Thursday, April 22, 2021
Uncategorized The (quiet) privatization of San Francisco

The (quiet) privatization of San Francisco

By Marke B.

-

By Tim Redmond

It is, of course, illegal to drink an open alcoholic beverage on the streets of San Francisco. It’s also illegal to sit on the streets.

Unless, that is, you are in a chair that was placed on the public streets, or in a public parklet, by a local restaurant that is charging you money to be there. In that case, you can drink all you want, sit as long as the private owner will tolerate you, maybe even lie down if there’s a longish bench.

I know: Why is anyone complaining about that? We’re all in favor of restaurants having chairs on the street, and I love parklets, and it’s all good. Really good.

But that’s how creeping privatization of the public commons happens – with things that are, on the surface, all good. (more after the jump)

 

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Marke B.
Marke Bieschke is the publisher and arts and culture editor of 48 Hills. He co-owns the Stud bar in SoMa. Reach him at marke (at) 48hills.org, follow @supermarke on Twitter.

151 COMMENTS

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  38. Cara Mengatasi Gatal di Selangkangan

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  43. The (quiet) privatization of San Francisco – 48 hills

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    Tanda-tanda paling utama penyakit scabies merupakan gatal pada kulit, lebih-lebih tambah buruk saat malam hari. Rasa gatal berlangsung dikarenakan reaksi alergi pada tungau. Berjalan dengan cara berkolompok seperti sudah dikatakan diatas. Tanda-tanda s…

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  146. No better symbol of the private takeover than shrinkwrapped MUNI buses. These ads even cover bus windows so MUNI riders can barely see out.

  147. Thanks Thea, thanks Njudah. A city that took out seating on it’s streets because too many people used them for rest, a city that took out the trash cans because too many people used them for garbage, a city that builds office buildings in its parks and covers the land with plastics, a city that took out newspaper racks and then took out access to the papers all for the good of the public.

  148. I’m concerned about the Main Library. When I found out that 50% of the attendees of the Public Library were homeless, I was shocked. This is my library, where I take my books out. It’s near my work, and not far from my home.

    But then I began to think about it. There are very few spaces in San Francisco where you can sit and not buy anything. Especially indoor spaces. During the last downturn, when many unemployed people wanted to get out of their homes and have a little company while they freelanced or applied for jobs, they used coffee houses. That works fine as long as you realize it’s a quid pro quo of space for money. You buy coffee/coffee cake, you get to sit and work.

    But homeless don’t have that ability to trade money for space. That’s why they are homeless. The Main Library is one of the few places where anyone can sit for long periods of time peacefully. And there’s a bathroom.

    That’s why I was perturbed when I read that the Mayor is making it a priority to “clean up” the Main Library. I suspect that clean up is more about getting the homeless out of one of the few public spaces they can peacefully read, use the internet, and go to the bathroom during the day, and less about recognizing that people, all people, need public spaces that don’t require anything but decent behavior out of them. Places where they can have a community.

    At one point, the library was recognizing that there will be homeless in a quiet public place in a city with so many homeless, and they were deliberately working on having more social services in the library. This latest move by the Mayor seems to be going another direction, one we’ve tried numerous times without success–shifting the homeless around and saying the problem is better. I see no reason to do that. It doesn’t make anything better, just moves the problem to a less visible spot.

    My two cents on public space, which I believe we need more of.

    Thea

  149. Good explanation of the danger of privatization. Whenever there is a for-profit element involved, the ethos by definition becomes making money rather than serving the public. Fine for those who can afford it, but brutal for those whose quality of life depend upon being part of a larger community of public services.

  150. This story is spot on. Tim puts his finger on a huge, slowly accumulating issue, a classic frog-in-boiling-water problem if there ever was one. And though we all hate to admit, all these super-cool parklets are actually not cook, but very much part of the problem. (Think about it: Where do you see parklets the most? In neighborhoods where parking is in high demand to begin with. So now people who might need something other than food are driving in circles even more than they used to, or avoiding these neighborhood altogether, all because a few restaurants want a few extra customers to order coffee and muffins. But don’t get me started. Just refuse to roll over for the next city effort to make money on your public space.

  151. Parklets, by law, have to be open to anyone who wants to sit there, regardless if they are a patron of a restaurant that happens to be nearby, or even one that “sponsored” it. Parklets allow people, particularly those in areas with fewer open space options, to take areas previously reserved for private car parking, and allow for people to gather. Equating this use of public space, which benefits everyone, with the mad dash to privatizations Parks and Rec is pursuing at an alarming rate, is unfair and just serves to feed the NIMBY/Tea Party types in town who scream and yell, often with little actual facts, but try to shout out rational people who are trying to help improve their neighborhod for everyone, not just the 1%.

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