Residents Want Better Streets

If you've seen these yellow jackets, you've probably also seen someone who attended the Better Streets Plan meeting last Wednesday. Everyone got a freebie, and one lucky participant won a $50 gift certificate from the SF Giants!

To truly make our neighborhood's streets better for pedestrians, serious issues need to be addressed. Institutional and street violence. Environmental injustice, including the regular dumping of trash. Negative attitudes and perceptions about the neighborhood and its people. The list goes on, and includes much that wouldn't come up at a similar meeting in many other SF neighborhoods.

Missed the meeting? You can still make your opinions known. Post a comment here. Email info@quesadagardens.org. Fill out a Better Streets Plan Survey.

The Quesada Gardens Initiative hosted over 30 residents from the BVHP's diverse population, and packed the library to talk about the City's Better Streets Plan. Ana Validzic from SF DPH facilitated the discussion for attendees representing the “heart of the Bayview” and beyond, and included the Newcomb “model block” group, Mendell Ave. area group, India Basin Neighborhood Association, Latona/Revere neighbors group, Footprints Collaborative, and the Neighborhood History Project.

See the full notes from the gathering here!

The Better Streets Plan is a comprehensive plan put together by multiple City agencies to create a unified set of standards for public streets and rights-of-way. The Plan attempts to balance the needs of all street users, with a particular focus on the pedestrian environment and how streets can be used as public space. The pedestrian environment is about much more than just transportation – streets serve a multitude of social, recreational and ecological purposes.

Plan organizers were concerned that feedback from the BVHP was inadequate, and that overall feedback from SF residents might leave out the unique concerns of underserved communities. They asked QGI to organize an opportunity for BVHP community input, which we were happy to do. Many thanks to Linda Brooks-Burton and her team at the branch library for lending their community room!

(The photo comes courtesy of the Better Bayview Yahoo Group)