San Francisco’s Shared Spaces program was meant to help businesses recover. Instead, it’s been used to keep Hayes Street closed for nearly five years. What began as a temporary Shared Spaces closure on Hayes Street in 2020 should have ended years ago. By late 2023, SFMTA staff were prepared not to renew the permit — citing safety issues, merchant complaints, … Read post
Over the past two years, Hayes Valley has been used as the first large-scale test case for the City’s Pay or Permit Parking (PPP) program. The idea is simple: residents with permits can park for free, while visitors must pay at meters instead of following two-hour time limits. In theory, PPP is meant to increase parking availability, reduce circling, and … Read post
San Francisco politics is increasingly run through PACs and nonprofits. They raise big checks, buy access, and dominate the headlines. But here’s the difference: 1. Who We Are vs. Who They Are 2. Access vs. Exclusion 3. Incentives vs. Consequences 4. Accountability vs. Escape 5. What We’re Not 6. What We Are
For three decades, the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association (HVNA) has been treated by City Hall as the voice of our neighborhood. Agencies check the box by consulting HVNA, and politicians cite HVNA statements as if they reflect community consensus. But here’s the truth: HVNA doesn’t represent the diversity of Hayes Valley. Its board operates in a silo, behind closed doors. … Read post
400 Block of Hayes Street Closure A year since the last renewal, Hayes Valley is still living with a “temporary” closure run by HVNA; SFMTA’s failures of process, enforcement, and accountability are clearer than ever. The Record Since Last RenewalAs the Hayes Street closure future remains in limbo, it’s worth asking a simple question: what has SFMTA actually done in … Read post
Hayes Valley vs. the Market & Octavia Plan When the Central Freeway finally came down in the early 2000s, Hayes Valley felt like it had won. The teardown was celebrated as a turning point, a chance to reclaim land and reconnect the neighborhood (Hoodline, 2015). But the replacement street, Octavia Boulevard, didn’t live up to the promise. Instead of being … Read post
This month, Hayes Valley will lose one of its most cherished small businesses. After 20 years at the corner of Hayes and Octavia, Miette is relocating to the Fillmore. While their story continues elsewhere, Hayes Valley is losing a piece of its heart. For many, Miette was more than a candy shop — it was a place of celebration, of … Read post
The Hayes Street closure was supposed to be temporary. Instead, it’s become a politicized experiment with no accountability one that hurts small businesses, fuels division, and defies logic. Here’s why it’s time to reopen Hayes: 1. It was never meant to be permanent.The closure began as a short-term pandemic response. Those conditions no longer exist. 2. Use of the space … Read post
What breaks our heart isn’t just the policy failures. It’s the way real people have been dismissed, week after week, through the Hayes Street closure. Take Viktor. For years, he’s poured everything into his Hayes Valley shop, Cotton Sheep, one of those rare places that gives a neighborhood its soul. When he spoke up in the early days about how … Read post
