DTNA Slow Triangle

Vision 2030 - Sanchez Steiner Intervention Community Meeting Minutes

Hans Galland — Mon, 10 Apr 2023 23:30:12 GMT

20230506 - Sanchez Steiner Corridor Community Meeting - Minutes.pdf

DTNA Letter to SFMTA Re Noe Slow Street

Hans Galland — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 22:28:52 GMT

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

Implementation Meeting - Discussion Materials & Considerations

Hans Galland — Sun, 09 Oct 2022 17:05:06 GMT

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

Final Report

Hans Galland — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 14:21:37 GMT

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

Slow Triangle Play Book

Hans Galland — Fri, 09 Sep 2022 02:11:38 GMT

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

Slow Triangle - Final Community Presentation

Hans Galland — Sun, 04 Sep 2022 01:28:34 GMT

See Final Presentation here.

DTNA Slow Triangle Presentation 20220903.pdf

Neighbor Voices on Vision Slow Triangle

Hans Galland — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 16:49:18 GMT

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

Final Report Presentation

Hans Galland — Sat, 06 Aug 2022 16:49:29 GMT

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

Vision Slow Triangle: Neighbor Input Received via Email

Hans Galland — Sun, 31 Jul 2022 16:15:37 GMT

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

DRAFT PRESENTATION: VISION - SLOW TRIANGLE

Hans Galland — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 04:48:51 GMT

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

DTNA Newsletter Article: Welcoming All Ideas and Feedback on Vision Slow Triangle

Hans Galland — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 17:42:52 GMT

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.

Vision Slow Triangle: 1st Community Workshop - Design Values

Hans Galland — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 16:09:01 GMT

This document contains meeting notes and photographs of the neighbor input from our first community meeting discussing what we care about and what matters to us when we think of a "Vision: Slow Triangle".

Vision Slow Triangle - Meeting 1 Notes - June 23, 2022.pdf

202206 DTNA Vision Slow Triangle Presentation Materials.pdf

Vision Slow Triangle - INTERIM SURVEY RESULTS

Hans Galland — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 01:37:36 GMT

These are interim results as of a total of 52 responses. We will continue to update.

Survey Results 52 Answers.pdf

UC Berkeley Student Jieqiong

Hans Galland — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 16:55:34 GMT

We are fortunate and grateful to UC Berkeley Graduate Student, Jieqiong Yang for completing her capstone project on the Duboce Triangle

"Enhancing Street Livability By Traffic Calming and Streetscape Design in the Duboce Triangle" can be found here

Community Meeting #2 - Design Charrette -

Hans Galland — Sun, 03 Jul 2022 17:17:01 GMT

The below file shows design solutions that workshop participants developed during our 2nd workshop.

These design solutions are grouped into four thematic areas that were highlighted as "areas we care about" or "design values" in our first workshop.

These design solutions were later incorporated in the presentations shared during workshop 3 and 4.

Charrette - Design Output from Work Shop No 2.pdf

Slow Triangle 2022 Summer Intern: Martine Kushner

Robert Bush — Fri, 20 May 2022 21:37:03 GMT

My name is Martine Kushner, and I am excited to introduce myself as DTNA ’s summer intern! I ’m looking forward to joining the team and getting to know the community over these next few months.

As for my background, since graduating from Washington University in St. Louis in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture and minors in Urban Design and Global Health and the Environment, I ’ve worked as a Landscape and Urban Designer at Balmori Associates and as an Intern for Humanitarian Development practice at UN-Habitat. Last fall, I moved from New York City to the Bay Area to pursue a dual Master ’s degree in Architecture and City Planning at UC Berkeley, where I just completed my first of three years. I am passionate about the built environment and its potential as a vehicle for sustainable and equitable change, and I ’m excited to help the DTNA move forward with its vision for a slow triangle.

As many of you may know, since last fall DTNA has been collaborating with the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley to conduct research for Vision: Slow Triangle, focusing on three topics: walkability and mobility, sustainability, and activation. This summer, building on that work and continuing with the participatory approach, I will help conduct a series of community meetings and workshops where we will work together to identify a set of design values for the public realm. From there, I ’ll propose concept designs based on these values, your input, and the research generated by my peers.

I ’m very grateful to be a part of this project and look forward to meeting you and hearing your ideas! Should you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at landuse@dtna.org.

Urban Design and Pedestrian Safety: Hans Galland

Robert Bush — Fri, 20 May 2022 21:34:44 GMT

Plans for Slow Triangle Make Progress with Support from Supervisor Mandelman's office.

In March, DTNA representatives met with Supervisor Mandelman and staff, as well as officials of the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) and the Department of Public Works (DPW) to begin outlining the scope of work for initial progress on our Slow Triangle plans. Jamie Parks of MTA had created a slide show of bulb-outs and medians that need work, and Bryan Dahl of DPW offered ideas for structures at various intersections that could improve pedestrian and vehicle safety as well as traffic flow.

Supervisor Mandelman explained that with a large-budget project like this (it could run into multi-millions) they will start with budgetary areas that are already in the system, like those for street and sidewalk repair or pedestrian safety, and then look to the Mayor ’s office to fund the remainder. Funds will be available from President Biden ’s infrastructure and COVID-19 stimulus bills (the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and the American Rescue Plan), and we need to have our ducks in a row by the end of 2022 to be considered for the 2023 budget.

Thanks to funding from the Supervisor ’s office and a donation from Waymo, DTNA has hired a graduate student intern for the summer to conduct a series of workshops with neighbors and to develop the design work that will provide a vision we can rally around. We are thrilled to introduce you to Martine Kushner – you can learn more about her and her work in this issue. We are actively fundraising to include a second graduate student intern – if you have any information on funding resources, please contact landuse@dtna.org.

Please watch your email and this space for invites to the workshops, and get involved with the process – the more neighbors who participate the better the final outcome will be. See you there!

The New Normal of our City Streets

Robert Bush — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 21:32:38 GMT

There have been a lot of COVID-related changes to our neighborhood over the past two years. Prior to the pandemic, our streets were exclusively for cars (either parked or moving). The only space for pedestrians were the narrow sidewalks - only three feet wide in some locations! Businesses were not allowed to have any presence on the street (especially if they were serving alcohol) without obtaining difficult and costly permits. Now, people and businesses are using our streets in unprecedented ways. It will be curious to see what remains and what changes in the months and years to come.

The state of ground-floor retail was not in a great place at the beginning of 2020, and the pandemic did not help. While it’s been sad to see neighborhood favorites like Cafe Flore sit empty, it’s been inspiring to see other gems like L'Ardoise Bistro adapt. The new parklet spaces that extend businesses into our streets have become a staple of city life during COVID-19. DTNA has been a strong supporter of these efforts, encouraging businesses to get creative and do whatever they can to not just survive, but thrive. Overall, they have been a net positive to our city streets. The extra life and vitality make a stroll through our neighborhood even more exciting. Even the simpler parklets, such as the waiting area outside of Healing Cuts SF, have created a chance to bump into friends. Sure, you may have to do a bit more sidewalk dodging if it’s a hopping night at Willkommen, but that’s part of living in a city. Plus, the extra “eyes on the street” are a great way to make our neighborhood safer.

Another notable change to our neighborhood caused by the pandemic is the Noe Slow Street. DTNA played a very active role in having Noe Street selected for SFMTA’s program. Having been installed for several months now, it’s been wonderful to see people walking, playing, and even celebrating (10/17 Phoenix Day Block Party) in the street. This would have been almost impossible to imagine and implement before the pandemic. Now, it’s a valued asset to our neighborhood. It’s not perfect, and hopefully, over time, people will grow more accustomed to it. No one should feel stigmatized for walking or driving (or rollerblading) on Noe Street. It is a space that belongs to all of us, and something we need to learn to share.

Overall, we have all witnessed and had to live with some pretty significant changes to Duboce Triangle that probably would have never been possible if not for the pandemic. DTNA is a proud advocate for parklets, shared streets, and slow streets. We see them as a silver lining to the depressing lockdowns of COVID-19. Now, as the pandemic seems to be winding down (fingers crossed) and we enter a new normal, it will be interesting to see what becomes of these additions to our neighborhood. Hopefully, they also become a new normal. An integral part of Duboce Triangle. Without the masks and restrictions, we are able to use these amenities in a new way - with smiling faces.

Slow Triangle - We want to hear from you! Hans Galland

Robert Bush — Sun, 13 Mar 2022 22:15:33 GMT

Once the UC Berkeley students’ research on the Vision Slow Triangle came to a close, the board of DTNA organized a neighborhood walk with Supervisor Mandelman’s team and a representative from the SFMTA to discuss findings and recommendations. Everyone was excited. We are now moving from community research and analysis to planning for implementation.

For any stage of the Vision Slow Triangle work, we have made a commitment to an open, transparent, and participatory process. Past experience shows that using participatory workshops for neighborhood improvements not only generates better, more balanced decisions but also achieves better usage of new improvements by residents and local businesses. A secondary, but not negligible outcome is that we all get to know each other better. In other words, this is a great opportunity to build community in Duboce Triangle together, by working on something we all care about.

The next stage of our work will include two concrete parts. First, developing an overarching value statement for the public realm in Duboce Triangle; Second, supporting the development of concept designs for improving critical intersections, the Duboce Triangle neighborhood gardens on bulb-outs and sidewalks, as well as additional traffic calming measures. These two steps are critical to ultimately generate an initial budgetary request to fund the implementation of proposed improvements.

We will conduct much of the work in a series of community workshops. We’d love your participation - either to co-organize workshops or simply participate. Please contact landuse@dtna.org or hansgalland@gmail.com to be added to the list so we can keep you involved! It’s going to be a fun and meaningful effort to work on this together.

Another Baby Step towards Making “Vision Slow Triangle” A Reality

Robert Bush — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 21:16:32 GMT

The DTNA Land Use and General Meetings in December saw record participation as Professor Lamb and three graduate student groups from UC Berkeley ’s College of Environmental Design presented their community research findings for our Vision - Slow Triangle (see earlier newsletters for more details on that).

The teams had been instructed to use methods that broadly reflect the diverse perspectives of our community: they conducted interviews with residents, merchants, and visitors - randomly, with a survey stand at our Phoenix Day block party, and via direct outreach to ensure minority representation. Students also spent countless days in the Triangle observing behavior, such as counting people jaywalking or vehicles running stop-signs. Finally, they accessed secondary data, including traffic statistics provided by Uber and records in the city archives.

Here are a few snippets of what they found:

Parking configurations: Students saw evidence that vehicles parked at intersections obstructing visibility cause a higher incidence of cars running stop signs and pedestrians hesitating to cross. A comparison of different parking configurations (parallel, perpendicular, angled) showed that angled parking increases perceived pedestrian safety and therefore encourages jaywalking (leaving aside aspects of desirability or legality for a moment). Their recommendations included selective removal of parking spaces at critical intersections (Duboce & Sanchez, 14th & Sanchez, 14th & Noe, 16th & Castro) to improve pedestrian safety.

Streetside mini-plaza design: This group found a positive impact of vegetation, slow traffic, and wood (instead of stone) seating on increased resident use of our corner bulb-outs. The group suggested that gathering spaces need better upkeep and can be designed to cater to different users (e.g. visitors vs. residents) with different functions (e.g. social vs. quiet activities).

UC Berkeley Masters of Urban Planning studied the mini-plazas mapped above. Two were found to be “nice currently”, the rest need various upgrades for different uses.

Sidewalk activation: This group researched how sidewalk safety and walkability influence the desire of pedestrians to use certain streets. They highlighted the challenges pedestrians face on 14th Street, given unusually narrow sidewalks and a very uncomfortable intersection at Sanchez and Noe. Recommendations included sidewalk widening and traffic slowing measures, such as chicanes and center islands.

Full copies of their research reports are available upon request, and minutes of the meeting summarizing community feedback are available on the DTNA website.

It was clearly a privilege to have mid-career urban design professionals in one of the world ’s best urban design programs generously study our small corner of this planet. Their outside perspectives highlighted issues that most of us have stopped actively seeing and proposed fresh ideas to address them.

As a community, it now rests upon us to act and decide on the desirability of their recommendations. We want to hear from you and involve you in the process of making the Vision - Slow Triangle a reality, translating these findings into design guidelines and budget requests to policy makers and city departments. Please contact us at landuse@dtna.org

The final research report can be viewed here

UC Berkeley Research Report on Neighborhood

Hans Galland — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 23:41:44 GMT

UC Berkeley FINAL REPORT COMBINED.pdf

How Street Design Affects Our Sense of Community: An Interview with Neighbor & Urban Designer Hugo Errazuriz: Hans Galland

Robert Bush — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 21:12:34 GMT

DTNA has the privilege of working with UC Berkeley ’s College of Environmental Design on exploring the nuances of our vision for a Slow Triangle. Part of this work was inspired by a conversation with Hugo Errazuriz, who researched the Duboce Triangle himself in 2002 while a student at Cal. We had a conversation with Hugo about this work then, and here ’s what we learned.

DTNA: Hello Hugo. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hugo: Well, I came to San Francisco in 2000 and after working for a couple of years as an architect, I went to UC Berkeley to get my masters degree in urban design. I went on to work in Asia for more than a decade in the development of complex urban projects, regions and even new cities, mostly in China. In 2019, I moved back to San Francisco and now live on Beaver Street. I work as an urban design principal at the San Francisco office of AECOM, a global engineering and design firm.

DTNA: What was your first impression of the Duboce Triangle?

Hugo: I had walked through the Duboce Triangle many times and found it a beautiful place, but I don ’t remember knowing it as its own neighborhood. It was not until I was studying the urban grid of San Francisco at Berkeley that I started to pay attention to it, mostly because of its very unique location where multiple urban grids and communities intersect.

DTNA: We heard you did a project on the Duboce Triangle when you were at Berkeley in 2002. What was it about?

Hugo: As part of our Urban Design Research Methods class, we studied the relationship between street design and resident satisfaction. We had selected the Duboce Triangle for the research. During that time, we literally went door-to-door to conduct questionnaire surveys and resident interviews. We wanted to see whether a street that was designed to accommodate more pedestrian activity contributed to a higher resident satisfaction and created a deeper sense of community.

DTNA: What were the key things you learnt at that time?

Hugo: We found evidence that streets planned for people rather than cars (wider sidewalks, seating areas, green bulbouts) contributed to a greater sense of satisfaction.

We learned, however, that other factors were also important. For instance, the cul-de-sac conditions, as you find them on Pierce Street or Carmelita Street, were critical for satisfaction and community. These streets did not have bulbouts or seating areas like Noe or Sanchez, yet they scored really high with residents: the fact they did not have vehicular through-traffic created much bigger resident satisfaction and a deeper sense of community. These streets benefitted from pedestrians through traffic. So, unlike traditional dead-end streets that tend to be empty and may feel unsafe, the cul-de-sacs north of Duboce Park had pedestrians, who activated them and made them feel safe. We also witnessed a stronger sense of community in that neighbors on those cul-de-sacs knew their neighbors by name much more commonly than in other streets in the Duboce Triangle. Put differently, even though people on Noe Street were very happy, they didn't necessarily know the names of their neighbors. In sum, the absence of vehicular through-traffic combined with the presence of pedestrian through traffic created a stronger sense of community

DTNA: Any parting thoughts you would like to pass on to neighbors in the Duboce Triangle and DTNA while working on the Vision for a Slow Triangle?

Hugo: The Duboce Triangle is so interesting because it has a small scale and thus potential for a strong sense of community. Yet, one should not forget that it plays an important role in the larger city because of its central location, connecting many different neighborhoods. Therefore, any decisions you make within the Triangle affect a much larger area outside the Triangle.

It will therefore be important to balance the interests of Triangle residents with those of the larger community that may benefit from assets you find within or near the Duboce Triangle. You would want to be inclusive and not exclusive. Concretely, you can think of providing some areas that just cater primarily to the neighbors and others to visitors from neighboring areas.

DTNA: Thank you Hugo. These are very valuable insights.

Hugo: Thank you for having me.

The Slow Triangle Vision - UC Berkeley Students Conduct Research: Hans Galland

Robert Bush — Mon, 15 Nov 2021 21:11:01 GMT

As the pandemic paused commuter traffic, San Francisco rolled out a massive experiment: Slow Streets. Noe Street was selected as one such street, running right through the Triangle. In our Jun/Jul Newsletter, DTNA Land Use Chair Kevin Riley wrote about DTNA ’s exploration of a Slow Triangle “A Slow Triangle is a vision...not a policy, ballot measure, or SFMTA plan. It's an idea.”

To research aspects of the Vision: Slow Triangle, DTNA has been working with the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley. This was originally inspired by a conversation DTNA Board Member Hans Galland had with Hugo Errazuriz, resident on Beaver Street, who had conducted research on the Triangle in 2002 when he was a student at Cal. With Hugo ’s help, Hans secured the support of Dr. Zachary Lamb, Assistant Professor of City and Regional Planning, who teaches “Urban Design Research Methods” and helped turn Vision: Slow Triangle into a research project for graduate students.

The goal of this research project was threefold. Firstly, for DTNA to use a participatory approach for residents to explore the complex nuances of a Slow Triangle. Secondly, to create an objective scientific basis for future design and implementation of a Slow Triangle from one of the world ’s most respected research institutions on this subject matter. Finally, it was our hope that this process could become the first chapter in a playbook that other neighborhoods in San Francisco and the world can use for community-driven assessments of Slow Neighborhoods.

DTNA Land Use Committee members kicked off the project on Sunday September 12, 2021 at Duboce Park touring 3 groups of 3 graduate students through the Triangle. DTNA emphasized the importance of exploring the relationship between a Slow Triangle and mobility, environmental sustainability, activation, and equity. Ultimately, the student groups decided to research the following three areas.

Walkability & Mobility. Researching the impact of parking configurations on traffic calming and the public realm. Field work focuses on Sanchez Street and three intersections considered high traffic zones (14th/Noe, Sanchez/Duboce, 14th/Sanchez). The findings can guide the design of future parking configurations.

Sustainability. Researching how characteristics of streetside gathering spaces (vegetation, amenity, size and dimension, location) encourage resident use and contribute to resident satisfaction. The findings can help the neighborhood activate underutilized spaces, promote resident satisfaction, and build more pleasant new community gathering spaces.

Activation. Researching how physical characteristics and vehicular traffic influence the desire of pedestrians to use streets. Field work focuses on 14th Street. Findings can guide design of streets for a more pleasant pedestrian experience, as desired.

Since September 12, 2021, the student groups have conducted multiple visits to the Triangle, attended DTNA Land Use and DTNA General Meetings, conducted observations, resident interviews, and archival research. You may have also met them as they participated at the Phoenix Day Street Fair to gather more comprehensive resident input.

We are very excited to learn about the findings the research has generated during our next General Meeting at 7 pm on Dec 13, 2021. We welcome your participation at the meeting and always appreciate your input and feedback. Please contact us at landuse@dtna.org

From Slow Street to Slow Triangle? Kevin Riley, DTNA Land Use Chair

Robert Bush — Tue, 18 May 2021 21:08:06 GMT

If you have been to a DTNA Land Use meeting recently, then you have heard talk of a “Slow Triangle,” a concept dreamt up by some of our members who have been inspired by the changes our neighborhood has experienced over the past year. Seeing the way our streets, businesses, and the patterns of our daily lives have adapted to these uncertain times has gotten people thinking about what could be achieved with proactive thinking, rather than just reactive trials.

So what do people mean when they say “Slow Triangle”? It could mean different things for different people. For me, it involves taking the concepts of Slow Streets and Shared Streets and applying them at a neighborhood scale rather than a single street. For Duboce Triangle, the perimeter streets of Market, Castro, and Duboce/Church would continue to act as the primary automobile thoroughfares. The blocks inside the triangle would become a network of Slow Streets - meaning they would have a very low-speed limit and would be shared by all travelers, not just those in a car. Businesses and restaurants could utilize sidewalks and parking spaces to activate the street, as we have seen done so successfully on Noe Street, Church Street, and Market Street. By liberating the public right-of-way from being exclusively for cars, we can create a neighborhood that is accessible to everyone.

This vision may seem fantastical. City-planning, our way of life, and even the American Dream have focused on the automobile since the mid-1900s! It seems impossible to imagine streets that are not for cars. “Go play in traffic” is a common insult, suggesting that the idea of people occupying streets is uncommon and dangerous. But that has not always been the case. The streets of Duboce Triangle were laid out in the late 1800s - many years before the mass production of cars and their incorporation into our daily lives. Our neighborhood was readapted to become car-centric. Historically, people were not restricted to narrow sidewalks and only allowed to cross a road at specified areas, at specified times. If our neighborhood (slowly, and over time) became car-centric, it can become something different again. We can advocate for a new style of urbanism, one that is reminiscent of its historical legacy. Could we get back to a time where children can play safely in the street?

I imagine some of you reading this are not immediately excited by this idea. I’ve heard from neighbors who are frustrated with Noe Slow Street. People are concerned that roads will be closed to them, that there is a stigma against those who drive a car, and access (to your home, to your business, to your community) will be restricted. That cannot be the case. If our neighborhood is to change, it should do so in a way that is inclusive of all uses; we cannot restrict ourselves to a binary conflict between cars and pedestrians. Instead, we have to find a way forward together, which requires letting some of our guards down and listening to each other, rather than being on constant defense for or against change.

A “Slow Triangle” is a vision. It is not a policy, ballot measure, or SFMTA plan. It's an idea. Something new, something different. If we are going to emerge from the past year having learned something, it should be that anything is possible. The whole world can stop and our lives can be turned upside down. In terms of our cities - we can experiment, try new things, and see what happens. A Slow Triangle is a vision that DTNA is interested in exploring. I hope you will join us in making our neighborhood more enjoyable, egalitarian, and safe.

Let us know what you think. Email landuse@dtna.org. As always, please attend our monthly Land Use meetings - held at 7pm on the first Monday of every month. Email for a Zoom link!