The Facebook profile of Noe Valley neighborhood

USPA NEWS - Noe Valley, in San Francisco, has always had notable residents living amongst its shaded streets. From Ruth Awasa to Mark Zuckerberg, the neighborhood has played a pivotal role in directly and indirectly shaping San Francisco history.

The homes designed by many Victorian and Edwardian residential architects were built mostly after the 1906 earthquake, and from a working-class neighborhood Noe Valley became the land of the wealthy.

Terrie Carpenter, a veteran, and resident of Noe Valley said: “The roads are an absolute disaster, when they do repair the roads, they don’t do any compaction; they just dump dirt on the hole, patch and then within weeks it starts sinking.” Carpenter, who is employed as a contractor for the City and County of San Francisco said that as a contractor, he must follow all the building safety codes… however, it seems to him that the city hired subcontractors who aren't held to the same rules.

Catherine Art, a resident of Northwest Bernal but a frequent visitor of the area was passing by and overheard my conversation with Terrie and asked when the streets will get repaved, “it’s really bad” I personally avoid 2tht because is difficult to drive, and all the bikes and babies’ around, I personally don’t like she said.

Adding to the bad city planning, SFMTA implemented a Slow Streets program during Covid-19 which impacted some streets running North-South Sanchez Streets. While these slow streets encourage more foot traffic and outside activity which has notably been good for local business on 24th Street.

Anne Chan, a tourist from Taiwan and frequent visitor to the neighborhood, she said that personally likes SFMTA's methodology of slow streets in the area because she feels safe. “I think is good to be able to walk free around the streets, and is important that others can do the same, the weather is awesome, and is good being out, especially after the pandemic.

For some business owners, closing that area as well to increase foot traffic seems like a dream. It’s noticeable that the foot traffic on the 24th is intense, sometimes even more than Sanchez Street.

Donna Taylor, owner of the “Does Your Mother Know” store within the Noe Valley area for over 34 years, said that besides the traffic on 24th Street being very dangerous, she thinks that closing the street will bring more people to the neighbor helping the whole community to develop even more.

David, a senior resident from the neighborhood who preferred not to give his last name, said that "likes the area because it's a mellow neighborhood with a low crime and that the people have good manners, but that at the same time he finds the area "too blended and boring.” He said that he likes the area because it has a relatively low crime rate when compared to other neighbors, and people have good manners.

Something is seen in this neighborhood, and it is a systematic problem that can be reflected all over the city, state, and whole country. The race-wealth gap. While there is a high number of locally owned businesses in the neighborhood, there was no black-owned business in sight.

According to the San Francisco Climate & Health Program reports only 3.6% of the population living in Noe Valley identifies as Black &/or African American. For other races commonly labeled as minorities, the report goes on to list the percentage of Asians at 10.9%, Identified Latinos at 14%, and 21.2% nonwhite in general. The report does not mention the percentage of self-identified white people living in the neighborhood.

The Mission Police Department is responsible for keeping the neighborhood safe and data points out that for every 1000 thousand crimes reported, only 13 are somehow violent.

According to the real estate website Redfin, “median sale price of a home in Noe Valley is around $1.8M.”