Mission Streetscape workshop #2
Wednesday August 20, 6-8:30 pm
Women's Building Auditorium
3543 18th Street btw. Valencia and Guerrero

The San Francisco Planning Department is holding its public second workshop on the Mission Streetscape Plan.

The Mission Streetscape Plan is funded by a $745,000 grant from the state of California. The grant will fund a public planning process to design the streets and public spaces of the Mission District and complete environmental review. The plan will set a framework for future capital projects.

The boundaries of the study area for the Mission Streetscape Plan are roughly Division Street on the north, US-101 on the east, Cesar Chavez, Mission Street and San Jose Avenue on the south, and Dolores Street on the west.

For more information, visit the Planning Department's Mission Streetscape Plan web page and Cesar Chavez Street Design web page.

Tuesday August 26, 10-11 am
Thursday August 28, 6:30-7:30 pm
Mission Police Station community room
630 Valencia Street at 17th

The Department of Public Works (DPW) and Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA), working with neighbors and merchants to redesign Valencia Street on the blocks between 15th and 19th streets. The plan involves widening sidewalks by 3-5', building corner bulbouts to shorten crossing distances, wider bicycle lanes, as well as better street lighting and consistent street trees, and removing the median in favor of turn pockets at key intersections.

DPW is holding two public meetings to review the plan, and discuss its construction. The meetings will be identical, but are being held at different times of day to accomodate stakeholders' schedules.

The last DPW presentation on the proposed streetscape changes can be viewed at the Better Valencia Project web site.

The Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP), underway at the SF Municipal Transportation Agency, is the first system-wide service evaluation of Muni routes and operations in over 25 years. If the TEP can be implemented, it promises a faster, more reliable Muni system. The TEP will recommend changes to Muni routes and services that can be implemented over the next five years.

The TEP project released its recommended route plan on August 6. This plan assumes no new revenue sources become available in the near future, and reallocates existing vehicles and drivers. Benefits of the recommended plan include a rapid network of which includes a rapid network (eight bus lines and eight light rail lines) with faster and frequent service, and with express service during the weekday; a local network of crosstown and downtown routes, community connectors that link hilly neighborhoods to transit hubs, and specialized services, chiefly commute-period express routes that connect the city's southern and western neighborhoods to downtown. The sixteen rapid network lines account for roughly three-quarters of Muni trips.

MTA has outlined an enhanced plan, which would go into effect if new funding sources can be found.

Cities around the world, including London, Stockholm, and Singapore, have implemented congestion charges as a strategy for relieving traffic congestion, reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, generating funding for transportation improvements, and reducing the negative effects of automobile traffic on walking, cycling, and transit. Congestion charging schemes generally work by charging a fee to motorists to drive to or within certain routes or areas during the most congested hours of the weekday. Motorists who choose to drive and pay the fee benefit from reduced congestion, while those who choose to ride transit, walk, or cycle should enjoy improved access via sustainable modes. Certain vehicles, including buses, taxis, and cars registered to residents of the zone, may be exempted from the charge, or given a discount.

The San Francisco County Transportation Authority is studying various congestion charging options for San Francisco in their Mobility, Access, and Pricing Study (MAPS). MAPS will study several congestion charge alternatives, including a congestion charge in the greater Downtown area (bounded by Embarcadero, Harrison, 11th, Van Ness, and Broadway), in a smaller portion of the downtown, or citywide. The study is also exploring alternatives for the hours during which the charge would be collected (during the entire work day, or just in the morning commute period), what traffic changes might occur, and what the funds should be spent on – should funds go to additional transit service, walking and cycling improvements, better streetscapes and public spaces, or all of the above?

The San Francisco County Transportation Authority hosted several "interactive workshops and community discussions" in July and August, where participants can learn about the study, and provide input on possible congestion pricing scenario designs, potential transportation improvements, and which discounts and exemptions should be considered.

You can reach the MAPS staff at 415.522.4800 or mobility@sfcta.org. To be added to the MAPS email list, send an email request to mobility@sfcta.org. For more information, see the project web site at www.sfmobility.org

Livable City is San Francisco's most dedicated advocate for parking reform as a potent tool for making San Francisco more livable, sustainable, affordable, and fiscally sound. Two important parking reforms moved forward in the past few weeks, one dealing with off-street parking, and the other with on-street parking. (For a history of parking reform in San Francisco, see Livable City's A Brief History of Parking Reform).

Comprehensive parking reform approved by the Board of Supervisors

A comprehensive parking reform ordinance, sponsored by Supervisor Aaron Peskin, was adopted unanimously by the Board of Supervisors in June. Livable City helped draft the ordinance, which builds on the success of 2006's downtown parking reform. Working closely with planners, housing developers, and urbanists, we helped craft a set of commonsense reforms which "could please both sides on parking issues" (SF Examiner). The ordinance expanded "unbunding' of parking (separating housing costs from parking costs) citywide, and allows developers to use space-efficient parking methods (valet parking, lifts, and stackers) without special permission. The ordinance also eliminated minimum parking requirements for senior housing, housing for people with disabilities, and housing dedicated to low-income residents. This provision will lower the cost of producing new housing, as project sponsors can build just the amount of parking residents need, rather than what the planning code requires. The ordinance also strengthens the city's commitment to car sharing, by requiring developers seeking excessive parking to demonstrate that car share can't address their projects parking demand.

SFpark program moves forward

On June 24, the Board of Supervisors approved a two contracts that will allow the city's SFpark program to move forward. The SFpark program includes many of the progressive parking reform ideas long championed by Livable City. It will plant sensors in parking spaces on the street and in city-owned lots to gather accurate information about how on-street parking is used. The information gathered will be used to adjust parking rates in response to demand, with a goal of creating some available spaces at all times of day. Creating available spaces is a convenience to merchants and residents, and will reduce traffic by eliminating cars cruising for parking spaces. The program will also install 'smart meters' that make it easier for MTA to adjust rates up or down based on demand and to adjust time limits and hours of operation, and make it easier to pay for parking with credit cards, smart cards, and cash.

Adding new parking is costly, both in environmental and economic terms; SFpark will allow the city to much better manage existing parking for the benefit of residents and businesses.

SFpark's pilot projects build on the findings of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority's On-Street Parking Management and Pricing Study. The SFCTA study looked in depth at parking issues in four San Francisco neighborhoods – Cow Hollow, West Portal, Hayes Valley, and Bernal Heights. The study surveyed parking availability, parking turnover, and parking duration, and interviewed merchants and residents. Among the study's findings were that both businesses and residents were willing to pay more for parking in return for greater availability, and that while merchants in the four neighborhoods thought that 72% of their customers "drove exclusively" to the neighborhood, over 70% of their customers walked, cycled, or took transit ( SFCTA's last public presentation can be viewed here).

The parking sensors that SFpark will used were developed by San Francisco's own Streetline Networks, who were featured in a New York Times article on Sunday July 13. Streetline also worked with the Port of San Francisco's on-street parking program, which found that people who parked at the Port's parking meters paid less than half the time.

The deadline to apply for San Francisco Beautiful neighborhood beautification grants is August 1st. The deadline for the City of San Francisco's Community Challenge Grant Program passed earlier this month, but a new grant cycle should start this winter.

June 5 is World Environment Day, and this year's theme is "Kick the CO2 Habit".

"Addiction is a terrible thing. It consumes and controls us, makes us deny important truths and blinds us to the consequences of our actions. Our world is in the grip of a dangerous carbon habit." said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

San Francisco has begun taking some steps to kick our carbon habit. A few weeks ago, the Board of Supervisors approved a landmark Climate Change Goals and Action Plan ordinance, sponsored by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi. This ordinance adopts greenhouse gas reduction targets of 25% below 1990 levels by 2017, 40% below 1990 levels by 2025, and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. The City would adopt specific reduction targets for each year, and every city department would create a departmental action plan to achieve its goals. Livable City helped draft the legislation, and are working achieve the legislation's greenhouse gas emissions goals.

As it turns out, livable cities – walkable, bikeable, dense, affordable, mixed-use, clean, green, and transit-friendly – are one of the best tools for fighting global climate change, and can help address a host of related environmental crises, from loss of biodiversity to depletion of natural resources (oil, natural gas, and metals), water and air quality, and the destruction of farmland, forests, and fisheries. As Worldchanging's Alex Steffen writes in a recent blog post: "Cities outperform suburbs on nearly every measure of environmental well-being, and, though it may sound surprising to 20th century ears, social well-being, even in most cases health. Compact communities are so much better than sprawling ones that a quite credible argument can be made that land use reform is the most important environmental policy in the North America."

Better Streets is a joint effort by several city agencies to improve the design of San Francisco's streets and sidewalks.

Better Streets began about two years ago, and has since produced a pattern book of street types which are a great improvement over the automobile-centered "local street -collector- arterial" street classfication scheme common in most US cities. The Better Streets "typologies" respond to land use (residential, comercial, industrial, and so on), street width, and the street's role in the transportation system.

Although its sponsors call it the "Better Streets Plan", so far it falls well short of being a plan, nor does it deal with the whole street. Important tasks, like identifying which streets are of what type, and creating standards for essential elements of successful streets (street lighting and pedestrian-friendly building fronts, for example) are missing so far. The Better Streets project also shied away from addressing the speed and volume of traffic, two critical elements for creating safe and livable streets. Governance (how city agencies plan and coordinate street projects) and a strategy for funding and implementation also need to be addressed.

The Better Streets final draft is available on the Better Streets web site: www.sfbetterstreets.org. You can comment on the draft plan via the Better Streets web site, or email Better Streets (info@sfbetterstreets.org).

The Fix Masonic Coalition, founded by neighbors working to create a safer Masonic Avenue, is conducting a survey of residents and users of Masonic and surrounding streets. This survey will give us valuable information to further advocate for changes on Masonic. If you live or work in the area or even if you like to stroll through the Panhandle and have concerns with the Fell/Masonic or Oak/Masonic intersections, please fill out the survey at http://www.walksf.org/fixmasonic

April was a big month for livable city legislation at the Board of Supervisors:

Art on Market Street explores San Francisco's "Awesome Future"

Wish You Were Here! Postcards from Our Awesome Future is Packard Jennings’ and Steve Lambert’s current project in the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Art on Market Street project. The project addresses ideas about transit and other urban developments that were raised during interviews the artists conducted with Bay Area architects, urban planners and transportation engineers, who were asked the question, “What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about budgets, bureaucracy, politics or physics?”  The interviews provided the artists with the inspiration for six imaginative and humorous poster designs of a future San Francisco. The posters are currently exhibited on the pedestrian side of the triangular kiosks on Market Street between Van Ness and the Embarcadero through June 2008.

Election Day 2007: San Franciscans vote resoundingly for transit and livable streets

This Election Day, San Francisco voters made a clear choice between traffic and transit. Voters approved Proposition A, which amends city charter to increase funding for the city's Municipal Transportation Agency and expand the agency's authority over parking and streets. Voters overwhelmingly rejected Proposition H, which would have overrun San Francisco's streets with downtown commuter traffic. Livable City's Transit not Traffic page has additional information about these measures. With 95% of precincts counted, Measure A is passing with 55.5% of the vote, while 67% of the voters rejected Prop H.

With this vote, San Franciscans reaffirmed their support for great transit, livable neighborhoods designed for walking, cycling, and transit, and a livable, sustainable, and transit oriented downtown that provides for new jobs and housing without increasing traffic congestion or pollution.

San Franciscans overhelmingly approve Proposition K, calling for limits on advertising in public places

Proposition K on the November ballot is a policy statement that calls for no further increase in advertising in the public realm – our streets, transit stops, and public buildings, and transit stations. Voters overhwelmingly approved this measure on Election Day.

As steadfast advocates of complete streets, great public spaces, and livable neighborhoods, we don't accept that public spaces need be auctioned off to the highest bidder to finance things like street furniture or public transit. San Francisco should be a city where residents and visitors can behold great views, handsome streets, distinguished architecture, greenery, and public art, not billlboards.

Opponents of the measure argued that privatizing public spaces is the best way to pay for a quality public realm. We coudn't disagree more; advertising is blight, making our neighborhoods less beautiful and distinct, obscuring architecture and views, gobbling scarce space on city sidewalks, and fostering our culture's unsustainable over-consumption. We deserve a quality public realm and a great transit system — and there are better ways to pay for them. Over the years we have brought forward dozens of ways to reduce transit operating costs, raise new revenues, reduce traffic's wear-and-tear on city streets, and get cars to pay a fair share for the public infrastructure they use, and we look forward to working the City to enact them.

Livable City is working with neighbors and businesses to reclaim streets for walking, cycling, transit, and public life across the city. Two resolutions calling for restoring two-way traffic, authored by Livable City, were approved at the Board of Supervisors in late 2007.

Hayes Street

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi introduced resolution #071097 to convert the block of Hayes Street between Franklin and Gough from one-way to two-way. This improvement, which will improve pedestrian safety and reconnect the two halves of Hayes Valley's commercial heart, was proposed in the 2002 Market and Octavia Neighborhood Plan. Livable City worked with neighbors and transportation advocates to urge the Planning Commission to adopt findings to let this project go ahead, which they adopted in April. This resolution advances the proposal to the MTA for implementation.

Ellis and Eddy streets

Ellis and Eddy streets are a one-way pair that serve as important east-west transit, pedestrian, and bicycle routes through the dense Tenderloin-Little Saigon neighborhood, and serve as a gateway to the Tenderloin from the Powell Street BART-Muni Station. The Tenderloin-Little Saigon Neighborhood Transportation Plan, adopted last year by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, recommended restoring two-way traffic on these streets, as well as making the streets more walkable, simplifying the twisting and confusing Muni routes, and adding bicycle lanes.

Supervisor Chris Daly introduced Resolution #071394 that calls for restoring two-way traffic on Ellis and Eddy and improving the important pedestrian crossing at Ellis and Cyril Magnin streets next to Powell Street Station. The resolution also tasks the MTA with creating a comprehensive plan for further improvements, including corner bulb-outs, landscaping and lighting, and better transit access. See our complete streets page for more information.

Several bills were introduced in the California legislature which promise to help create more livable and sustainable cities across the state. A many of the bills were signed into law in 2007, while several other important bills carried over to the 2008 session. AB 101, which allows camera enforcement of parking violations in bus lanes and during street sweeping hours, was informed by research conducted by Livable City intern Aileen Carrigan, and became law on January 1. [continue reading]