On one of my parallel blogs I explained what several dead and dying shopping streets in San Francisco need to be revitalized. I listed the kind of magnet foot traffic stores.
Now one of the worst disaster areas in San Francisco is being discussed. Mid-Market from 5th to 8th. A proposed development could turn six contiguous blocks from dangerous, very dangerous slums into a successful shopping and entertainment area. The development needs parking.... surprise.
The City that knows how (how to drive out the poor, the whites with families and the optimists) is debating whether good parking would harm the City Campaign to replace cars with bicycles.
Yes, a shopping area that would bring in more than a million additional tourists, $3 billion in sales per year, is being pitted against the interests of having a few hundred more bike riders. Believe it.
In my earlier blog I listed several stores that attract foot traffic but I missed the most important one for San Francisco: Fry's Electronics which is in the proposed package for Mid-Market St.
San Francisco is the Internet capitol of the world and Fry's is to Internet geeks what Patagonia and REI are to mountain climbers. Fry's is the most powerful magnet store for San Francisco.