Restore Hayes Street to Public Use.

Week 69 • Hayes Street Temporary Street Closure Permit No. 1316522 Noncompliance

April 7, 2026 Attention SFMTA: See closure conditions for this past weekend: Friday April 3, 2026Saturday April 4, 2026 Conditions were consistent with previously documented patterns, including: On Friday evening, a scheduled event (“movie night”) took place at Parcel K while the adjacent closure area remained largely inactive. On Saturday, a recurring vendor event occupied the closure footprint, reflecting continued … Read post

If the Goal Is Better Public Space in Hayes Valley, Let’s Talk About Real Options

For several years, the public conversation about Hayes Street has been framed as a simple choice:Support the street closure — or oppose public space. That framing is false. Many residents, merchants, and stakeholders have consistently supported the idea of improving Hayes Valley’s public spaces. What has been missing is a genuine willingness from City Hall and those shaping the current … Read post

End of Year Message

2025 in Review: Receipts, Resilience, and a Reset for Hayes Valley For the past five years, we’ve marked time with either an end-of-year reflection or a start-of-year reset. This year feels different, not because the challenges disappeared, but because the full picture finally came into focus. 2025 was the year the pattern became undeniable. What many neighbors and small businesses … Read post

Linden for Me, Hayes for Thee

How San Francisco’s Living Alley Rules Undercut the Hayes Street Closure and Reveal a Double Standard on Linden Purpose of this briefThis brief examines how San Francisco’s Living Alley guidelines define temporary street and alley closures as small-scale, low-impact, and resident-protective, and how the long-running closure of the 400 block of Hayes Street departs from those principles in practice. It … Read post

Hayes Street Shared Spaces Permit — Policy and Governance Considerations for Board Review

November 17, 2025 Dear Members of the SFMTA Board: The Hayes Street Shared Spaces permit renewal advancing from the October 23 ISCOTT hearing raises multiple policy, governance, and procedural questions that merit Board-level review before final approval. Outlined below are the core issues limited strictly to regulatory intent, administrative capacity, and policy alignment. I. POLICY & PLANNING CONFLICTS 1. Use … Read post

Week 48 • Hayes Street Temporary Street Closure Permit No. 1091787 Noncompliance

November 11, 2025 Attention SFMTA:See conditions for this past weekend:Friday November 7, 2025Saturday November 8, 2025 At week 48, conditions remain unchanged. The permit continues to operate well beyond its intent, with limited oversight. Events remain sparse during the weekend’s 18-hour closure, reinforcing our position to Open Hayes Street and return neighborhood events to the normal SFMTA permitting process. Parcel … Read post

👋 You Saw the Flyer :) Thanks for Visiting.

📋 Closure Permit Status UpdateNovember 20, 2025We’ve issued a statement summarizing what occurred at the SFMTA Board hearing this week and our takeaways.—> Read our full statement on the outcome more updates to come The closure of Hayes Street has affected small businesses, residents, and the whole neighborhood. But most people only know one side of the story. This page … Read post

Activation or Appropriation? How Hayes Street Became a Stage Set

What began as a temporary pandemic closure in 2020 has stretched into its fifth year. Somewhere along the way, the City stopped asking if the street should reopen and started inventing new reasons to keep it closed. The most powerful of those reasons arrived in 2023 under a single word: “activation.” The Turning PointWhen the permit came up for renewal … Read post