The GrowSF Report: A win for cake

Plus, who's back in the saddle?

Apr 30, 2022

What You Need To Know

Here’s what happened around the city for the week of April 24, 2022:

- First, some good news: JFK Drive is now a permanent promenade
- Some more good news: A win for cake
- Assaults on Muni riders rising
- Lack of accountability for homeless services leads to disastrous results
- You might have a new Supervisor: find your new district!
- Housing report card for San Francisco
- More workers are back in the office

First, some good news: JFK Drive is now a permanent promenade

Led by parents and supported by residents of all backgrounds who believe parks aren’t meant for highways, JFK Drive is now permanently car-free. Children of all ages can now safely bike and play anytime.

Thank you to GrowSF allies SF Bicycle Coalition, Walk SF, KidSafe SF, and Church of 8 Wheels for their tireless advocacy to make San Francisco a better place to live!

Some more good news: A win for cake

Cake baker Sophie Smith had a bitter start trying to navigate the notorious hell of San Francisco’s permitting process. But there was a sweet ending when a nonsensical law was finally streamlined to help Smith bake her cakes. Let’s cheer this small win for the entrepreneurs we need to save our local economy.

Assaults on Muni riders rising

The SF Standard explains that assaults on Muni passengers have risen post-pandemic even as ridership is only half of what it once was. Aggravated assaults involving weapons that cause severe harm are up. Battery assaults, such as being spit on, have skyrocketed.

Lack of accountability for homeless services leads to disastrous results

An investigation by the San Francisco Chronicle reveals how broken City Hall’s response to homelessness is. Millions of dollars are spent with little or no oversight, leading to disastrous results: “Because San Francisco leaders have for years neglected the hotels and failed to meaningfully regulate the nonprofits that operate them, many of the buildings — which house roughly 6,000 people — have descended into a pattern of chaos, crime and death, the investigation found. Critically, the homelessness crisis in San Francisco has worsened.”

You might have a new Supervisor: find your new district!

After a contentious process to redraw San Francisco’s supervisor district boundaries after the census, we finally have a new map — two weeks after missing a legally mandated deadline. The task force was bitterly divided, and the map passed with a 5-4 vote.

Use our tool to explore the new district boundaries and find your (possibly new) Supervisor!

Housing report card for San Francisco

San Francisco’s planning department released its annual housing inventory and housing balance reports. They total 127 pages. But the San Francisco Chronicle distilled five key takeaways:

There is more subsidized housing
S.F. hit state-mandated housing goals — barely
ADUs (aka “granny flats”) are on the rise
New housing isn’t equally spread across the city

More workers are back in the office

A recent report says: “after four months of increases, 33.4 percent of San Francisco workers were back at their desks last week, higher than New York’s 32.9 percent and San Jose’s percent, but still behind seven major cities.

Meanwhile, San Francisco-based Airbnb tells employees they can “live and work anywhere.”

Your Action Plan

Now that you know what’s happening, help us shape what happens next:

Boudin Recall Rally

We support criminal justice reform. We also want residents to feel safe. We believe San Francisco can have both — but not under District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Read our reasons for recalling Boudin.

Join us for a recall rally:
Sunday May 1 at 10am
Sunset Recreation Center
Lawton and 28th Avenue

Support a plan to end street homelessness

Supervisor Mandelman's excellent "A Place for All" legislation is back and will be heard in committee on May 12th! For too long, the city has spent more and more money on homelessness without a long-term plan. The result has been a steady increase in cost and the number of people forced to live on the streets.

We need to treat the homelessness crisis with the urgency it deserves, and that means efficiently using our city's resources to shelter as many people as possible. A Place for All would finally require the city to develop a plan to do that.

Don’t let this bill get watered down or quietly killed. Visit our action page to urge your Supervisor to support A Place for All.

May 1 Deadline: AAMPLIFY social justice leadership program

The AAMPLIFY social justice leadership program trains and supports Asian American high school students in the Bay Area who aim to make a difference in their communities. Deadline for 2022 applications is May 1. Apply here.

Learn about the June ballot over mimosas

Join TogetherSF and SPUR for Bubbles & Ballots: Breaking Down the June Ballot, a fun-filled afternoon of food, drinks, and politics. Think: brunch with a side of political intrigue.

Saturday May 7 at 1pm
2505 Mariposa St
RSVP here

Celebrate San Francisco

There’s a lot to love about our city. Here’s what makes it great:

Francisco Park opened this week

“The park sits on the location of the city’s first large reservoir which was built in 1859 and has sat unused since 1940. After three years of construction (with a COVID pause in the middle) the park finally opens to reveal a playground, community garden, fenced dog-run, amazing views of the Bay and will harvest 550,000 gallons of rainwater to irrigate the park.” - Fun Cheap SF

SF Noodlefest is happening today!

“Join us and 30 restauranteurs from San Francisco’s Chinatown and North Beach neighborhoods! Try out new dishes, learn how to make noodles from scratch, listen to performances by local bands, and join our celebrity judges as they decide what their favorite dishes are!”

More info here