People flocked to Valencia Street yesterday for Sunday Streets Mission, an event in which a mile-long stretch of Valencia Street from Duboce Avenue to 26th Street is closed to cars and opened to pedestrians and bikers.
The sun shone down as artists, politicians, businesses, and neighborhood groups set up activity stations and information booths. Parents pushed strollers and watched over kids zooming around on scooters and balance bikes. Couples strolled down the street holding hands, and young people ducked in and out of thrift stores.
The slight breeze was perfect for CJ Da Lazy DJ, who had brought a teal bubble gun with him. He waited for a good gust of wind before pulling the trigger, so the bubbles would float down the street.
“Kids love it,” he said. “I let them shoot it for a few minutes. Of course, all of them try to take it, but their parents are really nice and they say, ‘You can’t do that. Give it back.’”
As he manned the bubble gun, he also used an iPad to control the music thumping outside of Joyride, a pizza restaurant.
He’s been DJing as a hobby since the ’70s, picking up gigs whenever he feels like it. “That’s where the lazy comes in,” he said. “You couldn’t get me to do a job.”
His goal on this Sunday was to “play stuff that they can bob their head to,” he said, queuing “Walk of Life” by Dire Straits, and then some Doja Cat “for the youngsters.” “I’m gonna get to my jazz in a minute,” he added.
Across the street, employees at Munroe Motors, a motorcycle shop, showed off their wares, including a balance bike for 3- to 5-year-olds that’s equipped with power and can go up to around 10 miles per hour. Parents can control the battery and set a maximum speed, parts manager Kyle Charlton explained.
“As they become more familiarized and they’re becoming little rippers, you can make it go faster for them,” he said.
Charlton said that Munroe Motors hopes that this event will make motorcycles “more accessible.”
“We’re one of the last remaining motorcycle shops in the city; many of them have had to close,” he said. “We just want to make the bikes not scary to be hanging around.”
The Exploratorium set up a series of activities for kids, including one where kids get a “tensegrity kit,” joining together wood pieces and string to create a structure that seems to float in the air, held up only by string.
Volunteer David Bliss, who designed the kit, patiently explained the construction — and the science behind it — to one child.
“This is a place to just slow down and have uninterrupted connection with someone,” said Deirdre Araujo, head of volunteer engagement at the Exploratorium, adding that they have a few free tickets that they give away to kids who show a lot of interest in the activities.
Humans weren’t the only ones who came to Sunday Streets, though. Dogs trotted along the street with their owners and, in one shady spot, Regina Sanchez, the director of Finding a Best Friend Rescue, let kids take turns petting and holding the puppies.
One kid, Lydia, was very excited to get to hold Miguel, a little tan chihuahua mix. “She would love to adopt another dog, but we just adopted a dog in December, so I think we’re set for a little while,” her mom, Julie Zigoris, said. Lydia said her ideal would be a lot of dogs, maybe around 10.
They had taken a family bike ride to Sunday Streets, enjoying the nice weather. “We have already run into about five or 10 people we know, coming down Valencia Street,” Zigoris said. “So, it’s very nice. It has felt kind of like a family affair.”
Keeping everyone safe was Katrina Wagner, who sat near the barricades on 16th Street, holding up a stop sign for cyclists and pedestrians whenever the cross traffic started up. She’s been volunteering with Sunday Streets for years, in the Mission and in other neighborhoods.
She loves seeing people come and enjoy themselves, and appreciates how Sunday Streets gets people outside and interacting with each other.
“I want the city to be accessible to kids and to bicyclists, and we’ve done a really good job, actually, on Valencia, doing a lot of bicycle paths,” she added. “But there’s also a lot of neighborhoods where you can’t ride your bike, or you can’t bring your children out so easily.”
Outside of the bar Fort Point Valencia, members of San Francisco Instant Photo Walk hung out after completing their walk through the Mission. Once a month, participants go on a walk somewhere in the Bay Area, take photos (mostly with cameras that have instant film), and then typically end at a bar, where they lay out all their photos and have a contest. Today, there was no contest, though, because a co-host forgot the prizes at home.
The photographers emphasized that everyone was welcome on their walks.
“I’m not a professional photographer. Half the time my shit comes out blurry, dark, whatever. It doesn’t matter,” Kapril Wooley said. “That’s what this is about. If you have questions, someone’s going to tell you about it.”
“It’s a community, for reals. And we don’t litter,” she added, as someone went around with a plastic bag, collecting people’s negatives. He handed her a Polaroid, which she peeled open to reveal a picture of herself talking and holding her matcha.
Shooting with film is always a “chemistry experiment,” he said. “As I say, sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re artistic.”
The San Francisco Public Library bookmobile also came to Sunday Streets, with librarians ready to offer recommendations.
Embroidery artist Paul Pnosa was set up in front of Mission Playground with his sewing machine.
He makes people custom patches, as long as their request is fewer than five words and isn’t a list or logo; some samples on display included one of a piano on fire and one with dancing skeletons.
“It’s a real struggle to get people to use their imagination. It’s become harder, that’s for sure,” he said.
Though Pnosa is based out of Tucson, Arizona, he thinks Valencia in the Mission is “the street to be on.”
“I might have oversaturated this neighborhood,” he added, explaining that people have come up to him and told him that they already own one or even several of his patches.
In front of the long line outside of Hila Gelato Caffè, DJ Lamont, who teaches DJ classes, played music with one of his students, WHIT the DJ. Lamont’s husband, Christopher, also hung out behind the DJ booth.
For Sunday Streets, Lamont wanted to “choose music based on the multiculturalism and beauty of San Francisco.”
Earlier, he played an Afrobeats version of “Stand By Me.” “When I played that, a lot of people were vibing to it,” he said, calling the song “beautiful.”
Further down the block, Josue Santos, an Afro Brazilian percussion teacher, taught Alvaro Souza a beat.
“We’re from the same town in Brazil, Salvador in Bahia, and I’m learning from him,” Souza said.
As Phat Luv Band covered “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” by Sly & The Family Stone, a few people in the crowd started dancing to the music.
Rachel Eschelbach set out a bunch of toys from Puddle Jumpers Workshop, a cooperative daycare. Parents provide much of the labor for the daycare by pitching in a few days a week. One full-time teacher manages the curriculum and enrichment.
“We brought all the things that we know our kids love to play with,” Eschelbach said, gesturing to the toys laid out on the ground: Chalk, bubbles, toy trucks, hula hoops, and more.
Eschelbach, who is currently the chair, said the community at Puddle Jumpers is very tight; families hang out outside of school and babysit for each other. “Living in a city that can feel a little siloed, it’s nice to feel like you have a nice, cohesive community that you’re a part of,” she said.
As they walked by, Nom Ndzumo and her daughter Sipho stopped to try out Puddle Jumper’s hula hoops. Sipho quickly got a bright green hoop spinning.
“We just went to church and then we were like, ‘What to do?’ And then boom, there’s a street fair,” Ndzumo said. “That’s great for parents on Sunday afternoon.”
“This one is heavy, but I can still do it,” Sipho told her mom, spinning a wooden hula hoop around.
“Wow, that’s awesome,” Ndzumo responded, adding, “See, that’s what we celebrate, then we prepare for school tomorrow. That’s a nice ending to the weekend.”
The real party on Valencia this Sunday was the consistent stream of dirt bikers flagrantly violating traffic laws and riding dangerously.
Cardinal,
I say we form a secret Water Balloon Society and don’t tell anyone kinda like Fight Club and the Dolores Park Hill Bomb with no leadership where everyone agrees to get some balloons if the cops don’t act and pepper the bikers with them the first time.
Second time the balloons are filled with noxious smelling mix.
Third could be ink or paint I’d guess but I’m only retelling a story here.
These punks are Owning the Mission District cops.
Your move, Chief Scott
h.
15th Street fenced off, nothing’s happening. Might as well keep that open for ppl trying to get around.
Great photos! It was a lovely day and a great neighborhood event. We particularly enjoyed checking out the Jazz in the Neighborhood (https://jazzintheneighborhood.org/) tent/stage that featured some fine hard bop when we walked over.