Power Walking

During Sunday Streets today, interim mayor Ed Lee picked up one of Walk SF's awesome I [walk] SF t-shirts. This strikes me as a refreshing change from the previous administration, and gives me some hope that walkers in our city will start to see some real improvements.

Sunday Streets 2011 Events Lineup Announced

Like earthquakes and breakups, we find out about this via Facebook:

3/20 Embarcadero
4/10 Great Highway
5/8 Mission
6/12: Bayview
7/10: Great Highway
8/14: Civic Center/Tenderloin
9/11: Western Addition
10/?; Mission

The specific routes aren't up on their website just yet, but we can probably expect them to be just about the same as last year, albeit in a different order to spread out the risk of inclement weather.

Sunday Streets Announces "Central City" Route

Again via the Sunday Streets Facebook page, we have word of October's Sunday Streets route, from Civic Center through the Tenderloin!  From Civic Center Plaza up Polk Street to Ellis and O'Farrell, then down Leavenworth and Jones, this route opens up a tight cluster of street spaces in San Francisco's densest residential neighborhood.  For many this will be a great chance to see the TL for the first time, and for the thousands of people who live nearby, it will be a welcome respite from the traffic sewers that burden this neighborhood.

Click through the image above for a closer look - I'll see you all there!

Sunday Streets Western Addition Route Announced

It's not up on their website yet, but the Sunday Streets Facebook page has posted a map of September 19th's Western Addition route.  Winding through a dense residential neighborhood and along part of the Fillmore commercial corridor, this event promises to be much more like the popular Mission District route than the next event in line, a Great Highway route scheduled for August 22nd.

The Western Addition route is a first for Sunday Streets, and will be followed in October by another new route - through the Tenderloin.

Sunday Streets 2010 Mission Route Announced

Last year's Mission District Sunday Streets event was easily my favorite. There's a real qualitative difference between a long, beautiful, but sparsely activated route like the Embarcadero or Great Highway, and this path through a dense residential neighborhood. The former gives bicyclists a chance to ride free from cars, but the latter makes one big pedestrian plaza out of two of the neighborhood's main commercial drags.

This year's event is bigger than ever, with the addition of Harrison Street to the car-free lineup and a later end time: 3pm. Read more at the Sunday Streets website.

Sunday Streets: Embarcadero 2010

At the risk of jinxing it, Sunday Streets has an impressive track record for weather. Following are some photos I took at this past weekend's street opening:

First 2010 Sunday Streets is This Sunday

My how time flies. The first of this year's 9 Sunday Streets events is already upon us! Check out a car-free Third Street/Embarcadero from Mariposa Street to Fisherman's Wharf this Sunday, March 14th, from 10am-3pm.

That's right! This year's events will last an hour longer - until 3pm! See you there! (map after the jump)

2010 Sunday Streets Schedule Announced

Streetsblog reports that the city has announced the schedule for 2010's Sunday Streets events:

• March 14: Embarcadero, starting at Fisherman’s Wharf and PIER 39, south to China Basin and Terry Francois Blvd.
• April 11: Along the Great Highway, coinciding with World Health Day's “1,000 Cities, 1,000 Lives” international event, as one of thousands of cities hosting simultaneous car-free events worldwide.
• April 18: Bayview, along 3rd Street from King and 4th (Caltrain Station) to Bayview Playground.
• May 23: Bayview, in conjunction with the 3rd Street Corridor Project and Bayview Merchant’s Association’s “3rd Street Festival.”
• June 20: Mission, along Valencia and 24th Streets.
• July 11: Mission.
• August 22: Great Highway/Golden Gate Park.
• September 19: NEW: Western Addition, exact location TBD.
• October 24: NEW Civic Center/Tenderloin, exact location TBD.

-Streetsblog SF

Big Weekend

Well, today's the day. Caltrans closed the Bay Bridge last night and the whole region clenched in anticipation of Carmageddon this morning - the first weekday commute without bridge access in just under 20 years.

Many folks expected the areas around the bridge approaches to see light traffic, and they are. But as it turns out, traffic was lighter than usual everywhere this morning, including the other bridges expected to absorb some spillover traffic. The traffic guy on KRON this morning relayed an anecdote from a Dumbarton Bridge toll-taker who said it seemed like a Sunday morning.

Clearly, an awful lot of the trips people make across our bridges are not necessary. To me, that indicates our transportation policies make driving too appealing an option for transbay travel. The moral of today's story is that the subsidies of driving across the water ought to be minimized. Obviously the sky won't fall if you can't drive across the bridge.

On a related note, BART wants to know how and why you're riding this car-free weekend.

And this year's last Sunday Streets will take over the Great Highway again. Looks like a beautiful weekend in the walkable neighborhood!

July Sunday Streets

Let's none of us ever buy gas again

I hope everyone had fun at Sunday Streets today. This months fete took the same route through the Mission District as last month's. My impression, however, was that the crowd was slightly different. Last time, there seemed to be more people present along the Easter half, down 24th Street. The crowd then seemed to be simply walking/biking/jogging/what-have-you down the street.

This month, the crowd seemed just slightly smaller but more engaged. I noticed an awful lot of roller skaters, and more people with music systems on their bikes or blasting out the apartment windows above the route.

Last month I left right at 2pm, when the street was reopened to cars. This time I waited until the last possible minute to leave the street. It was a little perplexing to hear the cops yelling, 'The street is now open, please get off the street,' or, 'The street is open, look out for yourselves!' After all, aren't they supposed to look out for us?

Free Event for the Great Streets Project

The San Francisco Great Streets Project is hosting a free public forum featuring Enrique Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia. Peñalosa is famous for de-prioritizing private car use in Bogotá. His most wide-reaching legacies are the ciclovía (emulated most recently in SF's Sunday Streets event) and BRT.

The event is called Sunday Streets to Great Streets. Details after the jump

Date: Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Time: 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: Koret Auditorium, Main Public Library
Street: 100 Larkin St.
City/Town: San Francisco, CA
Cost: Free

Valet bicycle parking provided.

Pedestrianism Vol. 5

Pedestrianism Vol. 5 - Sunday Streets on Vimeo. If you didn't watch it in HD, can you be sure you've seen it?

If you weren't able to enjoy San Francisco's third Sunday Streets event - this one through the Mission District - here's your chance to see what you missed. Thousands of people turned out to enjoy the beautiful weather on June 7th. This video traces the length of the route, from Potrero Avenue along 24th to Valencia and down to 19th Street, where it turns West again into Dolores Park.

Even though I filmed this during the last hour of the event, when crowds had thinned just slightly, it's evident that turnout was high. One really gets a sense for how dense the throngs were along 24th Street, which is a vibrant commercial corridor. Pedestrians were represented in higher numbers here than elsewhere along the route; much higher numbers than in previous Sunday Streets.

Along Valencia people spread out in the wider street, and bicyclists drifted happily through the crowd. Kids on training wheels were at home among roller bladers and skateboarders.

By the time I reached Dolores Park the streets were being turned back over to cars, but as you can see at the end of the video, there was still a demand for the space. Many folks have expressed interest in allowing the event to run later in the day. Who knows, maybe it will.

The next Sunday Streets will again wind through the Mission District on July 19th. I'll see you there!

Mission District Sunday Streets

I hope everyone had a blast at Sunday Streets yesterday! It was the third iteration of San Francisco's ciclovia, but the route through the Mission District brought out a huge, engaged crowd like I haven't seen at previous events.



I was on the street for the full four hours this time. There was so much to see and so many people to stop and talk to that the time flew by! At 10am the first cautious pedestrians and bicyclists ventured onto the asphalt, and before long the crowd had filled the streets.

After walking the length of the route and a brief break at Dolores park, I turned around and walked it again headed East. As I turned the corner at Valencia and 24th Streets i was amazed at the volume of the crowd on 24th. These are people who don't get the chance to appreciate the public spaces in between buildings very often, and who were taking full advantage of the brief opportunity.

Businesses on 24th and Valencia had tables on the sidewalk and people in their shops. Folks on their bicycles intermingled calmly and freely with pedestrians, roller skaters, hula hoopers, and at least one unicyclist.

If you missed your chance to enjoy the neighborhood, then mark your calendar for July 19th. On that Sunday the streets of the Mission District will be opened to people again.

Don't Forget Sunday Streets

This Sunday, June 7th, will be this year's third installment of Sunday Streets. This month's route: the Mission District!

I'm super excited about this route - I predict it will be packed with folks looking to enjoy some breathing room on these typically crowded streets. There are tons of events planned and if the weather holds up the party could overflow into adjacent streets and the three parks connected by the route.

The fun goes from 10am to 2pm this Sunday so don't miss it! Take BART to 24th Street station, the J-Church to Dolores Park, the 9, 12, 27, 48, 33, 53, 14, 49, 26 (while it lasts!) buses and enjoy the neighborhood from a windshieldless perspective.

The Next Sunday Streets

This year's third Sunday Streets route has been announced! On June 7th 2.3 miles of streets in the Mission District will be closed outright and another 2/3 of a mile will be open only to local access.

The route will connect Dolores and Garfield Square Parks with Rolph Playground. Activities along the route haven't been announced yet, but there should be little doubt that this route will be interesting.

Sunday Streets Recap

I spent Mothers Day with my own mother on Third Street in this year's Bayview Sunday Streets. There may have been fewer people at this event than last month's Embarcadero closure, but not by much. The route was longer and the weather was perfect.

The businesses along Third Street set a very different tone for this month's event than the last. Many merchants offered special promotions or publicity programs, adding a level of engagement that was not so present on the Northern waterfront.

It was also a great excuse to see the construction progress in Mission Bay. The streets still haven't reached a level of connectivity that makes it easy to explore, and the oversize scale of the buildings makes it somewhat overwhelming. But mandates for public art in and around the straight-outta-Santa Clara commercial buildings provide some fun discoveries.

The segment along Dogpatch is layered in history. The old shipyard awaits restoration and redevelopment across from brand new apartments, which are already occupied.

I still don't understand why the route turned off of Third Street ad Islais Creek. The two events last year used this same route, and there were clear problems with the abandoned tracks along Illinois Street. Third is not especially heavily traveled between Islais and Mission creeks, and Illinois is a very wide road. Cars could easily be diverted onto Illinois if the capacity of Third was a concern.

There will be four more Sunday Streets events this year - one per month until September.

Sunday Streets, April 2009

After walking over seven highly enjoyable miles along a street crowded with pedestrians, joggers, bi-, tri- and multi-cyclists (where my unicyclists at?), skateboarders and scooter-ers, parents and children, I'd be shocked if anyone tried to describe Sunday Streets as anything but a huge success.



Running this year's first installment of SF's version of the ciclovia down the Embarcadero from the ballpark to Fisherman's Wharf was a smart move. I heard many people, particularly along the more crowded stretch North of the Ferry Building, remark with pleasant surprise on the event, which they clearly hadn't yet heard of. These folks are in luck - there are five more Sunday Streets events left, one per month until September.

Before leaving my house I was worried that the chilly air would dampen turnout for the event. When I arrived at 3rd and King there was a fairly small crowd entering the closed Northbound lanes from this endpoint. But as I walked along the sun-soaked boulevard toward the Ferry building the crowd grew denser.

It was a bit of a trip to walk lazily in the center of San Francisco's breathtaking waterfront boulevard. One certainly doesn't get many chances to pass under those Canary Island Date Palms, right up against the demonstration runs of the proposed E-Embarcadero line.

By the time I passed under the Bay Bridge (an amazing public space in its own outsized way) the street was full of everything-but-cars. And once I passed the Ferry Building the crowd was noticeably thick with BART riders, tourists and farmers market-goers.

It was remarkable how many kids were out with their parents. Most of these kids were on big wheels, trikes, and tiny bikes with training wheels. These kids were using this new civic resource to learn how to ride their bikes, a rite of passage that cul-de-sac dwellers take for granted.

Once I got to the wharf the crowd of San Franciscans speaking at least three different languages was impressive. I'll let the wharf businesses' receipts speak for themselves, but if I was a business owner I would be thrilled to have such a parade of recreators at my doorstep.

There was the Dolores Park boombox-bike guy (who I learned today through Streetsblog SF is SF Bicycle Coalition Board Member Amandeep Jawa). As he progressed through the route this betricycled pied piper attracted quite a crowd of cyclists behnd him.

There was also the FunCycle, a ring of pedalers who also had a speaker setup complete with disco ball. When I passed them at the Ferry Building on my return trip, they were stopped, singing karaoke-style along with the song that was playing - they tweaked the words to match a Sunday Streets theme (see photo in the slideshow above).

The only downside to the morning came after leaving the closed-off route. As I walked through South Beach/SoMa I encountered three bicyclists on the sidewalk (one per block). I happen to work in the area and I can attest that this is a fairly common occurrence along SoMa's narrow sidewalks. As a pedestrian I recognize the natural alliance between bicyclists and pedestrians, but it's unfortunate that so many (any is too many, IMHO) cyclists choose to alienate the most vulnerable road users by speeding through the only protected pedestrian space.

It was a regrettable ending to an incredibly encouraging day.

The next Sunday Streets event will be through the Bayview neighborhood. The route has yet to be announced, but it will likely follow a similar path to last year's alignment.

Sunday Streets 2009 Lineup Announced

This year we get six(!) Sunday Streets events. The lineup is as follows:

• Sunday, April 26: Waterfront Route running along the Embarcadero–from AT&T Park to Aquatic Park.
• Sunday, May 10: Waterfront Route in the Southeast Sector, highlighting the San Francisco Bay Trail, which is celebrating its 20th Anniversary in May. From AT&T Park to the Bayview Opera House, along the Bay.
• Sunday, June 7: New route for 2009 through the Mission, engaging new neighborhoods in the Sunday Streets movement.
• Sunday, July 19: New route for 2009 through the Mission, engaging new neighborhoods in the Sunday Streets movement.
• Sunday, August 9: Great Highway Route. Connecting Golden Gate Park to the San Francisco Zoo, along Ocean Beach.
• Sunday, Sept 6: Great Highway Route. Connecting Golden Gate Park to the San Francisco Zoo, along Ocean Beach.

◄ April 26th route