how quickly can one blog?

How quickly can one blog? or Journal? 

A draft rushed in 3 minutes or so. Entire entry with links and photos about 30 minutes while still working, juggling. Final draft another 20 minutes at stolen moments and additional research material for Automobile Historical  Row on Van Ness Ave. (see below)

An early start to the day means there is time go get java at Starbucks on Bush at Van Ness.  In this part of town where I am currently employed on Van Ness between O’Farrell and Ellis, there are no Starbucks in a radius of two blocks.  Just Pete’s and Philz Coffee.  Pete’s is no good for me.  Philz with an emphasis on personal touch takes too long.  For those desiring Philz, it is best to download their app on your cell phone if you must have Philz.

Under Construction California Pacific Medical Center replacing old Cathedral Hotel

​​Thus, the construction worker team safety guys in line at Starbucks made our sexy SFBoy-Files for today. Also posted SFGirl-Files and NYCBoy Filesl

SFBOY-FILES

NYCBOY FILES

SFGIRL-FILES

This part of the town used to be known as Automobile Row.  The buildings here look like great palaces or cathedrals with impressive Showrooms to showcase automobiles like Cadillac (1000 Van Ness) now AMC Theatre.  Old Package Building now showcases British Motor Cars at 901 Van Ness (Land Rover and Jaguar) and 999 Van Ness (Bently, Lamborghini).  Closer to Starbucks at Bush on Van Ness is Infiniti and Nissan.  Further down Van Ness an Academy of Art houses an automobile museum with an emphasis on British cars..

AUTOMOBILE ROW
​VAN NESS AVE

Infiniti Van Ness Ave

Old Cadillac Building now AMC THEATRES, Van Ness Ave.

Nissan Van Ness Ave

Historical Auto Row SF

​Van Ness Avenue, from its beginning at Market Street to just north of Pacific Avenue, was the premier auto showroom district in San Francisco from shortly after the earthquake and fire of 1906 until the 1980s. Although only a few active auto dealerships remain on the avenue, many buildings that were built as auto showrooms and that have 

BMC: Bently, Lamborghini & Pagini, Van Ness Ave

BMC: Land Rover and Jaguar, Van Ness Ave

Historical Auto Row
continued

undergone adaptive reuse survive to the present day. In addition, many early garages, auto repair shops, and other automotive support buildings still stand within a two-block radius of Van Ness. This corridor, about 22 blocks in length and slightly over three blocks in width, contains by far the largest concentration of auto-related buildings in San Francisco.  This corridor, about 22 blocks in length and slightly over three blocks in width, contains by far the largest concentration of auto-related buildings in San Francisco. Although many of these buildings now have other uses, their auto-related origins are often evident from their architectural appearance. The larger auto showrooms typically have wide expanses of glass in the lower and upper stories, a monumental scale, and sometimes lavish ornamentation to advertise their products.

Garages used for automobile storage and auto repair shops possess wide portals for auto entrance and egress, and often the width of these entrance bays is repeated across the entire façade. Showrooms and garages are usually built of reinforced concrete, a material that facilitated large window areas and the storage of autos on upper stories.  The distinctive appearance of these 11 Van Ness Auto Row Support Structures: A Survey of Automobile-Related Buildings buildings is clearly derived from their original uses, and thus one can find a close tie between the history and the architecture of these buildings. These buildings proved useful as auto showrooms, garages, and repair shops for many decades. Although over 90% were built during the period 1909-1929 (and nearly 100% by 1937), dozens of these buildings continued to serve these uses into the 1980s.

After 1909, it was almost never economical to tear down an existing automotive building in order to replace it with a newer one for autos, regardless of changing technologies, new styles, and a growing population. The fact that most were built of reinforced concrete, could support great weight, and were rated as “fireproof” gave these buildings a timeless quality as far as their usefulness for the auto industry was concerned. A few of these buildings maintain their original use almost 100 years after they were constructed. At least 250, and probably closer to 300, auto-related buildings were built within the study area between 1906 and 1938. A large number of these have been demolished since the 1960s, mostly for residential and office buildings, and others have been heavily altered, but over 100 still stand and retain most of their architectural integrity. 
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