Few people might see a connection between a building on Clement Street and the dragon boat racers on Lake Merced. However, the paddlers on the lake may have been practicing on the roof of the new Community Youth Center (CYC) at 952 Clement St., on the corner of 11th Avenue.
They met on the dance floor of the Avenue Ballroom on Taraval Street. Etta Hallock was an instructor, Bill Lafferty a student. She liked Bill because he was not pompous like other men she had met. “He was just Bill.”
The One Richmond office, the Clement Street outpost of the Richmond Neighborhood Center (RNC), is narrow and unassuming, flanked by more colorful storefronts like Exploring Music and Hamburger Haven. The confused passersby would be forgiven for not knowing what the storefront is for.
One of many remnants of the Russian enclave on San Francisco’s west side serves sit-down meals every weekday.
It’s a reasonably sunny afternoon at Clement Street’s Toy Boat by Jane, the Richmond District kitschy café, which opened in 1982 and still pretty much looks the same, with nostalgic figurines like Fred Flintstone and Mr. Potato Head sharing shelf space with Dick Tracy PEZ dispensers behind the refrigerated ice cream cases.
That’s when dozens of us came together to form Richmond DRAGON (Defending Richmond and Galvanizing Our Neighborhood) League, a collective of neighbors within the Richmond District who wish to make positive changes in the neighborhood and tackle local issues based on open communication with fellow neighbors.
Many neighbors see the work I do to spur positive action and community in the Richmond District (I try to lead by example with integrity, both online and off) and they are constantly asking me what they can do to get involved and help our neighborhood. Here is the list I share with them.
The first annual Sunset Showdown Cleanup held on Saturday, Aug. 26 pitted the Inner Sunset Cleanup crew against the Central Sunset Cleanup team in a friendly, but competitive cleanup to see which team could collect the most trash bags.
Our campaign has never asked for individual donations, because keeping SF clean doesn’t require more money – what we need is more people to be the change and act.
As discussions continue about how St. Ignatius College Preparatory and the Outer Sunset Farmers Market and Mercantile can co-exist on a shared space, the Sunset Beacon offered each party an opportunity to share with the community their side of the issue
The two horizontal bands of yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag have been popping up in many places since the invasion of Ukraine in February by Russian forces under the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This expression of solidarity with Ukraine and acts of support seem most heartfelt in San Francisco; especially in the Richmond and Sunset Districts.
In the last nine years, Inner Sunset resident Chris Duderstadt has designed, constructed and often artistically painted 144 public benches placed all over San Francisco, with a prominent presence in the Sunset and Richmond districts.
A groundbreaking event was held by the Community Youth Center of San Francisco (CYC) on Nov. 10 to celebrate the vision of the future home of the Richmond Community Hub. The Richmond Community Hub will take over the empty building at 952 Clement St. and will provide services and resources to residents in the Richmond District and throughout San Francisco.
The Richmond District, like the City’s other nine police districts, has a community police advisory board (CPAB) designed to promote community engagement with the Richmond Police Station. But a local citizens group, Richmond District Rising (RDR), says the operation of this board is shrouded in mystery and its membership fails to include important stakeholders.
Community efforts by two different organizations based in the Richmond District have shown that COVID-19 cannot and will not stop the human spirit from finding solidarity and a way to support those most vulnerable during this time of social isolation.
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 