Grow The Richmond
A love letter to our neighborhood
The Richmond is bounded to the north by the Presidio, the south by Golden Gate Park, the west by the Pacific, and the east by Arguello. Once upon a time it was little more than dunes, and our predecessors thought it could be more, as they slowly converted those dunes into the neighborhood we live in now. They had a vision of what our neighborhood could be then, different than ours for certain. Even now, we each have our own version of the Richmond that we have gotten to know, whether we have only been here a few minutes, a few years, or all of our lives.
Some see the Richmond as bucolic and quiet, despite the fact it is a neighborhood teeming with things to do and some surprisingly fun nightlife spots; some see it suburban, yet we have a sneaky number of apartments that many of us who live here call home. Some see it as a respite from the rest of the city, and yet it is a part of the city, as unmistakably San Franciscan as we each are. We each see our own city, our own local businesses and neighbors that make it special, our own world of possibilities that is the Richmond.
When I look at the Richmond, I don’t just see it for what it is and what it has been, but what it can be. It can be the kind of neighborhood where we value homes for families over the value of single-family homes. It can be the kind of neighborhood where we see each other more face-to-face, walking or wheeling around the streets instead of driving. It can be the kind of neighborhood that folks don’t just want to call home, but can call home. I don’t just see the neighborhood I have put down my roots in. I see the neighborhood I know we can grow it into.
We need to change our zoning to allow for the kinds of homes that seniors can age in place in, to allow new people to come and add to the character of our neighborhood, to allow families to grow in the Richmond. It’s not about forcing anyone out. It’s about creating more room for current and future San Franciscans to come add to the wonderful fabric of our neighborhood. If we truly want to build inclusionary homes, then we need to allow the kind of housing that creates inclusionary homes. We allowed apartments before. We must allow them again. The 100+ year old apartments many of us live in aren’t out of character for the neighborhood, they are part of the character of the neighborhood.
We need more folks here to support future legacy businesses as they grow to be the next Green Apple Books or Plough and Stars or Cinderella Bakery. We need to make it easier for those future legacy businesses to open. The past of our neighborhood is people moving here and making their mark. Whether it’s Russian bakeries, Chinese dim-sum, or Burmese restaurants, what will be the next great addition to our neighborhood? Who will we welcome next to add to our colorful tapestry that makes the Richmond so great?
We need to make our neighborhood even easier to get around without a car. That means slowing down cars on our streets, getting more cars off our streets, and putting transit ahead of frequently single-occupancy automobiles. That means prioritizing our most vulnerable street users as they try to get around and centering their safety. That means creating more truly car-free space for all of us to enjoy every day, not just on Sunday. We built the first bike lane in San Francisco out here. We can build more again, better and safer than just paint. While we’re at it, we can build bus lanes on streets like Fulton, as we are on Geary. Hopefully we can add some trains in the future for good measure. I think about a pedestrianized Clement every time I see the Farmers Market and I see a street full of people, not cars. We can expect more of that if we just create the space for people to be.
That’s what I see when I look around our neighborhood. I see a neighborhood full of possibilities that we can grow into. We honor where we’ve come from not by making the Richmond more exclusive, but by making more of it like those of us who came before us once did. We can make that kind of neighborhood, if we want, if we put ourselves to it. More than any of the physical boundaries of the Richmond, it is bounded in our minds by what we think it is, what we think it can be. Let’s envision what we know it can be, a truly inclusive, vibrant neighborhood with opportunity for all of us at every corner. Let’s be an example to the rest of San Francisco. Let’s imagine a better Richmond together that we can all grow in.
Do you envision this kind of city too? Support me as I run for DCCC so we can help shape a Democratic Party that says yes to this kind of city and neighborhood.
