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Street closure on Polk St.
Businesses have closed since Polk Street added bike lanees and took out parking, is there a correlation?

The City in Decline

Are Bike Lanes Choking Businesses?

• • • • • • • June 2024 • • • • • • •

Glenn Rogers
Glenn Rogers

Some people who live in San Francisco believe that, in time, the population will return. Others strongly disagree, and this is not just because San Francisco is the "birthplace" of the remote worker. Remote workers have the advantage of working at home, which in turn allows them to spend more time with their children and family while living in a place less expensive than the rent or housing available in San Francisco.

It is not the remote workers causing San Francisco's decline; it is the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Authority (SFMTA) 's collective design strategy.

SFMTA PLANNERS

Today, San Francisco is designed by SFMTA planners, who have more design clout than any other agency in the City, except perhaps the State. To be a SFMTA planner, it is necessary to graduate from an accredited university and pass a certification program. However, after that, planners have little else to navigate in their careers.

quotes

Let’s not forget that Japantown, in the Fillmore district, was redeveloped by purchasing Black-owned property for a fraction of its true value through eminent domain in the 1970s. Over 10,000 Black residents were displaced.”

PLANNERS IN OTHER PROFESSIONS

Of course, not all planners are involved in traffic design. Some planners review neighborhood projects for code compliance and permit approval. In 2023, a client called and complained of a planning department bias because a planner had a friendship with a neighborhood member. The client was required to pursue overly expensive plans with unreasonable directions from planners. Eventually, the mayor, who was of the same ethnicity as the client, was contacted. With the mayor's help, the problem was resolved amicably. That is an example of favoritism and racism in a local planning department recently. Let's not forget that Japantown, in the Fillmore district, was redeveloped by purchasing Black-owned property for a fraction of its true value through eminent domain in the 1970s. Over 10,000 Black residents were displaced. Planners and the Board of Supervisors were responsible. Also, the "redlining" by Federal planners provided realtors with a map with the information they needed to deny homeownership to Black Americans. Today, we face another form of redevelopment mandated by the State, forcing us to build 82,000 units in eight years. Will this redevelopment go as badly?

ARCHITECTS AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

In contrast, architects are monitored by the Department of Consumer Affairs their entire career for professional conduct, drug abuse, or felony convictions. Also, architects and landscape architects are required to be interns for 2-3 years. After completing their internship, architects and landscape architects are eligible to sit for an exam in their field to exhibit their competency. Planners do not have an equivalent competency program, yet they dramatically design and influence the City. Safe to say, the least qualified professionals in the design field disproportionately influence San Francisco's business success and transportation viability.

POLK STREET

On my way to the Swan Oyster Bar, one of San Francisco's favorite restaurants, there is evidence of design interference in the number of closed businesses on Polk Street.

In this picture there are two closed businesses. The market owner complained that without a place to park, shoppers park in the bike lane, make a quick dash to purchase a food item, then rush back to their car.

TEXT

Here again, we have two more closed stores. In the photo above, a very large nightclub is closed.
The neighborhood has numerous other problems, including the Civic Center Inn, which is empty and closed. The owner says every room has been vandalized, and graffiti is everywhere. It would seem the owner has given up on maintenance.

Besides the inn, numerous young people stand or sit on the sidewalk, heating aluminum foil with a match. Across the street is a homeless shelter. Most neighbors agree that the neighborhood is in decline.

civic center inn

WEST PORTAL AVENUE

A good example of the SFMTA's design talent is the plan proposed to close down West Portal Avenue to vehicular traffic. Originally, the plan was to deny all traffic entering the business community except for commercial vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. With the business district alarmed at fewer customers, a West Portal Avenue Committee was formed to provide a collaborative design. In this original plan, if you want to get to the east side of West Portal Avenue, a circulatory route from Vicente Street to West Portal Avenue is the only option. That's because Ulloa Street becomes a one-way street going east only, denying access to West Portal Avenue from that direction. Therefore, easy access for 50% of the neighbors is denied. Then, since no U-Turn is allowed, you will have to retake the same route to see if any customers have left a parking space open for you. Originally, a right-turn graphic was missing from the plan, but when the right-turn graphic was added, the bollards were also included. These bollards can protect the public waiting for a bus where the accident occurred that began this process.

West Portaal Plan

CLOSING MARKET STREET

The closure of Market Street was undoubtedly to bring back business vitality by having only bicycles and pedestrians on the street. If that was the plan, the closure has failed. In the first quarter of the year, the business vacancy rate was 32% downtown (some report as high as 36.6%). In March of 2023, the vacancy rate was 26%. In March of 2022, the vacancy rate was 22%. Google is said to be leaving One Market Street in 2025. Unfortunately, artificial intelligence technologies have not been replacing old dot com technology industries as fast as they are leaving. During the previous dot com boom, companies required more employees and capital to get started. That meant many more jobs were available. That's not happening with AI companies — they want to be lean after witnessing the last downturn in the economy from the Covid-19 epidemic.

Director Jeffrey Tumlin of the SFMTA quipped, why would anyone want to drive on Market Street? "There is no parking there." Many San Franciscans drive down Market Street to know where they are going, then turn and park on a side street. Not having this as an option could be influencing the vitality of downtown.

WILL HOME TAXPAYERS BE ASKED TO RESCUE SF?

65% of the population in San Francisco are renters, while 23%-35% of the population own homes. With a business vacancy rate of 36.6% downtown, San Francisco does not have enough business tax income for its budget of $15.9 billion. Owners of buildings who rent their real estate to other businesses still have to pay real estate taxes, even if their offices are empty.

UNDERSTANDING SAN FRANCISCO TAXES

Presently, 1.3% of a home's value is taxed by the City. Fortunately, taxes cannot be increased by the City unless there is voter approval, says Supervisor Connie Chan, Chair of the Finance Committee Board of Supervisors.

HOW TO SOLVE THE SFMTA CRISIS

To do this, we need an SFMTA director who will reduce its planning department to become more competent. Lastly, we need the SFMTA to be broken into smaller pieces to become a manageable department. In this way, the SFMTA may become more responsive, competent and capable.

 

Glenn Rogers, RLA
President, Coalition for San Francisco Neighborhoods (CSFN)
Landscape Architect, License 3223

July2024

Glenn Rogers
Glenn Rogers
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