A group of merchants on San Francisco’s Valencia Avenue abruptly canceled this weekend’s “common space” closure and outdoor festivities due to forecasted rain.
Among them was Valencia Cyclery bike shop owner Paul Olszewski, who sent a barrage of emails to neighbors late Thursday. He said bad weather further reduces the chances of making sales.
“Saturdays used to be the busiest day at the Valencia Cycle Factory, but now they are often the slowest,” writes Olszewski. Despite the drizzling rain.
“I think prospective customers who drive into our neighborhood are being discouraged by the increased congestion and lack of parking spaces,” continued Olszewski, attracting customers with lively parklets and patio dining. The event, which was meant to be, instead turned out to be “counterproductive.”
Comments like this point to the latest friction points between slow streets and safe spaces. These programs embraced the idea of shutting off motor traffic to lure more people outside during the pandemic lockdown. These efforts now face an uncertain future as San Francisco and other cities struggle to revive their economies.
Several shop owners in the email thread shared Olshevsky’s frustration and urged restaurateur and San Francisco Transportation Director Manny Yechtiel to take action. He texted the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association board subcommittee dealing with road closures, and by noon on Friday, the common space event scheduled for the next day was canceled. Friday night is still on.
Yekutiel says he spearheaded Shared Spaces in 2020 and persuaded other business owners to apply for permission to block traffic from the 3 Block Strip every Friday night and Saturday. He and others believed that sweeping out cars could increase foot traffic to restaurants and stores that had withered during COVID.
However, in an interview on Friday, Yektiel said the neighbors’ concerns were reasonable and it may be time to ponder the fate of the project going forward.
Conversations between merchants, residents and city officials are “a little behind the times,” Yektiel said. It did — stores displayed merchandise on sidewalks and covered parklets extended restaurants and cafes into parking spaces — merchants have recently begun to object. “Dead he will be on the street if not properly activated,” says Yekutiel.
But advocates for bikes and pedestrians are concerned that last-minute cancellations of rain forecasts could spell doom for the event that has brought a new paradigm of urban living to the San Francisco neighborhood. and Valencia’s car-free public spaces on Saturday are one of San Francisco’s 41st recurring road closures, said Robin Abad Okubilo, director of public space programs in the city’s planning department.
The impact of COVID-19 has prompted hundreds of people and organizations to apply for permits to repurpose parking lots, streets and curbs for non-automotive purposes, Okubiro said, creating a “big deal” against this form of urbanism. desire”. But when the emergency order is lifted, city officials will revert to old procedures for closing roads. This means public hearings and a “pretty robust community process” where everyone’s voice is heard.
“I think there’s a danger that this event[on Valencia Street]will slowly collapse,” said Tom Radulovich. His nonprofit, Livable City, hosts a Sunday Street Festival that rotates from one San Francisco neighborhood to the next each month. It features car-free roads filled with musicians, vendors, and food trucks.
Radulovic said he understands why organizers are canceling the event amid the expected rainstorms and gusts of wind. We explored and also felt the need for a clear policy on when to cancel an event.
“Right now in this city, everything is very dependent on the economic recovery,” Radulovic said. “But public spaces are also important.”
Valencia Street is one of a handful of marquee corridors that have become battlegrounds in San Francisco. A high-profile battle is raging over whether to build protected bike lanes or pure cars for a particular segment. The famous Mission District aorta grabbed headlines two years ago when then-SFMTA board chairman Malcolm Heinicke proposed a ban on cars from Valencia.
Olszewski, owner of Valencia Cyclery, is often at the center of these conflicts and usually takes the driver’s side as he considers himself an important customer base. In February 2020, he tried to derail plans for barricaded bike lanes that would remove about half of the block’s parking spaces. The plans that unfolded just before COVID never came to fruition. Another iteration is currently underway, with the support of the Merchant Association.
On Friday, Olszewski said he believed most business owners near his shop agreed it was “not a very good idea” to ban cars when it rained. He sees an opportunity for business owners to discuss how to treat shared spaces long term.
Matthew Brezina, a cycling advocate who lives near Valencia Street and often takes his family to the car-free shared promenade on Friday and Saturday nights, said Olshewski pushed him to cancel this weekend’s event. He said he wasn’t surprised to hear that.
“This is a minority of Scrooge merchants,” Bresina said, claiming many shopkeepers profited from closing the streets. “Even when it’s raining, humans need to be out in the community,” he added.
Jonah Buffa, president of the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association and owner of Fellow Barber barbershop, said he has heard concerns from many shop owners who feel that Shared Spaces events have fallen out of use, especially in cold and inclement weather. said.
He has his own doubts about the viability of shared spaces. A few weeks ago, Buffa said he left the store Friday evening after a crew blocked traffic on his three blocks.
“I saw one person wandering in the middle of the street and a few cyclists using it,” Buffa said. “If the roads were passable, I think there would be more business.”
Nonetheless, Buffa also admitted that the pandemic has changed his mindset about Shared Spaces and similar Slow Streets programs.
“Before this, I was quite against street closures,” Buffa said. “And during COVID-19, it became clear that we needed to do something different, especially in San Francisco.”
Now he wants to limit these car-free ideas to the summer.
Rachel Swan is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan
