My Changing Neighborhood(s): July 2016

Sunday, July 31, 2016

NEIGHBORHOOD CLOSINGS 2016 (#11 in a series) – NOB HILL GRILLE

This was a shocker.

The Nob Hill Grille, which has been a fixture at the corner of Hyde and Pine for the last ten years, and normally is quite busy (when I had walked by earlier in the week, it was filled with customers) has, without warning, closed.

A couple (not pictured) who were expecting to find an open restaurant were as surprised as I was.

“Maybe they had a huge rent increase,” the man surmised. “That's why they closed right before August 1.”

Whatever the reason, the closure was unexpected.

Friday, July 29, 2016

NEIGHBORHOOD MURALS 2016 – TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY (#6 in a series)

At first, the message on this mural in Olive Alley seems out of place in its Tenderloin surroundings until you realize it's actually one of two murals

painted on the walls of City Hope Community Center at 45 Olive. It was created by local wall artists 1 AM.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

NEIGHBORHOOD OPENINGS 2016 – SWING KETTLEBELL SCHOOL (#9 in a series)

Swing Kettlebell School has opened at 1058 Hyde Street.

Ketlebell skull decoration in window

Saturday, July 16, 2016

NEIGHBORHOOD CLOSINGS 2016 (#10 in a series) – OPUS LIGHTS

Opus Lights at 1222 Sutter Street has closed suddenly and unexpectedly.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

NEIGHBORHOOD CLOSINGS 2016 (#9 in a series) – GARAGE SALE

Garage Sale, which opened in January 2015, has closed.

(Photo from January, 2015 opening)

Originally it was in business for three or four days before it closed. Like a business Howard Hughes, that was the last time I or anyone ever saw it open.

My roommate and I wondered how it managed to stay afloat in this neighborhood with these rents and thought it might be some sort of money-laundering operation.

Then, in June, these signs appeared in the window: