Noe Valley — great weekend in a great neighborhood

I’ve always spent a lot of time in Noe Valley, since I live just a few blocks away from it, but in the past few years I’ve come to appreciate more and more how culturally rich and vibrant a place it is and how tight knit it is.  This weekend was a great example.  On Friday evening, I first went to the pre-opening of the new Whole Foods on 24th Street.  Whole Foods is taking the place of Bell Market, which closed earlier this year.  Combined with the loss of Real Foods, which closed years ago (and whose owners should be ashamed of themselves for keeping the place vacant and creating blight on the neighborhood), 24th Street had some issues, and its small businesses were struggling.  Having Whole Foods reopen is terrific for the neighborhood and the surrounding businesses.  Carol Yenne, owner of a nearby store, told me that in the past few months several vacant storefronts have been leased in anticipation of the foot traffic that Whole Foods will bring.

Anyway, on Friday night, Whole Foods turned its parking lot into a street fair, with various food vendors giving away samples of their amazing food. It was a wonderful community gathering, and a nice use of public space.  Whenever I’m at an outdoor neighborhood gathering like this, I’m reminded how important it is to have centrally located public spaces for the neighborhood to come together and for people to get to know each other.

After the Whole Foods shindig, I stopped by the Noe Valley branch library on Jersey Street, where the neighborhood was celebrating the career of Carol Small, the branch library’s recently retired children’s librarian (http://www.noevalleyvoice.com/2009/September/Smal.htm).  Carol is a key part of the community and has worked with and read to generations of Noe Valley kids.  The turnout was strong, and the energy was good.  I got to speak with Kim Drew, an tenacious library advocate in Noe Valley and citywide.  She played a key role in the revamp of the Noe Valley branch.  We talked about the importance of libraries, even in the information age, as community centers and learning centers.

This morning, I got a personal tour of the 30th Street Senior Center, on 30th Street between Church and Dolores (http://www.onlok.org/30thsite/index.asp).  If you don’t know about the 30th Street Center, you should.  It’s the largest provider of senior meals in the city, with multiple meal sites.  It also provides seniors with classes, access to computers, exercise classes, gardening activities, dance classes, etc., etc.  As our population ages, it’s so important to have these kinds of services for seniors who are able to live on their own but who need this kind of support.  It not only helps seniors financially but provides the critical social outlet that prevents seniors from becoming isolated.

From the 30th Street Center, I headed over to 24th Street and to the weekly Farmer’s Market.  From there I stopped by the St. Philip’s Church annual festival, complete with games for kids, food, and entertainment.  St. Philip’s is an important institution in Noe Valley, with a school, public meeting space, and other community resources.

All in all, a fun weekend in Noe Valley.  Great neighborhood, great people.