Personally I LOVE Trader Joe’s. Pretzels wrapped in seaweed, dipped in chocolate, rolled in dirt and prayed on by shaman monks ( Ok, I made that product up, but they do have some ridiculously healthy ODD yum-yums). Having no car, I was secretly rooting for TJ’s on Market Street in the Castro district of San Francisco. But I may have now changed my mind and here are 2 reasons why. Molie Stones opening on 18th Street and Whole Foods near Church/ Market. While you all were fighting over the prized spot in Castro ( thats been emoty for how many years now??) these two other high end markets beat you to it so now we have NO NEED FOR TRADER JOE”S in Castro.
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via Bay Area Reporter
Tensions flare over Trader Joe’s parking
by Matt Baume
A packed meeting of the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association Monday, February 14 addressed a proposed Trader Joe’s in the former Tower Records building in the Castro, leaving many neighbors divided over the project.
“It’s a market we’ve been trying to get into for many years, probably since the late 1990s,” Doug Yokomizo, Trader Joe’s general counsel and vice president of real estate, told the Bay Area Reporter . He anticipates a Planning Commission meeting by April.
But neighbors expressed concern over parking and transit, particularly in light of a draft traffic study that found that the store would draw 2,100 to 2,500 cars per day, or 160 to 190 per hour.
Those cars would require 1,050 to 1,250 parking spaces per day, but the building’s garage can only accommodate 209 per day, the study says. On-street parking in the area is limited. The building is at Market and Noe streets.
Several nearby intersections are already rated “Level F” by the city, the poorest possible rating for congestion and delays.
Among other modifications, the project would convert the sidewalk into a loading area for tractor-trailers parked on the street, potentially blocking the bike lane.
Accidental Bear 