What with Bush leaving office and local ire having no direct target, layoffs continuing to abound, and the recession devolving into something worse, American Apparel setting up shop on Valencia Street created the perfect storm for a surprising amount of anger on both sides of the argument.
Check out some scene from yesterday's Planning Commission meeting at City Hall. It brought out quite the crowd. Commissioner Mike Antonini said he'd never seen such a crowd or such a response to a freaking Planning item. And SFist commenter/photog Manny Ortez tells us that never before has City Hall played "host to so many skinny jeans, staches, and American Apparel-wearers," going on to say, "Don't know if the irony was lost on them or not, but apparently you can be opposed to formula retail and still dig hideous leotards."
Oh, and American Apparel will NOT go up in the Mission. Ta-da. Now let's fix actual problems in the Mission like gang warfare, crime, and fixing the railroad track-ish one block barrier in the Mission that divides the lily white from the Latino community.