An unlikely backer
Questions Linger Over Future of San Francisco Neighborhood ‘Slow Streets’
By tyndicated Local – CBS San Francisco : msn – excerpt (includes video)
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — Over the course of the pandemic, so-called “slow streets” popped up in neighborhoods throughout San Francisco. They’re designed to limit through traffic on some residential streets to create a common, shared space for those also traveling on foot and by bicycle.
There are nearly 30 corridors throughout the city, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).
But at Kirkham St. and 34th Ave., longtime local Elisa Smith thinks the slow street there is more of a nuisance than a benefit.
“The one here on Kirkham, it’s almost never used by anybody other than cars whizzing around the signage,” she said. “A lot of these are just causing more problems than they are a source of enjoyment for people.”…(more)
RELATED:
Residents Fight To Preserve San Diego’s Last Remaining ‘Slow Street’
…In January and February, the city quietly removed slow streets in the College Area, North Park and Emerald Hills. Now Diamond Street in Pacific Beach is the last that remains of the program…(more)
Surveys and polls are rigged everywhere. This is a non-partisan issue. Mayor Falconer is a Republican who follows the Democratic biker path down the road of lost political causes. California politicians have decided to link transportation and housing programs under a program that forces density and removes cars at a pace that most people object to. Sacramento created the war on cars and it is up to the voters to fight back, surrender, or leave. We shall soon see where the SF voters stand.
What the de Young Museum needs to recover from the COVID pandemic
By Thomas P. Campbell : via email (ran in the SFChronicle 11/22/2021)

On Oct. 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake hit the Bay Area with a magnitude of 6.9. At the de Young Museum, the shock waves inflicted grave damage, leaving the building with a “high potential for partial collapse.” As a result, the de Young
needed to be rebuilt, and despite having a history in Golden Gate Park going back as far as 1894, serious consideration was given to moving the museum downtown. San Francisco residents, however, overwhelmingly supported keeping the museum in its original location. And so it was rebuilt inside the park, where it remains.
Before COVID struck, the de Young drew as many as 1 million visitors per year to Golden Gate Park, including 50,000 San Francisco Unified School District students. We welcomed and continue to welcome low-income visitors and people with disabilities at low or no cost. Every Saturday we offer free admission for San Francisco and the entire Bay Area.
Running a museum in the middle of the city’s largest park, however, while ensuring equitable access to residents in the Bay Area and beyond, is not without its challenges…
Continue reading “What the de Young Museum needs to recover from the COVID pandemic”
Planning Asks Amazon to Repackage Development Proposal
By Bettina Cohen : potreroview – excerpt
The San Francisco Planning Department issued a 55-page response in April that calls for changes to a proposal Amazon submitted to develop a last-mile parcel delivery facility in Showplace Square.
The planned 900 Seventh Street facility would be three stories and 650,000 square feet, according to the Preliminary Project Application (PPA) that Amazon submitted in February.
“The letter we published is kind of a road map,” said Richard Sucre, Planning Department principal planner. “Our processes are layered and challenging for everyone.”
MG2 Corporation, the Seattle-based architectural firm that submitted the PPA for Amazon, describes itself on its website as “expertly navigating jurisdictional complexities” for clients.
Amazon has 18 months to modify its application and satisfy California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements, including transportation, noise, and air quality studies.
“We won’t accept their application until they provide everything we’ve outlined. Until the environmental review is done, we won’t move forward with approval,” Sucre said…(more)
SHARP meeting with SFCTA on Congestion Parking
SHARP, www.sharpsf.com posted the Feb. 21, 2021 zoom meeting with Rachel Hiatt, SFCTA Rachel begins talking at minute 5, use the slider under the video.
Town Hall Report on Opening the city streets and action items:
Download notes on the meeting: 6-14 updates.
Parking lots kill. They also just saved lives.
Opinion by Joe Matthews : bakersfield – excerpt (also ran in SF Chronicle)
Friends, Californians, fellow drivers, stop honking your horns and lend me your ears…
California officials — all honorable — tell us that parking consumes huge amounts of property that might be used more productively for business, housing, or transit. Abundant parking encourages people to drive more. And more driving means more accidents, more injuries and deaths, and more pollution and greenhouse gases…
I know… anti-parking policies are well-intentioned. And yet, I stare into the bleak future of the California parking lot, and feel a strange sadness. Parking lots have been, for all their faults, good and true friends to our communities too…
And have not parking lots provided utility, even life-saving service under COVID? Think how many more people might have died if our state didn’t have so many large parking lots — from Petco Park-adjacent lots in San Diego to the Cal Expo and State Fair lots in Sacramento — to turn into mass testing and vaccination sites. Hospitals used their lots to set up tents for patients during COVID surges. Communities turned parking lots into tent cities to shelter the homeless safely, and temporarily, with the virus spreading…
You could even say parking lots saved democratic politics, as election rallies became drive-ins. Might our fair state still be slurred daily by President Trump, without the dedicated service of so many parking lots to Joe Biden’s campaign?…(more)
The sentiments echo mine when I heard about the plans to build on top of the visitors’ parking lot at General Hospital. My first concern was where are they going to set up emergency triage tents when they need them. This was years ago, before they did. I suppose the next step is to close down streets to set up tent or set them up in parks. There is a real need for open space around the hospitals and there is a need for parking and vehicle access during a major catastrophe.
When you read emergency evacuation plans, the first order of business is to pack your personal vehicle with all the essentials you can, and save room for people and pets. The larger the vehicle is, the higher off the ground, and the more metal it contains, and the stronger the engine is, the better your chances are of making it out under dire circumstances. A 4-wheel drive truck is not a luxury vehicle during an evacuation.
CDFW Takes Proactive Measures to Increase Salmon Smolt Survival
cdfgnews – excerpt
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is taking the proactive measure of trucking millions of hatchery-raised juvenile Central Valley fall-run chinook salmon this spring to San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay and seaside net pens due to projected poor river conditions in the Central Valley. The massive trucking operation is designed to ensure the highest level of survival for the young salmon on their hazardous journey to the Pacific Ocean…(more)
Special Public Hearing on Proposed Great Highway Pilot on June 10
Tune in on Thursday June 10 at 1 p.m. at www.sfgovtv.org for a special joint hearing with the SF Recreation and Park Commission and the SFMTA Board to discuss a proposed pilot on the Great Highway.
Members of the public are encouraged to call in during the hearing or provide feedback via email:
- Day of Public Comment Call-In Number: (415) 655-0001/Access Code: 187 147 3320
- SF Recreation and Park Commission: recpark.commission@sfgov.org
- SFMTA Board: mtaboard@sfmta.com
For additional meeting information, see the flyer below, or call 311.
And consider signing the petitions here:
https://www.discoveryink.net/wp/petitions/