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
San Francisco Police Dept Harasses Bike Commuters
| | No Comments
Cops ticketing a cyclist for rolling a stop on The Wiggle. Subject of last week’s protest: http://t.co/xq1euSM4QQ pic.twitter.com/rTovDhLp5d — Kale Williams (@sfkale) August 5, 2015 SFPD Park Station Captain John Sanford has made good on his promise: Officers were out this morning ticketing bike commuters who failed to comply with a strict application of the […]
Applying the Parklet Strategy to Make Transit Stops Better, Quicker
| | No Comments
San Francisco’s parklet revolution has broadened the possibilities for how curb space can be used. Now, city planners in SF and the East Bay are taking the idea in a new direction: using temporary sidewalk extensions to make transit stops more efficient and attractive. Three different names for the concept have emerged from planners at three institutions where it […]
Chiu Bill Would Let Muni Cameras Ticket Drivers Cruising in Transit Lanes
| | No Comments
Los Angeles editor’s note: This Streetsblog S.F. story seems applicable to L.A.’s Wilshire Boulevard new peak-hour bus-only lanes. The “Wilshire BRT” lanes project fully opens next Tuesday, April 7. Eastern portions of the project have been open since 2013, but major bus speed improvements appear elusive, because cars do not always respect the peak-hour restrictions. Part of […]
Should SF Streets Go Car-Free to Make Room for Nightlife?
| | No Comments
Editor’s note: This article is from our S.F. sister site, but it begs the question: what Southern California nightlife streets would make sense to close at night? Polk, Valencia, Castro, Broadway — when bar patrons crowd these streets at night, should they go car-free? While the idea may be novel to San Francisco, many other […]
Alameda’s Second Parking-Protected Bikeway Takes Shape on Shoreline Drive
| | No Comments
The East Bay’s island city of Alameda has laid down its second parking-protected bikeway along Shoreline Drive. The paint has barely dried on the 1.8-mile, two-way bikeway, but Alamedans are already using it. The city is adding finishing touches before a ribbon cutting set for March 7. Bike East Bay Education Coordinator Robert Prinz, a former […]
After 50 Events, SF Sunday Streets Ciclovía Director Departs to Spread Word
| | No Comments
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. Sunday Streets is San Francisco’s open streets program, very similar to Los Angeles’ CicLAvia. King plans to bring open streets events to cities across the state by […]
Facebook Billionaire Sean Parker Bankrolls Free Parking Ballot Initiative in SF
| | No Comments
Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook and a major contributor to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, has spent $49,000 of his personal fortune to propel a ballot initiative that seeks to enshrine free parking as city policy, according to the SF Chronicle. Parker gave $100,000 to Lee’s mayoral campaign in 2011. The ballot initiative, which proponents frame as an […]
“Closing” Lombard Street: The Language of Taking Cars For Granted
| | No Comments
A peculiar thing tends to happen when we talk about streets and transportation: We don’t talk about cars. Seriously — listen to conversations, read news headlines, and you’ll start to notice that even when cars are the main subject, people will, consciously or unconsciously, fail to explicitly mention them. This phenomenon was particularly apparent to […]
Eyes on the Street: SF Polk Contra-Flow Bike Lane Nearly Ready to Ride
| | No Comments
Here’s a little change of pace from the bad news this week. The Polk Street contra-flow protected bike lane, connecting Market Street northbound to Grove Street and City Hall, appears almost ready to go. A Department of Public Works spokesperson said the agency is shooting for a tentative opening date of May 2 or 5 and […]
Chevy: What Better Way to Explore the Divisadero “Microhood” Than by Car?
| | No Comments
The marketers at Chevy totally have this urban millennial thing nailed down. The car manufacturer sponsored this promotional video for a Divisadero Microhood Art Walk held last week, along with the website The Bold Italic. In this virtual tour of the microhood, local business owner Erin Fong gets into one of Chevy’s electric Volts, driving an […]
The Case for Evening Parking Meters, Graphed
| | No Comments
Every day at 6 p.m., San Francisco’s parking meters shut down. But in many neighborhoods, motorists continue to seek parking, and without the turnover brought by meters, the streets become clogged with drivers circling around for a spot. The big mismatch between meter hours and actual demand for curbside parking spaces in SF was demonstrated […]
Gov’s Report to Caltrans: Get Out of the Way of Protected Bike Lanes
| | No Comments
Caltrans needs to stop focusing so much on moving cars and let cities build safer street designs with protected bike lanes, says a new report commissioned by Governor Jerry Brown and CA Transportation Secretary Brian Kelly. The report [PDF] calls out Caltrans’ “archaic” practices when it comes to imposing outdated, automobile-centric design standards on city streets in California, and says […]