Viz Valley

 “Just Thinking"

I’ve got a couple of things to get fired up about this week and I had to share.

First things first, we’ve officially hit a major mortgage rate milestone: the 30-year fixed has fallen below 6%. After the rapid rise in rates over the past couple of years and all the uncertainty that followed, I’ve been saying that the housing market would be poised for a real comeback once we broke that 6% threshold. Well, this week, that moment finally arrived.

Mortgage rates just hit their lowest level since 2022, with the 30-year fixed averaging 5.98%. That’s not just a dip, it's a turning point for buyers, sellers, and the entire industry. Improved affordability has the potential to bring a surge of pent‑up demand back into the market.

Big things could be on the horizon, let’s be ready.

Secondly, I’m still fired up after the U.S. men’s hockey team’s gold medal victory on Sunday morning, especially when it is combined with the women’s team bringing home gold earlier in the week. The bragging rights alone are outstanding, but what’s really kept me engaged is all of the clips of the players celebrating, it’s been just a joy to watch.

This ride feels so different from the Miracle on Ice in 1980, when a young group of amateurs stunned the world by beating the Soviet powerhouse in the semifinals and then rallying again to beat Finland 4–2 in the gold‑medal game. The subsequent hype has had to hold us for the past 46 years, until this week when Team USA broke through to unify us all under 1 flag.

If you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend Miracle: The Boys of ’80 on Netflix. Released just ahead of the Olympics, the documentary was timed intentionally to remind audiences why that moment still resonates. With the Hockey Team back in the spotlight, the film is timely, connecting generations of fans and reigniting national pride.

One other moment that totally captivated me and had me reflecting on Olympics of old was the amazing victory in figure skating by Oakland Native Alysa Liu, who became the first American woman to win the event in 24 years.

We have been spending a lot of time lately cleaning out Mom and Dad’s house, getting it ready to sell. The project has taken much longer than expected because everything that we move or attempt to get rid of elicits a memory of days gone by. Having moved into the house in 1964, it is the only house that my siblings ever lived in, I lived with Mom and Dad in a set of flats off Army St. but only maintain a few memories of living there. All my growing up memories are from the house on Talbert St.

Talbert St., in the heart of Visitacion Valley and was a great place to grow up. Nestled in the shadows of San Bruno Mountain in the southeastern corner of San Francisco, on the boarder of Daly City and a couple of short miles from Brisbane.  When trying to explain where I lived to neophytes, I would say that we lived off Bayshore Blvd. between the Cow Palace and Candlestick Park. If you make it as far as the Geneva Towers, turn around fast, you have gone too far.

When we first moved to the neighborhood, many of the residents were old timers in the Valley, who would tell stories of how the neighborhood evolved from a rural part of the city to become more urban and family oriented.

The parish of Our Lady of the Visitacion has been the center of the neighborhood and was essential in developing a strong and lasting faith-based community. Our Lady of the Visitacion Church was established in 1907 as a small wooden structure on Cora Street. The new and current church was opened in 1952, which was followed by the opening of the parochial school in 1964.

Viz Valley has one of the city’s most documented origin stories, linking Indigenous history, Spanish colonization, Mexican-era ranchos, American annexation, agriculture, industrial development, and 20th‑century demographic change.

Have a great week, keep on pushin’

Let me know what you think.