Give Big, Give Often, Help Streetsblog San Francisco Change the Narrative

“I deeply regret voting to support the middle bike lane,” said former SFMTA director and Valencia merchants representative Manny Yekutiel at November’s SFMTA board meeting where the final decision was made to replace the center-running bike lane.

As I go into my tenth year editing Streetsblog San Francisco, I’ve been thinking a lot about that somewhat Pyrrhic victory. The Valencia Street fight was, and remains, absolutely necessary, as it cuts to the core of Streetsblog’s mission, but what a drain on resources! So many other stories slipped by while I was working on Valencia coverage.

Meanwhile, I think about my time spent in New York this year for the Vision Zero Cities conference. It was my second time working in Streetsblog NYC’s offices. And I’ll admit: I am profoundly jealous. It wasn’t the decor and the beautiful roof deck patio and the free espresso and avocado toast. It’s because when I grew up in New York there weren’t any bike lanes, never mind protected lanes. Now New York’s streets put San Francisco to shame, with protective concrete barriers that, in many cases, are big enough to literally stop a truck. And in stark contrast to the Bay Area, they’re making tangible progress is reducing serious and fatal crashes.

Streetsblog readers know the history: Mayor Michael Bloomberg and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan started a major transformation of New York’s Streets in 2007. As Janette will tell you, that was only possible with the reporting and advocacy of Streetsblog and Open Plans. New York has never looked back. It almost did, with Governor Hochul’s attempt to kill congestion pricing. But thanks to the hard work of advocates and the staff of Streetsblog New York, she was forced to relent.

I’m so jealous of the resources Gersh Kuntzman, my counterpart and editor at Streetsblog New York, has available for this fight, starting with six full-time reporters (plus StreetFilms)! I think about it every time I have to pass on covering an important story in Oakland, or on the Peninsula, or in Marin, or even in San Francisco, because I have no staff reporters to assign it to and I just don’t have the time or resources to do more myself. And it frustrated me to no end that when I was away on emergency family leave there was nobody to fill in for me.

With some exceptions, every Streetsblog operates independently, using a franchise model. Uniquely, New York has a full staff and offices because it’s fully supported by some very wealthy donors, including Mark Gorton, its chairman. Imagine how much we could accomplish in the Bay Area if Streetsblog San Francisco had that kind of support.

For our anniversary party in September, we put together a list of some of the many tangible political victories thanks in part to our work. And the advocates we work with are amazing, as the recent victory on Prop. K, the Great Highway Park, and other victories have shown. But Streetsblog San Francisco could be so much more with real funding behind it. I say as this publication’s longest serving editor, it’s what we need to really be effective in changing the narrative in the Bay Area.

A substantial portion of Streetsblog San Francisco’s budget already comes from thousands of small donors who believe passionately in what we do. They believe Streetsblog influences and alters policy and makes a difference in their day-to-day lives. If you believe that too, then we ask for your help. Please make a donation and help support our ongoing work.

No donation is too small, of course. It all helps, that’s for sure. And we’re so grateful to our current donors and generous foundations.

But we’re not going to small-donor our way to a fully staffed publication with six reporters. So if you’re one of those smart, hard-working, and a bit lucky people who earned a gargantuan fortune in the Bay Area and you share my frustration with the slow pace of progress, then think about stepping up with a major donation of the Mark Gorton variety. Let’s not mince words: I’m talking about a donation in the six or even seven figures that can help Streetsblog San Francisco live up to its full potential. Give us that kind of backing so we can hire full-time staff. Let us truly help shape the narrative and influence policy not on one key street like Valencia or JFK, but across the city and the Bay Area.

Then, maybe, in a few years, together, we really can make progress on Vision Zero and start to have the kind of safe and liveable streets we all want.

Either way, thank you for your support.