Autumn's metaphysical burlesque

Today, I received the following email from San Francisco's Mighty:

MIGHTY NEEDS YOUR HELP

On November 4th, the Sustainable Streets Division of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency passed the following resolution:

ESTABLISH – TOW-AWAY, NO STOPPING, 10PM TO 6AM, DAILY
Utah Street, both sides, between Alameda and 16th streets
San Bruno Avenue, both sides, between Alameda and 16th streets

( see the rest of the message )

I crafted the following email in response, sent to the MTA and the supervisor's office:

To whom it may concern,

It has come to my attention that there is a proposal to establish a
tow-away zone on Utah street between 16th and Alameda from 10pm to
6am. I urge you to oppose this measure.

This area supplies much-needed safe and well-lit parking for numerous
businesses in the area. Eliminating these spots will increase the
traffic burden on the area as people spend more time driving trying to
find a parking spot. Eliminating these parking spots will increase the
danger to residents, patrons and their vehicles as they have to park
further from their destinations, making both the people and their
vehicles easier prey for thieves. Perhaps most importantly,
eliminating these parking spots will hurt San Francisco, as a number
of people will simply go elsewhere for entertainment.

If you care about safety, traffic, and business revenue in San
Francisco, you should oppose the establishment of a night time
tow-away zone on Utah Street.


Thanks,

Autumn Tyr-Salvia

*****

This really makes me angry. This is how cities are shaped, by making some things convenient and other things inconvenient. This is what the "war on fun" looks like. This is how urban planning shapes acceptable use. It's subtle. It's hard to get people excited about fighting parking zone changes, which is why they do things like this. It seems small, so people don't fight back. But after enough small things, it starts to be such a pain to go out that people don't anymore. Enough people stay home, the clubs close, and we lose out on legal spaces to create experiences outside the pale.

I wish The Mighty and others the best of luck in fighting this.


Edit 11/16: I received the following email today:

On behalf of the SFMTA Board of Directors, thank you for taking the time to write. Please know that this item is not proceeding at this time.

Thanks again,

Roberta Boomer
Secretary, SFMTA Board of Directors

Win!