Final Story Hayes Valley

Crowds of people stand huddled together listening to the holiday tunes coming from the portable stage set up at Patricia’s Green for the 6^th Annual Hayes Valley Block Part. The crowds bundled up in multiple layers of clothing hold hot beverages to keep themselves warm in the piercing cold Friday night.

As Hayes Valley residents watch the main stage the shows producer Joseph Jody stands off stage in his red sequenced Santa hat, Dalmatian spotted jacket, and a feather boa wrapped around his neck. His two dachshunds, Guido and Vinnie, sit in a red Little Red Flyer next to him. Jody looks at the dogs then his clipboard for the next act.

“Where’s the choir?” Jody asks frantically with a slight New York accent.

Jody, a resident of Hayes Valley for 15 years, witnessed the neighborhoods transformation from the seedy side of town to a thriving neighborhood.

“It was depressing,” Jody said, “there were no stores and a lot of buildings were boarded up.”

In 1959 San Francisco used federal money to renovate the cities highways and built the Central Freeway. The freeway cast a shadow over Hayes Valley. The streets were littered with the homeless and prostitutes would prowl around the neighborhood looking for their next customer.

In 1989 the Loma Prieta earthquake severally damaged the Central Freeway overpass in Hayes Valley, which led to its demolition and the creation of Octavia Boulevard in 2005.

The Mayor of Hayes Valley, David Cook, stands against a mailbox guitar strapped to his back. His glazed eyes fixed upon the stage.

“Five years ago you would’ve been robbed on this street,” said Cook.

The 400 block of Hayes Street has been home to Cook for over 14 years. He can be found sitting against the same chain link fence on the same blue milk crate with the same makeshift fishing pole with a cup reading “Gone Fishing” as the hook.

Although Cook has stayed in the same place the area around him has morphed from empty storefronts to chique clothing boutiques and restaurants.

Groups of people patrol up and down Hayes Street with drinks ranging from Pabst Blue Ribbon to hot chocolate in hand. Waves of residents and visitors flow in and out of the many clothing and shoe stores during the 6^th annual block party.

“I’m still surprised to walk pass all the stores,” said Mary Baird lifetime San Francisco resident.

At nine the stores start to close, and the crowded streets start to open. The block party is over, but the over 21-crowd move into the couch filled bar, Place Pigalle. Former resident Nico Deliveyne aims his pool stick carefully, and shoots at one of the many solids left on the table. He misses.

“Everybody within a two-block radius you can consider your family,” says Deliveyne’s girlfriend Laura Pucci as she aims for the only striped ball left on the table. “It’s the best secret spot you can stumble into.”

Many Hayes Valley residents agree that since Caltrans tore down the overpass the neighborhood flourished and became a thriving community.

To further develop the neighborhood a proposed interim community garden will fill an empty lot between Oak St., Fell St., Laguna St., and Octavia Blvd. One of the main goals of the project is to serve as a model and resource center for urban agriculture education and green job training, according to the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association.

Over the next few years the empty lots left from the old overpass will be filled with new multi-unit housing complexes. One planned complex will be affordable housing for disabled individuals and their families. The ground floor of the proposed 15-unit complex would contain space for businesses including a firm for the Nor Cal Vocational Inc. NCVI specializes in providing developmental disabled adults with the opportunity to use art as a vehicle for developing skills. Construction is dated to start next fall, according to Curbed SF.

The destruction of the old Central Freeway overpass led to the resurgence Hayes Valley. With the proposed community garden and multiple housing complexes Hayes Valley will continue to grow. Soon the only remnants of Hayes Valley’s past will be the homeless that still wander around the neighborhood asking for change, collecting cans, or just sitting on a milk crate playing a guitar.