Skip to content

Posts from the "Public/Private Partnerships" Category

Thursday, February 25, 2010 8 Comments

Mayor Newsom Announces 12 New Pavement to Parks Projects for 2010

by Matthew Roth

Showplace_triangle.gifPhoto of Showplace Triangle Plaza, formerly a street and parking lot. Photo: Captin Nod
San Francisco’s two newest Pavement to Parks plazas got an official launch ceremony this afternoon after several months of public use, along with a promise from the Mayor to build twelve more public spaces like them before the end of the year. The twelve new locations will include a new plaza at the intersection of 24th Street and Noe Street in Noe Valley and Parklets, or wooden sidewalk extensions, on Divisadero Street in Nopa, 22nd Street in the Mission, Columbus Avenue in North Beach, and Clement Street in the Richmond.

Speaking before a crowd of about 100 people at Showplace Triangle Plaza, which was officially opened today, along with Guerrero Park, Mayor Newsom praised the Pavement to Parks plazas as examples of the kind of reclamation of space that could dramatically improve San Francisco’s livability.

"It’s an idea that really comes from all of you, from the community, because you’ve been demanding that we begin to democratize our streets in a little different way," he said, prompting loud cheers from the crowd. "Who said that every single street that’s paved has to be a street that has a priority exclusively for automobiles? I mean, who decided that? And when was that decided? And why not take a look at that and reconsider those decisions?"

Showplace Triangle, located at 8th Street between 16th and Irwin Streets, and Guerrero Park, at San Jose and Guerrero Streets, are the city’s second and third Pavement to Parks projects, following the Castro Commons park at 17th and Market Streets, which has quickly become a popular addition to the neighborhood. Each project was designed by different landscape architects with input by the communities where they are situated.

Since their opening, the trial street reclamations have proven very popular among the public. In Showplace Triangle, data collected by the Great Streets Project show a 29 percent increase in pedestrians walking through the plaza, a 40 percent increase in the number of survey respondents who had a positive perception of the neighborhood, 
and a 61 percent increase among people who considered Showplace Triangle a good place to stop, relax and socialize. The number of users who felt a sense of community character in the area rose 39 percent.

Read more...

8 Comments
Friday, November 20, 2009 No Comments

Carlyle Group’s New Infrastructure Public-Private Partnership: Donuts

by Elana Schor

As the federal deficit squeezes the Obama administration's options for financing ambitious new infrastructure projects, public-private partnerships (PPPs) are gaining currency as a possible solution. And in an illustration of PPPs' potential, the $86 billion private-equity firm Carlyle Group yesterday struck a deal with the state of Connecticut to run ... 23 highway rest stops.

628.x600.ft.dunkindonuts.jpgThe future of public-private partnerships? Hopefully not. (Photo: Time Out NY)
The $178 million Connecticut deal is the first PPP in the three years since Carlyle began raising money for its $1.15 billion infrastructure group, according to the Washington Post:

[T]he agreement ... will include putting Subway restaurants as well as Dunkin' Donuts locations in the centers, according to a Carlyle spokesman. Dunkin' Donuts is owned by Carlyle.

Meanwhile, the same Connecticut governor who called Carlyle's donut investment "an unprecedented commitment to ... meeting the needs of the traveling public" recently vetoed legislation that would have eliminated the need for significant transit fare hikes.

Is this what President Obama meant when he called for "more creative, new approaches" to fixing "infrastructure that is falling apart"? Let's hope not.

Given that government audits have found existing federal transit regulations riddled with obstacles to attracting successful PPPs, perhaps it's not surprising that Carlyle chose to go the donuts route rather than collaborating on Connecticut transit-oriented development projects in the vein of the New York MTA's Beacon Station revitalization.

But that's no reason for Carlyle to take a victory lap while plans for a National Infrastructure Bank (NIB) remain frustratingly unclear. If the administration follows through on its NIB plans, information-sharing and incentives will be needed to prod private capital into genuinely beneficial projects rather than new fast food joints.

For a taste of how groundbreaking federal infrastructure PPPs could happen on the local level, this presentation [PDF] by the deputy general manager of the Boston area's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is a good place to start.
No Comments