_index.asp, http://koshlandgarden.blogspot.com/ or http://www.communitygrows.org/

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