Outer Sunset Week: Casino Bus Woes, Kung Fu With Supervisor Tang, MLK

It's been a busy first week since we officially launched our coverage of the Outer Sunset. Here are some newsy highlights from our newest neighborhood.

The biggest headline this week: Outer Sunset residents are fed up with the trash, noise, and other disruptions caused by casino buses that pick up and drop off passengers in the neighborhood's residential areas. Supervisor Katy Tang's office is working with the SFMTA to find a solution, but so far, no timeline has been set.

Some eyebrow-raising real estate news comes from an Outer Sunset house that's been vacant since 2000, when a fire gutted its innards. As SFGate reports, the house at 20th and Pacheco, which is in tear-down condition, just hit the market for the first time since the blaze. The 2,500-square-foot lot and its fire-ravaged 2-bedroom, 1-bath house can be yours for a mere $600,000.

In other, even more disheartening housing news, SFist reports that two groups of Outer Sunset renters are at risk of eviction after their landlord's in-law unit was rendered unlivable. This reduced the house to a single-family unit, thus exempting it from rent control and prompting the landlord to—you guessed it— quadruple the rent, from $2,145 to $8,900. One renter has filed an appeal.

Photo: Stella Egar/SF Zoo

Last weekend, the San Francisco Zoo held an orientation for its 10-week docent training program, in which volunteers learn zoo history, conservation, ecology, and how to handle bird bones, all in the interest of teaching school groups and other visitors. If you missed it, don't despair: they're planning another orientation for Sunday, March 3rd.

Another eco-friendly Outer Sunsetter is Kyle Parsons, founder of Indosole, an environmentally conscious shoe company that makes shoes out of repurposed rubber tires. We met with him to learn the story behind his shoes, and his plans for recycling even more tires.

Red line = existing height limit. Blue line: with AHBP bonus. (Image: via SF Planning)

Tuesday's Planning Department meeting at the County Fair Building, regarding the Affordable Housing Density Bonus Program, ended up making headlines for the announcement that rent-controlled buildings would be excluded from the program, which allows developers to add two floors to existing buildings in exchange for making 30 percent of the units affordable. But many locals remained concerned that the program would displace longtime residents and businesses.

Now, a look ahead to the weekend's events: