[timbad]

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/...w-13657106.php

The new 826 Valencia writing center in Mission Bay sells pet rocks, lumberjack repellent, fairy lanterns, “foresty smells” air fresheners, unicorn horn polish that doubles as lip balm and walking sticks for “mid-sized creatures that walk on hind legs.”

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But to most San Franciscans, the biggest surprise about the space at 1300 Fourth St. — the official name of the store is the Woodland Creatures Outfitters Ltd. — won’t be the whimsical architectural flourishes or the unusual goods sold in the store. It will be that the place is full of children — Mission Bay children, to be exact.

Over the last two years, Mission Bay — a neighborhood known for its hospital, medical research facilities and upscale apartment complexes — has been quietly filling up with families. In addition to hundreds of kids sprinkled throughout the market-rate buildings, the neighborhood is now home to three new affordable complexes — 1300 Fourth St., 1180 Fourth St., and 588 Mission Bay Blvd. North — with a total of 820 people younger than 18.

This year, 140 more children are expected to move into 1150 Third St., a building that will house a combination of families and formerly homeless veterans.

The influx of families into the neighborhood comes as an even greater transformation is about to happen.

The Golden State Warriors’ Chase Center arena will open this fall with a collection of new restaurants and retail spots. Dropbox and Uber will move into new corporate headquarters, while the Marriott SoMa Mission Bay Hotel will welcome its first guests in summer 2020.

Fourth Street — planned as the neighborhood’s main shopping drag — is starting to come alive after five years in which it was characterized by empty glass boxes on the ground floor of expensive apartment buildings. In the past two years, a juice shop opened, along with a pizza place, an Ethiopian restaurant, a cafe, two yoga spots, a framing store and an outpost of Gus’s Community Market.

But while Mission Bay has lush parks and sparkling playgrounds, it lacks the churches, recreation centers and schools that help working families squeak by in more established parts of the city. There are no inexpensive bodegas, thrift stores, job training centers, food pantries or Boys & Girls Clubs. About 63 percent of Mission Bay’s children live below the poverty line.

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The space was built pro bono — contractor BCCI volunteered its construction services while Jason Schulte of Office and Jonas Kellner of WRNS Studio provided design and architecture services.

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The need for after-school programs in Mission Bay was evident from the moment the writing center opened on Feb. 19. Immediately, its desks filled with kids, Nazarian said. It’s also a community builder. The families in Mission Bay’s affordable buildings have relocated from different parts of the city, many from the Bayview and Tenderloin, and are still meeting their neighbors.

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