After the '89 quake cracked the pillars of the Central Freeway, Hayes Valley got a chance at rebirth—and lunged for it. Now the rebuilt freeway terminates at Market Street, and once scary Octavia Street has morphed into a Euro-style boulevard of poplar and palm trees. Hayes Street hosts some of the sexiest retail in town. But already locals fret that a deadly combo of arrivistes and rising rents—hot topic, that one—threatens the community's character. Powell's Place, a soul-food institution, has decamped along with other local faces, and developers are planning to build nearly 7,500 housing units in the area. The neighborhood faces big challenges. Still, down in the valley, things are looking up.
SHOPFRONTS
Rusted or restored, whole or in fragments, architectural accents at Zonal lend a junkyard spin to modern interiors. 568 Hayes St.
Flight 001 recalls a time when air travel was about glamour, not security. The interior resembles a hanger, the checkout a ticket counter. 525 Hayes St.
How many places can you buy digital watches from the seventies (unused) and belts from the eighties (way, way, used)? Nomads outfits guys who know hip when they see it. 556 Hayes St.
WHAT IT COSTS
...to rent: $1,600 a month at 546 Grove St. (600 square feet).
...to buy: $849,000 for 223 Octavia St. (1,150 square feet).
CELEBS
Mo Rocca, Gene Wilder, and Tracey Ullman at Absinthe (though not, thankfully, at the same time). Courtney Cox was spotted hailing a cab on Hayes Street. There are others but nobody bothers to look anymore. 398 Hayes St.
THE BACKSTORY
In 1923 director Erich von Stroheim came to San Francisco to film McTeague, the tale of a dentist's fall from grace. The original story was set on Polk Street, but since that neighborhood had been gentrified, von Stroheim opted to film at the corner of Hayes and Laguna in the building now home to Tandoori Grill and Hayes Valley Care. MGM cut von Stroheim's nine-hour opus to two, butchering a masterwork. 602 Hayes St.
THE TALK
Developers Mercy Housing and A.F. Evans have proposed a retail and residential behemoth, including at least 400 housing units, at 55 Laguna St. "For 150 years, when an orphanage was there, then SFSU, and now the University of California, the site's been part of the public trust," says neighborhood activist Paul L. Olsen. The neighborhood may move to nix the project, but it won't be the last planning battle residents will see.
Merchants are nervous about commercial rents, which have risen from $2 per square foot to as much as $5 on Hayes Street. Though not yet at the stratospheric prices of Union Street, the increases have forced out such stores as the beloved Buu boutique.
ONLY HERE
Opened in January by clarinetist turned caffeinista James Freeman, Blue Bottle has become a Hayes Valley obsession despite its peculiar location: a garage in an alley. "Oh, man, it smells like pee," says Freeman, 39. "I figured the store would either be a charming boondoggle or people were going to find it." Find it they have, and not just the neighbors—high-end restaurants like A16 and Fifth Floor are now pouring his superfresh organic brew.
HANGOUTS
The crown jewel of the neighborhood is Hayes Green. At its opening, Mayor Gavin Newsom joined a drum circle before artist David Best's glorious shrine of jigsawed wood pieced. Octavia at Hayes Street.
Admit it: every now and then, you crave Wiener schnitzel. Suppenküche is the hood's longtime hot haus, yummy and communal. 601 Hayes St.
Rest your tired dogs at Momi Toby's Revolution Cafe and Art Bar just off Hayes. The coffee's good, the music's hot, and nobody's posing. Much. 528 Laguna St.