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Analysis

SF Planning’s Lead Planner for the Hayes Public Life Study Was Just Looped In on Ways to Make the Hayes Street Closure More Permanent

This email was produced today in SFMTA’s response to our latest records request. On February 26, 2026, David Long, Senior Transportation Planner at the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA), emailed Jeremy Shaw — the lead/principal planner for the Hayes Public Life study* — with the following: “I’m reaching out from the SFCTA with an fyi that may or may not be relevant to your Hayes Public Life study… Lloyd Silverstein, president of the Hayes Valley Merchant Association, shared during …

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A Study Without a Decision: Why Has Hayes Street Never Been Allowed to Reopen?

What began as a temporary COVID-era street closure is now being treated as something permanent. Recent public records show that District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood directly requested and drove the City’s initiation of a Public Life Study on Hayes Street, with the Planning Department leading the technical work in coordination with SFMTA, SFCTA, and the Supervisor’s own office. This is not a minor administrative step. It is a coordinated, interagency effort to evaluate and potentially lock in the future of …

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Who Set the Direction on Hayes Street?

Over the past year, a small group centered around the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association (HVNA) and Supervisor Bilal Mahmood quietly set the direction for the future of the 400 block of Hayes Street.A study was launched.Funding was secured.Agencies were coordinated. For the small businesses and neighbors who actually live and work here, one question stands out:How did this happen without us? What the records show Public records reveal a clear, predetermined sequence that bypassed the community: This follows the same …

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The Gap Between Law and Practice on Hayes Street

For years, the conversation around Hayes Street has been framed as a question of preference…whether one supports it or not. But that framing misses something more fundamental. Because underneath the debate is a different question entirely: Is the current use of Hayes Street aligned with the legal and policy framework that governs street closures in California? What the Law Actually Says California law allows cities to temporarily close streets under specific conditions (see California Vehicle Code §21101.4). Closures are intended …

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HVNA and UCBerkeley Coordinated Study of the Hayes Street Closure Debrief

A summary of key findings, limitations, and omissions A group of UC Berkeley students produced a study comparing user behavior on the 400 block of Hayes Street under non-closure, closure, and event-based conditions. Closure supporters have cited the report as evidence that the street has become a “thriving public space.” The study was explicitly created “to support the long-term continuation of the Hayes Valley closure.” The authors worked directly with the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association (HVNA) to align the research …

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Five Years of Transparency and Policy Analysis on Hayes Street

Understanding the process behind a critical neighborhood issue Responsible civic participation requires understanding how policy decisions are made — and explaining them clearly to the public. At its core, that means examining the process: how decisions develop and how policies are implemented over time. For the past five years, our coalition has focused on documenting and analyzing the decisions surrounding the Hayes Street closure. That work has involved reviewing permits, analyzing agency communications, and documenting conditions and impacts in the …

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What Recent Discovery Reveals About the Hayes Street “Public Life Study”

A transparency update from Hayes Valley Safe Over the past year, residents and small businesses in Hayes Valley have repeatedly asked basic, good-faith questions about the future of Hayes Street — including whether the current temporary closure was being evaluated neutrally, and whether public funds were being used to advance a predetermined outcome. Those questions went largely unanswered. In January 2026, in response to formal disclosure requests submitted in December 2025, Hayes Valley Safe received records that had not previously …

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A private group is running a public street like it’s theirs

For nearly 2 years, the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association (HVNA) has operated a parallel approval system governing access to a public street. This isn’t about events or programming. It’s about who controls access to a public street. A de facto gatekeeping and sublicensing system in which third parties are directed to apply for access to Hayes Street through HVNA’s own private form, under HVNA-defined conditions and HVNA-defined “approval,” rather than through the City’s permitting process. At the same time, the …

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Hayes Street Closure Sound Permit: What the Entertaiment Commission Approved and What Was Ignored

On December 16, the San Francisco Entertainment Commission approved a year-long amplified sound permit for the 400 block of Hayes Street. The approval authorizes recurring amplified sound on Fridays and Saturdays for up to six hours per day, tied to the ongoing Hayes Street closure. While the approval has now been granted, the hearing and application record raise serious concerns about process, transparency, and the mismatch between what was approved and the lived reality on a dense residential and retail …

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