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A mayoral debate scheduled for Monday night promises to be the best yet on issues near and dear to Streetsblog readers.

When I started my job at Streetsblog San Francisco I had no idea that it would turn out to be the best job I’ve ever had. I really mean that. I often tell people I’ve had more impact in the last two-and-a-half years at Streetsblog than I did in all my 20 years as a radio and TV journalist. That’s why it’s very difficult for me to announce today that I am stepping down as the editor San Francisco Streetsblog, effective September 30, to pursue other opportunities.

On most recent mornings, 59-year-old William Cox walked several blocks from his Mission District apartment to the bustling Peet's store on Market Street in the Castro for his daily dose of coffee, crossword puzzles and conversation. He had given up his Jeep Cherokee shortly after moving to San Francisco from San Rafael two-and-half years ago and got around mostly on foot and transit. On Tuesday morning, he paid a visit to his best friend, David Douma, who lives across the street from Peet's.

Last Saturday, a standing-room only audience of 750 people turned out at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, Georgia to pay their respects to Emily Dunn, the 23-year-old woman killed by a Muni driver on August 19 while she was walking in the Castro. Dunn, who had just moved to San Francisco to start a new life, was just a step away from the curb when she was run over at Hartford and 18th streets.

In light of the increased enforcement on Market Street, and stories I've been hearing from bicyclists about being targeted for minor infractions, I've had a number of questions for the San Francisco Police Department. I decided to turn to the person who heads up the SFPD's Traffic Company, Captain Al Casciato, who is also a bicyclist.

The Planning Department, working with the Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC), the SFMTA and SFDPW, recently released three options for dramatically improving the pedestrian environment on a two-and-a-half block stretch of Broadway, a high-volume two-way arterial that cuts through North Beach and Chinatown, a neighborhood that is "the most densely populated urban area west of Manhattan."

Her name was Emily Dunn, and over the weekend, a steady stream of friends and people who never knew her brought flowers, candles and photos of her to the site in the Castro where the young woman was killed Friday afternoon by a Muni driver. A grief-stricken friend, who I met Saturday, said Dunn, who was only 23, had moved to San Francisco from Atlanta a month ago and was just beginning a new life.

Despite the department's insistence that officers are not targeting bicyclists on Market Street, new numbers from the San Francisco Police Department confirm that cops are going after people on bikes following two high-profile crashes.

New bike lanes were recently installed around San Francisco International Airport, and the reviews are coming in. Streetsblog San Francisco reader John Murphy, who was the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's 2010 Commuter of the Year, thinks there's lots of room for improvement. He sent us this scolding review, along with the photos: