Aaron Bialick
Aaron was the editor of Streetsblog San Francisco from January 2012 until October 2015. He joined Streetsblog in 2010 after studying rhetoric and political communication at SF State University and spending a semester in Denmark.
Recent Posts
TransForm: The Future of El Camino Real Lies in Your Hands
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From TransForm: Increasing traffic congestion and slow transit. Unsafe and uninviting conditions for walking and bicycling. Rapidly escalating housing costs. These are some of the challenges facing El Camino Real today, but land use and transportation plans are under way in cities such as Sunnyvale that will affect traffic and transportation, community health and quality […]
SFMTA Engineering Hearing
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Agenda Includes Muni Transit Effectiveness Project changes on Haight and McAllister Streets, and more.
SFMTA Board of Directors Meeting
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Agenda Consent calendar items (no discussion planned) include Muni Transit Effectiveness Project changes including new traffic signals and a Muni contra-flow lane on Sansome Street.
Why 24th St Merchants Ditched Sunday Streets: High Fees, Too Many Events
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People enjoying Sunday Streets in the Mission last weekend may have wondered why the route no longer ran on 24th Street, the most crowded street of any that see the event. Instead, the car-free Valencia Street route was complemented by an east-west leg on residential 18th Street, which saw sparse use compared to 24th. Despite […]
Sunday Streets Berkeley
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Livable Berkeley, Downtown Berkeley Association, North Shattuck Association and the City of Berkeley collaborate to transform the nearly two miles of the city’s main thoroughfare into temporary park for six hours of fun for all.
Parking-First “Save Polk Street” Crowd Attacks Van Ness BRT
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“Save Polk Street” has aimed its parking-first agenda at Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit. A couple dozen speakers protested the project an SFMTA hearing last week, distributing fearmongering flyers [PDF] claiming that removing some parking and banning left turns would “kill small businesses,” back up car traffic, and make the street more dangerous. The long-delayed Van Ness […]
SPUR Ocean Beach Erosion Plan Shelves Road Diet for Great Highway
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SPUR has set adrift its proposal to halve the size of the Great Highway along Ocean Beach, as the group strives to avoid distracting attention from implementing the other priorities in its Ocean Beach Master Plan. A road diet may be revisited later, once more pressing concerns have advanced. SPUR calls the OBMP “a comprehensive vision to […]
Eyes on the Street: New Curbs Coming to Market/Valencia Bike Turn
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In case you’re wondering why the left-turn “jug handle” connecting bike commuters on Market to Valencia Street suddenly disappeared behind construction barricades, we’ve got the answer. The “bike bay” is being re-built with granite curbs, replacing the original concrete curbs with materials that better match the rest of Market Street. That’s according to SFMTA Livable Streets […]
Man Killed by Muni Bus Driver at Closed Crosswalk Outside Geary Tunnel
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A man was hit and killed by a Muni bus driver on Geary Boulevard at Lyon Street on Monday at 1:15 a.m., according to media reports. Both crosswalks across Geary are closed at that intersection, just east of the Masonic tunnel, leaving a roughly 1,000-foot gap between crosswalks at Presidio Avenue and at Baker Street. The man, who hasn’t been […]
After 50 Events, Sunday Streets Director Departs to Spread the Word
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Susan King is moving on from her position at Livable City as director of SF’s Sunday Streets, after hosting the 50th open streets event yesterday in the Mission. King plans to bring open streets events to cities across the state by establishing the California Open Streets Network (CAOS). “I feel great that this program is […]
Closed Crosswalks Remain Even in Today’s Walkable Hayes Valley
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Hayes Valley may be one of the country’s densest and most walkable urban neighborhoods, but believe it or not, it still has three closed crosswalks — vestiges of the mid-20th century’s cars-first planning. “For many years, traffic engineers devised ways to pen people in, so that cars weren’t inconvenienced,” said Walk SF Executive Director Nicole Schneider. “Nowadays, […]
Personal Garages Become Cafes in the Castro, Thanks to Smarter Zoning
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Three new cafes and restaurants in the Castro have been created in spaces formerly used as personal parking garages. Driveways and dark garage doors on 18th Street have been replaced with storefronts and inviting patios filled with people. A few years ago, this would’ve been illegal. Reveille Coffee Company and Beso, a tapas restaurant, were […]