This Week: Manufacturing, Polk Street, St. James Park

Here are this week’s highlights from the Streetsblog calendar:

• Wednesday Building Up Urban Manufacturing. After decades of decline, manufacturing is making a comeback. It can create well-paying jobs, help rebuild the middle class, and build pride of place. Hear about how San Jose is growing its urban manufacturing sector through creative marketing, policy, workforce development, and more. Wednesday, October 5, 12:30. SPUR San Jose, 76 South First Street, San Jose. Event is free.
• Wednesday Van Ness and Polk Construction Open House. Join staff from the Van Ness Improvement Project and Polk Streetscape Project for a combined Open House event to learn more about these projects and their construction. Construction of both projects will be underway in October. Transportation upgrades, utility maintenance, street safety improvements and more enhancements are coming to both corridors.  Wednesday, October 5, 6-8 p.m., Tenderloin Community School, 627 Turk Street (at Van Ness), S.F.
• Thursday Designing St. James Park. San Jose is hosting a design competition to transform St. James Park into a vibrant and awe-inspiring public space. The goal is to inspire everyday use and enjoyment of the park, reinforce a dynamic downtown, and celebrate the city’s history and future. Come hear about the process and get a sneak preview of the design submissions in a new exhibition hosted at SPUR. Thursday, October 6, 12:30, SPUR San Jose, 76 South First Street. Free for SPUR members. $10 for non-members.
• Friday Women Bike SF Coffee Club. Once a month, an informal gathering of women, trans and femme-identified folks meet to talk about bicycling in the city, share tips and caffeinate together. If you’re new to riding or interested but haven’t gotten rolling yet, this is a perfect place to find riding buddies and answer some of your questions about biking in SF! Bring your ideas, questions and your friends. Women Bike SF is a SF Bicycle Coalition program that aims to encourage and inspire more women, trans and female identified individuals to ride bikes with social events, rides, and workshops. Friday, October 7, 8-9 a.m. Flywheel Coffee Roasters, 672 Stanyan St, S.F.
• Saturday Richmond Rides Art Opening and Volunteer Party! Join Bike East Bay and Rich City Rides for a look at the photography of Josue Hernandez documenting Richmond's bike culture. There will be a DJ spinning tunes, drinks and snacks, and a tour of the office. You'll get a chance to meet fellow volunteers and learn how you can help pass important transportation ballot measures this November that will fix BART and improve AC Transit. Saturday, October 8, 5:30-9 p.m. Richmond Field Office, 1021 MacDonald Ave, 3 blocks from Richmond BART. Registration Requested.
• Sunday Navigating the Creeks, Canyons, and Tunnels of the Ridge Trail. This transit-friendly walk will be led by Bob Siegel of the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council, with guest speakers from the Glen Park Association and the Volunteers of Outdoor California (V-O-Cal). Sunday, October 9, 10-12:30 p.m. Glen Park BART station. RSVP required.

Got an event we should know about? Drop us a line.