Streetsblog San Francisco

Noe Valley can really irritate me. As progressive as people who live there seem to think they are, they are quite conservative and definitely addicted to cars. There is so much potential for the neighborhood, at least the areas on and around 24th St and Church St, to be “car-lite” with so many shops, large numbers of pedestrians, and the J-Church and 48 going right through it, that it is especially frustrating that they think they need more parking. What they actually need to do is block off some parts of 24th St entirely to cars (and though it would never happen, I would love to see Whole Foods give up parking spots and turn the center of their parking lot into a nice pedestrian walkway with tons of greenery, bike racks, and outdoor tables, because right now it’s like a suburban grocery store with the parking in front with absolutely no design to encourage all the pedestrians on 24th St to walk to the building). Noe Valley must be one of the more hypocritical neighborhoods with people claiming to be progressive but actually showing quite conservative and anachronistic behavior.

 This is just one guy… and there are more but don’t let the noisiest few paint the whole neighborhood. The google/etc… buses stop there for a reason…

Can’t say I disagree with the rider’s characterization of Stanley Roberts.

Also he claims everyone was getting tickets, but the only driver issued a ticket was doing an illegal u-turn. As has been the case lately, I suspect the cars rolling / failing to yield were given a pass.

There’s no excuse for weaving through pedestrians crossing the street.

The idea only one single motorist broke any law on Market Street at Powell during SFPD’s latest bike sting is beyond belief. That said, cyclists who plow through an occupied crosswalk like that deserve whatever citation they get.

I wouldn’t be surprised if at that mid-street crosswalk with stoplight had very, very few motorized vehicles that were breaking the law to the eye (i.e. without a speed-detection device).  That is a great spot to set up a bike specific sting.  And with the first guy weaving through pedestrians (some look pretty old) while crossing muni tracks and wearing earbuds, I think he’s a worthwhile target.
I don’t usually ride these for my morning/night commute, but Monday morning and Tuesday night I rode the Wiggle both directions and inbound Market and I gotta say that it isn’t too hard to see asshats on bikes who are taking other’s right of way, as well as a general lack of stopping on those routes.

I was rear-ended by a woman on a bike on the Wiggle on Monday morning when I stopped my bike at a stop sign.  No damage, just shock and surprise.

 jd – I was one of the main cheerleaders on the little 1/2 block off 24th so I remember it all too painfully.

If that were happening today, the plaza trial would happen. Aside from the upgrade in City Supervisor, the demographics of the neighborhood have changed a lot in a small number of years, only for the better, and the ability to reach out to those people and get together has improved, people are more attuned to what is going on around them.

You never know what will happen. Let’s see what becomes of the Ministry Parking lot. If that fails, and condos go in, that will be a big change and will force people to think about what they really want.

JD,

This may be “only three parking places” but it can feel like “death by a thousand cuts”. A couple of spaces here and a couple of spaces there, and the next thing you know, you’ve got a parking crisis.

The problem is that “just remove the parking” has become the solution to every problem. If the only tool you have is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail. So:

Want a bike lane? Just remove some parking.

Parklet? Remove a parking place.

Bus lane? Guess what? Remove parking.

They’re all good ideas but that doesn’t mean that they all have to have the same solution every time. What the Noe Valley folks are saying here is not “don’t build a parklet, nor a bike lane, nor a bus lane” But rather  let’s build them but “if you’re going to take away 3 parking places, then create three replacement spots in the same area.

I think there would be zero opposition to all these greening ideas, and bike provisions, and transit-friendly suggestions if there was simply some quid pro quo. We can’t continually take from one class of road user and give to another class of road user without expecting some kind of pushback.

I lived in Noe for a long time and, although I’m not there now, I’m still in Wiener’s district. I think he has a balanced and reasonable view of these things. Better to leave everyone a little unhappy then reward one group at the expense of another group. And Noe folks are nothing if not well-heeled and powerful. Being progressive is one thing but nobody likes to shoot themselves in the foot.

HoJo,

For the last 90 years we’ve been redesigning our streets to the benefit of motorists.  Where was the quid pro quo during that time when we took away sidewalls and streets that people could safely walk in? 

It only feels like there’s no parity because our built environment has so favored cars for so long that the only way we can go in street redesign is to reduce the number of parking spots.