A gray whale that has been staying in San Francisco Bay since February, in a detour from its normal northward migration, and has spent far more time in the bay than any other whale scientist has observed.

The previous record for a gray whale in the bay was 46 days. Now, with this grey, it’s 67 days.

Bekah Lane, a whale field research specialist at the Marine Mammal Center, said gray whales “appear to be moving deeper into the Bay, even near Oakland and Alameda, and are spending more time in the Bay than in previous years.”

Since the beginning of the migration season, scientists at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito have identified at least eight gray whales and one humpback whale in the bay, including the gray whale that has been resident there since February 9.

San Francisco kayaker RJ Andrews spotted a whale on a paddle out of Crane Cove Friday morning for the first time in years of kayaking in the area, which he described as “exhilarating”.

“I can’t say I want to see it because it’s not good for the whales,” said Andrews, 38, who isn’t sure if it was a humpback whale or a gray whale. “But when I do, it’s quite an exciting thing.”

The behavior of the whales worries scientists.

Hanging out in the bay, a relatively new phenomenon, “isn’t part of what we know as a gray whale’s normal migration,” Lane said.

Humpback whales arrived in San Francisco Bay in 2016 and gray whales followed in 2019. For gray whales, this marks a stopover on their normal migratory route from breeding grounds in Baja California to feeding grounds in Alaska, usually crossing the bay between mid-February and mid-May. In the case of humpback whales, the new behavior is likely due to one of their favorite prey species, anchovies, migrating closer to shore following an ocean heatwave in the mid-2010s.

While humpback whales tend to come into the bay briefly to feed, gray whales often stay much longer because they’re tired or hungry — scientists don’t quite understand why. But they can’t find enough food on the Bay, which doesn’t have the same high quality food as Alaska. Overall, the whales’ physical condition has deteriorated since they entered the bay in 2019, Lane said.

Whales can be identified by specific markings on their tail fins, such as fingerprints. In photos over time, including when it was last sighted on April 17, the record-breaking gray whale has shown signs of deterioration, including weight loss and abundance of sea lice, an indicator of greater health problems, Lane said.

The whales’ new patterns have put them in danger, with frequent whale deaths being attributed to ship attacks. Two gray whales washed ashore dead this month, one in Bolinas and one in San Leandro, and both were likely killed by a ship, according to the Marine Mammal Center.

Andrews, a former college rower, makes a 3-mile loop out of Crane Cove several times a week and almost always sees a sea lion or seal. On Friday he first saw what he believed to be a whale spray near Oracle Park and then paddled south and finally saw the whale himself.

“It was this big black mass,” he said, thinking to himself, “‘This whale is moving much faster than I could follow it.'”

Despite having a new high-performance carbon fiber paddle, he never got closer than 300 meters from the whale. Soon it had ventured onto Oakland.

Andrews then became concerned about the whale due to the heavy traffic in the bay and contacted the Marine Mammal Center.

“When you see all these boats going so fast,” he said, “they don’t know there’s a whale sailing under them.”

To report a whale sighting, call the Marine Mammal Center’s 24-hour helpline at 415-289-7325 or go to https://www.marinemammalcenter.org

Reach Tara Duggan: tduggan@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @taraduggan

The post Grey whale busts document for many time spent in San Francisco Bay appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Generation Z isn’t the first generation to face recessions, high levels of debt, and struggles to find a good job. Every generation has been through this and much more. The Greatest Generation entered the workforce still enduring the agony of World War II.

The 1956 film The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit starred Gregory Peck as a soldier still traumatized by the death, suffering, and shared casualties of war as he attempted to integrate into a booming America steeped in materialism , competition and cocooned children. He’d crossed the emotional divide of a starving lover in wartime Italy to a woman in an American suburb, bitter that they didn’t have a fancier home.

It would be a stretch to compare the experiences of a war-torn generation to the fears of Gen Z born between 1995 and 2012. However, many Zoomers have also experienced contortions caused by the distancing, frozen opportunities of the COVID-era socializing and human disconnection imposed by life lived online.

(Less affected were others who had to physically appear at work during the pandemic — essential grocery store workers, police, plumbers, nurses, doctors, bus drivers. They had human company despite being more exposed to the virus.)

In the film, a friend talks about a new public relations position. “But I don’t know anything about public relations,” says the Peck character. To which the friend replies, “Who? You have a clean shirt. You wash yourself every day.

With many offices returning, young Americans are trying to step into the gray flannel world at a time when many don’t even know what this world is wearing these days. However, the white-collar tradition, with its penchant for continuity, draws many of them more than the glamor of new technology and the chance to get rich quick at the expense of hours playing the lottery. They want to trade the fear of not knowing what the next corporate reorganization will bring for the feeling that the furniture of their professional life is not being moved every two weeks.

Suzy Welch, a professor at New York University, confirms this impression. She writes that her Gen Z students long for a stable work life. They tend to want jobs in an ongoing company, not the opportunity to join a glitzy startup.

Handshake, a Gen Zers recruitment agency, recently asked business school students what they wanted most in a future employer. As Welch reports, a staggering 85% wanted “stability” and only 29% named a “fast growing company” as their first choice.

Their preferred travel destinations also indicate a desire for traditional ways of doing business, even with low taxes or a warm climate. The five most interesting cities for these groups were New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC and Chicago – home of gray flannel offices. They wanted cosmopolitan cities full of restaurants, nightlife, and public spaces that encourage interaction with other people.

Sure, many people who have worked from home like it and don’t want to commute again. But they may not have much of a choice. Employers are concerned about remote work as engaged collaboration appears to have waned at the start of the crisis. And now that golf courses and restaurants have reopened, employees have places to say goodbye to in the middle of the day. “It’s the numbers,” one executive told the Wall Street Journal.

Working hours may be more hybrid than in the past, but all signs point to more time in an old-fashioned office. Younger workers looking for a social life may like it.

No matter how regulated, there is no place like the office.

Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. To learn more about Froma Harrop and read contributions from other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website at www.creators.com.

The post Gen Z will get able to don the grey flannel swimsuit | Columns appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Froma Harrop

Generation Z isn’t the first generation to face recessions, high levels of debt, and struggles to find a good job.

Every generation has been through this and much more. The Greatest Generation entered the workforce still enduring the agony of World War II.

The 1956 film The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit starred Gregory Peck as a soldier, still traumatized by the death, suffering and shared casualties of war as he tried to integrate into a booming America, one of materialism, competition and cocooned children was haunted. He’d crossed the emotional divide of a starving lover in wartime Italy to a woman in an American suburb, bitter that they didn’t have a fancier home.

It would be a stretch to compare the experiences of a war-torn generation to the fears of Gen Z born between 1995 and 2012. However, many Zoomers have also experienced contortions caused by the distancing, frozen opportunities of the COVID-era socializing and human disconnection imposed by life lived online.

(Less affected were others who had to physically appear at work during the pandemic — essential grocery store workers, police, plumbers, nurses, doctors, bus drivers. They had human company despite being more exposed to the virus.)

In the film, a friend talks about a new public relations position. “But I don’t know anything about public relations,” says the Peck character. To which the friend replies, “Who does that? You have a clean shirt. You bathe every day. That’s all there is to it.”

With many offices returning, young Americans are trying to step into the gray flannel world at a time when many don’t even know what this world is wearing these days. However, the white-collar tradition, with its penchant for continuity, draws many of them more than the glamor of new technology and the chance to get rich quick at the expense of hours playing the lottery. They want to trade the fear of not knowing what the next corporate reorganization will bring for the feeling that the furniture of their professional life is not being moved every two weeks.

Suzy Welch, a professor at New York University, confirms this impression. She writes that her Gen Z students long for a stable work life. They tend to want jobs in an ongoing company, not the opportunity to join a glitzy startup.

Handshake, a Gen Zers recruitment agency, recently asked business school students what they wanted most in a future employer. As Welch reports, a staggering 85% wanted “stability” and only 29% named a “fast growing company” as their first choice.

Their preferred travel destinations also indicate a desire for traditional ways of doing business, even with low taxes or a warm climate. The five cities that were of most interest to this group were New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC and Chicago – home of gray flannel offices. They wanted cosmopolitan cities full of restaurants, nightlife, and public spaces that encourage interaction with other people.

Sure, many people who have worked from home like it and don’t want to commute again. But they may not have much of a choice. Employers are concerned about remote work as committed collaboration appears to have waned at the start of the crisis. And now that golf courses and restaurants have reopened, employees have places to say goodbye to in the middle of the day. “It’s in the numbers,” an executive told the Wall Street Journal.

Working hours may be more hybrid than in the past, but all signs point to more time in an old-fashioned office. Younger workers looking for a social life may like it.

No matter how regulated, there is no place like the office.

Froma Harrop is a syndicated columnist. You can email to [email protected].

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The post Froma Harrop: Gen Z will get able to don the grey flannel swimsuit appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

By Froma Harrop

Generation Z isn’t the first generation to face recessions, high levels of debt, and struggles to find a good job. Every generation has been through this and much more. The Greatest Generation entered the workforce still enduring the agony of World War II.

The 1956 film The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit starred Gregory Peck as a soldier still traumatized by the death, suffering, and shared casualties of war as he attempted to integrate into a booming America steeped in materialism , competition and cocooned children. He’d crossed the emotional divide of a starving lover in wartime Italy to a woman in an American suburb, bitter that they didn’t have a fancier home.

It would be a stretch to compare the experiences of a war-torn generation to the fears of Gen Z born between 1995 and 2012. However, many Zoomers have also experienced contortions caused by the distancing, frozen opportunities of the COVID-era socializing and human disconnection imposed by life lived online.

(Less affected were others who had to physically appear at work during the pandemic — essential grocery store workers, police, plumbers, nurses, doctors, bus drivers. They had human company despite being more exposed to the virus.)

In the film, a friend talks about a new public relations position. “But I don’t know anything about public relations,” says the Peck character. To which the friend replies, “Who? You have a clean shirt. You wash yourself every day.

With many offices returning, young Americans are trying to step into the gray flannel world at a time when many don’t even know what this world is wearing these days. However, the white-collar tradition, with its penchant for continuity, draws many of them more than the glamor of new technology and the chance to get rich quick at the expense of hours playing the lottery. They want to trade the fear of not knowing what the next corporate reorganization will bring for the feeling that the furniture of their professional life is not being moved every two weeks.

Suzy Welch, a professor at New York University, confirms this impression. She writes that her Gen Z students long for a stable work life. They tend to want jobs in an ongoing company, not the opportunity to join a glitzy startup.

Handshake, a Gen Zers recruitment agency, recently asked business school students what they wanted most in a future employer. As Welch reports, a staggering 85% wanted “stability” and only 29% named a “fast growing company” as their first choice.

Their favorite travel destinations also indicate a desire for old-fashioned ways of doing business, even with low taxes or a warm climate. The five most interesting cities for these groups were New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC and Chicago – home of gray flannel offices. They wanted cosmopolitan cities full of restaurants, nightlife, and public spaces that encourage interaction with other people.

Sure, many people who have worked from home like it and don’t want to commute again. But they may not have much of a choice. Employers are concerned about remote work as engaged collaboration appears to have waned at the start of the crisis. And now that golf courses and restaurants have reopened, employees have places to say goodbye to in the middle of the day. “It’s the numbers,” one executive told the Wall Street Journal.

Working hours may be more hybrid than in the past, but all signs point to more time in an old-fashioned office. Younger workers looking for a social life may like it.

No matter how regulated, there is no place like the office.

Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at [email protected]

The post Gen Z will get teady to don the grey flannel swimsuit appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Generation Z isn’t the first generation to face recessions, high levels of debt, and struggles to find a good job. Every generation has been through this and much more. The Greatest Generation entered the workforce still enduring the agony of World War II.

The 1956 film The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit starred Gregory Peck as a soldier, still traumatized by the death, suffering and shared casualties of war as he tried to integrate into a booming America, one of materialism, competition and cocooned children was haunted. He’d crossed the emotional divide of a starving lover in wartime Italy to a woman in an American suburb, bitter that they didn’t have a fancier home.

It would be a stretch to compare the experiences of a war-torn generation to the fears of Gen Z born between 1995 and 2012. However, many Zoomers have also experienced contortions caused by the distancing, frozen opportunities of the COVID-era socializing and human disconnection imposed by life lived online.

(Less affected were others who had to physically appear at work during the pandemic — essential grocery store workers, police, plumbers, nurses, doctors, bus drivers. They had human company despite being more exposed to the virus.)

In the film, a friend talks about a new public relations position. “But I don’t know anything about public relations,” says the Peck character. To which the friend replies, “Who does that? You have a clean shirt. You bathe every day. That’s all there is to it.”

With many offices returning, young Americans are trying to step into the gray flannel world at a time when many don’t even know what this world is wearing these days. However, the white-collar tradition, with its penchant for continuity, draws many of them more than the glamor of new technology and the chance to get rich quick at the expense of hours playing the lottery. They want to trade the fear of not knowing what the next corporate reorganization will bring for the feeling that the furniture of their professional life is not being moved every two weeks.

Suzy Welch, a professor at New York University, confirms this impression. She writes that her Gen Z students long for a stable work life. They tend to want jobs in an ongoing company, not the opportunity to join a glitzy startup.

Handshake, a Gen Zers recruitment agency, recently asked business school students what they wanted most in a future employer. As Welch reports, a staggering 85% wanted “stability” and only 29% named a “fast growing company” as their first choice.

Their favorite travel destinations also indicate a desire for old-fashioned ways of doing business, even with low taxes or a warm climate. The five most interesting cities for these groups were New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC and Chicago – home of gray flannel offices. They wanted cosmopolitan cities full of restaurants, nightlife, and public spaces that encourage interaction with other people.

Sure, many people who have worked from home like it and don’t want to commute again. But they may not have much of a choice. Employers are concerned about remote work as committed collaboration appears to have waned at the start of the crisis. And now that golf courses and restaurants have reopened, employees have places to say goodbye to in the middle of the day. “It’s in the numbers,” an executive told The Wall Street Journal.

Working hours may be more hybrid than in the past, but all signs point to more time in an old-fashioned office. Younger workers looking for a social life may like it.

No matter how regulated, there is no place like the office.

Froma Harrop’s column is distributed by Creators.

The post Froma Harrop: Gen Z will get able to don the grey flannel swimsuit | Winchester Star appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

By Froma Harrop /creators.com

Generation Z isn’t the first generation to face recessions, high levels of debt, and struggles to find a good job. Every generation has been through this and much more. The Greatest Generation entered the workforce still enduring the agony of World War II.

The 1956 film The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit starred Gregory Peck as a soldier, still traumatized by the death, suffering and shared casualties of war as he tried to integrate into a booming America, one of materialism, competition and cocooned children was haunted. He’d crossed the emotional divide of a starving lover in wartime Italy to a woman in an American suburb, bitter that they didn’t have a fancier home.

It would be a stretch to compare the experiences of a war-torn generation to the fears of Gen Z born between 1995 and 2012. However, many Zoomers have also experienced dislocations caused by the distancing, frozen opportunities of the Covid-era, socializing and human disconnection imposed by life lived online.

(Less affected were others who had to physically show up at work during the pandemic; the essential grocery store workers, police, plumbers, nurses, doctors, bus drivers. They had human company despite being more exposed to the virus.)

In the film, a friend talks about a new public relations position. “But I don’t know anything about public relations,” says the Peck character. To which the friend replies, “Who does that? You have a clean shirt. You bathe every day. That’s all there is to it.”

With many offices returning, young Americans are trying to step into the gray flannel world at a time when many don’t even know what this world is wearing these days. However, the white-collar tradition, with its penchant for continuity, attracts many of them; more than the glamor of new technology and the chance to get rich quick at the expense of hours of fines in the lottery. They want to trade the fear of not knowing what the next corporate reorganization will bring for the feeling that the furniture of their professional life is not being moved every two weeks.

Suzy Welch, a professor at New York University, confirms this impression. She writes that her Gen Z students long for a stable work life. They tend to want jobs in an ongoing company, not the opportunity to join a glitzy startup.

Handshake, a Gen Zers recruitment agency, recently asked business school students what they wanted most in a future employer. As Welch reports, a staggering 85 percent wanted “stability” and just 29 percent named a “fast-growing company” as their top choice.

Their preferred travel destinations also indicate a desire for traditional ways of doing business, even with low taxes or a warm climate. The five most interesting cities for these groups were New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC and Chicago; Houses of offices made of gray flannel. They wanted cosmopolitan cities full of restaurants, nightlife, and public spaces that encourage interaction with other people.

Sure, many people who have worked from home like it and don’t want to commute again. But they may not have much of a choice. Employers are concerned about remote work as engaged collaboration appears to have waned at the start of the crisis. And now that golf courses and restaurants have reopened, employees have places to say goodbye to in the middle of the day. “It’s the numbers,” one executive told the Wall Street Journal.

Working hours may be more hybrid than in the past, but all signs point to more time in an old-fashioned office. Younger workers looking for a social life may like it.

No matter how regulated, there is no place like the office.

Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. Email her at fharrop@gmail.com. Copyright 2023, Creators.com.

The post Harrop: If not donned in grey flannel, Gen Z anticipating workplace appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

This January, California experienced historic storms that battered the coast with waves up to 50 feet high. The incredible surf washed up a lot of interesting things in the sand, but probably nothing more poignant than the massive skull of a gray whale on Muir Beach.

The skull weighs around 400 pounds, which isn’t surprising given that gray whales – which travel near the California coast on their migration between Mexico and the Arctic – typically weigh more than 50,000 pounds and are 40 feet long. And as luck would have it, marine researchers already knew the creature it belonged to: a 38-foot woman believed to have been killed in a ship attack near the Golden Gate Bridge last spring and whose body was found on nearby Little Beach washed up.

The logistics of transporting the carcass proved daunting, so the decision was made to allow the whale to decompose naturally. That way, it could continue to return after death, a Marine Mammal Center spokesman said, because natural decomposition “provides an essential food source for small forage fish, birds, crustaceans, small land-based predators, and nitrogen back into the ecosystem.”

Now the whale’s skull will offer even more value. A National Park Service official decided that the “Presidio Field Station, a new park curiosity lab at the Presidio Tunnel Tops, would be an ideal place to share it and its history with the public,” says Damien Raffa, Senior Park Experience and Partnerships Specialist at the Presidio Trust. Volunteers working with the National Park Service bundled the skull onto a truck and carted it to San Francisco where it will be on display.

“These are now the largest bones in the Presidio Field Station collection, and we hope their presence will inspire wonder about these water giants who are ancient migrants along the Golden Gate,” says Raffa. “We are honored to be its stewards and to be able to share this beautiful planetary life form with park visitors.”

Volunteers help transport the skull of a gray whale killed by a ship from Muir Beach to the Presidio Field Station. (National Park Service)

The post A grey whale killed by a ship is a science exhibit in San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — In an apparent crime spree in San Francisco, several homes in different neighborhoods across the city were targeted by home invasion robbers within a few hours involving a gray Infiniti.

William Ton was at home with his mother on Jan. 4, when would-be intruders tried to break in through the front door on 31st Avenue in the Outer Richmond.

READ MORE: COVID: Masks Will Still Be Required In Some Places Even After Mandate Is Lifted

“As you can see their goal was to get in through the lock opening here,” said Ton, showing KPIX 5 a photo of the damage.

Ton believes his dog Chewy ultimately deterred the crooks.

“He was barking and yelping the whole entire time and usually when he does that, we thought he was trying to bark at other dogs,” he said.

Around the same time, a neighbor’s ring camera a few houses down captured a gray Infiniti parked out front. A person gets out and walks up to the door and knocks.

“I could hear tools clanking in his jacket,” said Tom Hsieh said. “He went up and knocked on our neighbor’s door and this was all on our video. Thankfully, he didn’t get in, because they’re elderly shut-ins, they’re a great couple, but they’re old. They must have come to the door, because he went back to his car, and then hit our neighbor four or five doors up.”

“I’m shocked, around this neighborhood, it’s usually very quiet,” Ton said. “People around here are great, and for these guys to just come around and do what they please, and get away with it, it’s just crazy.”

READ MORE: Bay Area Ukrainians Grow Anxious Over Threat Of Russian Invasion Back Home

Security video just one street over on 30th Avenue and Fulton Street shows a gray Infiniti backing into the driveway of an apartment complex about 10 minutes later before noon.

Using what appears to be a tool, two suspects break the gate and then a third one follows. A resident who was home at the time said they hit three units in about 10 minutes. Video shows the suspects rushing out of the complex with bags in hand.

Earlier that same morning, about five miles away in the Outer Mission / Ingleside neighborhood, a gray Infiniti is seen backing into the driveway. Two sisters were inside at the time. The suspects broke the metal gate and forced their way in.

“I hid in the closet because I didn’t really know what to do. I was really scared,” said one of the sisters, who declined to give her name for privacy reasons.

Video shows three suspects wearing what appears to be the same clothes running into the getaway car with stolen items.

“They’re going into our homes like they’re going into our parked cars in the middle of the night, except they’re doing it in broad daylight,” said Hsieh. “They don’t care if we’re in those homes or not, they don’t care if there are seniors there or children there. They’re just going in and taking things. This is not acceptable at all at any level and San Francisco – all of us have to say enough is enough.”

MORE NEWS: San Francisco Voters To Decide Whether To Recall 3 School Board Members

KPIX 5 have reached out to SFPD to see if they’re investigating these crimes as being related.

The post San Francisco Residence Invasion Crime Spree Involving Grey Infiniti Stuns Residents – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Image courtesy of Andreas Strandman / Unsplash

Between the pastel tones and gold leaf decorations, one can see more and more a striking juxtaposition: 125-year-old houses painted in the tones of a nuclear warhead from the Cold War or a dormant cinder cone. In neighborhoods like Mission and Haight, this phenomenon reads for some residents as the eradication of the Latino community or the ongoing counterculture. – The guard

Gentrification has fundamentally changed what New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio once called the “crisis of desirability”.

As in the Big Apple, many high-paid workers have begun to return to their former wasted enclaves, contrary to a trend that initially seemed to shrink the city’s tech population significantly due to the pandemic, leading to even more reluctance among the locals.

“I’m not moving. I’m not going anywhere. I have my roots,” a lifelong resident told the Guardian. “Working with kids, teaching kids music without asking for money. It’s about giving back to the community. Latin- Rock music originated here in the mission district, so my aim is to keep it alive. “

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The post ‘Gentrification grey’ is the most recent design pattern sweeping San Francisco’s as soon as colourful rowhouses | Information appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

R.Ichard Segovia’s house is as loud as the Latin rock music he teaches kids in his basement studio. With colors ranging from jungle green and royal blue on the sidewalk to a red and yellow sunburst on the ridge, the otherwise humble Spanish-style house is essentially a giant mural, a crowded portrait of long deceased musicians, Segovia’s family members, social activists, various psychedelics and one or the other jungle animal.

Segovia has lived in the Mission District of San Francisco since 1963 and sees itself as the guardian of the district’s culture, especially as the birthplace of Latin rock. (Carlos Santana, a family friend, grew up nearby.) But increasingly, the 68-year-old “Mayor of the Mission” is faced with a stark display of all the colors that have been bled from the city in successive waves of technology-driven ones Gentrification.

“I walk through the neighborhood every day and see all these gray houses,” says Segovia. “It’s like a cemetery.”

From the International Orange of the Golden Gate Bridge to the intricately carved and painted facades of the Painted Ladies in Alamo Square, vivid colors have long been the grammar of San Francisco’s native architecture.

Richard Segovia stands in front of his brightly painted house in San Francisco. The house next to his is painted gray. Photo: Talia Herman / The Guardian

But between the pastel tones and the gold leaf decorations you can see more and more a conspicuous juxtaposition: 125-year-old houses painted in the tones of a nuclear warhead from the Cold War or a dormant cinder cone. In neighborhoods like Mission and Haight, this phenomenon reads for some residents as the eradication of the Latino community or the ongoing counterculture. Gentrification gray houses have become a totem of wealthy intruders. The rush of wealth to central cities is global in scope, but its impact has been particularly pronounced in San Francisco – all the more as the city is known to value its own uniqueness.

Some of these homes have accents of black or darker gray. Some are just the color of a stranded humpback whale. Many have the crispy oxidized planters full of succulents or geometrically austere horsetail plants straight from a dwell magazine page, while others feature brightly painted doors in the same off-neon palette as athleisure clothing.

To their proponents, they’re sleek and contemporary, with paintwork that can take a punch without ever looking dirty. To their critics, they’re unimaginative, historically inaccurate deviations that a wealthy biotech CEO who wears a gray Patagonia fleece vest every day will appreciate – or worse, real estate agents are pushing to add some appeal to a potential investment property in the country nobody is allowed to live.

“I had some concerns about painting our house gray, even though it’s a symbol of gentrification in the Mission,” says Kate Shaw, who lives with partner Dav Rausch in a Mission Victorian they bought in 2012. But the couple, a professional designer and a designer by Hobby, say gray was a “jumping off point” in “reinventing” the “shape” of their pre-1900 home.

A calendar shows a home with a color scheme on historic buildings in the Bay Area designed by Bob Buckter, an independent color consultant. Photo: Talia Herman / The Guardian

“Going towards monochrome might be interpreted as lazy, but getting those colors right is his own business. It’s an art in itself, ”she said of Facetime during a tour. “Color emphasizes the shape and not the other way around.”

“We hired a Latino crew led by a Latino who was laid off from my company,” added Shaw. “People said, ‘Hire him! He’s great and we want to make sure he’s looked after and cared for. ‘ His crew said, ‘We’re used to so much more color and we love that!’ They placed it at the top of their website as what they were most proud of. “

The notion that Victorian houses were traditionally polychromatic is as much a myth as is our contemporary notion of ancient Roman cities like Bone White. As a form of civic improvement, Roman buildings were brashly – garishly decorated by most modern standards – while San Francisco’s Victorians were likely relatively drab when first built.

“When these Victorians started they didn’t have that many color options – usually white or gray, lead-colored. You didn’t pick out the moldings, ”says architect David Baker, who lives in a gray house himself. “I think we shouldn’t take it seriously – it’s just color.”

But for Bob Buckter, known as Dr. Color, it is anything but just color. He has worked as an independent color consultant on historic buildings in the Bay Area for more than 50 years – around 18,500 by his count.

“I talk to people, find out what their taste is, what they like, what they don’t like, whether they are wild or conservative, whether they like dark blue or dark gray or polychrome, how they are dressed, how they design their interiors” he says in his gray-purple office with aubergine-colored curtains and hand-painted ceiling medallions.

Many Buckter customers return for a second or third treatment – in some cases a fourth. He takes a straightforward approach of giving the customer what he wants and tries not to impose his own taste on people. But the usual result is a uniquely harmonious mixture of colors, so that a monochrome, matte exterior appears contradicting his practice. Is it simply a taste preference or the mutilation of an irreplaceable treasure from an old sequoia tree?

“All of that. I’ve spent my life taking care of the architectural details of historic houses and other architectural things, and I want to find out the purpose that they let me in and make color. Whether the market is selling the building or Proud of ownership, I have to take care of all of that in my design, “says Buckter, who thinks I’ve done something.”

After consulting with so many homes and getting enough attention that his work has resulted in copycat jobs, it’s likely that Buckter shifted collective tastes in a certain direction. Consequently, the rise of the gray Victorian could be a reaction against his aesthetic.

Bob Buckter, known as Dr. Color, has consulted on nearly 18,500 historic buildings in the Bay Area – including his own home in the Mission. Photo: Talia Herman / The Guardian

“That can be part of it,” says Buckter. “I think the main reason is a trend towards simplicity and modernity. They are fed up with the polychrome look, some of these people. This trend has been noticed by others and some people just ride the wave of this trend. “

The lack of color annoys some longtime residents whose love for the sedate San Francisco homes has never diminished.

“I wish they’d make me the color officer for San Francisco so that people would check with me what colors they were using,” says artist and photographer Liz Mamorsky. “Some people try to do something good and restore a Victorian style, but they don’t quite get the colors right. You want that retinal flash that you get by having two complements of the same shade. “

Fred Messbarger, a 15-year-old homeowner in Mission, calls the gray trend “heartbreaking,” saying that the “beauty of San Francisco resides in the Victorians and Edwardians, and the contrast of the houses and the curves and the details – and that too.” Neighbors”. . One house could have completely different colors than the others. “

Messbarger had his Italian house repainted in turquoise, navy blue and white around 1870, with gold details and a neon green door. Everyone in the family had input and the response was positive.

“When I work outside in the garden or even leave the house, I keep getting comments and compliments,” says Messbarger. “It’s nice to hear because it took us five years to decide what to paint.”

“I didn’t think we were brave,” he adds. “I just thought we were bringing back color. The door is bold, but that’s our son’s fault. “

But sometimes gray is what happens when a diverse group tries to make a decision.

Eric Carlson owns a condominium in a four-story building that is home to a Latino family, a Greco-American family, and another single man. When it came time to repaint the “deep pale pink with white moldings” on the exterior, these very different people found it difficult to come to an agreement. After six weeks of looking at Swatches, everyone made lists of their top 4 and their two “absolutely not”. The result? Homburg Gray, with parchment white trim.

“I would have been fine with a much more expressive color,” says Carlson. “I was also aware that this had to be a consensus and that these were acceptable colors. Do i love her No. But does it look a lot better than what we had before? By and large, life is about compromise. I knew that by the early 20s there would be no appetite for a historically accurate color. “

If nobody really loves it, then why does gray seem to dominate?

“I think we’re in a strange place where this slate gray looks like a popular color and so is self-reinforcing,” says Carlson. “We are used to this dull palette of modern architecture, and it is boring. We are not exactly in the Baroque era of architecture. “

For some brokers, a dull tungsten gray coat can do more than just dampen the look. When a luxury real estate company bought the house next to Segovia and painted it gray, Segovia tried to put down the real estate agent and tell him that whoever bought the house would have a rock musician as a neighbor.

Cousins ​​Maggie Guillen, 12, left, and Noe Zuleta, 14, sit on the front steps of their home in the Mission District. Photo: Talia Herman / The Guardian

“He wouldn’t pay any attention to me. So I said, ‘I’m going to take revenge on these fools.’ ”Segovia put his speaker system against the wall and slammed Metallica during the open house.

Eventually, the real estate company spent $ 40,000 to soundproof Segovia’s home studio so they could offload their property – to people who paid $ 750,000 and then four years later for $ 1.7 million to the current owner sold.

Segovia has been offered $ 2.5 million in cash for his home so many times that he threatened an aggressive agent with legal action.

“I’m not moving. I’m not going anywhere. I have my roots,” he says. “Working with kids, teaching kids music without asking for money. It’s about giving back to the community. Latin rock music is Made here in the mission district, so my aim is to keep that alive. “

As for the ongoing cruelty, “There should be a law,” says Segovia. “Enough is enough. For me they are prison colors.”

The post ‘It’s like a cemetery’: the pattern turning San Francisco’s colourful homes ‘gentrification grey’ | San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.