Regrettably, I missed last night's meeting of Noe Valley residents with members of the Pavement to Parks program. At least I thought it was regrettable before I heard about what happened.
The video in the SFist post corroborates the first-hand accounts I heard. Opponents of the trial stood up and shouted over Planning Department staff, as well as their own neighbors. I'm not the first to compare the opponents to the Tea-Baggers who interrupted a slew of town hall meetings last summer. The behavior was way out of proportion with the perceived harm, completely inappropriate, and shockingly childish. The grown people who treated members of their own community so poorly ought to be ashamed of themselves and, IMHO, they ought to apologize.
I'm a pedestrian and I support any project that increases the safety, or enjoyment of our pedestrian realm, so I support this trial. But I don't live here, and I don't have a personal reason to support a plaza in Noe Valley over one in a neighborhood that will welcome it - or at least treat each other like humans when discussing the proposal.
Get it together, Noe Valley.
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3 comments:
This is the sort of behavior you come to expect out of a meeting in Berkeley, but this Noe meeting may have set the standard. I don't live in Noe Valley, but still feel embarrassed on their behalf.
I'm embarrassed for my neighborhood.
Just to be clear and impartial: both sides shouted a lot.
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