Hello SFMTA,  

It is with great hope for the future of the Slow Streets program that I write to you on behalf of the Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association.

As you prepare to make Noe St permanently ”slow” from 14th St. to Beaver St., I want to share the process of community building that this program has inspired for our neighborhood. I also want to offer our support for the long-term vision of a network of shared streets that make our roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians, in line with Vision Zero and the City’s Climate Action Plan. 

First, I want to acknowledge that this program has not been without its detractors - change has a way of dividing even the most united of neighborhoods. But people in our corner of the City have also been galvanized by the conversation and inspired to think about other ways to promote safety, sustainability, and a sense of community where we live.

In response to Slow Noe St., the board of DTNA formed a committee to explore the provocative concept of a “Slow Triangle.” This prompted an initial design research phase conducted in partnership with a UC Berkeley graduate course, followed by a summer of community-led workshops guided by graduate student interns and generously supported by funding from SFCTA and private donations from local residents and businesses. 

The entire process brought neighbors together to develop community values and envision a master plan, Duboce Triangle Vision 2030, which enhances the best parts of our neighborhood while addressing shared concerns. We are more committed than ever to furthering traffic safety, greening, accessibility, and neighborhood identity. Vision 2030 embraces traffic calming measures and expands the reach through a series of interventions across the Triangle. To lean more about Vision 2030 click link: 

Slow Noe St. is both the catalyst and the backbone of this community effort. We look forward to working with you to further develop the future of this program, further connecting this great City we call home. 

We thank you for your vision,

Frank Tizedes

President

Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association

Please review the discussion materials. Contact slowtriangle@dtna.org for questions. 221011_DTNA Vision 2030 (1).pdf

SIGN UP TO BE INVOLVED: here

Please find attached the final summary report of our community-led design process for a Vision Slow Triangle. This was prepared by DTNA intern Martine Kushner and Eugene Lau. Contact slowtriangle@dtna.org for any questions.

4 Final Report_Spreads_combined 20221003.pdf

This document is intended to support efforts for community driven, neighborhood scale urban design strategies at a grass roots level.

It illustrates a process undertaken by Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association (DTNA) in producing a preliminary vision, Slow Triangle, for a more vibrant, welcoming, and safer neighborhood through utilizing Slow Streets concepts. 

Though the following focuses on traffic calming and street design, this playbook can be used to support the development of other planning and design related interventions such as park revitalization, small business development, and affordable housing advocacy. If you find this playbook helpful, we hope you share with DTNA your success and challenges with your project as we further refined this collective process to improve our connected neighborhoods - in San Francisco or elsewhere.

Thank you to Eugene Lau and  Martine Kushner for preparing this document for posterity.

3 Slow Street and Traffic Calming Community Playbook by SF Duboce Triangle Neighborhood Association.pdf

See Final Presentation here.

DTNA Slow Triangle Presentation 20220903.pdf

Attached document contains a collection of emails from neighbors who are expressing their interest, support, opposition, and input to Vision Slow Triangle efforts. This is as of 8/8/2022.

If we are missing any of your input, please email us at slowtriangle@dtna.org.

DTNA Neighbor Emails Combined as of 08082022.pdf

Please join us at the Harvey Milk Center for Recreational Arts on Tuesday, August 9, at 7 pm for the Final Presentation on our work to have our neighborhood formulate what a Slow Triangle means for our community.

The presentation is the outcome of two months of working intensely with neighbors, merchants, and stakeholders inside and outside the Duboce Triangle a well as city departments.

We started in July jointly defining what matters to us. Amongst a large diversity of viewpoints, we found the common denominator was: a safer, greener, more accessible, and identifiable Duboce Triangle. 

We then had neighbors design solutions to achieve this. Our two UC Berkeley interns with backgrounds in Urban Planning, Landscape & Architectural Design took that input, visualized and developed it, and sought another round of feedback from the community and City Departments. On Tuesday, August 9, we will be jointly reviewing the fruits of their labor.

We are excited to have you and jointly review the outcome of this process.

Hans

This document contains feedback from neighbors about their wishes, objections, hopes, and dreams as of 7/31/2022

We are committed to a transparent process, but also respect privacy of contributors and will not disclose input unless we have received specific permission from the author to do so.

If we are missing your input and you would like to have it displayed, please email slowtriangle@dtna.org

DTNA Neighbor Emails Combined as of 07312022.pdf

This is a work in progress, subject to further neighborhood.

The attached presentation was prepared by Martine Kushner and Eugene Lau, two UC Berkeley graduate students, working on this project under the guidance of Prof Zach Lamb and PhD student Tyler Pullen.

The document is a first attempt at summarizing the work concerned neighbors have put in to develop design solutions to areas they care about, including traffic safety, equitable access, greening and neighborhood identity. It is based on:

• 2 workshops where neighbors articulated what they cared about and proposed design interventions
• a digital neighborhood survey
• public tabling at community events including farmers market and Phoenix day block party
• direct outreach to community members who may not be able to attend any of the above to ensure an equitable representation of viewpoints
• direct outreach to merchants and concerned neighbors inside and outisde of the Duboce Triangle
• 
  

Please provide further feedback:

- GENERAL

- SPECIFIC TO THE DESIGN PRESENTATION

UC Berkeley - DRAFT CONCEPT DESIGN PRESENTATION - 20220729.pdf

Summer workshops are underway to engage residents and businesses of Duboce Triangle and adjacent neighborhoods on their ideas for a Slow Triangle. It has been great meeting some of you at our recent workshops and at the Farmers’ Market, and we look forward to hearing from you at a future meet- ing. In the meantime, we also invite you to fill out our survey, to help us understand your thoughts on what a Slow Triangle could mean.

This concept of designing an improved Duboce Triangle began at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Noe Street was converted into a “Slow Street.” Throughout San Francisco, and in cities across the country, these “Slow Streets” were implemented to limit through traffic and open the road to more accessible and wider uses for pedestrians and cyclists. These modes of street design and usage are not necessarily new. Temporary street closures make way for block parties, street festivals, and farmers’ markets. Examples of permanent pedestrianized streets can be found all around the world in cities like Barcelona, Copenhagen, and Paris, along both major thoroughfares and in more intimate neighborhood settings. While there are some universal approaches to redesigning streets to create safer and more open public spaces, Duboce Triangle is unique in its history and relationship to the rest of the City. A tailored approach to understanding the neighborhood is necessary before diving into a Slow Triangle design proposal.

Initial research was done on the current and potential implementation of Vision Slow Triangle here in Duboce Triangle by 3 groups of graduate students from UC Berkeley on the topics of Walkability & Mobility, Sustainability, and Activation.

Some of the proposed ideas included improving existing corner bulb-outs as mini-plazas, adjusting parking orientation in key areas to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists, and pedestrian improvements on 14th Street to support movement and access to businesses. After hearing feedback on these ideas from residents at a December 2021 presentation, we have remained open to any and all of your ideas. This summer, we are conducting community workshops to add to these initial ideas and we are inviting everyone to play a part in this process. As stakeholders in this community, your wants, dreams, and lived experiences are essential ingredients in how a potential vision for a Slow Triangle can be articulated, planned for, and implemented.

So far, we have completed two workshops: in the first one, we collected ideas on potential Design Values that resonated with community members and shared precedent examples that could be applicable in Duboce Triangle. Participants in the second workshop took part in a design charrette, giving people an opportunity to articulate their ideas through creative brainstorming and interactive activities. As a result of these workshops, we are planning to present concept designs and refined recommendations to seek additional neighbor input before connecting with City departments and other community partners to make what the neighborhood wants a reality.

To stay informed about the Slow Triangle workshops, please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/JtLKRZ- jAcn8VC18B7, or email us at slow- triangle@dtna.org with any and all ideas. You can also learn more at dtna.org (under “Initiatives”). We will be sending out more detailed information about each event to those interested.