Stand Against Sit/Lie found lots of supporters in the Mission this weekend.
Stand Against Sit/Lie has a fun and productive weekend of outreach in the Mission District.
It was a beautiful weekend in San Francisco, and Stand Against Sit/Lie was out in the streets of the Mission District talking with supporters, educating voters, and continuing to build the coalition that will defeat sit/lie in the November election. Check out pictures from the weekend on our Flickr page.
On Saturday we hit the Mission Community Block Party (on 22nd St. between Bartlet and Mission), which boasted outstanding performances, delicious food, a community mural project and more. The event was a fundraiser for the Mission Community Market. Starting soon, the Mission Community Market will happen every Thursday 4-8pm at the same location and will be a “community marketplace that celebrates the Mission’s unique identity by promoting healthy eating, emerging businesses and community programs in a safe and beautiful public space.”
Our friends at Rock the Bike delivered the volume for the performances with their pedal-powered amplified sound system.
On Sunday we hit the Mission pavement again, this time for Sunday Streets, an amazing reoccurring event where long routes of streets in different San Francisco neighborhoods are opened to people and closed to car traffic for several hours on Sunday morning/afternoons. While talking to cyclists and pedestrians at Sunday Streets, we were able to speak with a reporter doing a segment for the public radio program, Philosophy Talk. (Be sure to listen next Sunday at 10am on KALW 91.7 FM when they will philosophize about human rights and the sit/lie ordinance).
Public space is for community and culture
Both the Mission Community Market and Sunday Streets are perfect examples of the fantastic things that can happen when public space is reclaimed and inhabited by people. Community and culture are given room to breathe and flourish. We should be encouraging more and more events like these and we should be fostering such positivity in our city’s public spaces on a daily basis, not just on special occasions.
Mayor Gavin Newsom has been a strong supporter of Sunday Streets. A press release from the Mayor’s Office announcing the 2010 Sunday Streets season said, “Sunday Streets events create a stronger sense of community in every neighborhood they touch and throughout the City.” We wholeheartedly agree. And that’s why we are so puzzled by the fact that Mayor Newsom has introduced a proposed sit-lie ordinance that would take our city in precisely the opposite direction and which would have such a negative impact on our neighborhoods by closing our public sidewalks to community and culture.
We had a great time doing community outreach this past weekend and look forward to many more such efforts over the coming months. Please join us! Sign up for email alerts at the top right corner of this page so you can find out how you can get involved.
