Michael Rhodes

In a city strapped for bike parking and sidewalk space, there is an abundance of one commodity: small strips of curb that seem to be of use to no one. As the lifting of the bike injunction in San Francisco draws nearer, it might be time to consider how these carved-up spots of curbside space can serve a new function.

"Community-based antidotes to the anti-humanist mega-schemes of the Moderns flourished in the 1960s and 1970s, and some morphed into sustainable new models of community organization. Join a discussion with James Tracy, San Francisco Community Land Trust Board of Directors president; Rene Cazenave, executive director of the San Francisco Information Clearing House; Pam Peirce, author and founder of the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners; and Gabriel Metcalf SPUR’s executive director, to learn about the origins of urban gardens, land trusts, and community development corporations."

"San Francisco's famous freeway revolt stopped many projects that seem outrageous today, but not before miles of freeways destroyed many neighborhoods, and one-way streets and expressways turned relatively livable streets into dangerous traffic sewers. Tom Radulovich, executive director of Livable City, discusses contextualist urban transportation, the initial freeway revolt of the 1960s, and the ongoing movement in San Francisco and elsewhere to remove freeways and convert existing trafficways into livable streets."

"The Downtown Plan and the Plan for Mission Bay were among the first schemes in a new era of urban planning that responded to the excesses of the Moderns. Newly powerful neighborhood and community groups insisted that planners consider their needs and values, and promoted a planning agenda characterized by sensitivity to context, historic preservation, localism and inclusivity. Join panelists Dean Macris, former San Francisco planning director; Aaron Peskin, preservationist and former Board of Supervisors president; and exhibition curator Benjamin Grant."

"Urban renewal, the result of top-down planning by government entities with extraordinary land use powers, left deep political and physical scars in San Francisco. In response, a variety of efforts to assert community control and preserve the physical qualities of the city defined development politics for a generation or more. Redevelopment Agency Director Fred Blackwell, Planning Director John Rahaim, architect Bob Herman, Steve Nakajo, executive director of Kimochi, Inc, and Regina Davis, executive director of the San Francisco Housing Development Corporation, discuss this troubled chapter in the City's history."

"Talk policy points or trade political gossip with Supervisor Eric Mar on this jolly monthly tradition - catch a rocking Richmond District bike bus and roll downtown with Eric and a merry band of D1 velocitizens. Top up your tires and get on the bike bus!"

"A rare opportunity to tour the Pier 96 Recology Recycle Central recycling plant! This tour will explore the essence of recycling, a big mixed up pile on one end, whirring spinning machines and workers in the middle, with recycled commodities ready for market at the end.

"This final seminar in the City of Burlingame's series, "Go Green: How to Make Your Home and Your Life More Sustainable," features the SFBC's Andy Thornley suggesting practical ways to reduce your automobile habit to help promote a healthier, more sustainable world (and pocket the savings, to boot). Includes free bike map of Burlingame. Refreshments will be served."

"The Commonwealth Club's INFORUM series presents a conversation on the state of bicycling in San Francisco, on the streets and as a central public policy matter. The panel will include SFBC's Andy Thornley, discussing how San Francisco can integrate bike policy into urban planning and become a cohesive, harmonious city for people on foot, bike and other non-car forms of transportation. Valet bike parking will be provided."