SAN FRANCISCO: Old and new clash over supermarket in Haight

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 7/29/8 | C.W. Nevius

[SmithL]

There is nothing that captures the yin and yang of San Francisco today like the inexorable pull of change in the neighborhoods. As young families and empty nesters move in, they push to raise the standard of living. And inevitably, there is pushback from those who like things the way they are.

If there's a perfect test tube for that kind of neighborhood conflict, it is the Haight, where bong shops meet trendy new clothing shops. Longtime residents like to say that Haight has been a district in transition for years, but it seems that now it has reached critical mass.

Neighborhood groups are up in arms, angry e-mails are flying, and there's even talk of a sit-in at City Hall.

All over a grocery store.

The fact is, things are changing in the city. Residents are demanding more from their neighborhoods - and they are getting it. A new consciousness is taking hold, and that's a good thing.

The nexus of this conflict is the abandoned Cala Foods store at Stanyan and Haight streets, right across from the east entrance to Golden Gate Park. It's been an eyesore and gathering spot for panhandlers, drug users and layabouts for years. Developer Mark Brennan wants to place a large, four-story building there with a Whole Foods store on the ground floor, three levels of parking underneath and three floors of condominiums. Opponents, like the famously militant Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council, are fighting the idea.

As a rule, when the council opposes something, that's the end of it. But neighbors say this may be the issue that changes the game in the Haight.

[lormand]

His sign was mechanical. The spiral object would spin around in the hopes of mesmerizing the victim into giving him a dollar.

He was ambitious enough to make the sign which includes two pieces of cardboard, a motor and a battery, just not ambitious enough to stand up while on the bum.

[peggybac]

Ah, got it. Thanks.

[madinmadtown]

Just got back from San Fran yesterday. The bums, not homeless, are everywhere. Every time I go there, it seems seedier and seedier. Quite frankly, as a place so concerned about telling everyone else how to live, they should look in the mirror. These bums seem like they could be a serious health issue. One of the parks has used needles strewn everywhere. The parks are the domain of the dregs. It is dirty and grimy and resembles New York in the seventies without the guys trying to wash your windshield every time you stop at a stop sign. I live in Madison and the bums in our downtown have burned down the Cathedral and murdered a college coed recently. A lot of these bums are dangerous. My daughter and I have started to call them bums because that is what they are. There is a difference between someone down on their luck and these professional bums.

[Harley]

I love the sit down hypnotist. His sign says, “YOU WILL GIVE ME A DOLLAR” I wonder how many $ he takes in a day. I saw his cousin down on the wharf. His sign said, “NEED MONEY FOR ALCOHOL RESEARCH” What a city!

[bobjam]

One generation has the World War II memorial as a gathering spot. The next one has Haight-Ashbury. Enough said.

[lormand]

I remember the girl from Salt Lake City that was kidnapped but found alive later by a bum that was hired by her dad using good intentions.

There are several street corner bums just a hundred yards from me now who probably have a long sheet of legal issues. How many are child molesters, armed robbers and murderers who are just a foot away from your door every time you pull up to a corner?

[Sig Sauer P220]

He was ambitious enough to make the sign which includes two pieces of cardboard, a motor and a battery, just not ambitious enough to stand up while on the bum.

Is that where the term "bum" came from, because they sit on theirs all day long?

[mikrofon]

People of little depth carry much weight in Haight...