October 11, 2006

Wait, wait, you mean someone responded to my complaint?

Filed under: muni — MarkBallew @ 8:05 pm

I’ve been making a habit to write down the driver and bus number if I spot a problem, like the entire rear of a 38 geary being covered from floor to ceiling with graf. A month after sending in two complaints in a row, I got this email:


From Elvira.Deleon@sfmta.com Thu Oct 12 02:45:31 2006
Subject: 215543
Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 19:48:05 -0700
From: “De Leon, Elvira”
To: Mark Ballew

October 11, 2006

Dear Mr. Ballew:

Thank you for your report regarding your experience on the #38 bus on
September 19, 2006.

Your report was forwarded to the Equipment Maintenance Division for
their review and subsequent action.

Again, thank you for your report. I appreciate being kept informed of
San Franciscans’ concerns, as we continue in our efforts to improve the
quality of our transit service. Public feedback is crucial in our
efforts to earn a new reputation with the people of San Francisco.

Sincerely,

Maria Williams

Manager, Passenger Services

SF Municipal Railway

Reference #: 215543

But is it all lip..er.. I mean text service from our friends at the MTA? Probably. :(

October 1, 2006

A Streetcar Named Gentrification

Filed under: gentrification, muni — MarkBallew @ 3:39 pm

Bayview residents in San Francisco are up in arms over plans to bulldoze and redevelop the area. “We are under attack,” cried Alicia Schwartz, a community organizer with POWER. “We are being shot in the back every day in the community, but the last straw was when the City Attorney said ‘I don’t care what 30,000 people said.’”

Not only do rising property values make the neglected, polluted, and poor Hunter’s Point/Bayview area prime real estate for development, but the launch of the new Third Street Light rail set for revenue service in April makes the area more attractive to live in.

From the article: “It’s wrong,” complained resident Patti Franklin. “Redevelopment’s gonna come in and put in condos that we can’t afford. We can’t afford things the way they are now. But when they put the [light] rail in, they just want to get rid of us.”

I thought in-fill was the best way to develop an existing community? Forcibly removing existing residents is a formula for destroying communities, but perhaps this is what the city wants, and 33,000 people can’t be wrong.