---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Tom Radulovich <tom@livablecity.org> Sent by: News-bounces@livablecity.org 03/22/2006 07:03 PM "In a Society becoming steadily more privatized with private homes, cars, computers, offices and shopping centers, the public component of our lives is disappearing. It is more and more important to make the cities inviting, so we can meet our fellow citizens face to face and experience directly through our senses. Public life in good quality public spaces is an important part of a democratic life and a full life." —Jan Gehl DOWNTOWN PARKING REFORM REINTRODUCED! This Tuesday, Supervisor Aaron Peskin reintroduced a modified version of the downtown parking reform legislation vetoed by Mayor Newsom two weeks ago. The reform measure, which sought to reduce the amount of parking required in new downtown housing and protect downtown's major transit, pedestrian, and bicycle streets from traffic conflicts, enjoyed strong support by the City's Planning Director, Dean Macris, and was supported by both the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors. In his veto message, Mayor Newsom supported most of the main principles of the legislation – elimination of minimum parking requirements, establishing a maximum of three spaces for every four units, protecting street frontages on the city's main transit, bicycle, and pedestrian streets from curb cuts, and requiring that new parking be located underground, or on the ground floor with active uses on all public frontages – but asked for "modifications" that would allow curb cuts and parking on upper stories under certain conditions. Supervisor Peskin's reintroduced legislation retains most of the provisions of the vetoed legislation, while allowing some exceptions for curb cuts and parking on upper floors, where specific conditions apply (like underground transit lines) and with special approval from the Planning Commission. Some of the exceptions 'sunset' after eight years. The bad news is that some stupid projects, like the proposed Nordstrom Garage near fifth and Market, may be able to proceed (although they can be appealed to the Board of Supervisors). The great news is that the new legislation retains most of the benefits of the old, and two provisions – the requirements for car-sharing and secure bike parking in new residential buildings – will now apply citywide! The legislation's next move is to the planning commission, where approval is expected; TLC will keep you informed. Check out our campaign page (http://www.livablecity.org/campaigns/c3.html) for more information and updates. *** SUPPORT GEARY RAPID TRANSIT Geary Corridor Citizen's Advisory Committee Thursday, March 23 at 6 PM San Francisco Transportation Authority offices 100 Van Ness Avenue, 26th Floor Geary Boulevard, which runs is one of the most important transit corridors in the city, carrying an estimated 50,000 riders per day. Unfortunately, the 38-Geary buses are crowded, slow, and unreliable. Proposition K, the city's 2003 half-cent sales tax for transportation made rapid transit on Geary – either light rail or bus rapid transit (BRT) – a top priority. TLC strongly supports rapid transit service on Geary – the corridor's 50,000 daily riders deserve faster, more reliable service, and better service which would attract thousands of additional riders each day. We also support making Geary a "complete street", with streetscape improvements to make it a great walking street, and bicycle access, especially along the crucial middle portion of Geary through the Western Addition. The SF County Transportation Authority (TA) is working on a study of bus rapid transit alternatives for the Geary Corridor ( http://www.sfcta.org/geary.htm). Unfortunately, a small group of Richmond District merchants are trying to derail the entire study, in the hopes that the current status quo – a car-dominated Geary with slow and unreliable transit – will prevail. If you want to show your support rapid transit on Geary, please attend the Citizens' Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting for the project this Thursday, and let the CAC know that you support a complete Geary Boulevard, with rapid transit and improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists. *** URBANIST JAN GEHL IN SAN FRANCISCO "The People Dimension of Public Space: Jan Gehl and Allan Jacobs in conversation" Tuesday, April 4, 5-7 PM South Light Court, City Hall Jan Gehl, an architect, urban designer based in Copenhagen, is one of TLC's heroes. He oversaw the pedestrianization of much of Copenhagen's historic center, transforming city streets and underused plazas into vital public spaces through pedestrian-centered design. He has inspired a generation of urban designers around the world to convert town centers to "people-centered spaces", and restore public life to streets and squares dominated by the automobile. Mayor Ken Livingstone engaged Mr. Gehl to begin the transformation of central London along the lines he pioneered in Copenhagen. Check out his placemaker profile on the Project for Public Spaces web site: http://www.pps.org/info/placemakingtools/placemakers/jgehl . Mr. Gehl will be in conversation with San Francisco's own Allan Jacobs, another distinguished urbanist and author of Great Streets and The Boulevard Book. TLC will use the occasion of Mr. Gehl's visit to kick off our Livable Downtown Initiative, an effort to move San Francisco towards a livable, walkable, and greener downtown. Check out our Livable Downtown campaign page for an outline of the initiative ( http://www.livablecity.org/campaigns/downtown.html), and stay tuned for more updates! *** SUPPORT CAR-FREE SATURDAYS IN GOLDEN GATE PARK A coalition of pedestrian, bicycle, open space, and children's advocates has advanced the Healthy Saturdays Initiative, which will expand the wildly successful car-free Sundays on Golden Gate Park's John F. Kennedy Drive to Saturdays as well. Supervisors Mirkarimi and Mc Goldrick have introduced legislation to start a six-month trial of car-free JFK drive this May. Contact the Mayor and your Supervisor and let them know you support the Healthy Saturdays proposal; check out the healthy Saturdays web site ( http://www.sfpix.com/) for more information. *** Tom Radulovich Executive Director Transportation for a Livable City 995 Market Street Suite 1550 San Francisco CA 94103 415 344-0489 www.livablecity.org tom@livablecity.org