Now that the Bikeplan has been unblocked, I can look forward to a safer commute over the next 2 years while construction goes on. Hopefully there will be some new riders who can experience how safe biking in the city is, along with having a healthier, and cheaper, way to get to work and run errands.

And I bought nothing.

And I feel fine about that.

It’s worth taking a look at a the Chron’s take on VG, as well as their photos. I’ll summarize their article with my own comments.

On Valencia/Gurrerro and 14th/15th street there used to be a block of projects built in 1943. They were torn down for many good reasons, namely poor design (central squares with no purpose), outdated plumbing, electrical, as well as rodent and gang infestation.

In 2005 the project was flattened, as all good government housing should be, and replaced with something only slightly better: suburban housing. $66m later, we have 230 units, complete with modern electrical, backyards, parking, and one way streets. The last two items making this a suburban sprawl in a 5-acre block of the Mission.

Suburb sprawl in the city?

Now this is a mixed blessing for the Mission. Having 230 new units available to lower middle and lower class families is certainly helpful, and you should go take a peek on Craigslist to see if perhaps you qualify for such housing (I don’t). Problem number one: condensing all the city’s poor into one area. At least leaving a quarter of the units available to middle class families, those making around or above the median income of SF, which is about $80,000, would help mix up the culture of the neighborhood.

Second, parking and streets. I don’t have any numbers on this, but walking around the Valencia Gardens revealed an awful lot of concrete for people to store their cars. Now if they are lower middle and lower class families, why are they wasting money on cars? The Mission is a very transit rich area, and if we are short on low cost family housing, why waste it on one way streets and parking pads? At least fill in space for a garage if you must have parking; no doubt part of that $66m could have built a garage.

In short, Valencia Gardens is a good idea in a good part of the city to live, but horribly executed. Inward facing front doors and blank walls attract crime. A well worn sidewalk and access to the action of day to day humanity prevents crime. Motor cars and parking only leave more space for vagrancy to occur.

A plastic fence is slide open and closed to allow resident traffic in, street traffic out.

Valencia and 15th. Note the older, blighted buildings on the opposite side of the street. Which caused what to become blighted? Which will?

Note that beyond the corner of the block, there are no residential doors facing 15th. It’s a graf and tagging magnet!

If we as human kind on planet Earth are to continue on with our existence, we must recycle. It benefits us economically too: recycled goods don’t cost as much to manufacture compared to raw materials, and there is a never ending stream of reusable materials as long as more people do their part.

Did you know that cars are the most commonly recycled item? They take hundreds of barrels of oil to produce, but they are also mostly recycled into more cars that don’t take as much oil to produce, and hopefully use less oil when in use.

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