Hate for red lanes in the Mission
Nearly three years after the city installed red lanes for buses on Mission Street, merchants still hate them. Fewer cars on the street, they said, has translated into fewer people visiting their shops, and a drop in sales that threatens many of the businesses.
A door-to-door survey of 73 businesses on the Mission Street corridor from 16th to 24th Streets revealed that the changes have been especially hard to stomach for older businesses, many of which are owned by Latinos and Asians. Moreover, few feel they have any organization or city official to turn to...
Rob's comment:
City Hall claims that it's worried about small businesses in the neighborhoods. It's not just about online shopping. Another important reason: eliminating customer parking by making various "improvements" to city streets.
Yesterday I counted 32 empty storefronts on Polk Street between Geary Blvd. and Union Street.
The Board of Supervisors just passed an anti-parking resolution for new developments, which will aggravate the situation for everyone. Of course the anti-car interest groups in the city love it, like SPUR and Walk SF.
Rob's comment:
City Hall claims that it's worried about small businesses in the neighborhoods. It's not just about online shopping. Another important reason: eliminating customer parking by making various "improvements" to city streets.
Yesterday I counted 32 empty storefronts on Polk Street between Geary Blvd. and Union Street.
The Board of Supervisors just passed an anti-parking resolution for new developments, which will aggravate the situation for everyone. Of course the anti-car interest groups in the city love it, like SPUR and Walk SF.
Labels: Anti-Car, City Government, Muni, Neighborhoods, Parking, Polk Street, SPUR, Walk SF
posted by Rob Anderson @ 12:15 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I truly question how many customers arrive by car at these "inner neighborhood" stores. Yes, some like the cited wedding dress store, may have customers coming from far away. But I would like someone to monitor who parks in these commercial districts, because I have a strong suspicion that many store owners and employees who live outside the City feed the meters all day. The same along Polk St. and Van Ness Avenue. So of course these owners/employees want to preserve the spots. Dense commercial corridors should be primarily serving local shoppers, who can use the red-lane-enabled buses and paratransit or MUNI if they are disabled. If a range of services/products are offered in each of the many primary commercial corridors of the street, then most people can walk or take MUNI. Of course, commercial landlords who are leaving storefronts empty until they receive exorbitant rents need to be called out by name. They are the elephants in the room that are rarely confronted (so much for supply and demand economics!).
So if Safeway was to lose their parking lot they wouldn't lose business as long as a post office and maybe a. Morning store opened up next door to it? Great logic!
When one knows nothing it's easy to blame the commercial landlords and say hey the reason the street sucks is because of greedy commercial landlords. Yes that's it. No no no it's not the shitty red bus lane. I know the street was booming and businesses were doing well prior to red lanes and removal of parking. But the red lane is not the cause.
Listen up Mr non-supply and demand economist. Here is a greedy landlord for you.... The cheese cake factory on top of Macy's union square pays $150,000 a month rent. Do you know why genius? Because they're making money and it's a great great naigjborgood. Remember location! Location! Location!?
Mission street has died out big time. Save your theories!
16th street ...MTA put in reds east and west bound from third westward. Completely screwed up traffic. During both commute and off hours nearly non-existent bus or taxi traffic in the reds...yet cars completely backed up and double backed up because the remaining lane has left turns which stops traffic.
Yes SFMTA is implementing its goal...make owning and driving a car in the SF impossible so people will take MUNI. Oh brother.
Yes, anyone driving a motor vehicle here in Progressive Land will be punished. The corollary to that stupidity is City Hall's contempt for small business.
Discouraging car usage is actually one of the aims of the red lanes. Without them traffic would be even worse--40,00 TNC's added to the mix. Traffic has discouraged me from ever owning a car and whizzing along a red lane is much more preferable. I don't live in the Mission, but I just patronized Siegel's, which--oh wait--is closing because of a rent increase. I patronize Big Lots! and some of the reasonably-priced family-owned restaurants. Many small businesses are being driven out by a combo of things: changes in the retail needs of Americans in general (think e-commerce and changes in desire of certain "things"); exorbitant rents that don't give a small business a chance in the first place; some businesses are not run well, haven't researched their market properly or are under-capitalized; too many restaurants in an industry that is tough to compete in, even in the best of circumstances.
The elephant in the room that no one ever talks about is simply that the tech companies install way too many workers for our fair City to absorb. No planning took place either by gov't. or the companies themselves--they only want their pool of workers, and EXTREME gentrification and price escalation on all fronts doesn't matter to them as the cheap money investments fuel their growth (for now). But what politician is willing to stand up and say "FAANG companies: how about spreading the wealth and install workers in secondary cities to reap SOME rewards?" Virtual meetings with 3D, etc. should prevail so there can be different locations for employees, instead of loading up SF buildings, including storefronts. Techies: you want that high salary? You'll have to relocate to Dayton, Cincinnati, Colo. Springs, Lexington, Albuquerque, or a myriad of decent-sized college towns. Be a patriot and spread the wealth!
Can't wait for congestion pricing. You want your own car and all the Ubers/Lyfts that those companies can scam people into driving for (40,000 in the City each day??) in one of the most dense cities in the U.S. Can't have it all.
They will be implementing no left turns on 16th in the near future.
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