How To Inconvenience The City’s Constituents

You may or may not have heard in the news lately that the Board of Stupidvisors, in yet another display of their lack of wisdom, approved the six-month trial period for closure of John F. Kennedy Drive to cars in Golden Gate Park. This is, supposedly, for the benefit of all San Franciscans so that they can enjoy the park more like they do on Sundays.

A little backgrounder: Golden Gate Park’s John F. Kennedy Drive is currently closed on Sundays from the eastern edge (near the Panhandle) all the way down to Transverse Drive which is just past and below where Park Presidio/19th Avenue cut through the park for heavy traffic. The traffic flow goes on an overpass that John F. Kennedy Drive runs beneath.

The leftists are saying (and I’m paraphrasing here), “It’s for everybody!” However, the residents who live adjacent to the park and the attractions within the park are saying, “You’re hurting us more than you are helping us!” There was a representative from the Conservatory of Flowers who attended the meeting to say that attendance is always down on Sundays when the road is closed compared to other days of the week. Some residents were also in attendance to complain and to speak out against the idea of the closure. Of course, their pleas fell on deaf ears (because the liberal Democrap stupidvisors only listen to their supporters, not those whose opinions should matter more).

I took my son to the Conservatory of Flowers on April 19 and I saw the petition that they had out for visitors to sign if they were opposed to the park’s closure on Saturdays. From what I saw, even those visiting from out of state were opposed to the idea. But, more telling were the signatures from within the city and from around the San Francisco Bay Area. No specific addresses or phone numbers requested, but they did ask for your name, city and state. Generic stuff.

Because I missed the first round of meetings on the issue, I called the mayor’s office (mayor Gavin Newsom’s office is 415-554-6141) and voiced my opinion about the issue. I told them that, as a resident who lives near the park and who has to drive through the park, it was an inconvenience on the weekends because of the sheer number of cars in the vicinity.

The local news talked to both sides and aired their opinions. The person who was in favor of the closure said “The park is for everybody!” Like, there are no other places that people can enjoy in the city? Only leftist liberals and socialists would talk this way. This is not to say that most people are inherently selfish, but they have to exercise some common sense. If you have to go further out of your way to get through the park or to get into the park to see some of the attractions, then you have to think about how you are going to deal with this. That’s common sense, not socialist doctrine that says that everything has to be for everybody. There are plenty of things to see and do in the city that’s for everybody that won’t inconvenience other people.

There are those who feel that there aren’t enough places that are family-friendly for them to go to. Excuse me? Not enough places? I guess Ocean Beach isn’t good enough for them? You mean Yerba Buena Gardens near San Francisco’s Moscone Center is also inadequate? What about the restored wetlands near Crissy Field that took millions to accomplish? And what about Aquatic Park and the Jefferson Street Pier at the end of Van Ness Avenue? Still not enough places? I could go on!

I find it incredible that they can make such a bold statement on television when they are obviously blatantly lying. Yes, accusing them of lying is rather bold, but that’s how I see it.

How can they possibly say what they are saying with a straight face? There are plenty of options for families to enjoy themselves indoors and outdoors!

The other thing that strikes me about their perspective that it’s fine to close Golden Gate Park is that they most likely don’t live anywhere near the park and so the concerns that the rest of us have who DO live near the park don’t matter to them. Why should they care about the local residents’ woes? They don’t have to deal with the consequences of the closure, that’s why.

One resident who was interviewed put it very succinctly: “We don’t invite friends over on Sundays because they can’t find any parking around here.” How true it is! If you can’t park on the concourse or on JFK Drive inside the park, then you will have to park OUTSIDE in the residential areas. And, as any San Franciscan knows, parking is at a premium in the city. The closure compounds the problem by putting more cars on the streets and hogging up spaces where the residents who truly need the parking will now not be able to find an available spot because of the increased/overflowing capacity. Those people who don’t live in the area and come to visit the park are forced to walk into the park to get to their intended destinations.

When I thought about the petition at the Conservatory of Flowers and one of the representatives from said establishment, I fully understood what they were aiming at. I forget her name, but she said that the people who want to come and visit the attractions within the park, not just the Conservatory, will have a harder time accessing them. This includes the elderly and those with mobility issues.

Now, on that particular issue, I REALLY empathize because my father is a stroke patient and if we want to take him anywhere, it needs to be convenient for us to get him in and out. If we have to push him in his wheelchair for four or five blocks just to get to the entrance to the park, do you think we’re really going to want to stick around and do even MORE pushing up hills and for long distances when the handicapped parking places are much closer to the attractions we want to get to? The elderly will tire sooner and families/groups will just say “screw it” and go elsewhere. That representative from the conservatory also said that attendance drops severely on Sundays when they close the park to vehicular traffic.

Still don’t get it? Do the math: If you can’t get to the Conservatory of Flowers, the newly reopened De Young Museum and the Japanese Tea Garden, you’re not going to want to waste your time and gas hunting for parking. Gasoline isn’t cheap these days and time is also another premium these days. If you want people to come, then make it a hospitable environment and people will come!

While the roller skaters, bicyclists and other pedestrian traffic have been able to enjoy the park on Sundays, adding another day to that tally is going to make life more difficult for more people than it will satisfy on the weekends. Is that a fair or good trade off? I don’t think so.

Closing the park only to appease a (relatively) small group on the weekends will make a greater number of people very angry – myself included. Of course, the Board of Stupidvisors would want to vote for the closure because it will make them look like they are listening to the citizenry, looking out for their best interests and trying to make the city a family-friendly place. What they are actually doing is NOT listening to the citizenry who have to live AROUND or NEAR the park, looking out for their (the Stupidvisor’s, not the citizen’s) best interests and making our city a family- and parking-hostile environment.

Keep the park open on Saturdays!