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Exploring San Francisco through the lens of city blocks, Blocker is a weekly series by Charles Hodgkins. Look for it on SFist each Wednesday, around the lunching hour.
View the map of all published Blocker episodes.
Blocker, No. 17: Jackson St. in Pacific Heights
So many characteristics contribute to Pacific Heights’ identity: affluence on eager display, giant square parks, commanding views, boutique shopping, dogs! dogs! dogs! But, one element up here is continually overlooked. Of course, we’re talking about portable latrines on sidewalks.
With home construction such a constant in this district, and with so many laborers needing to “tend to personal business” throughout the long workday, it’s no wonder Pacific Heights walkways are lined with blue or turquoise fiberglass toilets. Jackson St. between Pierce and Scott, where three of the nine buildings on the block are currently undergoing some sort of makeover, and where each construction site features its own port-o-let, demonstrates our point as well as any in the area.
With Alta Plaza Park flanking its southern shore and a bounty of residential opulence facing the green expanse, this stretch of Jackson is of particular interest. It’s one thing to wonder if the lemon trees flanking the driveway gate at 2606 Jackson are alarmed along with the house itself, and another thing to turn 180 degrees and see a golden retriever gracefully leap to snag a tennis ball on one bounce.
Some inarguably tasteful moments rear up on the residential side of the street: the lush, immaculate mixed foliage in the red brick flowerbeds at 2604; the subtly attractive taupe and terra cotta colors at 2650 and 2680, respectively; the rose bushes lining the front of 2622. We also get a kick out of the gentleman at 2650 somewhat sheepishly disassembling the interior of the Honda Element parked in his driveway, his expression seeming to say, I’m pretty sure I know how to get these seats back in.
The biggest duplex we’ve ever seen is at mansion-sized 2612-2618, and naturally, the left “unit” is having some work done. 2610’s entire front, currently in the throes of a major overhaul, is an eye-catching blend of plywood and plastic. And 2622’s pillar-guarded entry way, looking significantly more Gothic than anything else in this part of town, could act as a set for any given Tim Burton film.
But the 800-pound gorilla on the block has to be 2606 Jackson’s macro-paean to monochrome, which looks plucked out of the Hollywood Hills and transported 400 miles north. We half-expect to find an excited William Shatner out front, making wild hand gestures and announcing over and over, It’s the future! The aforementioned lemon trees are a nice touch, but the only other patches of color come from a few stray shrubs and several pots of wheatgrass-on-steroids that line the main balcony. It’s clearly the awkward guest at this architectural block party. There’s not even a portable toilet on the sidewalk in front of it.
The goofiness across the road eventually draws us in, where the basset hounds and border collies play on Alta Plaza’s grassy expanse, along the park’s north slope. It’s a somewhat hazy weekend afternoon, yet northward views are still sharp, extending down to the sailboat-strewn bay and Angel Island. But Bobbi the Dog over there doesn’t care. She just wants that sloppy ball thrown her way for the 38th time.
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missed ya last week. more blocker please.
The blue or turquoise por-to-let in front of a home is one of the most subtle ways ever devised to indicate to the neighbors--and the world--that the people in the house behind the potty have arrived!
This custom began in the '90's in San Francisco's Noe Valley with a family of modest means that had a driving desire to appear "at the top of the heap".
Mortgaged to the hilt (to the point that a trip to Burger King was a night on the town)the family rented a bright blue portapotty to carry them through a several day plumbing emergency. When the job was done, the Port-o-let vendor forgot to pick up the potty.
After a couple of weeks neighbors started asking "what's going on?". The family simply said "we're doing a makeover". They begain to enjoy the attention; the notoriety! They kept it up for for months. Then one day the portapotty vendor remembered he'd left it there and picked it up.
After that they simply said "Makeover's over...". The neighbors never knew--Who ever invites the neighbors over in the City, anyway?
Others noticed and soon the aspiring "big shots" on every block in Noe Valley simply rented a portapotty to show off.