City Seeks Input to Improve District Streetscape

By Stephen Lam

About 30 residents, officials and city planners gathered at the Rochambeau Playground Clubhouse in the Richmond District April 18 for a public meeting to discuss better city streets planning in San Francisco.

As part of the adaptation of the Better Streets Ordinance of 2006, initiated by Mayor Gavin Newsom and District 1 Supervisor Jake McGoldrick, the community meeting was part of San Francisco's Better Streets Program aimed to "result in a street system designed to promote human needs for the use enjoyment of public streets."

"This is basic. To have a enjoyable place to be, to have an enjoyable place to feel good when you're standing in the City," noted McGoldrick.

Greeted by a welcoming table full of information, community members were encouraged to participate in a citywide survey and to place sticky dots onto a large city map labeling streets that work in the city and streets that need work. A large number of dots representing the latter were put near the Ingleside District, Mission District and areas around Potrero Hill. On one dot placed on the Bayshore Freeway, one participant wrote that the street's condition was "inhumane and unhealthy."

Small group discussions followed the main presentation. Many residents echoed a need for stricter street law enforcement, better integration of bicycle lanes and a dampening of excessive noise throughout the neighborhood.

The meeting was a joint effort by various city agencies, including the Mayor's Office on Disability, SF Public Utility Commission, SF Planning Department, Municipal Transportation Agency, and the SF Department of Public Works.

"This is quite extraordinary. We have all of these key agencies quite literally in the same room at the same time It's sort of an alphabet soup that is unprecedented and represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity. We are really excited," said Director of City Greening Dan Sider.

According to presentation given by Municipal Transportation Agency representative Frank Markowitz, streets make up 25 percent of San Francisco's land area, a significant amount considering private lots only make up 58 percent of the total land area, follow by 17 percent for parks.

"We'll be working on a framework for implementation, which is the funding and strategies needed to actually help put the improvements in place," Markowitz said.

He said the "cookbook" will consider good designs for street lights and landscaping, and will consider corner sidewalk extensions."

Currently, some of the ideas are already in some ongoing projects, such as the planning of Executive Park and Leland Avenue in Visitation Valley, according to Senior Urban Designer David Alumbaugh of the city's Planning Department.

"I think the biggest challenge is to get the city family to work together. I think any agency will tell you that it's hard to get all the agencies to work together toward the same goal. And I think the next challenge would be making sure they're cared for and making sure we get the adequate funding to make the changes," Alumbaugh said.

"I think it's a worthwhile effort to try to come up with a more consistent approach to streetscape planning in the City," said event participant and Inner Richmond resident John Thomas.