Once an Asset, Now a Liability

Proximity to San Francisco was once an asset but is now a liability to some Bay Area counties.

Headline: San Francisco's rotten reputation is killing tourism across the Bay Area [bold added]

According to the survey results, the city’s rotten reputation — regardless of whether this perception was valid or not — is actively deterring domestic travelers from even considering the rest of the region.

A striking number of respondents, nearly half in some cases, agreed that San Francisco’s woes have made visiting a county like Sonoma unattractive, even though it’s 45 miles away and vastly different from the city.

We unwound at the Kenwood Inn in Sonoma County

Fixing San Francisco's problems isn't as critical to the economic health of counties that are tech-based, but those dependent on travel and leisure, like Sonoma and Napa, have been particularly affected.

Speaking from personal experience, we've been very satisfied with overnight trips to Wine Country. Napa and Sonoma counties are well over an hour's drive from San Francisco, but both geographically (hot and dry during the summer) and culturally they feel much more distant. Here's hoping that they can endure the pain while San Francisco fixes itself.

Astride Two Worlds

(Chronicle photo)

In the Chronicle's words California wineries are "obsessed" with 32-year-old geologist Brenna Quigley:

Over the last few years, her reputation has soared within the wine industry, to the point where it’s a point of pride — and a marketing boon — to be able to say that Brenna Quigley did your vineyard’s geologic analysis. The 32-year-old is inarguably the state’s premiere wine geologist.

Then again, she might be the only person in California who identifies as a wine geologist. Her success is a testament to the fact that she has single-handedly established a demand for a service that five years ago many wineries likely never considered...

That ability to bridge geology and wine is what distinguishes Quigley from other vineyard consultants. “I saw that people were speaking two different languages,” Quigley says.

Wine people had one lexicon, while geologists had another. And among her fellow geologists, she perceived “a slight disrespect for the wine tasting aspect of it,” Quigley says. Concepts held sacrosanct by winemakers, like terroir — the idea that wines are capable of expressing a sense of place — were dismissed by scientists as woo-woo.

Quigley grew up in the Midwest in a family of geologists: Her father and brothers run a business that explores sites for heavy-metal mining. Quigley left for UC Santa Barbara, initially intending to become a marine biologist. Eventually she relented and switched to the family trade.

After getting her master’s, Quigley abandoned plans to pursue a PhD. Instead, she worked at wine shops and bartended. She got a job at the Kunin Wines tasting room in downtown Santa Barbara and began to befriend local winemakers. “I called my parents and said, ‘You’re not going to believe it, but these wine people also decorate their houses with rocks,’” she says.

She soon discovered that many winemakers were eager for basic geology lessons, so that they could communicate about their own vineyards more effectively. “There was this thing people wanted to talk about so badly, but they didn’t have the words to do it,” she says. Wineries started hiring her to help them write blurbs on their websites...

Quigley elucidated details that even longtime vineyard owners hadn’t been aware of, and she produced the first-ever detailed geologic maps of the county’s wine regions.

Brenna Quigley bestrides the worlds of geology and oenology, and her time is now.

Unlike the thousands of young adults who will do almost anything to garner attention on social media, the attention came to her because of her unique talent stack.

In this build-her-up-and-tear-her-down age, I hope the following doesn't happen:

1) politically-oriented groups will hold her up as a shining example of a successful STEM woman and ask her to speak out on any number of topics that she has not thought deeply about, thereby provoking a reaction from other politicized groups;

2) geologists with PhDs, jealous of her popularity, will sniff at the depth of her knowledge ("among her fellow geologists, she perceived 'a slight disrespect for the wine tasting aspect of it.'"). If they're so smart, why aren't they doing it?

Her Midwest and family roots should see her through. I hope Brenna Quigley continues her success.

Wildfires and Homelessness, Too

San Francisco's homelesness gets all the publicity, but other cities in the Bay Area have major problems, too.

In the North Bay Santa Rosa struggles with biggest homeless camp in county history: [bold added]

(Photo from Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

Kat MacKay is tired of screams erupting around her at night. She’s tired of the outbreaks of syphilis and stomach flu in the nearby tents, the stench of trash, the rats and mice chewing anything resembling food.

MacKay is one of 300 people living at the biggest homeless camp Sonoma County has ever seen, a mile-long sprawl of tents alongside Highway 12 at the southwest end of Santa Rosa on county parkland. Still, there are two things the 19-year-old likes about the settlement: She can stop hunting for places to sleep, and she has lots of company in her misery.

Santa Rosa, 60 miles north of San Francisco, has a population of 180,000 and is wrestling with 3,000 homeless. Far wealthier San Francisco has a population five times as large and can't solve the problem of 7,000-10,000 homeless.

Like most people I know, I have tried to help with time and money. But continued proximity to the tents, drugs, and unsanitary conditions also degrades our own neighborhoods and hardens our hearts. So I feel some compassion for the people of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County, too.

EDNC: A Trusty Conduit for Fire-Relief Donations

As we near the one-year anniversary of the Camp Fire (November 8, 2018), Northern California again has been beset by wildfires. The devastation hasn't been as bad, perhaps because of evacuations and electricity shutoffs (PSPS) to a million people, but the precautions had their own cost. However, policy discussions are for another day.

How do we help the displaced and the suffering?

As with last year, we'll be making a donation to the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California "because it's an effective, trustworthy conduit for fire-relief donations." From the website:

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Across the diocese, many of us are experiencing power shut off and the question of how to have services with no power. Our office has fielded some calls about this, and we want to encourage each of our congregations to:

Be Safe: do what you need in order to be safe
Be Creative: if possible, hold services as a witness to the risen Christ
Be Bold: remember that we are witnesses to the wider community

St. Paul's has sheltered the homeless since 2017.

Our church and community in Healdsburg and the surrounding area are all under evacuation. Click here for fire and evacuation news. Bishop Megan, Canon Andrea, and Director of Operations Kati Braak have been in contact with church leadership: the Very Rev. Daniel Green, Dean of the Russian River Deanery and St. John's, Petaluma; the Rev. Sally Hubble, St. Paul's, Healdsburg; and the Rev. Stephen Shaver, Incarnation, Santa Rosa; who are all working to coordinate response and hospitality efforts.

We are praying for St. Paul’s, Healdsburg: in gratitude for the ongoing outreach and service that they have for the homeless. St. Paul’s, today, is a center for the homeless to gather for transport to evacuation sites. We pray in hope: that all will be safe in the midst of this crisis. St. Paul’s will hold their Sunday Services at Incarnation, Santa Rosa.

We pray for Good Shepherd, Cloverdale: they are safe at this time, and in contact with the bishop’s office. They are holding Morning Prayer services and are opening their homes for safe harbor for those in need.

We pray for our diocese: as we all bear witness to the risen Christ and share this journey with one another.

We want to give: the bishop’s office has sent $6,000 to St. Paul’s already, and gift cards have been purchased and distributed. We are contacting Episcopal Relief and Development today. More will be needed, and we ask that you give generously.

Online Donation Information:

Click here to make a donation: 100% of your donation will go towards disaster relief, distributed by the clergy at their discretion.

Donation link: bit.ly/NorCalDisasterRelief

Check Donation Information:
Want to send a check?
Make checks out to EDNC, with "Disaster Relief" in the memo line

The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California
350 University Avenue, Suite 280
Sacramento, CA 95825

Gift Card Donation Information:

The following types of gift cards are being requested:

Safeway

Visa

You can mail the gift cards to The Office of the Bishop, who will coordinate distribution.

The Episcopal Diocese of Northern California
350 University Avenue, Suite 280
Sacramento, CA 95825

Bay Area Real Estate: Rich Getting Richer

(Per Chronicle)

There are clear signs that the Bay Area housing market has peaked.  While median prices have declined in only a few counties, increases were in the low single-digits.

The number of units sold has fallen by 11-13%, indicating that deal prices would have actually declined if owners were motivated to sell.

The low-end of the market has slowed, but the high-end is still going strong (hence the distinction between the median and average prices). [bold added]

while Bay Area home sales were about 5% lower than last year’s second quarter, sales of homes above $3 million surged, bringing them in line with last year’s historical peak.

Peninsula Realtor Ken DeLeon noted that foreign buyers, especially from China, are still active in the $10 million-and-up range. However, their purchases of homes in the $2 million to $4 million range “has tapered off, almost to zero,” The imposition of more stringent capital controls has made it hard for most people to get money out of China, unless you’re “uber wealthy,” DeLeon said. Most Chinese buyers purchasing high-priced homes in the Bay Area are doing it through their companies, he added.

In related news about the high-end, the median home price in Atherton has risen to $8.1 million, nearly double the tony towns of Hillsborough and Los Altos Hills.

A business colleague bought a house in Atherton in 1975 on a junior executive's pay (about $50,000). He was fond of telling me (bragging?) at the time that he was making more on price appreciation than from his salary.

Here's hoping that John held on (or traded up!).

Plus ça change

Honolulu: as power needs grow, the tangles get worse.

Telephone poles and overhead power lines have been a ubiquitous part of the Honolulu landscape ever since I can remember. They're still in every neighborhood a half-century later despite the danger and poor esthetics. The cost of burying infrastructure (electricity, trains) is enormously expensive, so little has been done.

In Napa and Sonoma counties Pacific Gas and Electric faces similar costs to Hawaiian Electric and did not bury most of its power lines.  PG&E is being blamed for starting or at least exacerbating the fires that have raged for over two weeks. The property damage--estimated so far at well under $5 billion--is much less than putting power lines throughout Northern California:

A new underground distribution line across most of PG&E’s territory costs about $1.16 million per mile, according to data filed with state regulators during the utility’s most recent general rate case. That’s more than twice the price of a new overhead line, which costs about $448,800 per mile. Most of the difference comes from the expense of digging a trench for the cable.

Prices rise within cities, where the work is more complex. A 2015 San Francisco report found that recent costs for moving power lines underground in Oakland had averaged $2.8 million per mile, while similar work in San Jose had cost $4.6 million per mile.

And burying high-voltage transmission lines — the kind usually strung from immense steel towers across long distances — can cost as much as $5 million per mile, according to PG&E.

Overhead lines are also easier and cheaper to fix:

Repair crews have no trouble spotting a knocked-over power pole or downed line. But when an underground line fails, operators first have to figure out where the problem occurred, without being able to see it — though sensors attached to the power lines can help narrow things down. Then they have to dig.

After the fires are out, expect to see the usual kabuki: personal stories of loss, public chastisement of PG&E, damage assessments, lawsuits, and settlements paid years from now. By then the new overhead power lines should be up and running.

Too Soon

Prediction: expect certain wine-tasting terms (smoky, crisp) to become more prevalent in the coming years.

Poor taste! (Are we talking about the wine or this post?)

The fires are still burning; it's too soon.

"It was a hell-storm of smoke and ash"

We are 60 miles south of Novato, the closest of the fires, yet we could smell the smoke. Friends in San Francisco said that ash was falling on their house.

Unlike previous fires that have struck unpopulated areas, these have spread through wine country and North Bay cities.

A swarm of fires supercharged by powerful winds ripped through Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties Monday, killing at least 10 people, injuring dozens of others, destroying more than 1,500 homes and businesses, and turning prominent wineries to ash.

Starting in the middle of the night, the fires hopscotched across neighborhoods, raced across fields and jumped freeways. Wind gusts up to 70 mph pushed walls of flames nearly 100 feet high, throwing embers ahead like hot fingers into strip malls and subdivisions. Many people who fled the surge had enough time to grab car keys, perhaps a pet, but not much more.

Winery building in Napa County (Chronicle photo)

And it's far from over.

Today the only thing we could do was head to Costco to stock up on wine. Wineries have been destroyed, thereby reducing both inventories and production capacity for years.

After the situation is contained, we'll look at ways we can assist the recovery.

Cooler Brows, Lighter Wallets

The home AC is on the blink, and we were desperate to escape the 100-degree temperatures. On Saturday we rode in our comparatively efficient air-conditioned car to the Graton Casino in Rohnert Park, 50 miles north of San Francisco.The drive took two hours due to the holiday traffic, but no matter, we were comfortable.

Stepping out of the car, we were hit with a blast of heat and hurried into the casino.

Pushing on the pleasure machines

Five hours later, I was down $100, not a bad result when a casino with a regional monopoly pays off blackjacks at 6-5 instead of the standard 3-2.

One overpriced dinner in Larkspur, a much less congested trip south over the Golden Gate, and we were home by 9 p.m.

A Slice of Heaven

Black gold from Santa Rosa, CA (Chron photo)

It took over 100 years for Napa and Sonoma wineries to be declared the equal of their venerable French counterparts at the "Judgment of Paris" in 1976, but North Bay orchards--some using vineyard lands--are on a much faster track to competing with another renowned French export: [bold added]

Several weeks ago...was the first successful harvest among several orchards betting on Wine Country as the world’s next great truffle-growing region.[snip]

High-quality imported fresh black truffles typically cost $800 per pound and are at their prime up to four or five days after harvest, about the time it takes to fly them from Europe or Australia

Growing truffles, like making wine, is a multi-year endeavor.

Preparing the site for your truffière requires the most labor. Remove all trees, stumps and root systems from previous growth, then test your soil. Since truffles require a soil pH of 8 to 8.3, United States growers must apply agricultural lime before planting.

Once your soil is prepared, consider irrigation. Maturing [oak and filbert] trees require about an inch of water a week. When growing truffles, you do not plant one or two trees; you plant one or two acres of trees. If watering the trees proves too labor-intensive, you will likely abandon your orchard and your investment.

For a few seconds I entertained the idea of becoming a gentleman truffle farmer, but tending to two acres of trees is too steep a price, especially without seeing any results for the better part of a decade.

Here's hoping that California truffles will be on sale at Whole Foods or Costco in the not-too-distant future. If they're under $100 a pound, I'll cut me a slice or two.

Disappointing Day-Trip

$12 bowl of noodles from the Boathouse.

For the third year running (see 2013 and 2014) our relative has visited Marin County during the holidays, and for the third year in a row we took her to the Graton Casino in Rohnert Park.

I looked forward to the 160-mile round trip. A nice, albeit overpriced, lunch at the casino's M.Y. Noodles restaurant, a couple of hours at the tables, and the remaining time sipping coffee and using the WiFi connection at the Marketplace food court.

Except...M.Y. Noodles closed last weekend. The disappointment was compounded when I ordered a bowl of noodle soup at the food court. The bowl cost $12 and only had a few bits of crab and no vegetables. Pathetic, but that's what happens when the casino knows that it's inconvenient to go for food elsewhere.

Graton also takes advantage of its local-monopoly position on the gaming floor. Slots were tight (no loud cheering, signaling large jackpots) and blackjacks pay 6-5, not the standard 3-2.

Our relative, though she said that she enjoyed herself, will be visiting San Jose in the first half of 2016. We'll try a casino in Central California the next time.

The Day After

Plump, tasty, and tender

Our visiting relative has both a bigger budget and love for the slots than we do. Being gracious hosts, we complied with her wish to return to Graton.

The casino was more crowded than it had been on New Year's Eve. I killed time at the bar in Martin Yan's M.Y. Noodles. The drinks and food were generally overpriced (menu here), but one tasty bargain was the chicken feet at $5.

Chicken feet (they're cleaned thoroughly and the toenails are removed) are marinated, fried, and steamed over many hours. M.Y. Noodles gets the texture right---very tender but not overcooked to the extent that the feet fall apart. The dish compared favorably with the best dim sum palaces in SF and the Peninsula.

Chicken feet dim sum in Rohnert Park? Knock me over with a feather.

New Year Lesson

Haggard diarist is coming to resemble the Buddhas of Graton

A visiting relative eagerly acceded to a gambling outing at the Graton casino, a two-hour drive north. We hadn't gamed since last April, and our war-chest was restocked.

Your humble observer doesn't particularly enjoy playing at Graton; the casino takes advantage of its local gaming monopoly by nearly usurious odds---for example, a blackjack pays 6-5 rather than the standard 3-2.

But the food's good and the free WiFi allows me to sit for hours after I lose my stake. Keep your expectations low, and you'll be much happier, a lesson I intend to carry with me into the New Year.

That's Progress

Statuettes at M.Y. China

The previous days' rains had scrubbed the landscape, and it was a perfect morning for a drive. A family member wanted to revisit the Graton casino in Sonoma County, less than a two-hour drive from the Peninsula. Traffic was heavy through the City, but once past the Golden Gate Bridge it was smooth sailing to Rohnert Park.

At the casino we sat down to lunch at M.Y. China ("M.Y." stands for Martin Yan, the celebrity Chinese chef.) M.Y. China's decor and menu offerings are a cut above the average Chinese restaurant, as are the prices.

I lingered on the M.Y. dim sum collection ($19). The quantities were not extravagant, but the seasonings and freshness of the ingredients were excellent. The dim sum collection was the perfect lunch to nibble on while companions tried their luck at slots and blackjack.(Graton's free Wi-Fi makes it easy for casual or non-gamblers to pass the time.)

30 years ago I would have spent every available second at the tables. Now a couple of hours was more than enough, and I left Graton that evening with the same amount that I started with. That would have been a better-than-average result 30 years ago, so I suppose that's progress.

Graton Resort and Casino, Rohnert Park

(Photo from California Home Design)

Everyone in the car enjoyed their first visit to the new Graton casino, and not just because three out of four brought home heavier wallets than they started out with.

Several family members are highly allergic to cigarette smoke; hay fever and asthma attacks are triggered after several hours of exposure. While Graton does permit the vice, the carpets, tablecloths, and chairs are not (yet) steeped in tobacco residue. Unlike expeditions to other nearby casinos, this trip was blessedly allergy-free.

Dining options were decent though not spectacular. The food court "marketplace" offered inexpensive choices, and four restaurants served more upscale but not outrageously priced fare. Graton doesn't bother with a buffet, probably a good thing since I would have been tempted to try it.

By far the most attractive feature is its location. Just off of Highway 101, Graton is 45 miles north of San Francisco. It took us 90 minutes to get there in normal traffic from the Peninsula and is 30 to 60 minutes closer than the nearest alternative. Closer, cleaner, and a touch classier than its competition, Graton will get the lion's share of our gaming time (but hopefully not our money) in the coming year. © 2013 Stephen Yuen

The Bishop's Ranch

The youngster started church youth camp last weekend. He had friends who were going, and he had been looking forward to the retreat for a month. He gathered all the items on the packing list and filled his suitcase, a first for his personal organization.

Despite our lifelong affiliation with the Episcopal Church, we had never made the two hour drive north to the Bishop’s Ranch. Traffic over the Golden Gate Bridge last Sunday was heavy, belying reports that the price of gas had prompted a drop in discretionary driving. The posted prices, between $4.45 to $4.55 per gallon along Highway 101, matched those on the Peninsula. I was mildly pleased that the privileged denizens of Marin County suffered the same as we did. It wasn’t schadenfreude, more like misery loving company.

The Bishop’s Ranch is about six miles off the freeway, nestled among the vineyards near Healdsburg. Its buildings and landscaping were neat, well-maintained, and welcoming. At 5:15 p.m. he was one of the last to arrive. I counted over 30 kids, about an even split of girls and boys. Thank goodness there was plenty of supervision. We helped him unpack, gave him a hug, and wished him well.

It had only been a few hours, but I felt my nasal passages clearing in the dry air. A mound of work was waiting for me on my desk, but spending an unplanned vacation day in wine country became immensely appealing.

Friends have told me that at my age (ahem) it’s okay to stop working for the future. I left the freeway and pointed the car east. Time for some instant gratification.

The Kenwood Inn

The Kenwood Inn and Spa is just off the Sonoma Highway, and the driveway is easy to miss when one is traveling 50 miles per hour. In Sonoma County signage is discreet, a plus for esthetics but a minus for tourists who want to drive quickly to their destination.

The Kenwood Inn labors valiantly—and largely succeeds—in keeping civilization at bay. The walls and shrubbery shield most of the road noise, and there are no TV’s in the rooms. Guests are forced to converse, go for a stroll, listen to music, sit by the fire, read a book (each room does have a stereo, a fireplace, and a stocked bookshelf), partake of one or more spa treatments, or possibly engage in activities best left undescribed in this family journal. If you’re looking for electronic distractions or loud music and entertainment, this is definitely not the place.

I had stayed there once before at a small gathering of our business customers, where I found the soothing environment to be conducive to conversation and just getting to know other human beings. If the other human being is your partner who’s heard every story you have to tell a dozen times, at least the 13th will be recounted on a couch next to the fire.

The Girl and the Fig

That night we went to Sonoma Plaza and parked near a corner which had five restaurants in sight. My partner had a good feeling about the both the name and posted menu of The Girl and the Fig. Although it was 9 PM on a Sunday night, we had to wait half an hour for a table. We nibbled on three varieties of goat cheese, fruit, and fig (bien sûr!) while seated on a comfortable sectional in the waiting area.

I ordered the prix fixe meal---escargots, grilled fish and shrimp, and a selection of silver-dollar-sized cakes for dessert. She ordered a radish salad. An extra plate allowed us to share everything. The snails were tender but were my only quibble with the entire meal; I prefer my escargots to have a stronger garlic bite. The radish and seafood (on two skewers, perfect for splitting) were crisp and flavorful. The cakes, dark chocolate, coconut peach, and mocha cream, perfectly complemented the strong coffee which ended the meal.

On the drive back to the hotel I missed the left turn off the unlit road. No problem. On this unscheduled vacation day I was off the clock.

In Small Doses

Water Wheel

In the morning at the Kenwood Inn one awakens to the sound of water. There is flowing water everywhere, from fountains, water wheels, or an overhead pipe into the pool. We took our time getting ready and ambled along the stone path to the dining room.

There were a couple of businessmen, distinguishable not so much by their ties but the hurried manner in which they downed their coffee and flipped through the Chronicle. But most of the other diners were like us, casually dressed and moving at a relaxed pace. We helped ourselves to croissants, juice, and coffee. A few minutes later the waitress brought us a spinach omelet and fresh fruit.

After an hour we returned to the room to pack. We had the patio all to ourselves, so we lingered till noon sipping coffee. The mound of work back at the office needed to be attended to, so we pulled ourselves away. Instant gratification should be taken in small doses.

The curtained outdoor spa overlooks the pool.

Pleasant Day in Wine Country

The Island visitors have acquired a taste for wine, encouraged by a 21st-century science that recommends light imbibing for medicinal reasons. I picked them up at their hotel last Monday, and within 40 minutes we were sipping wine on a Sonoma hillside. We would hit a few of the larger, well-known tasting rooms; not among our group were the sophisticates who troll California for out-of-the-way wineries highly rated by the Wine Spectator. We knew enough to taste the difference between a zin and a cab, but that’s about the extent of our expertise.

The Viansa is one of the first wineries one encounters on the way to Napa / Sonoma. Perched on a hillside, it’s a favorite venue for wedding receptions and corporate functions. The amicable host gave us the history of each vintage as he poured a sampler into our glasses (the humble tour guide declined to participate---it was not even 11, and there was a lot of driving to come).

One of the visitors started to pass around pictures of her grandchildren and chat about each one. I struck two destinations off the six in my tentative itinerary. Long and leisurely would be the theme for this pleasant day in wine country. © 2007 Stephen Yuen

The view at Viansa.