SF News

Hayes Valley Building Destroyed By Fire Full of Squatters, Stoking Fears It Could Be Destroyed By Fire Again

It was last August when an under-construction Hayes Valley building caught fire, with many speculating that people camped just outside the site caused the fire. Construction has gone nowhere since, and neighbors are alarmed that squatters appear to have moved in, and it could just burn again.

SF News

Hayes Valley Neighbors Raised Alarms About Encampment Fires Months Prior to Construction Site Blaze

The cause of Tuesday morning's four-alarm fire on Octavia Boulevard remains under investigation. But a neighborhood group is suggesting the city did not heed their warnings from two months ago about fires at homeless encampments in this very area.

SF News

Four-Alarm Fire In Hayes Valley Destroys New Building Under Construction, Displaces Eight In Nearby Buildings

A major blaze broke out Tuesday morning around 6 a.m. that sent flames into the sky on Octavia Boulevard, threatening neighboring buildings and disrupting the morning commute for some in San Francisco.

SF News

City To Ban Vehicle Traffic On Octavia Next To Patricia's Green

One half-block of Octavia Boulevard is going to become a pedestrian- and bike-only zone, once and for all cutting off the busy freeway-connected "boulevard" portion of Octavia from the quieter Octavia Street that continues north.

SF News

SFMTA Approves Parking-Protected Bike Lanes For Upper Market

Good news for cyclists who have to deal with the daily hazards of biking all the way up and down Market Street from downtown to the Castro: The SFMTA Board has approved the

SF News

Mugger Pretends To Be Blind As He Approaches Hayes Valley Victim

A Hayes Valley mugger used a curious ploy to get near his victim Friday — reportedly pretending to be blind, even though he was not. It was 1 p.m. Friday, on the 300

SF News

Newsflash: Most Of San Francisco's Streets Were Named After Men

You can tell a lot about the history of a place by its street names — Houston, Texas has Robert E. Lee Road, for example — but what, if anything, does the gender breakdown of

SF News

South Van Ness/Mission, Octavia/Market Considered Among Worst Intersections In The Country

Intersections are dangerous! We know this. And three specific San Francisco intersections have now been ranked among the most potentially deadly in the nation: Octavia Boulevard and Market Street (which has been noted

SF News

Even More Teeny Micro-Units Proposed For Hayes Valley

Remember those 174-square foot shoeboxes that are going into one of the multiple narrow residential lots along the east side of Octavia Boulevard? Well, the whole stretch is filling out, planning-wise, and now

SF News

174-Square-Foot Residential Closets Coming To Octavia

Are you feeling trapped in your railroad-Victorian situation with four roommates you only barely like? Well, if you can just stick it out a little longer, you'll be able to apply for the

SF News

Traffic Snarled After Pedestrian Struck At Haight And Octavia [Updated]

Around 4:30 p.m. Friday, traffic around Octavia Boulevard was severely backed up after a vehicle collision near the intersection with Haight Street. ABC7 is currently reporting a pedestrian was struck by

SF News

Man In Wheelchair Struck And Killed At Market Street And Octavia

.@SFPD loading wheelchair from fatal collision into truck. Octavia on ramp to 101 should open soon. @ktvu pic.twitter.com/NrTGy9c4tf— Katie Utehs (@katieutehs) November 4, 2013 Just after midnight Sunday night/early

SF News

Who Octavia Street Is Named After, and Other Fun Facts From a New Interactive Street Map

Once upon a time in 1855, a humble milkman by the name of Charles H. Gough became an alderman and was asked to join a committee tasked with naming the streets of the

SF News

Dangerous Octavia-Market Intersection to Get Traffic Cameras

You'll recall how last year a report determined that the intersection of Octavia and Market, where the freeway sort of abruptly turns into a Boulevard, was the most dangerous in the city. Well,

SF News

Designer of Dangerous Octavia Intersection Says Accidents Not His Fault

According to a recent report on traffic collisions commissioned by the city, there have been 30 injury crashes at Octavia and Market in the last three years, more than any other intersection in

misc

Automated Enforcement Camera Coming to Octavia and Market

If this bill becomes a law, then you'll be seeing scary "Photo Enforced" signs popping up around this intersection in a year or so. It will look a little something like this crudely

Arts & Entertainment

SFist Photo: Lexus vs. Bike on Confusing Octavia Blvd.

Arts & Entertainment

SFist Photo: Luxury Car Parking vs. Pedestrian Safety

You're looking at Oak Street right before it meets with Octavia Boulevard. This intersection is, by far, the most dangerous for pedestrians in all of San Francisco, based on the high number of

misc

Top 5 Comments of the Week

Hey folks, we're back again with our favorites amongst the comments and opinions you, the readership, made about SFist's stories that ran the week of July 1. Despite the weird holiday schedule, there

Arts & Entertainment

SFist Photo: Octavia Boulevard Betterment - It's On!

But things could be getting a little better after the guvmint starts to take some action. Like this Monday for instance. Supervisors Chris Daly, Bevan Dufty, and Ross Mirkarimi have joined together to

Arts & Entertainment

Octavia Boulevard update

See you after the jump

Arts & Entertainment

Public Space; Keep Out

Well, thanks to intrepid blogger (and friend of SFist) Michael, the chain link fence is finally down. Michael gets huge props for actually Getting Something Done -- a rarity in this town --

Arts & Entertainment

The Gates: West Coast Version

Once it's finished later this year, Octavia Boulevard -- that eastern-edge-of-the-Castro strip where once squatted a disused offramp -- will be a sort of lasting, permanent demonstration of SF's long-held disdain for urban