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Comment by lordlic

6 years ago

> Neighbors previously complained about the replacement of historic streetlight poles for Van Ness BRT. Replacement poles made to look like the originals ballooned the project cost by $6.5 million, according to city documents

This is a perfect microcosm of San Francisco governance. A small number of highly-motivated landowners unashamedly hijacking city policy for their own interests. How do we stand up to this?

11 comments

lordlic

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listenallyall  6 years ago

>> unashamedly hijacking city policy

I don't know, the charm of San Francisco is all of its unique elements that aren't found anywhere else. The hills, the cablecars, the Golden Gate Bridge. Why shouldn't the transit dept be responsible enough to "leave no trace" after it completes a project? What if the transit project tore up Fisherman's Wharf and they decided to replace it with a generic shopping mall? Or took out all the cable car tracks? What if they flattened Lombard Street to make it more "pedestrian friendly"?

wbl  6 years ago

Vote! Fight for candidates who will bring sanity to the system. Donate money: it's amazing how powerless tech is in a city where it dominates economically.

ethanbond  6 years ago

Aggressively tax landowners on the value they did not create and let them keep 100% of the value they did create.

They didn’t (solely) pay for the $6.5MM light poles, so they shouldn’t (solely) get the real estate value upside from having them there. Look up the Land Value Tax and start pushing for it.

jachee  6 years ago

Show up to hearings and point out ridiculous NIMBYism for what it is.

  • sokoloff  6 years ago

    I for one appreciate when a modern project takes care and expense to recreate certain historic elements that tie the project into its setting more seamlessly than a lowest possible cost execution.

    I appreciate that whether it’s directly in my backyard or across town.