Residents and merchants of the lower 24th Street corridor want -literally- a bright future.
The request for better lighting at the Monday night meeting was the number one priority of residents who jammed into the Community Planning Workshop at St. Peters church.
This request, along with safer sidewalks and a “shop local” campaign were among the most popular request by attendees. The next step is implementation, which organizers estimate will begin by December.
The workshop was part of the Neighborhood Marketplace Initiative, a collaboration of Supervisor David Campos’ office, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. Their goal is to establish a vision for the 24th Street corridor and implement a plan.
While infrastructure issues like fixing broken sidewalks and adding light poles seem costly, especially amongst city budget cuts organizers are still hopeful.
Jacob Schultz, program officer for the Local Initiative, said the Excelsior group, for example, obtained a small grant from PG&E to install pedestrian level censor lights.
“It’s not the most elegant, but it tackles the issue,” he said.
Another group suggested that they photograph broken sidewalks and display them on the streets and online for awareness.
Crezia Tano, an assistant project manager for the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, said fixing the sidewalks might be a long-term project because of the City’s fiscal crisis.
“It could become a priority when funds become available,” she said.
Shultz said he liked solutions that required low resources and volunteering – which some neighbors said they would do to clean up the street and some businesses.
Erick Arguello, founder of the Lower 24th Street Merchant and Neighbors Association, said he liked the discussion over uneven sidewalks – a longtime issue on 24th Street.
He mentioned the story of a mother who was pushing her stroller through an uneven sidewalk and baby fell off. An officer at the meeting also mentioned that there have been cases of chronic drunks who trip and injure themselves leading them to General Hospital.
“It’s been neglected for too long,” he said.
Dairo Romero, a community organizer for the Mission Economic Development Agency said he was pleased that neighbors wanted to preserve the neighborhood identity.
Now that the group has identified specific issues and possible solutions, a “steering” committee of volunteers will be formed, Shultz said. Mission Loc@l counted at least 15 people on the volunteer list.
To get involved, please contact LISC at 415-397-7322 x24
Maybe landlords or tenants can install motion sensor lights — it would be a lot cheaper than having the city do it. Or, I just put in one of those eco-bulbs in front of my house and it stays on for like a year and adds to the light on the street.