Pickleball: a Danger to San Francisco's Way of Life

Presidio Wall courts near Pacific Heights (Chron)

First world problem: the exploding popularity of pickleball has caused some San Francisco homeowners, bothered by the noise, to petition to shut down pickleball courts. [bold added]

In the petition, [Holly] Peterson argues the sound of yellow-plastic-ball-meets-paddle “isn’t just grating” but that it’s “altering our way of life and the wildlife of our cherished Presidio.”

She and another neighbor, Mary Tesluk, demand that the city suspend all pickleball play until a full environmental study can be completed on the sport’s impact on everything from wildlife to parking.

It took only a few mouseclicks to discover that Holly Peterson lives in an 8-bedroom, 11,320 sq. ft. mansion that's being listed for $36 million. The twist is that her home has a private pickleball court.

There is custom millwork throughout as well as bold colors. The kitchen, for example, has a blue La Cornue range as well as matching blue cabinets and blue leather stools. The primary suite has a balcony and two large dressing rooms. Off the kitchen and family room is a deck with an outdoor kitchen. A steel staircase connects the deck to a large garden terrace and a pickleball court.

The super-rich are different: disco balls and private pickleball (WSJ photo)

Personally, I admire her nerve for trying to suspend pickleball for San Francisco's little people, that is, those who don't have their own courts. I also appreciate the petition's argument that pickleball is antithetical to wildlife and the environment. (It's reminiscent of the City of Woodside trying to halt housing development because of the danger to mountain lions.)

It's really noisome when environmental rules that were meant to stymie evil industrialists are used to thwart what supporters of these rules want for themselves. That's not what we meant!