Posts Tagged ‘great’
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Well the shovel-ready stimulus project on the Div Co (Divisidero Corridor) is nearing completion. Do you see the trees in the widened median and the old-tyme streetlight tops that go from the NoPA to the EaPA? Those are the bulk of the “improvements” that you’re going to notice.
I guess the perfectly fine old aluminum street lights became obsolete or something. And yes, that thing in the median does look like a tombstone. Chestnut Street, here we come:
Click to expand
Now here’s the beef – what they should have done is just taken out the medians entirely to allow for wider lanes. The problem is that they widened the medians and narrowed the traffic lanes to accommodate trees and shrubbery and nonfunctional whatnot.
Now do you see this cyclist? He’s passing by a truck that’s legally parked on the new Divisidero. Do you think that the slow lane he’s on is wide enough? Of course, arguably, it wasn’t wide enough before but now it’s worse. Why? Aesthetics, that’s why. The drivers in the fast lane need to be near median trees, apparently, they need to commune with nature at 25 per.
Oh, I hear you, “just take the lane,” right? Sometimes I do, effectively. And then sometimes I roll onto the newly-widened sidewalk for half a block or so, late at night when I can see that nobody’s using it. It’s a balance of hacking off the nonexistent peds versus the extant drivers.
(Maybe I’ll get a ticket from the busy SFPD someday, maybe. If I ever do, I’d then consider using Fillmore and McAllister as a substitute.)
Now, if you wanted real stimulus and actual improvements, here’s what you’d do. You’d have the workers take out the medians (the old narrow median was unnecessary as well) and move the light standards to the sidewalks, if that wouldn’t break the bank. Then you’d do a nice repaving, better than the job that’s being done now*, anyway. Then you’d take the rest of the money and give it in cash to the workers – tell them they need to spend $500 per day on whatever they want for themselves and that they need to bring back receipts as proof at the end of each “work” day. That’d be some local stimulus right there. The workers would be happier, and I would as well.
I realize that we’re talking in terms of, on average, just inches of width-surrendered-per-lane, just inches sacrificed on the Altar of Aesthetics. And I realize that Octavia Boulevard is a far bigger public policy failure.
Anyway, enjoy your so-called “improved” Divisadero, San Francisco.
*Are they done with that, by the way? Take a look at the macadam near the bulbouts at Divis and McAllister if you want – is that a job well done? I mean, is that quick fix a permanent fix with all the remaining grade changes? I mean, they’re going to end up being forced to do the job properly, right? [UPDATE: Turns out that they weren't finished just yet, good on you Synergy.]
Tags: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, area, ARRA, bicycles, bikes, cyclists, department of public works, divisadero, divisidero, dpw, EaPA, east of panhandle, great, Kris Opbroek, lanes, lights, Mayor's, median, mta, Municipal Transportation Agency, NOPA, north of panhandle, Office of Economic & Workforce Development, phase ii, project, Project Manager, San Francisco, SFMTA, sidewalks, streets, streetscape, TLC, Transportation for Livable Communities, western addition, widen
Posted in bikes | 2 Comments »
Monday, February 15th, 2010
Can you make sense of this scene at San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza near the Embarcadero Ferry Building? (Perhaps a black-and-white, slo-mo Raging Bull-style video or this official 1080p will help.)
Click to expand:
via christopher*
It was the Yelp-rated Great Valentine’s Day Pillow Fight of February 14th, 2010! This joint went down yesterday despite a threatened crackdown from San Francisco’s Park Rangers and an ominous warning from San Francisco Director of Public Health Mitchell Katz - he fretted about the risk of “corneal abrasions, penetrating injuries, and even orbital fractures.” Captain Bringdown, M.D. documented 17 injuries from last year that were serious enough to require medical attention at emergency rooms. Hope 2010 was safer.
christopher*
Let’s take a look from the beginning. Just hop on the BART…
ekai
…don a disuise to protect your identity…
christopher*
…or your corneas…
renedrivers
…allow our gorgeous (red hair, blue feathers) media types (SF Station – what’s that?) time enough to give the command to roll cameras…
renedrivers
…and leave us commence:
AliThanawalla
A chicken fight with goose feathers – is that allowed?
AliThanawalla
Beefcake, BEEFCAKE!
renedrivers
Some took a defensive posture…
renedrivers
…while others went mano a mano, no holds barred:
renedrivers
Verily, it was the Great Valentine’s Day Pillow Fight of 2010:
christopher*
See you next year!
[Update: Mission Local has some good shots as well.]
Tags: (BART), 14, 14th, 2010, best, club, corneal abrasions, crackdown, crnea, damage, day, department, dept., director, doctor, emergency room, eye, eyes, feathers, feb. february, ferry buidling, fight, flash, great, health, injuries, Justin Herman Plaza, katz, MD, mitch katz, mitchell katz, mob, Muni, orbital fractures, park, penetrating injuries, photographs, photos, pics, pillow, pillow fight, police, public, rangers, San Francisco, sf staion, SFPD, sfstation, shots, valentines, Video, videos, yelp
Posted in events | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
Well they’re finally up, some of them anyway – they’re the fruitless trees of the newly-widened medians of Divisidero Street.
Boy, don’t these new leaveless trees and the the widened median make this body shop sooooo much more livable?
Of course the concomitant lane width reductions weren’t discussed at the time decisions were being made and, I would argue, were actually hidden by the powers that be. Oh well.
In this case, greening the median meant widening it. Does this benefit car drivers, bus drivers or cyclists? No, not at all. So why did we do it? The slow lanes now, in particular, are very narrow considering that big buses (from MUNI but also private employers) are supposed to use them.
Do you see where it says Divisidero Street Streetscape Renewal? What’s being renewed here? Well, let’s take a look at back in the day.
How about 1947? What do you see here? Do you see streetcars and wide lanes and plenty of room for cars and bikes to co-exist? Do you think the pedestrians of ‘47 bumped their noggins into each other all the time? I don’t. What don’t you see? A big old median filled with trees and streetlights – that’s what you don’t see. The street lights and trees are off to the side where they belong, not in the middle of the damn street taking up all the space.
How did our fore mothers and fathers survive with reliable steetcars and wide lanes on Divis? How did they get by, how did they live without a giant median and decimated (and soon to get worse) modern bus service?
The World Wonders.
Plenty of room for the median, not enough room for the #24 Divisidero – your stimulus dollars at work:
Oh well.
Tags: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA, department of public works, divisadero, divisidero, dpw, great, Kris Opbroek, Mayor's, median, mta, Municipal Transportation Agency, Office of Economic & Workforce Development, Project Manager, San Francisco, SFMTA, streets, TLC, Transportation for Livable Communities, widen
Posted in streets, transit | 4 Comments »
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
Gritty Divisadero Street in the North of Panhandle Area (NoPA) part of the western Western Addition has a bunch of crushed aluminum beer cans strewn about these days.
Is that a sign that the area needs more attention from the Redevelopment Department or, alternatively, is it a sign that things are on the up because the ironic-beer-drinking post-collegiate crowd has decended upon the area?
I’ve drawn my conclusion, but you, take a look and make the call yourself.
The needlessly-widened medians under construction play host to lots of cans of the PBR:
(NB: There’s a big hint in there.) Click to expand.
Tags: albert speer, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA, Ästhetik über alles, blue ribbon, department of public works, divisadero, dpw, great, ironic, Kris Opbroek, litter, Mayor's, median, mta, Municipal Transportation Agency, NOPA, Office of Economic & Workforce Development, pabst, pbr, Project Manager, San Francisco, SFMTA, streets, TLC, Transportation for Livable Communities, western addition, widen
Posted in streets | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 16th, 2009
San Francisco’s hungry raccoons are delighting the online world the world over, entertaining millions with their poses of masked banditry. And why not – aren’t they cute?
Here’s another view from the camera of shutterbug Stephen Thompson. It was 2:00 AM at the Legion of Honor museum:
And here’s the full story. Dude jogs around town in the midnight hour carrying his point-and-shoot camera in a sock. Bravo.
But these photos were taken in 2006. They hung around as 1’s and 0’s until Stephen posted them to Flickr a few months back. Then, they were noticed by the Fantastic Mr. Fox – Andrew Fox, Webmaster at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF). He made a post to the FAMSF Facebook and then the rest is history.
Are these gorgeous but fiesty raccoons now the cutest animals in San Francisco?
Maybe.
But remember, we’ll always have Parrots.
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill that is:
Click to expand, it gets big. From 2005, above Telegraph Hill. Remember this day? The parrots wore green, you wore blue.
Thanks for posting your photos, Stephen Thompson.
Tags: 18, 2006, 2009, 46th, avenue, bandits, britain, drivers, england, famsf, feeding, food, great, legion, legion of honor, Lincoln Park, London, mta, Muni, museum, newspapers, parrots, paw nation, raccoon, raccoons, racoons, San Francisco, SF, SFMTA, Stephen Thompson, stonesmerced, telegraph hill, viral, we'll always have Parrots, wild, Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
Posted in Animals | Comments Off
Monday, September 28th, 2009
What’s with DPW’s obsession with medians? I mean is there any median proposal that’s too wide for the Little Eichmanns Speers at the San Francisco Department of Public Works? Perhaps Hitler’s proposed Welthauptstadt Germania had Great! Streets! too wide even for DPW’s taste, but there’s no way to tell.
Valuing Aesthetics over Life, that Hitlerian tendency certainly appears to be alive and well in San Francisco.
The medians are getting wider on Divisidero, so that means less room for cars and bikes and buses and whatnot. Where did all our lane width go?
As seen on Friday.
Why do we have a median at all on Divisidero? Why not have that street go on a “median diet?” Does Masonic have a median? No, so why Divisidero? What’s the obsession with trees? I mean who cares what light posts look like except architects like Albert Speer (yes those are his light poles - that’s all that’s left from him) and the fascist ivory tower academics who took in six figures worth of your money to promote Octavia Boulevard? Who wants a fourteen-freaking foot wide median on Cesar Chavez? I mean, where does the original idea come from? Did somebody write a book about medians or something? And what do mike foxtrotting architects know about transit safety? Absolutely nothing. Say it again.
Medians? What are they good for? Absolutely nothing. Perhaps pedestrians would be better off without the Great Tree’d Median of Divisidero and its concomitant “pedestrian refuge?” Yes.
What’s that? ”The Feds” demand medians since they’re kicking in money? Not sure about that. Are the Bridge-to-Nowhere Feds responsible?
What’s that? “The Community” demands medians and DPW is just powerless to say no? Really? No, not really. Here’s a phony balongna rationale for The “Renewal.”
Do you see “sacrifice safety to widen the median” in there? Do you see “narrow the slow lane so cyclists have less room” in there? And who are these 73 people? Are they from all over the city? Any bus drivers in there? Any commuters?
Signs point to no.
Why not just repave the street and do other non-median-widening activities and then pay the workers as if they did widen the median? That way they workers would get paid and The Community would be better off.
Just asking, DPW.
Yet another DPW improvement on the “World Class” Streets of San Francisco. Do you think this genuine SFDPW light standard was built to last with its hollow fiberglass construction? See how it’s held together with a hose clamp and caulk? Isn’t it beautiful?
And why is every act of DPW automatically labeled an “improvement” even in the design phase? Have any planned “improvements” of the thousands committed by DPW over the years actually turned out not to improve anything? Yes, some. So why call everything you do an “improvement?”
Divisadero Street Pavement Renovation Project
DPW will reconstruct 14 blocks of Divisadero Street between where Castro and Waller intersect to Geary Blvd.
This project is tentatively scheduled to begin during the summer of 2009 and last approximately 6 months. This project will include improvements to the curbs, sidewalks and new ADA curb-ramps.
Please continue to visit our website for project updates as the start date approaches.
For more information please contact:
Ms. Dadisi Najib
Bureau of Construction Management
Office of Communications and Public Affairs
Ph: (415) 437-7018
Email: dadisi.najib@sfdpw.org
Yes, it turns out that the “Divisidero Community” are deputised traffic engineers:
Divisadero Streetscape Improvements
Project Background
In 2007, the Divisadero community, in coordination with the Department of Public Works, Municipal Transportation Agency and Mayor’s Office of Economic & Workforce Development, created a visionfor the Divisadero corridor between Waller Street and Geary Boulevard.
Improvements include new bus bulb-outs, median widening with trees, landscaping and irrigation, lighting fixture upgrades, new street trees and site furnishings.
Construction Information
The Divisadero Streetscapes Improvements begin September 2009. For more information about construction, visit Divisadero Construction Information page.
Budget
The streetscape project is funded through a combination of a Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) federal grant with local matching funds to total $3.3 million. Roadway repaving will be funded through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to total $3.2 million.
Schedule
Constructions begins – September 14, 2009
Complete construction – Winter 2011
For more information:
Transit Improvements (pdf)
Streetscape Improvements-Final Community Workshop (ppt)
Divisadero Streetscape Improvements Fact Sheet (pdf)
Contact:
Kris Opbroek
Great Streets Project Manager
Kris.Opbroek@sfdpw.org
Oh well.
Ästhetik über alles
Tags: albert speer, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA, Ästhetik über alles, department of public works, divisidero, dpw, great, Kris Opbroek, Mayor's, median, mta, Municipal Transportation Agency, Office of Economic & Workforce Development, Project Manager, San Francisco, SFMTA, streets, TLC, Transportation for Livable Communities, widen
Posted in streets | 9 Comments »
Friday, June 5th, 2009
This was the scene last night at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park during another busy NightLife program. It’s David Mayer de Rothschild, “British adventurer, environmentalist and head of Adventure Ecology,” giving a talk about ecology and his Plastiki boat as a part of the United Nation’s World Oceans Day.
The #1 Hottest Guy in Green at the Cal Academy. Subscribe to his stream of consciousness here, on the Twitter.
Can this giant plastic catamaran, can this Andersonian venture make it all the way from Pier 31 to Cindy, Australia?
Only Time Will Tell.
NightLife Welcomes Plastiki, Thursday, June 4
6:00 – 10:00 pm
NightLife, featuring Plastiki and David de Rothschild »
This week, environmentalist David de Rothschild gives two lectures (at 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm) about his upcoming voyage across the Pacific. What makes it unique? He’s crossing the ocean in a 60-foot vessel constructed entirely of recycled materials, mostly plastic water bottles!
De Rothschild will share details of his itinerary, including his plan to navigate the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, a floating landfill and man-made disaster that’s twice the size of Texas.
Tags: 2008, 2009, adventure ecology, australia, boat, bottles, ca academy, California Academy of Sciences, califronia academy of science, David de Rothschild, David Mayer de Rothschild, eastern, eastern pacific, ecology, garbage, golden gate park, great, gyre, hawaii, kon-tiki, midway, nightlife, pacific, patch, pier 31, plastic, Plastiki, raft, recycling, sail, ship, sidney, speech, twitter, wes anderson
Posted in vessels | Comments Off
Saturday, April 18th, 2009
Not to be confused with a yellow-legged Snowy Egret, this black-legged Great Egret (Ardea alba) spotted in Golden Gate Park’s Strybing Arboretum (aka San Francisco Botanical Garden) seemed to be transfixed with its plumage for a good long time.
After the preflight inspection, it then flew away.
Click to expand
Tags: admission, alba, arboretum, Ardea, Ardea alba, bird, board of supervisors, botanical, egret, friend, Garden, gate, golden gate park, great, gret egret, pond, San Francisco, San Francisco Botanical Garden, strybing, Strybing Arboretum, waterfowl, white, wildfowl
Posted in Animals | Comments Off
Friday, April 17th, 2009
If you feel like getting up bright and early tomorrow, head on over to Lotta’s Fountain to commemorate the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. Get there by 5:11 A.M. to see the action, or consider the effect of Daylight Savings Time and the then wait to mark the moment at 6:12 A.M. Either way.
Check the schedule below:
This is what it looked like back in ought-six, the 100th anniversary, with people dressed up in old-timey clothing. Click to expand:
via Stewf
“The 103rd Annual Commemoration of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire that almost destroyed one of America’s greatest cities will take place April 18 at Lotta’s Fountain on Market Street, at 5:11 AM. 1906 Quake Survivor 105-year-old Rose Cliver, Mayor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, and dozens of dignitaries and celebrities will travel by vintage cars and fire trucks to Lotta’s Fountain and then on to Church & 20th Streets to paint the Fire Hydrant that saved the Mission Churches in 1906 gold.”
5:11 AM, APRIL 18th AT LOTTA’S FOUNTAIN free
6:00 AM AT THE FIRE HYDRANT THAT SAVED THE MISSION CHURCHES free
7:00 AM LEFTY O’DOUL’S SURVIVOR BREAKFAST open to the public
9:00 AM SCREENING OF “1906 ” FILM & BREAKFAST-WESTON ST. FRANCIS free
11:00 AM JOHN’s GRILL ANNUAL SURVIVOR LUNCH open to the public
Lotta’s Fountain
WHAT: The 103rd Annual 1906 San Francisco Earthquake & Fire Wreath Laying and Commemoration
WHERE: Lotta’s Fountain-Market Street at the junction of Kearny, Third and Geary, San Francisco, California
WHEN: 5:00-6:00 AM-Saturday, April 18, 2009
The Gilding of the Fire Hydrant That Save the Mission Churches
WHAT: The 103rd Annual 1906 Painting of the Fire Hydrant that saved the Mission District Churches.
WHERE: 20th & Church Streets at Dolores Park
WHEN: 6:00-7:00 AM-Saturday, April 18, 2009
Lefty O’Doul’s Bloody Mary Breakfast
WHAT: The Lefty O’Doul’s annual Survivor Breakfast-Open to the public-
WHERE: 333 Geary Street (at Powell)
WHEN: 7:00 AM-Saturday, April 18, 2009
1906 a Film Tribute to Herbert Hamrol
by Alon Aranya
WHAT: A free to the public screening of 1906 A Tribute to Quake Survivor Herbert Hamrol by Alon Aranya-Limited seating-reservations required (313) 377-4453 or e-mail alonaranya@gmail.com.
WHERE: The Weston St. Francis Hotel-St. Francis Suite-335 Powell Street (at Powell)
WHEN: 9:00 AM-Saturday, April 18th, 2009
John’s Grill’s Annual Survivor Luncheon
WHAT: Historic John’s Grill’s annual Survivor Luncheon-Open to the public-Free to Survivors (415) 777-4700 will be attended by 105 Year Old Rose Cliver.
WHERE: 63 Ellis Street (at Powell)
WHEN: 11:00 AM-Saturday, April 18, 2009 Reservations suggested (415) 986-0069
Tags: 1906, 3rd, 511, 5:12, A.M. lotta, April 18th, Commemoration, earthquake, fire, great, lotta's fountain, market, San Francisco, street, third
Posted in events | Comments Off
Monday, February 16th, 2009
You’ve already seen the Conscientious Objectors in the Great Pillow Fight War of Valentine’s Day, 2009. Now you can see what it looked like up close on the field of battle.
Click to expand:
via john curley - 35mm at f/1.4 That’s the kind of photo you can take with equipment that originally cost something like $5000 American.
There hasn’t been that much stuff flying around San Francisco’s Ferry Building since Barry Bonds Day, 2007
Anyway, here are the deets on our most recent twilight pillow battle.
See you next year!
Tags: 2009, day, ferry building, fight, great, justin herman, pillow, pillowfight, plaza, San Francisco, valentine, valentines
Posted in events | Comments Off
