[TLC Member News & Alerts] TLC actions, updates & a special invitation...

[Jeremy Nelson]

Dear advocates for a more livable city-

Below are this week's two actions, updates, and clippings, along with a
special invitation to a reception with Dr. Donald Shoup to discuss his new
book "The High Cost of Free Parking".

As always, thanks for your continued advocacy and support of TLC and don't
forget to forward this e-mail to a like-minded friend or colleague and ask
them to sign up at http://www.livablecity.org/signup.html.

Best- Jeremy

=========================

1) ANNOUNCEMENT:  TLC has moved!  (Please note our new address and phone
number).

2) INVITATION:  TLC supporters invited to reception with Dr. Donald Shoup,
author of "The High Cost of Free Parking"

3) UPDATE & ACTION:  Thanks to TLC supporters for donating towards better
planning in San Francisco! Ask Planning Commission to look for someone with
the values and vision we need for a more sustainable future.

4) ACTION:  Tell City that Mid-Market/Civic Center needs less car traffic,
safer streets, and more housing for people not housing for cars!

5) TLC Recommends:  Cool events, happenings, and clippings for urbanists,
enviros, and sustainable transport junkies...

6) Jobs at TLC partner groups...

=========================

1) ANNOUNCEMENT:  TLC has moved!  Thanks to all the volunteers who helped us
with our move this weekend.  Our new office will allow us to be much more
productive and effective as we work for a more sustainable transportation
future for San Francisco.  We're also excited to be "shacked up" with our
partner groups Bicycle Coalition and Housing Action Coalition.  Come by and
say hello when you're in the neighborhood (see invitation below for a great
chance next week to see our new digs).  Please note new address and phone
number below:

Address: 995 Market St., Suite 1550, 94103
Phone:  (415) 334-0489

Our fax number, e-mail addresses, and website have not changed.

=========================

2) INVITATION:  TLC members invited to reception with Dr. Donald Shoup,
author of "The High Cost of Free Parking"

TLC is pleased to invite our supporters to a special reception with Dr.
Donald Shoup, author of the author of "The High Cost of Free Parking."   Dr.
Shoup holds a Ph.D. in Economics, is a professor at UCLA's Department of
Urban Planning, and has had a distinguished career studying and writing
about transportation issues (more info at
http://www.spa.ucla.edu/dept.cfm?d=up&s=faculty&f=faculty1.cfm&id=250). This
reception will be a chance to hear Dr. Shoup give an overview of his new
book "The High Cost of Free Parking" (more info on the book and advance
praise at http://www.planning.org/bookservice/freeparking; copies of Dr.
Shoup's book will also be available for purchase).

TLC supporters already know that every parking space is like a little
factory that produces just one product:  ever more car trips, which are
detrimental to pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders, the environment, and
urban livability, we invite you to come and ask Dr. Shoup directly:  "If too
much subsidized parking is ruining San Francisco, what should transportation
policymakers and advocates be doing about it?"

DETAILS:  The reception will be held on Tuesday (3/22) from 5:30-7pm at our
new offices at 995 Market St., Suite 1550.  This event is FREE to current
TLC members.  Non-members are asked to make a donation from $5 to $25
(sliding scale; no one turned away for lack of funds).  Become a TLC member
or renew your expired membership with a donations of $25 or greater!

LEARN MORE:  Want to learn more on why minimum parking requirements are bad
for your neighborhood, your city, and the planet?  Dr. Shoup will also be
presenting recommendations from his book at the American Planning
Association conference here in San Francisco on Monday (3/21) from 11am to
12:15 pm at Moscone Center West (see
http://www.planning.org/2005conference/sessionsdetails.htm?meetid=67424).

You're also invited to attend a press conference announcing the publication
of Dr. Shoup's book Monday (3/21) at 9:30 am at Moscone West.  Contact
Jeremy at 334-0849 for more info.

=========================

3) UPDATE & ACTION:  Thanks to TLC supporters for donating towards better
planning in San Francisco! Ask Planning Commission to look for someone with
the values and vision we need for a more sustainable future.

Last week we asked TLC supporters to help us pay to post the job description
for a new Planning Director to Planetizen.com in order to ensure that a
broadly diverse and highly-qualified pool of candidates was considered for
this critically-important position.

Several of you agreed with us that the City should be casting their net more
broadly for a new Planning Director, and thanks to the generosity of TLC
supporter Jean Fraser, we were able to post the Planning Director position
to Planetizen.com (see it here:
http://www.planetizen.com/jobs/item.php?id=3625).

In addition, 2 other TLC supporters wanted to get involved as well, and they
agreed to pay for TLC to post the job description for the MTA's
newly-created position of Deputy Director of Multimodal Planning to
Planetizen (see it here: http://www.planetizen.com/jobs/item.php?id=3633).
Special thanks to TLC supporters Steve Ferrero and an anonymous donor for
their generosity to allow us to post this equally-important planning
position.

Planetizen is read by nearly 75,000 policymakers, planners, and community
advocates every week, so these donations will help San Francisco gets the
world-class Planning Director we need to create a more livable, sustainable,
and equitable future for our city.

TAKE ACTION:  The Planning Commission will likely begin closing the
recruiting process at the end of this month and begin interviewing
candidates sometime next month, so please e-mail the Planning Commission c/o
Commission Secretary Linda Avery (mailto:LindaAvery at sfgov.org) and tell them
what you think they should be looking for in a new Planning Director.  For
more info on the values and vision that TLC thinks a new Planning Director
should have, see
http://www.beyondchron.org/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=110&twindow=Default&m
ad=No&sdetail=733&wpage=1&skeyword=planning$$director&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&r
estate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=.

LEARN MORE:  TLC is not alone in wondering why Mayor Newsom never allocated
enough funding to hire a recruiter for this critical position of Planning
Director, or at the very least, enough to pay for more advertising than just
2 weeks on 2 websites: "City Seeking 'Best and Brightest' for Planning
Director?" at
http://www.beyondchron.org/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=110&twindow=&mad=&sde
tail=1622&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption
=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=

Los Angeles is also currently recruiting a new Planning Director, and people
have noted the same problem of an underfunded, low-profile search process:
"What's the Plan, Los Angeles?"
(http://www.downtownnews.com/articles/2005/03/07/news/opinion/edit01.txt).
In response, advocates for good planning in Los Angeles have outlined their
TLC-like vision: "Planning for a Livable City: An Open Letter to the Next
Mayor and Planning Director" (http://www.clipi.org/blog/archives/17/).

=========================

4) ACTION:  Tell City that Mid-Market/Civic Center needs less car traffic,
safer streets, and more housing for people not housing for cars!

WHAT'S AT STAKE:  TLC has been tracking the creation of the Mid-Market
Redevelopment Plan & "Special Use District" (essentially zoning changes) for
the past year, attending dozens of public meetings advocating for
transportation and urban design improvements to the Plan that would create
safer streets and improve conditions for sustainable transportation modes
(the Plan covers Market and Mission Streets from 5th to 10th, and contains
some of the most critical transit, bike, and pedestrian corridors in the
City).

Despite numerous comments from TLC and other community groups about their
outstanding concerns on the impacts of this Plan, last week the
developer-dominated "Project Area Committee" approved this short-sighted,
counterproductive, and dangerous Plan by a vote of 23-2.  TLC was concerned
that the Plan allows 1:1 residential parking, calls for another short-term
parking garage in this parking-saturated area(!), allows 3 stories of
above-grade parking, and allows developers too many exemptions from the
urban design rules that would require active, pedestrian-oriented uses on
building frontages.  Affordable housing advocates were also concerned that
the Plan only calls for the bare minimum of housing affordability.

Even though the Mid-Market neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of car
ownership in the City (upwards of 90% of Mid-Market households don't own a
car), the highest rates of injury and death by automobile, and the greatest
need for affordable housing, the overwhelming majority of new development
called for by this Plan will be $750,000 and million dollar condos with a
parking space for every unit, likely purchased by wealthy suburbanites or
for use by companies as second homes for their executives.  (Knock, knock.
Who's there?  Click here to find out:
http://www.planetizen.com/announce/item.php?id=856&rf=e).

TAKE ACTION:  E-mail the Planning Department staff
(mailto:Marshall.Foster at sfgov.org) and Redevelopment Agency staff
(mailto:Lisa.Zayas-Chien at sfgov.org) and tell them that you are opposed to
the Mid-Market Plan as currently written.  Urge them to change the Plan to
address your concerns.  Sample language is below:

"In recognition of the excellent multimodal access to the Mid-Market area,
the critical role of Mid-Market streets as vital transportation corridors
for the City’s transit riders, bicyclists, and pedestrians, and the existing
surplus parking supply in Mid-Market area, I would like to submit the
following comments on the proposed Mid-Market Plan and Special Use District
(SUD).

- I oppose allowing 1:1 residential parking in an area that contains some of
the most important transit, bike, and pedestrian corridors in the City.  Why
allow the same excessive parking ratios in the most transit-rich
neighborhood in the City (if not the entire region) as you do the outer
neighborhoods?

- I oppose the inclusion of yet another short-term parking garage in the
area.  Does the City really believe that the area's 25 existing parking lots
and garages (including publicly-subsidized 5th & Mission and Civic Center
garages) along with the pending 320-space garage at 1160 Mission not enough
parking for this area?  I understand that the environmental impact analysis,
a Planning Department's study, and TLC's own survey showed there is no need
for additional short-term parking in this transit-rich area.

- I oppose allowing above-grade parking in this area because cars can live
underground but people can't!  In addition, the Plan allows for too many
exceptions to the urban design proposals that would allow developers to
exempt themselves from the active uses requirement that would help create
safer, more inviting pedestrian realm in Mid-Market.

- Finally, I oppose requiring only the bare minimum for housing
affordability levels.  I believe that the City's most transit-accessible
sites should be reserved to provide housing for low-income households with
fewer transportation choices, and I therefore urge you to require at least
twice the affordable housing as required in the rest of the City.

I urge you to change the Plan to address these concerns.  Mid-Market and
Civic Center neighborhoods need less car traffic, safer streets, and more
housing for people not housing for cars!"

LEARN MORE:  The Mid-Market Plan/SUD is written as if building ever more
parking will be a successful revitalization strategy for the area.  But TLC
supporters know that building more parking is a counterproductive
revitalization strategy and that to truly revitalize an area you need to
improve the safety and convenience of walking through urban design
improvements to the pedestrian realm (we call this principle "the Primacy of
the Pedestrian").  A new Brookings Institution study agrees:
"Pedestrian-Scale Development Is Crucial for Revitalizing Downtowns: 12
Steps For Creating a Successful Revitalization Strategy"
(http://www.planetizen.com/news/item.php?id=16034&rf=e).

=========================

5) TLC Recommends:  Cool events, happenings, and clippings for urbanists,
enviros, and sustainable transport junkies...

EVENT:  Explore the Intentional City.  Join planners and advocates from
around the world to explore the challenges of creating global cities that
embody local values. The City of Portland (OR) and APA are co-sponsors of
the International Federation for Housing and Planning's Spring Conference,
May 22-25.  More info at: http://www.planning.org/conferences/ifhp.htm

CLIPPING:  Rick Cole why the "Smart Growth" development model is a moral and
environmental obligation:
http://www.planningreport.com/tpr/?module=displaystory&story_id=1042&format=
html

(AUDIO) CLIPPING:  A few weeks ago TLC executive director Tom Radulovich and
TLC-supporter Robin Leavitt led a great tour of the new Octavia Blvd.  A
local blog called Bikescape was there to record the entire walk and bring it
all to you in the latest podcast.  Download the audio tour at
http://www.bikescape.blogspot.com and/or the ipodder software at
http://www.ipodder.org.

=========================

6) Jobs at TLC partner groups...

- SFBC seeking new Program Director.  Currently accepting applications now
for the Program Director position, which oversees the Bike Coalition's major
programs, including managing Bike Network campaigns and shaping public
policy affecting bicycling. Check out the full job description, (and please
pass on to interested, talented, advocacy-minded friends), at
http://www.sfbike.org/jobs_program

- City CarShare seeking a new CEO.  For a copy of the job description,
e-mail mailto:ceosearch at citycarshare.org or check
http://www.citycarshare.org/about/citycarshare/jobs.shtml.  Feel free to
forward this announcement to qualified individuals and thank you for keeping
your eyes and ears open for the new leader of the Bay Area's premier
car-sharing non-profit.

=========================

ABOUT "TLC NEWS & ALERTS".  This is a weekly e-newsletter from
Transportation for a Livable City (TLC), a community-based policy and
advocacy organization dedicated to improving San Franciscans' quality of
life by promoting more sustainable and
equitable transportation and land use policies.  We work for greater
transportation choices, safer, better-designed streets, reduced traffic
congestion, and the creation of more affordable housing.  More info about
TLC can be found on our website at www.livablecity.org.

ASK YOUR FRIENDS & COLLEAGUES TO SUBSCRIBE:  Help TLC grow and become more
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HOW TO UN-SUBSCRIBE/MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION:  You're receiving this e-mail from
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