Letters to the Editor

Editor:
As a resident of Jordan Park, an architect and a former planner at MARTA (like BART, in Atlanta), and with an MBA in real estate as well as having experience in real estate development, I am extremely concerned with the reduction of parking along Geary and the continued viability of retail in the northwestern part of the City.

Cleaning it up is one thing. Destroying its viability to make it look good - another dead Market Street with dangerous elements between stops - is what is desired? \One can spruce itself up without destroying the fabric of the City and its viability.

It is widely known, at least in most architecture schools and to those who study or do real estate development for some of the largest retail developers, one simply does not divorce parking from retail, or even entertain the idea of reduction - one should always hold to the basics and increase the number of parking spaces from the basics, depending on types of retail spaces involved.

The ratio used nationally is a minimum of 4 to 5 cars per 1,000 square feet of retail and can be adjusted for various types of retail establishments.

Drive-up parking makes retail far more viable, user-friendly, and gives you that "village" feeling and an added safety factor - retail owners caring about what they own, have and can secure. It must also be recognized that one cannot carry items to be repaired or pick up moderately heavy items without a car.

Parking can be increased by building down in the sand, creating common parking lots behind the stores with access from both sides on each block, etc.

Further, faster transit with more spaced-out stations create special problems of their own - dead zones between stations at street level, crime increases, etc.

If parking is decreased, pollution is increased by those who search for long periods of time for parking and people give up and go out of the city to shop. To malls! And then they decide to move where it is easier to live. Dead zones are created where people cannot walk and easily access retail. That means, like shown so clearly in many major transit systems worldwide, the areas between stations go "dead."

And that is what will happen along Geary Boulevard, and to the Richmond, if it gets transit stops farther between, and parking reduced. It will kill a lot of the existing retail, and the very active, lively "village" areas all along the streets will die, and so will safety and ownership ... mom and pop stores will flee.

The best asset San Francisco has - that of a major city with a village-like character - will be gone, and hello, Detroit!
Janet Campbell

Editor:
Thanks for all your efforts regarding the BRT fiasco.

I'm appalled at the way this whole process has been handled by the City. It does feel like the decision has been made for us, without our input, and without any consideration of our opinions or needs as a community. It's my firm belief that the whole project is intended to be the launching pad for re-zoning the Geary Corridor to allow for high-density housing, which will change the character of our neighborhood forever.

I think we're powerless to stop it, because it brings in federal money and it makes politicians look good to promote housing construction. Since they don't live here, they don't care what the impact is on our already balanced and fully-functioning pedestrian and transit-friendly Richmond District.
Laurel Winzler