Around 12:50 a.m. last night a 911 caller reported six to nine shots fired at the intersection of 16th and Valencia in the Mission. Police checking out the scene found six bullet casings, but unlike countless random shootings at 16th and Mission a block over not a single person was reportedly hit by the gunfire. more ›

On Valencia street, one woman — presumably afraid of the danger a simple tree swing could bring to the streets of San Francisco — has taken it upon herself to rid the block of the impromptu playground equipment. According to the good folks from the Brass Knuckle food truck who sent in the attached photo, the woman allegedly cut down the tree swing with a box cutter before calling the cops. more ›

Posh tech cafe The Summit will close its doors on January 28. Decried by some as a "masturbatory business fantasy," the creatively-minded Valencia Street space served coffee and pastries to "free thinkers, craftsmen, artisans, entrepreneurs, and the public." Only Blue Bottle, Ritual, or Four Barrel trained baristas were asked to apply for a gig at the "democratically-priced" cafe. more ›

A brawl outside of a Valencia street liquor store Saturday afternoon ended inside of Four Barrel Coffee after one employee — coffee roaster working in the back room — denied two thugs an easy exit out the back. The two suspects, a man and a woman, were seen attacking a victim on the ground at 15th Street and Valencia. Two more suspects arrived just before the cops showed up, which is when the scuffle moved up Valencia Street and the first two suspects attempted to dip in to Four Barrel to escape. more ›

Adapting to the new Valencia Street, budding gastro pup Zeitgeist finally yanked their backyard porta-potties in exchange for comfier thrones recently. The new "wood, concrete, and sheet metal bathrooms" will now play host to a bevy of cyclists and Mission ilk looking to evacuate their waste in between sips of brew. This a refreshing change from the pastic fart catchers that used to pockmark the the popular beer garden. more ›

If we may Brown-block Andrew Dalton's excellent Friday feature on former SF Mayor Willie Brown, the noted power player-cum-freebie king just published yet another seamless post at Inside Scoop. It's genius. Sheer genius. The best thing we've read all day. He sums up much-ballyhooed Valencia Street restaurant Locanda (spore of Delfina) the best way -- nay, the only way possible. Brown speaketh: "I can best describe it as one of the few restaurants in the Mission you can actually get into, because they have valet parking." more ›

After closing the Mission locale over nine years ago -- has it really been nine years?! -- Charles Phan recently told Tamara Palmer what he plans on doing with the old Slanted Door space at 584 Valencia space. While teaching a cooking class for kids at the Ferry Building on Saturday, Phan revealed that a new restaurant, tentatively named Wo Hing General Store, will focus on Chinese food. And that's not all. more ›

Modern Times Books, the Valencia Street bookstore that carries a wide variety of new and used books on "globalization, politics and media, as well as an array of graphic novels, fiction, and criticism" is in need of help. As Mission Local reports, "The 39-year-old Modern Times Bookstore on Valencia Street urgently needs an 'influx of cash' to pay its bills," as the store’s owners recently detailed to customers in a letter. more ›

So, the new Levi's pop-up thing (they're reluctant to call it a 'store,' and it's kind of not) in the former Slanted Door location on Valencia Street between 16th and 17th, is an interesting phenomenon. While on the one hand, cynics may want to see it as a simple branding exercise, it appears to be more than that, and presents an example of a retailer trying to do something creative and altruistic for an urban community, while still selling a few pairs of jeans. more ›

There's more to the San Francisco queer scene than Harvey Milk, gay marriage kerfuffles, or exhausting penis-in-bottom jokes. Take, for example, the late '80s/'90s Valencia Street staple, Klubstitute. Harkening back to the club kid days, this popular, aggressively alternative gay club helped spawn Trannyshack, among other things. The DIY-ish club night, we're told, was a bastion of creative types, music, spinning and revelry that, to put it delicately, wallowed in the crystalline lifestyle. (Held at various locations throughout the city, one of its venue name's, The Crystal Pistol (now Range), left little to the imagination.) more ›

The latest trend in Valencia Street wear? Toy guitars, possibly this year's version of the lunchbox. more ›

Yesterday morning, PT Cruiser allegedly plowed through a red light at 18th and Valencia streets, striking an "adult riding a grey steel frame bicycle which had a blue childrens add on tandem bike ridden by a four year old boy." Also, one cyclist's spine was fractured. Ow. more ›

7x7 Magazine's Ert O'Hara and Jessica Battilana take on San Francisco's pricey yet independent Valencia Street. They tackle such topics as where to get the best coffee (which they describe as an "intensely personal choice"), about overpriced restaurant Spork (which used to be an affordable KFC frequented by families), and hunting for "Prada shoes, Pucci slip dresses, Vivienne Westwood jackets and Chanel sunglasses" at Community Thrift (which used to be frequented by local madres looking for the cleanest pair of OshKosh B'Gosh overalls). While they report on nothing new for locals of the area, it provides some insight for those who haven't checked out the V-strip in ages. more ›

Tomorrow's the big day. The planning commission meeting is this Thursday, starting at 1:30. The hearing goes down in room 400 at City Hall. Oh, and Stephen Elliot at Stop American Apparel mentions the following advice that made us do a 180 on the local scribe: "Something to remember is that the planning commissioners are serving without pay. This is a volunteer, civil service position, so please be very respectful of them. Appreciate that they’re doing all of us a service." Hear, hear! Well said. We wish more people understood this. more ›

Mission Mission, the one true voice of the Mission district as far as we're concerned, brings up the American Apparel brouhaha. If you recall, American Apparel is dropping a spore smack dab on chic Valencia Street. And the people of skid row are up in arms over it. Or so it seems. As Allan Hough asks, "Is the whole neighborhood up in arms? more ›

So, the Old Gray Lady hauled out the printing press to publish a story about how "cool-hunting hipsters" love Valenica Street. Sure, it's a dated piece. Wildly so, it seems. The article goes on and on Valencia Street faves: terrorist hangout Ritual Coffee Roasters, the macabre plant/carcass retailer Paxton Gate, and the God-we-love-this-place-so-much-but-wish-half-of-you-who-go-there-would-head-to-Casanova-instead Amnesia. more ›

Eeps! SFist received word this morning that Valencia Street fell victim to yet another apartment fire. Sigh. Reader Jeff Cleary tells us: more ›

We enjoy the following review -- although we're only using part of it for it devolves into anti-Hillary rhetoric, San Francisco's latest form of socially-acceptable sexism -- because a) it turns out that Yelp has an entire category dedicated to Gavin Newsom's hair, and b) it's pro-Gavin Newsom locks. (If you want to see some actual janky-ass hair, walk down Valencia Street or sit on a bench at Zeitgeist on any given day. Because: yikes.) more ›

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Image credit: Percy & Cecil more ›

Charming!
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You know on Market Street how there's that left-hand turn lane if you want to go on Valencia? And you know how everyone likes to rush through when the light turns green to make sure they can get onto Valencia without having to wait through another cycle of traffic signals? We know what you're thinking everytime you make that turn-- hey, what an awesome place to jaywalk! Which is what some woman, latte in hand, did right in front of us as we tried to make that turn in rush hour. more ›

If you haven't made it to the Curiosity Shoppe yet, what are you waiting for? It's one of our new favorite shops on Valencia Street. After having an e-commerce site for a year we were thrilled to hear that owners Lauren Smith and Derek Fagerstrom were setting up a brick and mortar spot in our fair city. Not only do we adore the choice of products for sale in the shop, we're big fans of their blog, Smarts & Crafts. Lauren and Derek have also been posting every Wednesday over at Design Sponge , sharing great project ideas for fixing up any space. And now they've teamed up with Todd Oldham to host a holiday crafting challenge on You Tube. Or at least that's Todd up there in their shop asking people to send in videos of their favorite holiday crafts and DIY projects. Winners will be posted on the You Tube homepage so get out that camera and get crafting. more ›

Pitchfork has a rich article Fugazi's Joe Lally having thousands of dollars worth of equipment stolen from his touring van while it was parked on Valencia Street. Overnight. more ›

Last year's Park(ing) Day at Ritual Coffee Roasters on Valencia Street.
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Try drowning Dave Eggers, Michelle Tea, Stephen Elliott, Beth Lisick, Barb Bersche, Eileen Hassi, or 826 Program Director Erin Neeley, via a dunking booth, this Sunday afternoon at the first 8/26 Day Festival. more ›

-- Daft Punk's Electroma: Pinocchio-ish road movie about two robots -- played by Daft Punk members Peter Hurteau and Michael Reich -- and their quest to become human. Riot In Belgium, the Bang Gang DJs, Dandi Wind, and Richie Panic & Jefrodisiac perform tonight before and after the movie. Doors open at 7 p.m. at Mezzanine, 444 Jesse (at Mint); free with RSVP at going.com. -- Justice League Wiffle Ball Game: According to Laughing... more ›

According to NPR, it seems both Los Angeles and San Francisco are in the habit of slashing the tires of and beating the crap out of our dear meter maids -- now more than ever before. The absurdity of SF's parking ticket-dispensing habits aside, this is awful. A year ago, we saw a couple of altercations on Valencia Street, with vile douche bags puffing up their flaccid feathers at hard-working meter maids (meter-men? parking... more ›

-- Dreamgirls: Jennifer Hudson's performance as Effie White won her an Academy Award, and her end of Act I nervous breakdown ("And I Am Telling You") blew audiences to the back wall of the theatre. . She is the reason to see this movie. It also features Anika Noni Rose, a former A.C.T. student. Check out this musical loosely based on the rise of the Supremes tonight at 7 p.m. at the Castro Theatre, Castro and Market Streets; $9.50. more ›