Progressive Neighborhood Associations: Essential to a More Livable City

Damage from vandalism: acid etching removed from Divisadero store windows

An expense to city taxpayers: repairing damage from vandalism

An effective collaboration restores storefronts

City districts often flourish with active, forward-thinking neighborhood associations, especially when the groups foster collaborations with government, non-profit, and private entities. NOPNA has a long history of securing improvements for the North Panhandle through strategic partnerships. Early efforts include working with the Emerald Fund, the developer of the Village at Petrini Place and Lucky's grocery store, to support safety measures in the neighborhood, teaming up with local schools and churches -- Pacific Primary, the Day School. and St. Cyprian's Episcopal -- to promote bicycling, tree planting, and kids events, and planning with FIX MASONIC to make our western border a safer corridor.

The most recent evidence of a great collaboration was apparent along the Divisadero Commercial Corridor last week when contractors moved from storefront to storefront removing acid etch graffiti and installing protective film on vandalized windows. NOPNA and the Divisadero Merchants Association worked with the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) to land a $39,000 grant for the project. NOPNA served as the fiscal agent for the grant.

Ellyn Parker, the OEWD rep who works non-stop and appears everywhere in the neighborhood, coordinated efforts to secure the $39,000 grant. She also worked with neighborhood merchants to identify which storefronts needed the repairs most and which vendors were most affordable. As a result of the the groups' efforts -- and, of course, the creating of the grants program by the Mayor's Office -- two dozen storefronts will continue to enhance the appearance and livability along the new Divisadero Corridor.

First City-Installed Bike Rack in NOPA in More than 3 Years

A tight fit for two bikes to maneuver around and park next to rack.

It's good once you find it.

Just fits.

Choices

The Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) installed a standard, "inverted U" bike rack Monday on Baker Street near Grove, making it the first city-owned bike parking improvement in NOPA for more than three years. The rack is situated on the Baker Street side of the "old building" of the Pacific Primary School. Thank you, MTA!

The MTA announced that it had 750 applications for bike racks throughout the city; the agency has reviewed and processed 60 of these. With much fanfare Monday, the MTA installed a new bike lane on Scott Street between Fell and Oak, added sharrows (bike and arrow graphics indicating shared use of the roadway), and prepped the bike box on Scott at Oak for an official re-painting with Mayor Gavin Newsom presiding (or painting it, perhaps?).*

Like all neighborhoods in the city, the North Panhandle needs bike parking for its hundreds of residents who use bicycles for basic transportation. To its credit Pacific Primary parents and administration erected their own custom-designed bike racks along both the old building and the new building across the street last summer, as reported in BIKE NOPA here.

Every new bike rack helps, so we're hesitant to suggest the location of NOPA's newest one is a bit curious. Both Grove and Baker have especially wide sidewalks and ample space between most street trees. Yet MTA chose the most hard-to-find and confined space for the new rack. Grove Street offers so many better-suited spaces that would also be more in the open and thus more secure. Ease of arrival, parking and secure parking becomes even more important as more teachers, parents, and students bike to school. For now, we're happy to get one more rack.

The Divisadero corridor also received a new rack, this one at 268 close to Little Chihuahua restaraunt; a second is due at 248 but, as of Tuesday afternoon, had not been installed.

* The Mayor's Press Conference is scheduled for 1pm, Thursday, Dec. 3 at the corner of Oak and Scott Streets. During or immediately after the conference, the "bike box" at that intersection will be painted to green to encourage bicyclists to assemble there before crossing Oak -- and to inform motorists that it's a sanctioned bike stop.

Volunteers Rocked BIKE THE BLOCK

Neighbors bike forth! NOPA's BIKE THE BLOCK party last Sunday spun forward with the help of dozens of neighbors and friends of NOPA. Their overlapping affiliations with community organizations helped tie the groups together even more in a shared committment to a more livable neighborhood and city. A few examples:

• Max Poletto and Kara O'Keefe are bicyclists, NOPA residents, and San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC) members. Max helped with bike repairs while Kara worked the bike decorating table.
• Mollie Poe serves on the Board of Directors for Pacific Primary School and is a huge supporter of NOPNA. She helped the bike block party in so many ways, along with her husband, Declan Hickey, and her brother KJ Johnson.
• Rose Johnson works with YBIKE and guided kids through the skills course Sunday; she's also a member of the SF Bicycle Coalition and an advocate of sustainable living in NOPA.
• Nathan Frankel is an avid vendor at weekend farmer's markets, a prime bike parker for SFBC, and long-time NOPA neighbor. He set up the bike parking operation for us.
• Sarah June Crockett co-organized the block party; last school year she and her husband, Sandy Crockett, biked with one of their kids to his classes at Pacific Primary. Both Sarah and Sandy are SFBC members.

Lots of kudos for these other great volunteers: Doug Diboll, Jim Cowan, Tom Brown, Suzanne Cowan, Jen Grant, Dan Nguyen-Tan, Jarie Bolander, Janel Sterbentz, Justin Connolly, Marc Caswell, Chris Hogg, Lenore McDonald, Matt Dove and Lily, Kareem, and Raquel of the YBIKE team, Kathy O'Brien, Leela Gill, Holly Ames, Leigh Culpepper, Kyle Brunner, J.P. Collins, Meligrosa!, Will Valentine, Cliff Courrier, Robbie Socks, Jerry Kirwan, Larissa Zimberoff, Jane Catherine Zimmerman, Bill Rivers, and Dale Danley (who helped with everything).

A salute to the individuals behind the C0-Sponsorships:

• Belann Giarretto, Executive Director of Pacific Primary, for tables, art supplies, the essential Porta-Potty, and so much enthusiasm for the event;
• Ben Caldwell, Bike Program Coordinator at the Presidio Community YMCA, for his rapid response to our request for a skills course with great staff help;
• Kevin Rafter, NOPNA President, and all the NOPNA board members for approving the application fee payment, and their day-in, day-out work for our neighborhood;
• Neal Patel, SFBC Community Planner, for bike ed materials, event promotion, and sharing SFBC's experience and commitment to greater livability.

An enthusiastic round of applause to:

• Len Rogers, owner, Electric Bicycle Outlet, for bringing his cool rides for neighbors to try;
• Ali, superb owner of Central Coffee & Tea, for keeping neighbors fortified.
• Amy D'Auria of Pink Buttons Patisserie, for keeping neighbors sweet.
• Rev. Will Scott and Rev. Dr. Sue Singer for the best bicycle blessing.
• Remy Nelson, owner of Mojo Bicycle Cafe, for cool raffle t-shirts, and bike service gear.
• Kash for the generous loan of bike parking gear from Warm Planet Bikes.
• Dmitrius Spartos, manager of the Divisadero Farmers Market, for our "cross pollination" of events.
• Beth Byrne, a superb graphic designer, who gave BIKE THE BLOCK its great poster and printed all the copies at her office -- with her boss's enthusiastic approval.

"I was thrilled with the turnout and so happy to help a little." Kyle Brunel.

"It was amazing to see the diversity and all the families turn out for our mini-Sunday Streets on one NOPA block." Dan Nguyen-Tan.

Let's all keep Biking the Blocks and celebrating NOPA livability.

BIKE THE BLOCK coming to NOPA

NOPA launches its own mini-Sunday Streets.

Sunday, September 27th, 10 am to 1pm.

Grove Street between Lyon and Baker.

Here's a chance to enjoy one of NOPA's fine green streets -- lots of trees -- without the car traffic.

Take a stroll sipping coffee from Central Coffee and Tea; trade back-to-school stories with other well-rested parents.

Check out trailer bikes and accessories for your Bike to School/Shopping/Work rides.

Jump on a bike -- even an electric ride. Sing your favorite Michael Jackson/Abba/Beatles/FatBoySlim tunes on the 7 person party bike through the neighborhood.

Need a pump, lube, polish, wrench? -- for your bike! -- stop by the bike service station for a tune-up.

Kids: try the half-block skills training course with the cool crew from YMCA YBIKE.

Skuut bikes ready for your trial rides from SF Bike Coalition.

Decorate your bikes (maybe your parents' bikes need your special touch even more!).

Special Guest Appearance: Never-Too-Much-Fashion-While-Biking Meligrosa of Bikes and the City.

There's too much to do in just three hours! Everything is FREE, even the block and a half walk to the Farmers Market when you're ready for fresh and local.

PARTNERS IN THIS LIVABLE CAR-FREE ALL-THINGS-BIKE SPLURGE: NOPNA ****, PACIFIC PRIMARY SCHOOL !!!!!!!!, YBIKE ***** , SF BICYCLE COALITION !!!!!!!!!!, & bike nopa #####.

information: michael7820@gmail.com.

NOPA Bike Hero: Pacific Primary School

The little orange and yellow and green school that could. We all know it's hard to bike in the city if there's nowhere to park. And who likes settling for trees, parking meters, and street poles for cabling or U-locking? NOPA has a few standard inverted-U bike racks, but none close enough to Pacific Primary at Baker and Grove Streets to benefit teachers, parents, and students who bike. Until now.

Any biker, ped, or motorist who travels Baker or Grove Streets, knows the bright splashes of color on the westside corners of the intersection. Not exactly Victorian and Edwardian hues to match the neighborhood's painted ladies, but that's the fun of having the orange, green, and yellow exteriors of Pac Primary in the center of NOPA. Now a parents group has accessorized the school exterior with bright new bike racks.

According to school administrator, Elizabeth Cacal, parents designated the funds from a school auction for purchase of the bike racks. Sarah June Barr Crocket, one of the parents, helped select the manufacturer, Dero Bike Racks, and complete the purchase (about $2,000 for three racks). Dero allows customers to customize their purchase, and Pac Primary added its goofy grin logo. (You have to love a school with a a graphic like that!)

In an earlier post, I spied Sarah's son's bike forlornly slung around a street pole, no rack anywhere to be seen. Today his little red ride proudly stood along the cool orange rack at the front door.

Another parent, Norman Rutherford, volunteered to install the racks. I caught up with him and his son, Rye Tewksbury, this afternoon before they headed home to the Mission. They do just fine on their 2 1/2 mile ride and especially appreciate the Wiggle for getting across town. Rye started out in a bike trailer pod at six months and now has a scoot bike. Next up is a Burly trailer cycle.

Norman's got the bike rack installation down, and he's willing to help other non-profits, schools, arts organizations install theirs as well. (Contact him at northerly@sbcglobal.net). He also said he thought parents and teachers at the school would be enthusiastic about an occasional designated bike or play block near the school. Several parents have told him they'd like to learn more about bike trailers as well as giving their kids practice time on a city street.

Pacific Primary is a pretty cool school all around. With its brand new building on the southwest corner, the 35 year old school now accomodates 154 students who range from 2 1/2 years to pre-K. The full-day program "celebrates diversity -- ethnic, racial, economic -- and all types of families including adoptive, gay and lesbian, and one or more parent families."

Kids Bike to School, Sometimes with Parent Pedal Power

Sometimes I like being proven wrong. A few posts back I remarked on the lack of kids-on-bikes on our NOPA streets. Then yesterday I stopped by Pacific Primary school and chatted with three parents gearing up to ride bikes home with their kids. The furthest destination: the Excelsior, a long haul that includes San Jose Avenue, Valencia, and the Wiggle. The worst blocks for this duo? the few Wiggle blocks on Fell (between Scott and Baker). Seems like a green-painted bike lane to increase safety for kids biking -- and all the rest of us -- would be just the thing.