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Mission Dispatch -- > Local Motion > 2 > 3 > 4 > 5 > 6 > 7 > 8 > 9 > 10
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International planners emphasize genial leadership
Fran Taylor, Member of Walk SF, Feb 26, 2009
Be sweet to the pedestrians. This is urban planning in a nutshell, according to Jan Gehl, author of "Life Between Buildings." The Danish planner and his counterpart from Colombia, Gil Peñalosa, both visited San Francisco last fall. They delivered presentations that emphasized the potential joy planning can bring, in contrast to the tortured process locals endure in San Francisco. Details differed in the two talks, but both speakers demonstrated how vision and leadership work. Instead of dwelling on minutiae or settling for half-hearted measures, the international planners use the broad picture to steer change.
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Disabled Communities Tackle Sidewalk Parking
By Fran Taylor, Member Walk San Francisco, Dec 29, 2008
San Franciscans plowing through the voter handbook saw graphic proof after Prop H of a vexing problem. A full-page ad shows one woman in a scooter, a second using a walker, and another pushing a stroller, all struggling to get past cars blocking the sidewalk. Complaints that the City winks at drivers hogging sidewalks are nothing new. But the sponsors of the ad, Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Independent Living Resource Center San Francisco, along with Senior Action Network, are taking a fresh approach to change that cavalier attitud
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Governor Ignores Message of Gas Crunch in Southeast
By Fran Taylor, member WalkSF, Nov 10, 2008
Gas shortages in the wake of Hurricane Ike barely made news in the Bay Area, but drivers in North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee spent weeks in September and October searching for open service stations. The New York Times quoted an administrative assistant who drives an hour to work in Atlanta as saying, “looking for gasoline has become my entire life.” The North Carolina attorney general sent subpoenas to stations accused of gouging when they charged over $7.00 a gallon. Asheville closed city offices and canceled athletic events, and one North Carolina county manager ordered the local bookmobile to be suspended.
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Lifeline Fast Pass Needs Overhaul
By Fran Taylor, Member Walk San Francisco, Oct 06, 2008
How would you design a program destined to fail? Make it inaccessible and of little value. Presumably, Muni’s $35 Lifeline Fast Pass wasn’t intentionally designed to fail, but it certainly wasn’t designed to succeed. Few know about Lifeline, and even fewer use it. Not because the need for a discounted fare for low-income riders isn’t there. Many Muni passengers can’t afford to shell out $45 for an Adult Fast Pass, so wind up paying more with individual daily fares. The saving offered by Lifeline is small, however, the process to obtain it is onerous, and it doesn’t work on BART. Proposed changes can only bring improvement. Accessibility problems are twofold: physical difficulty in buying a pass and severe restrictions on who qualifies. The program’s website (www.munilifeline.org) spells out the process: “You can buy a Lifeline Pass on the last and first two business days (Mon. – Fri.) each month, at the following locations: Human Services Agency office at 170 Otis (8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.), or San Francisco One Stop located at 3120 Mission (8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.).”
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Cesar Chavez Street Transformation Kicks into Gear
By Fran Taylor, Member Walk San Francisco, Sep 14, 2008
Long-awaited plans to transform Cesar Chavez Street from a “traffic sewer” to a pedestrian-friendly boulevard are finally beginning to take shape. The Planning Department unveiled three proposals last month at a community workshop attended by about 70 local residents. A fourth option was submitted from the floor at the meeting.
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