A few dozen people gathered at the Brava Theater earlier this week to voice their support for the increase in the number of Sunday Street events in the Mission, scheduled this year for the first Sundays in May, June, July and August. Some residents, however, were worried about the lack of parking and issues they’ve encountered with bicyclists at past events.
Prior to Monday’s meeting, senior staff from the nonprofit organization Livable City, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and other agencies involved in Sunday Streets met with a few dozen residents, merchants, bicyclists and other community members to discuss the impact the increased number of events would have on the community.
Despite the overwhelming support, much concern was expressed regarding parking, crowd control and safety.
According to Erick Arguello, president of the Lower 24th Street Merchants and Neighbors Association, only 10 of the association’s 53 members oppose the four consecutive Sunday Streets scheduled for this year — double the number of events held in previous years.
“The biggest concern that these merchants have is that accessibility to sell specialty items on the weekends,” said Arguello.
Most customers patronize specialty stores on weekends, Arguello said, and owners of these stores fear that the loss of parking during Sunday Streets will cause them to lose customers.
“In order to address the problem, we are trying to provide them free parking passes for their customers at the nearby Fresh & Easy,” said Arguello.
Maria De La Mora, a lifelong Mission resident, was concerned about the number of cars that would be towed due to the lack of parking and outreach.
“First off, they didn’t alert the neighborhood to ask them if it would be OK to have four consecutive Sunday Streets prior to making their decision,” said De La Mora. “Most of the people that showed up to this meeting were members of Sunday Streets and the San Francisco Bike Coalition.”
De La Mora also is also concerned about the lack of outreach to inform neighbors of the additional Sunday Streets.
“Many people aren’t tech-savvy and won’t know ahead of time about the streets that are closed,” she said. “Getting your car towed is expensive. These expenses add up and it affects people’s lives.”
According to Susan King, the Sunday Streets project director for Livable City, fewer than 60 cars were towed during the most recent Sunday Street event held in the Mission.
King said that to address these issues, the towing time will be moved to 7 a.m., flat-rate parking will be offered in two Mission area garages during Sunday Streets, and garages will open an hour early, at 6 a.m.
The Mission Bartlett garage will charge $10 and the garage at SF General Hospital will charge $7 for all vehicles entering between 6 a.m. and noon. The flat rate will cover parking until 6 p.m. Vehicles entering after noon will pay the normal hourly rate.
Another concern raised was bicyclists’ lack of etiquette with pedestrians.
“People driving think that they own the streets; now people on bikes think they own the streets,” said one resident. “Some of these bike people are rude and dangerous.”
While some suggested creating a separate bike lane during the events, King said that she would work closely with the volunteer team to prevent speeding issues.
“In the past we have had 125 to 175 volunteers,” said King. “We will make sure that we have enough volunteers to address pedestrian safety.”
According to King, staff and volunteers will hand out flyers to bicyclists during the events, and post signs along the route reminding riders not to speed and to be careful around pedestrians.
For many in the audience, Sunday Streets has had a positive effect.
“Sunday Streets have been very successful for my business,” said Connie Rivera, owner of Mixcoatl Arts & Crafts. “Usually people don’t want to leave the event and I make very good money.”
Roberto Y. Hernandez, community organizer and producer of Latin One Productions, said that he became involved with the program to make it more diverse, reflecting the large Latino-based community in the Mission.
“I want our community to be more connected so that we can coexist together,” said Hernandez. “[Through Sunday Streets] we can build on building a relationship with our neighbors.”
Hernandez said that he is organizing a variety of programs for this year’s events, including do-it-yourself bike repair and a designated cumbia dance area.
“This year we are making it a priority to have 25 percent of all performances be interactive,” said King.
Towards the end of the meeting, a few people thanked the moderators for addressing their concerns, while others walked away with mixed feelings.
“It was a good meeting, but it did raise a lot of concerns,” said King. “We have good support for the neighborhood, and a lot of people are willing to step up and help with outreach.”
Another community meeting will be set up in the Mission sometime within the next month, King said, to discuss the events’ programs and activities.
Sunday Streets is set to take place the first Sundays in May, June, July and August, from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. The Mission events will be held along Valencia Street from 14th to 24th streets, and on 24th from Valencia to Hampshire.
I live in the Mission and I love it when streets are shut down for fairs, Carnival, and Sunday Streets. It’s a great excuse to get out and walk or bike and meet other members of the community, support local establishments, and not have to drive anywhere. It’s amazing that we have so much going on in this neighborhood. I have visited some cities where cars are not allowed at all on the main downtown streets (including Venice and Guanajuato) and it’s an amazing way to live. People must learn to adjust to driving less. With gas prices on the rise, we may come to a day when it’s not feasible to drive at all. And you know what, this might actually be a good thing!
The organizers of Sunday Streets never asked the residents of the Mission which four months they wanted. As usual with the organizers, they told us what they were going to do. The problem is no communication until after the fact, yes they did come to a council meeting to “ask what we thought” then announced their schedule. May has two street closures, Carnival and Sunday Streets. August has two too. Why not ship May and have one in September.
Give the mission some respect.
P.S. Sunday Street organizers didn’t want to do an outreach to the Valencia corridor folks.
so what happened when you went to the meeting and shared your concerns ?
It sounds like only advocates showed up at this event — which is not surprising.
I think the Sunday Streets is fine, but I do wonder how much it costs and how else that money could be spent on recreational activities (parks etc.).
Last Sunday Street, there was a communication issue regarding parking. They did not placed ANY signs on Treat Ave. and All the residents there got towed.
I like the idea of Sunday Street, but it only works for the businesses.
It’s crowed and due to that it doesn’t get to be fun. People eat tacos and leave their garbage thrown on the streets.
Residents on Harrison St. got up on arms and went to city hall and due to their claims, there is no Sunday St happening there… In the widest st from the lower Mission!
Sorry, but Sunday Streets only seems to work for people from other neighborhoods, not the residents. One Sunday every month for4 months is too much to put up with it.
Close the Golden gate Park, filled it up with food stands and trucks, and let people get there to enjoy nature, not cement. Close it ALL summer, take people to the park!
I don’t get about cyclists speeding on Sunday Streets. I have volunteered for Sunday Streets in the Mission for 3 times, and not one I have encountered speeding cyclists. It is so crowded to have any room to bike at all.
No reason not to do this. Its only 1 sunday a month for 4 months. That’s really not a big deal.
So that should really read “A Few Dozen of the Mission’s nearly 50,000 Community Members Want More Sunday Streets.”
I live a block from Valencia and wasn’t aware of this meeting. I’m pretty sure none of my neighbors or anyone I know was aware of this meeting. It seems like most of the people who showed up are those in the know that already support more Sunday Streets in the Mission. In a neighborhood so notice-happy for community involvement and meddling (I got three notices in the last week for various immaterial neighborhood projects), I’m surprised that there isn’t more outreach on this.
I’d like to have a better idea of the fiscal cost to the neighborhood and city for each Sunday Streets in the Mission; the actual dollars required to close the streets, have police re-direct traffic, etc.
I also have concerns about the lack of notice and the number of cars I see towed each time. Last year, I saw a slew of cars towed, and then the cars that came to replace them were towed immediately, with no warning or heads-up from the parking enforcement officer nearby.
The city should be required to disclose how many more cars are towed on Sunday Streets routes – and how much more revenue is collected as a result – than on the same routes on a Sunday that’s not Sunday streets.
It doesn’t cost the neighborhood, the city pays. The neighborhood rakes in the $$$ when this event happens. Period.
So how much does the city pay?
And where is there evidence (aside from one anecdotal piece cited in the story above) that the neighborhood rakes in “$$$”?
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not against Sunday streets. I’d just like a better idea of the numbers involved in a monthly project of this scale.
Well, the city does definitely make revenue from the towing. As far as the neighborhood raking in $$$, I’m friends with one Valencia St merchant, and have talked to several merchants on 24th, and all have told me that Sunday Streets is AMAZING for their business. The Valencia person usually has to hire extra people for those days. I’m sure it depends on the business…I imagine sit-down restaurants wouldn’t see a huge upturn until after the event is over, if at all, but for retailers and cafes, it seems to be great. I always do the Mission Sunday Streets (I live near 24th & Harrison) and retail/food businesses seem to all be WAY busier than they’d normally be at that time on a Sunday.