More Ped Plazas On The Way

With the successful launch of the 17th St. park, San Francsico's "Pavement to Parks" project is moving to its next location, the corner of Guerrero and San Jose. Activist Gillian Gillett has been pushing for something to happen there for years.

1 minute read

July 18, 2009, 5:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur


"It's a real impediment to rational urban life the way it's existed," said Gillett, a software programmer, who explained that she first became active around traffic and transportation issues when she was pregnant with her daughter in 2001. Before she and her neighbors took a stand, she said her street was the iconic high-traffic artery as explained in Donald Appleyard's seminal study on cars and community, a street that tore the neighborhood apart and kept neighbors from meeting each other or spending any time in public space together.

"I was really pissed off when I was pregnant and couldn't cross the street," said Gillett. "I was offended that the city would operate that way."

Friday, July 17, 2009 in Streetsblog

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