by Erik Honda, DTNA Secretary

A large and feisty crowd showed up for the DTNA December General Meeting to see the data collected by three teams from a UC Berkeley Urban Design graduate research class, who have been looking at the Triangle through the frame of our plans for a Slow Triangle. We apologize for the problems folks had getting in on Google Meet, and will work on solutions to get that fixed for future meetings. So sorry!

Board member Hans Galland, who is coordinating the project, introduced it as research-based, but also part of an iterative process that will involve the community at all stages, of which this meeting was an early part. The three teams presented, and details of their presentations can be found in the Slow Triangle updates article elsewhere in this newsletter, and also on our website at dtna.org.

Following the presentations, one neighbor took issue with most of the recommendations and proposals that came out of the data the students collected, on the basis that since they are not from here they can’t fully understand what it’s like to live here. Others celebrated their suggestions and hoped for even more radical transformations. All agreed that we need better enforcement of traffic laws in San Francisco, that different parts of the neighborhood and different streets need different treatments (this cannot be a “one size fits all” proposal), and that they were very appreciative of all the hard work and many hours the students spent in our neighborhood, observing traffic, conducting surveys of pedestrians and business owners, and sketching out solutions to make our neighborhood a better place. 

Thanks again so much to the teams! Hopefully they will return in future years to celebrate the fruits of their labor.

Team 1:  Streetside Mini-Plazas 

This team found the corner bulb-outs or “mini-plazas” to be the key urban design element of the Triangle, and made suggestions for repairing and upgrading the plazas. 

Shuqi Li, Master of Urban Design – Houzhou China
Jieqiong Chang, Master of Landscape Architecture – Hebei Province, China

Byron Li, Master of Landscape Architecture – San Francisco California, U.S.A.

Team 2: Parking Configurations’ Effect on Traffic Calming and the Public Realm

This team found that easy “paint-only” reconfigurations of parking orientation could make the neighborhood safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Andy Cheng, Master of Urban Design – Taipei, Taiwan
Diksha Singh, Master of Urban Design – Delhi, India

Joann Martinez, Master of City Planning – Lodi California, U.S.A.

Team 3: The Potential for a Safe and Walkable 14^th Street

This team provided suggestions for widening sidewalks and other changes to allow for better pedestrian movement and business access on 14^th Street.

Vedanti Agrawal, Master of Urban Design – Mumbai, India
Wenzheng Fang, Master of Urban Design – Beijing, China

Pawida Bualert, Master of City Planning – Bangkok, Thailand

Call to all neighbors: Please involve yourself in the process going forward (see links and info in the 2022 Feb-Mar Duboce Triangle News Slow Triangle article), because the more participation we have, the better the final product will be. Thanks to all who attended!