What should the lower 24th Street corridor look like in five or ten years?
A street with more lighting, better sidewalks, fewer liquor stores and more events, suggested stakeholders at a Monday evening workshop at St. Peter’s Church.
The purpose of the workshops was to form a vision and an action plan on how to improve the lower 24th street corridor from Mission to Potrero streets.
“We are not going to solve every problem,” said Jacob Schultz, one of the event’s organizers. “But we can do a lot of little things that can begin the change.”
Supervisor David Campos’ office and the Neighborhood Marketplace Initiative, which includes the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development and the Local Initiative Support Corporation, organized the workshops.
Their goal is stabilize and revitalize low and moderate-income commercial districts and the 24th Street corridor was recently selected as one. They do this by identifying common issues and suggesting solutions.
“The city already has some of the resources,” said Shultz, a program officer for the Local Initiative. “But until they have a complete plan, it won’t change –it’s an efficient collaboration of city resources.”
The Marketplace initiative, which works in 11 other San Francisco neighborhoods, cites the Excelsior as an example that successfully organized merchants and improved the look of storefronts in the neighborhood where vacancies were a problem.
They said, that in 2006 alone the program created 50 new businesses and 95 jobs for city residents.
The Lower 24th street corridor only has five vacancies, but stake holders at the meeting identified other issues and solutions as they talked in groups at different tables.
Connie Rivera, the owner of Mixcoatl Arts and Crafts, said that she understands that the sidewalks are narrow, but her business needs to have products on the sidewalks to attract customers.
At another table, Jaime Trejo the policy research analyst for the Mission Economic Development Agency told Police Captain Craig Corrales that there is a divide between youth and the police.
No consensus was reached on that issue. They and other residents, however, said the liquor store on 24th and Folsom is an ongoing problem.
At the same table, a man complained about excessive urination on Balmy Ally, a passageway lined with murals since the early 1970s. Someone suggested the city paint more images of the Virgin Mary, because the perpetrators have apparently refused to urinate on her.
The next meeting is on June 7th and they will have a complete summary of the issues and solutions. The meetings are open to the public.
Below is a list of suggestions. The issues they identified were derived from stakeholder interviews and focus groups.
Community Building and Marketing
– More street fairs and events to celebrate 24th Street.
– Cafes encourage people to come together
– Making brighter lights
– Partnership restaurant + Brava theater and Art spaces.
Health Safety
– Programs for youth and better relationship with police
Pedestrian Design and Streetscape
– Branding for corridor for a unified look
– Murals
– Better lighting at night
Latino Culture and Diversity
– Block parties
– More art events like MAPP, a bi-monthly extravaganza of art and culture that takes place in venues and private houses and is open to the public. The next one is on June 6.
– Parties at café’s
Local Business Development
– Attracting new business like banks but no chain stores
– Keeping existing business like Delano’s Grocery, which is in danger of closing
– Spend money locally
– Addressing increasing rents for commercial spaces, which has no rent control
– More lighting and trees
The city thinks they can create their idea of a neighborhood street where ever they like, regardless of what’s there. There’s a supply and demand concept at work here. Those liquor stores and check cashing places are there because people shop there. Those art galleries and cafes are popping up because people demand them. When the city tries to restrict those forces (i.e. new restaurant ban in the haight, noe valley, and castro) they stifle the regenerative forces already built into the neighborhoods. 24th street has an interesting and eclectic mix of businesses. Trying to control what gets put in there will turn it into an imitation of what it already is – a vibrant corridor. Let these natural forces do their jobs. If the city wants to fix something, let them facilitate positive change by cleaning streets, fixing potholes, expanding sidewalks and planting trees.
If we get rid of the liquor stores can we get rid of the check cashing places too? Talk about a shark in the community!!
where’s the article on what’s going to happen to 16th st ?
i saw endless amounts of outraged articles about public urination during bay to breakers, where’s the outrage at the public urination in the mission EVERY SINGLE DAY ?
Red flag MEDA? Lets talk about LISC. They take a urban planning concepts/theories and a handful of tools and apply those to commercial corridors regardless of their local neighborhood culture, demographics,social issues, etc… At least MEDA was born in bred in this community and has much to offer in terms of resources and know-how. That, coupled with neighborhood residents and local merchants is a powerful thing. ML- I would look closely at the Excelsior model- It ain’t all its cracked up to be.
It’s a sad state of affairs or a reflection of the lack of outreach and in-depth engagement with Latino stakeholders that the ideas for Latino Culture and Diversity are all focused on PACHANGAS-“Block parties, MAPP, Parties at Cafes”. Where is eviction defense, business retention, community-based asset building for working class, micro-enterprise start-ups, community policing, worker + employer education, job creation around all these trees being proposed.
I applaud the work of the Lower 24th St. Assoc. but where were they when families and merchants were evicted from 24th & Harrison, Margaritas Restaurant, La Posta, Izalco… We need them to be less on the side of unscrupulous developers (Chavez & Mission) & flavor-of-the-month politicians and more on the side of the people. 😉
To the first comment- Did you mean: gentrification? lol
Whats wrong with ANY organization trying to re-vamp 24th street? God forbid we actually feel safe going down there at night!
I, for one, feel liquor and dollar stores to be the cancer of these areas. One or two would be fine, but do you actually need a selection of where to buy booze and cigarettes on every block? C’mon, strive for better.
How many merchants attended the meeting?
I am sorry El Californio, I misread your question. I though you asked how many people total. To my knowledge there were only two merchants, and one of them left halfway through. But it is my understanding though that the issues discussed were identified through different five different focused groups, one of them compromised entirely of merchants. Shoud have put that in the article.
good question. I would say at first there were about 40-50 people. then it decreased to about 30.
Years ago, when Jim Gonzalez we look at creating a Latino District. We chose only to do minor improvements such as the flags on the lamp post from the Americas. The group felt that it would spur gentrification. As for the liquor stores there has been a movement for the last twenty years to limit them and bars. STOP THE STREET GARDENS FROM HAPPENING ON 24th STREET. NOT ALL PEOPLE WANT THIS… ITS JUST A FEW PEOPLE ON FOLSOM STREE THAT MOVE INTO A PLACE A FEW YEARS AGO. NO TO THE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT WHO IS TRYING TO MAKE HER CONCEPT OF GREEN A MISSION DISTRICT REALITY.
Street Gardens on 24th? They should keep them on private property. 24th street is a public street and should be for people and festivals. Everything in its right space. Besides they don’t help bring business and can create dirty sidewalks and who wants that?
I admire the energy and enthusiasm, but please get rid of ANY notion of “branding” the street. That is one of the most offensive words and concepts around; implies making 24th into a bland, suburban mall. It’s bad enough that we have to hear about the so called “branding” of the likes of Tyra Banks, or Oprah..but please, not 24th St.
Spend your time and money planting trees, adding benches, cleaning the streets and solving the homeless and drug problems.
keeping the rents low encourages new start ups
and diversity so i hope the mix doesn’t exclude
long time tenants. I am not thrilled by street fairs (enough already) I would LOVE TO SEE MORE STREET GARDENS ! this helps the enviroment and look of the area.
Five vacancies between Mission and Potrero? Noe Valley has that in two blocks and I don’t see *them* on the NMI map.
Anything with the Mission Economic Development people in the mix is a red flag.
There is only one long standing neighborhood group comprised of a real mix of “stakeholders” called I believe the Lower 24th Street Association that is nowhere to be seen in this piece.
MEDA is the group that accepted blood money from sub-prime lender Wachovia.
When will Mission Loc@l stop being a propaganda rag for these people and start actually reporting actual news?
Thank you for your comment. I did not include all the organization involved in my article. If you are referring to the the lower 24th Street Merchants and Neighbors Associations, then they were and have been actively involved in the project.
It’s happening already, & with the latinos, It’s the gengerfication.. Little by little It’s happening.. They want to take the liquour stores out? What’s wrong with liquor stores? Little stores like that is what makes the MISSION DISTRICT. WE DONT WANT ANOTHER HAIGHT AREA HERE IN THE MISSION