Laguna Honda Hospital has hired a herd of goats to clean out the undergrowth in front of its new building, and behind the parking lot (along Clarendon Avenue). In the picture, the white dots are the goats, and you can see a bus parked on top of the hill.
A neighbor also wrote to say LHH is offering tours.
“I received a flyer inviting the Forest Knolls neighborhood to tour the new Laguna Honda hospital. They suggested we wear long pants (no skirts or dress shoes) and sensible shoes – they would provide boots – The first tour is today (Thursday) at 2 PM…. They have one more tour this month and two in March and one in April. “
Thursday, February 11, 2010 2 p.m.
Saturday, February 27, 2010 11 a.m.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 2 p.m.
Saturday, March 20, 2010 11 a.m.
Saturday, April ?, 2010 11 a.m.
“Tours can accommodate a limited number of people. Please let us know you are coming. Call 415-759-4597.
“Where to meet: All tours begin in the lobby of the old building.
“What to wear: Long pants, blouses or shirts with at least a four inch sleeve. No sleeveless shirts, skirts or dresses. We provide hard hats, safety glasses and vests. Please wear boots or sturdy shoes with a hard sole (we have loaner boots). For your safety, dress shoes and tennis shoes are not allowed.”
This year, 2010, is a census year. (There’s one every ten years.) It aims to count everyone, citizen or not, in the US. In March, they’ll be sending out forms to be filled in and returned. If a household doesn’t return a form (or it’s lost in transit), a census worker could show up to ask the same questions. (This is scheduled for April-July.) It’s legally required to co-operate with them.
The thing is, how do you know they’re legitimate and not some con artist trying to find out too much or get into your home?
“If a census taker visits you, here’s what you should do:
* First ask to see their ID. All census workers carry official government badges marked with just their name; they may also have a “U.S. Census Bureau” bag
* Note that the census taker will never ask to enter your home
* If you’re still not certain about their identity, please call the Regional Census Centers to confirm they are employed by the Census Bureau. [Note: San Francisco’s is at (415)-908-4050]
* Answer the census form questions for your entire household (you must be at least 15 years old to answer questions) so that the census taker can record the results for submission to the Census Bureau
Census takers visit local homes several times to capture resident information for the 2010 Census. If you prefer, you can schedule a visit with your census taker. Should the census taker come when you are away from your home, they will leave a contact number.”
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As someone pointed out on a separate newsgroup, “YOU DON’T HAVE TO ANSWER ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL SITUATION. The Census Bureau will not ask for Social Security, bank account, or credit card numbers, nor will employees solicit donations. Any one asking for that information is NOT with the Census Bureau. Never invite anyone you don’t know into your home.
Call your local police non emergency number if you think anything is not right (after you send them away). They will find and interview the people you think are suspicious and verify their credentials.
Please chat with your elderly neighbors, friends and relatives – pass on this information to them.”
Of course, the easiest thing is to fill in and return the form. Then, unless it’s lost in the mail, there’ll be no need for a visit from the census taker.
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Edited to Add: In addition to the Census, there’s the American Community Survey. It’s a substitute for the Long Form that used to be part of the census. It goes to 1 out of 480 households.
Like the Census, it’s legally required to complete it. Unlike the census, it’s a fairly long form – it takes 20-60 minutes to fill in. Like the census, they will send a worker to talk to you if you get a survey and don’t fill it in.
Someone gave us a heads up on Muni – it’s short of funds, it needs more cuts, and its having public meetings about it.
Here’s the MUNI letter:
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“Dear Community Leaders and Transit Colleagues,
The SFMTA Board of Directors confronts a challenging budget situation for both the current fiscal year and the next two-year budget cycle. After layoffs and other cost-cutting measures that began last November, the SFMTA still faces a current-year $16.9 million shortfall.
The solutions before the Agency and those impacted by its decisions are both painful and unpopular.
Proposed solutions include:
• Reduced frequencies and shorter service hoursfor Muni
• Munifare increases and parking fee and fine increases
Your opinion counts. Please attend one of the following meetings to learn more and to provide public comment.
FY 2010 Focus
Town Hall Meetings, One South Van Ness Ave. @ Market St., 2nd Floor Atrium
Saturday, Feb. 6 – 10 a.m. to noon
Tuesday, Feb. 9 – 6 to 8 p.m.
SFMTA Board Meeting, City Hall Room 400
Tuesday, Feb. 16 – 9 a.m. (public hearing and possible Board action)
FY 2011-2012 Focus
Town Hall Meetings, One South Van Ness Ave. @ Market St., 2nd Floor Atrium Wednesday, March 10 – 6 p.m.
Saturday, March 20 – 10 a.m.
SFMTA Board Meetings, City Hall Room 400
Tuesday, March 30 – 2 p.m.
Tuesday, April 6 – 2 p.m. (public hearing and possible Board action)
Tuesday, April 20 – 2 p.m. (public hearing and possible Board action)
As of now, the proposal for reduced frequencies does not appear to affect the 36 Teresita bus service. It does affect the K,L,M lines that pass through Forest Hill Station, and several others as well.
UCSF recently sent out a notice that it would be trimming and removing hazardous trees in the forest along Nike Rd, which connects the Aldea campus and the Native Garden at the summit.
This road (shown in yellow dots and marked with the ellipse) is just above Christopher (shown in pink dots), and runs parallel to it for some distance.
UCSF’s notice says: “The work will take place Tuesday January 19 through Friday January 22. Staging will start after 8 am, and noisy work will be limited to the hours of 9am to 5pm.”
Laguna Honda Hospital (LHH), at the foot of Clarendon Avenue, is in a sense part of our neighborhood. The Woods, a community of townhomes, lies just across from it, as does Galewood Court. Thanks to the addition of some unlovely tower blocks, and the felling of a lot of trees (eucalyptus – of course), it’s a lot more visible than it used to be. Especially at night, when it bears some resemblance to a large parking garage.
LHH Rear at night from Clarendon
So we’re concerned at what’s happening at LHH. George Wooding, President of the West of Twin Peaks Central Council, wrote an article pointing out problematic changes that the public has not been informed about.
For those interested in more detail, there’s a website called Stop LHH Downsize with a great deal of information (including the full text of Mr Wooding’s article, “Many Problems Face Laguna Honda Hospital“).
Here’s the gist of the story:
In 1999, the San Francisco voters agreed to a bond measure to rebuild Laguna Honda Hospital – a city-owned nursing home, they thought, for indigent elderly and disabled San Franciscans.
What has happened since?
The rebuild has cost $600 mn instead of the budgeted $401 mn.
Tree felling has chopped large holes in the screen between Clarendon Avenue and the hospital’s rear, giving the neighborhood a fine view of the backside of the new blocks and the parking lot.
LHH has cut 35% of the beds (420 of 1200), eliminated another 200 planned assisted living units, and suspended or terminated its adult daycare program for older people with dementia.
More problematically, LHH has changed its mission – or is trying to.
The Department of Public Health is planning to admit people with mental health and substance abuse problems. Instead of having a nursing home in our neighborhood – a mission most of us support – we will have effectively, a mental-health hospital.
It’s an experiment that has already been tried, unsuccessfully. In 2003, in order to reduce pressure on San Francisco General Hospital, young patients with substance abuse and mental health issues were sent on to LHH. Staff were attacked, fires set, and there were clashes between the young male patients and the older residents. Eventually, the situation deteriorated sufficiently that the Department of Justice was involved, and the experiment stopped.
Hospital & Rehabilitation Center
It’s about to be restarted. (We think, since there has been no clarity on the issue.)
Says Wooding in his article: “We don’t know what population LHH intends to serve when it opens just four months from now, and whether LHH will be serving geriatric patients with chronic medical illness, or psychosocial patients with mental illness and substance abuse needs.”
The underlying problem is that San Francisco has no place to send mentally ill/ substance abusing patients who cannot be released into the community. (In 2004, San Francisco’s only long-term care psychiatric facility closed down, with a loss of 145 psychiatric beds.)
That doesn’t mean that LHH should be sacrificed to that function.Especially without buy-in from voters and the surrounding communities.
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[Edited to Add: At the March 11, 2010 community meeting, Supervisor Sean Elsbernd announced that the new facility would open in June (though the patients would not move in until later). In response to a question, he said that LHH was not changing its admission policy: It would be open only to people whose primary diagnosis was physical, though some of those might have mental challenges as well. “Don’t worry, it’s not becoming a homeless shelter,” he said.]
Merry Christmas, to all who celebrate it! And Happy New Year, everyone.
Today I received a charming message, anchored by a fractured candy-cane: The kids from the Japanese Bi-lingual Bi-cultural Program at Clarendon Elementary thanking their neighbors and giving them greetings of the season.
Over the last few days, I took some photographs of some of the decorated houses around our neighborhood. Here’s a selection.
For some reason, Midtown Terrace always seems to have more holiday lights than Forest Knolls. It’s always worth a drive-through, maybe even a walk-around.
And there’s this.
Just off Dellbrook, in a cul-de-sac called Greenview, the residents co-operate each year to set up an exuberantly decorated space. This year is no different. A string of colored lights across the road defines the area, and a sign says “Santa’s Court.”
Almost every house is decorated with lights, but each one’s different.
At the end of the road, there’s the north pole, Santa, reindeer, a menorah, and a sign saying Happy Holidays!
These photographs don’t do it justice… if anyone wants to send better ones, we’d be glad to publish them here.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!
[EDITED TO ADD: People have been writing in to us to convey greetings and gratitude. So: if anyone from Greenview is reading this – thanks for the wonderful lights from your neighbors across Clarendon!]
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EDITED TO ADD (DECEMBER 2010)
It’s back again this year, still as wonderful!
And – all the figures look like they’re handpainted, not commercially available cutouts.
What we first noticed was muddy water flowing in the gutter. We followed it up to a truck at the dead end of Woodhaven. It was the SF Water Department, and a water main was broken.
They had a powerful pump, attached to a hose, to suck water out of the hole they had dug in the road. It looked like it was having a hard time keeping up with the water-flow, and Woodhaven looked a bit like a stream…
But they got the level down, and used a jack-hammer to expand the hole enough to reach the pipe.
It was dark by the time they found the break, but they had a powerful light to illuminate the problem. The next step would be to turn off the water and fix the leak.
One of the men explained the situation.
“See that copper pipe down there?” [You can see it in the last picture, behind the hose.] “That leads to the houses, and it’s flexible. But the mains are cast iron. They’re old. What breaks them is the cold.” Cast iron is notoriously brittle.
“The Water Department is gradually replacing them with ductile iron pipes,” he said. “It’s a good thing this happened before the rains started. If it had been raining, people would have assumed it was water from a spring, and not caught the leak.”
Edited to Add 1: Sebastien is still missing, but was apparently seen on Warren Drive on 22 Feb 2010. He doesn’t come when called, but is docile when captured. If you see him “please try to grab or trap him” and call the owners.
(New notices have been put up. Scroll down for a picture… not a very good one, as they seem to have gotten wet.)
Edited to Add 2: Note from a neighbor: “The cat seen on Warren probably was not Sebastian. There is a feral cat that has, for a long time, been hanging around Warren. He is being fed by a neighbor. I do wish it was Sebastian.”
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There are “Lost Cat” signs on lamp-posts all along our street. The black cat, Sebastien, seems to have gone missing from Galewood, down below the school on Clarendon on Nov 5, 09.
If you find him, phone (415) 297 8926. (You could, if you wish, copy this number onto your cellphone so if you spot him, you can call them.)
If you know he’s been found, leave a comment here and I’ll update this post.
Edited to Add: Someone said he’d seen a cat like that last Thursday at Dellbrook x Panorama, and requested me to pass on the information, which I did. Sebastien has not been found yet (25 Nov 09).
Here’s what the ad on Craigslist says: “Sebastien is a small BLACK 4 year old male CAT with a shy yet loving disposition. He has individual white hairs speckled all throughout his body, and his tail is long and thin and has a BENT TIP (from birth). He has large, pointed ears, light green eyes and a black nose, and was last seen wearing an aqua green soft collar with a blue bell, which he may have lost by now.
“He does not come when called so he’s really hard to find. He’s docile and gives up if cornered, so if you are able to TRAP or GRAB him (he won’t fight back), please do, and I will come and pick him up ASAP!
“If you have any information, please call me at any time of day or night at (415) 297-8926.”
It all started with a question on the Forest Knolls Yahoo Group about the brightly-colored paint-spots above the drain covers in our neighborhood. What were they?
Donna Chong responded. “Ever since the threat of West Nile Virus, San Francisco has been putting something in the sewers to keep the mosquitos from multiplying. The program has been going on for about 2 years. The paint indicates that these sewers have been treated and a new color spray is applied after each treatment. I am not sure how often they are treated but it is pretty frequent.”
Later, she added: “I personally am very glad they have the program. Our house borders a long drain and several catch basins that were a breeding ground for mosquitos. There were so many that we slept every night with a mosquito net!”
Someone else expressed a concern about dragonflies, wondering if they might be affected as well as the mosquitoes.
There was a sign on the pumphouse, she said, that indicated the treatment they were using, and we promised to check it out. Here it is:
They use Bt (a bacillus that kills mosquitoes) and liquid soap, up to once a week. (Another source said once a month, from late spring through fall, but that was in 2005 and they may have changed the regime.)
Bt dunks are what pond-owners are advised to put in their ponds to prevent mozzies from breeding there. As pesticides go, it’s pretty mild because it’s a bacillus and not a chemical. It’s more eco-friendly than the larvicides that some other cities use.
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Can it affect dragonflies? We’re guessing that unlike mosquitoes, dragonflies don’t breed in the catch basins. They’re supposed to like lakes with vegetation, even garden ponds (some kinds prefer streams). One site we checked specifically recommended Bt Mosquito Dunks in garden ponds because it doesn’t harm dragonflies. So they may not be directly affected.
On the other hand, dragonflies eat mozzies, and if there aren’t any, they might not be doing as well. Also, there’s a possibility that some kind of herbicide or pesticide is getting in the places they do breed. Maybe Laguna Honda lake? It’s a possible site near our neighborhood.
Edited to Add: “DW” e-mailed to say the playground is now open and “they did a nice job.” ( 6 Nov 09)
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The playground still isn’t open (3 Nov 09) even though it was supposed to be. It looks like it’s ready, though.
There’s a new picnic table, and a basketball court where the “big swings” used to be. The newlaid grass is neatly mowed, and the play structure seems to be installed.
The Recreation Center has a new (or at least, repaired) roof. (ETA: The Director told me the roof had actually been repaired some years ago. The inside is much the same, but she said they had new improved bathrooms.)
The New Play Structure
..
.. Basketball Court at Midtown Terrace Playground
[This has been edited and updated on Dec 06, 2009.]
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The closest Muni station is the Forest Hill station, (where you can get the K,L, M and T lines), opposite Laguna Honda Hospital. The closest BART station is at Glen Park, where, ironically, there is no parking.
Forest Knolls is served by one bus-route, the 36 Teresita, which operates between Forest Hill Station, Forest Knolls, and Midtown Terrace. (Following a recent route-change on that stretch, the other leg of the route goes from Forest Hill Station out to Glen Park BART station and on to St Luke’s Hospital at Cesar Chavez & Valencia – see below).
Here’s the new route of the 36 Teresita (dark pink). The dotted black lines show a discontinued route.
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Starting 5 December, 2009, the 36 Teresita was re-routed to go to Glen Park BART station and St. Luke’s Hospital (part of the 26 route) instead of Balboa Park.
The section between Forest Hill Muni station and Forest Knolls was not affected.
The service now stops at 11 p.m. (last bus at 11 p.m. at Forest Hill Station and 11.10 from St Luke’s Hospital)
The rush-hour frequency was formerly 20 minutes, but is now 30 minutes. (It was 20 minutes on weekdays 7-9 a.m. and 4-6 p.m., 30 minutes at other times).
Though Forest Knolls is exclusively residential, it is close (by car) to some pleasant shopping areas.
West Portal has a drugstore, a hardware store, antiques, a bookstore, a number of coffee-shops, a movie theater, a number of dentists, hair salons and spas, groceries, pet supplies, and restaurants with all kinds of cuisines – and a major Muni station. It still has the charm of a neighborhood shopping street.
Just over the hill in Miraloma Park is a small group of shops: Molly Stones, a grocery and butchers with an abundant deli section; two coffee shops, a pizza place, a drugstore, and several cleaners.
There are also the shops and restaurants on Taraval and further down in the Sunset, at Diamond Heights (including the Post Office that serves the neighborhood), and in Cole Valley (charming, but where parking is rather problematic).
Two Safeway stores are within easy reach: One at Diamond Heights (open until 2 a.m.) and another on Taraval (which I think closes at 10 p.m.) There’s a Lucky on Sloat Boulevard, where there’s also a Fedex Kinkos, a Blockbuster, and a Ross Dress For Less store. Also a pet store.
We’re also close to shops and restaurants of the Inner Sunset — and there are some delightful ones. Arizmendi bakery. Pacific Catch restaurant. Park Chow. That’s just the beginning. Irving and 9th is a good place to start.
This area is to discuss and report on issues the neighborhood is facing.
1.The Crestmont Development. A builder wanted to add an apartment block at the end of Crestmont, a narrow winding road just below Mt Sutro. Most neighbors opposed it on the grounds of safety (landslides, fire access), neighborhood character (no apartment blocks in Forest Knolls); and infrastructure issues. [Edited to Add 1: Apparently stopped for now.] [Feb 2010 Edited to Add 2: Have heard that it may have been restarted.]
2. The 36 Teresita route. In 2009, the City planned to curtail the service of the 36 Teresita, the only bus serving Forest Knolls, on the ground of inadequate ridership. Neighbors pointed out that it was not so much a matter of numbers as a matter of access; there were people without cars who relied on the bus. For the present, the service continues, but no one is sure if the plan may yet be implemented. [Edited to Add: It appears that the feedback has been accepted, and the route changes – implemented from 5 Dec 09 – will not affect Forest Knolls. However, the frequency falls to 30 minutes (instead of 20 during weekday rush-hours); and the last bus leaves Forest Hill at 11 p.m.]
3. Sutro Cloud Forest. In May 2009, UCSF, which owns the land on Mt Sutro just above Forest Knolls, planned to cut down thousands of trees on a quarter of the forest, including an area just above the neighborhood ostensibly in the name of fire mitigation. Opponents believe this is a ruse for a native plant conversion of the forest, and the fire threat is an excuse to get FEMA funding for a landscaping plan. They consider it dangerous because of increased fire hazard from a more open and dryer forest; greater landslide risk; concern about toxic chemicals (Roundup and Garlon) being used; and worries about the area being artificially reclassified as a High Fire Risk with impacts on disclosure requirements and insurance rates. (At present, Cal Fire notes there are no areas of Very High Fire Hazard in San Francisco.)
[Edited to Add 1: SaveSutro kept a daily Fog Log for September/ October/ November. The longest period the forest was without fog or rain was 7 days. The forest remained green and damp throughout. ]
[Feb 2010, Edited to Add 2: UCSF has withdrawn its applications from FEMA. It is looking for a different way forward. Details on the SaveSutro website.]
4. Extended parking meter hours in San Francisco. Despite Oakland’s unfortunate experience with extended hours on its parking meters (a revenue measure), San Francisco’s MTA still has such a plan under consideration. This does not directly affect the neighborhood, which does not have meters; but it affects the residents who shop or work in surrounding areas like West Portal or Miraloma. [Edited to Add: There’s a good discussion of this in the November ’09 issue of the Westside Observer. The article (on page 2) is by George Wooding, president of the West of Twin Peaks Central Council.]
5. Another issue that affects Forest Knolls indirectly is SF PUC’s plan to build a gravel distribution center on Clarendon Avenue, on the eastern edge of the Laguna Honda Lake. This area was apparently presented as a temporary staging post, but now is being made permanent. Neighbors are protesting.
Forest Knolls was built in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Some of the residents are the first owners of the homes that were built then. According the website of realtors Ahlheim and Kearney: “The detached homes and townhomes, many with similar floor plans, are well constructed and spacious. Winding streets, hilly terrain and ever changing weather add to Forest Knolls’ character and privacy. The original homes were built between 1959 and 1963. Crestmont Drive’s two unit buildings were built between 1962 and 1979. Galewood Circle’s townhomes were constructed in 1978-79. Newer homes on Warren and Oak Park Drives were built in the 80’s and early 90’s.”
The area where Forest Knolls was built was part of an 1100-acre forest planted by former mayor Adolph Sutro, one of San Francisco’s most colorful characters. Sutro Forest and the forest on Mt Davidson are among the last remnants of these woods. This map, from 1927, shows Sutro Forest before. Trees were cleared to build first Midtown Terrace, then Forest Knolls.
Before that, it was all part of Rancho San Miguel, a ranch with 2,000 cattle and 200 horses. Before Sutro bought the land, it was owned by Jose Jesus Noe (whose name is memorialized in Noe Valley).
For a historic picture of Forest Knolls, and a link to more pictures, go HERE.
Forest Knolls site in 1958 (marked DEVELOPMENT)Aerial view – around 2006 (?)
CLICK HERE for a lovely description of a walk down rural Clarendon Avenue in 1896.
If anyone would like to contribute photographs for the photo album page, we’d be happy to include them, with a photo-credit. Just leave a comment here and we’ll e-mail you. We’re particularly interested in historical pictures related to Forest Knolls, or anything showing the beauty of our neighborhood, or neighborhood gatherings. (Or anything else that you’d like to see there.)
We’re starting a new website and blog for the neighborhood. We’re hoping to provide a presence on the web, and collect information that is of interest to all of us. Once it’s established, it may be a good place for public announcements and comments.
Look forward to hearing from other Forest Knollers.
A neighbor also wrote to say LHH is offering tours.
It all started with a question on the Forest Knolls Yahoo Group about the brightly-colored paint-spots above the drain covers in our neighborhood. What were they?
FOREST KNOLLS NEIGHBORHOOD 