San Francisco Magazine - B'game "Utopia"

I like reading San Francisco magazine.  I especially like that for some reason they mail it to me for free while Mollie Stone's sells it on the rack and they offer annual subscriptions for $24, but a gift horse is always welcome.  The January issue is especially welcome since it has a cover article titled "Project Utopia" where they "polled 200 Bay Areans about the qualities that define their dream neighborhood and selected 10 precincts that match those criteria--no Craigslist trolling required."  And guess what?  Two "precincts" were not in EssEff and one of those is "Burlingame Terrace"!  The description on page 79 reads

Because...maybe Pleasantville isn't lame after all.  Was it the combination of $72 parking tickets and having three bikes swiped in two years?  Or was it the warm summer night you visited friends in Burlingame Terrace and noted, when you pulled up to their sitcom-ready clapboard, that their kid's Trek was just lying in teh driveway, decidedly unstolen?

A decade after the first portents shimmered into view, Burlingame is calling out to disenchanted urbanites. (I guess they missed the '06 earthquake and B'game's subsequent growth spurt)  Its main avenue is proving to be more than a suburban sweet spot, and not with any old coffee-shop tuna melt, either, we're talking tuna conserva with cannellini beans.

Pizzeria Delfina, Blue Line pizza, Sephora and La Boulange get mentions, along with our "smallish lots--a legacy of its roots as a summer colony--pay a nice divident: human-scaled streets with neighborly houses."  Well at least that aspect of B'game looks greener from the other side of the monster house divide.

Here are our "grades":  Affordability  B-, Walkability B, Public transportation B, Weather A, Safety A- ...and "the bummer:  It's a far cry from being culturally diverse".

Recent arrival Soni Obinger notes "The one downside is that there is no nightlife" and I can agree on that one.  All I want for Christmas are a downtown jazz/folk club and a pocket movie theater (with one or two screens).  Heck they could even be in the same establishment on different nights of the week.

Thanks San Francisco magazine.  You pretty much nailed it!

 

Comments

[Holyroller]

Night Life?
Everything about Burlingame is Night Life.
Dining, walking, reading, shopping, even banking.
Same on Broadway.
Plays and Live Music too. To very different sides to the same coin.
Burlingame Ave.-Corprate
Broadway Ave.- With the exception of Walgreens...
Family, values, and wisdom.
Old Hippies too.
Both shopping districts make this City a Great Place to live.
Tibetian, Turkish,Sam's, Korean,Village Host! etc.
I think the point SF Magazine is making is that the majority of people enjoying the Burlingame Night Life are White.
I would say next Asian.
Both wealthy and educated.
Family values play a large part in what makes/made Burlingame special
As well as Labor Movements, the building and re-building of San Francisco, SFO, sons and daughters of immigrant labor who built the Rail Roads, track homes, and created a finacial foundation for the development of Silicon Valley.
Night life or No Night Life.

Merry Christmas One and All.
Holyroller

[jennifer]

I didn't see the original article, but just from the excerpts you've extracted, I'd comment on the following--

'Disagree on the culturally diverse comment- If we are talking about Burlingame Avenue environs, take a stroll and listen to all the accents and foreign languages. It's possible all those people are visitors, but I doubt it. The comment would have been accurate 25 years ago.

We are certainly a fairly economically diverse crowd if we include the over 50% + residents who rent, many who live in affordable apts. within walking distance of the two downtown cores.

Which brings me to weather score. Maybe compared to SF we're an 'A', but I'd actually rate us as a 'B'. Even San Mateo has better weather than we do, no? The author must have visited the Terrace area on one of those extremely rare evenings.

[Paloma Pam]

We are talking about my neighborhood so I feel qualified to give us a B- or a C+ on weather. It is all relative and the city gets a C- most days.

Articles like this a likely to reduce our affordability grade to a C but that's the way it goes. Thanks. I don't comment often but I really enjoy this blog. Merry Christmas.

[hillsider]

Don't let the city magazines whine about our cultural diversity to you. It's a scam. They are talking out of both sides of their mouths. And the weather aint that bad either compared to most of the city.

[jennifer]

Totally agree with you-if the editors are talking "Culture", then that's a different animal. The suburbs will never be able to compete with the variety and number of "Arts" offerings, nor should we try. I think people move to suburbs like ours for 'better' weather, small town feel, and schools, (not to mention-in the case of Burlingame, the benefits of living very close to a culturally rich city).

[jennifer]

From today's Chron:
SF Restaurateurs Look South

In the eyes of many top San Francisco chefs, the food scene on the Peninsula has been in something of a time warp, dotted with chain restaurants, run-of-the-mill Continental fare and little ethnic spots that have gone in and out of business.
But suddenly, trendy restaurateurs - from the folks behind Delfina and Pizzeria Delfina to the owners of Tacolicious - have noticed the perceived dearth of dining options and are opening restaurants south of the city.
"I haven't seen a fresh fava bean on any menu in the area," said Craig Stoll, who with his wife, Anne, plans to open a third Pizzeria Delfina outside San Francisco in Burlingame. "We just haven't seen a lot of what's common in San Francisco - a commitment to product, menus driven by farmers' markets and actual cooking instead of assembling food - on the Peninsula."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/restaurants/article/SF-restaurateurs-look-south-4193961.php#ixzz2I3dgVD1W

[hillsider]

You can always count on the Chronicle to be a month behind!

[Joe]

I can't seem to find the letters to the editor of the San Francisco magazine on their website (www.sanfranmag.com) but this month there is a letter from B'game as follows:

I appreciate the inclusion of Burlingame Terrace among your group of utopian neighborhoods. However, saying that it's a "far cry from being culturally diverse" is an unfair knock. Walk down Burlingame's commercial streets and you will hear English, Spanish, Mandarin, Hindi, Farsi, Turkish and Russian being spoken. If you want to run a story on "Pleasantville," take your pick of Pleasanton or Pleasant Hill.

David Klein, Burlingame

I don't know David, but kudos for making the point to them!

[local motion]

The San Francisco magazine review on Delfina says in the 13 years since it opened Italian food in SF has moved from Americanized red sauce outposts to someplace closer to Italy. In this context dinner at Craig and Anne Stoll's beloved Mission district restaurant doesn't seem as astounding as it used to.

They say the service is still very good but the reservations are guesstimates. I'm still hoping for good or better onthe avenue.