DEMOCRACY AT WORK 

To many Americans, the last few years have seemed dark and foreboding. But rays of light shine through. Here are two examples, small and large. Last Tuesday, the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Agency held a final public hearing live and by telephone. City residents were invited to speak for and against the city’s Slow Streets…

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COMMMON SENSE PREVAILS 

Even in the face of global warming, inflation, American political divisions and Russia’s war on Ukraine, small local issues sometimes offer a ray of hope.  San Francisco “slow streets” program limits through traffic on Lake Street north of my house. Some Lake residents love their slow street. But traffic must go elsewhere, so I see not a…

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SLOW STREET, DEAD-END THINKING

Early in San Francisco’s COVID lockdown, the Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) initiated a “Slow Streets” program to provide safe space for pedestrians, runners and bicyclists. This lofty idea has morphed into senseless ideology.   At least two of my three daily walks take me across or along Lake, one of almost thirty streets technically limiting traffic…

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