NoPa NERT stages a drill at the Panhandle

When the next disaster occurs, it's the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) that will be best prepared to respond by providing information and assistance to people in need. Our local NERT has been working to build its capacity to respond to a variety of situations, so last Wednesday Sept 25, they deployed their people, plans, and supplies for a staging area drill on-site at the Panhandle Park.  

Special thanks goes to Steve McPherson and Lt. Erica Arteseros for the photos.   

The tables set up on the paved area west of Masonic don't just look festive, they are color-coded to help you find the leaders of planning, logistics, and operations. And since disasters don't stop when it get dark, your local NERT now has some experience in keeping the emergency response going even when the lights go out. I am certain that I will feel really glad to see these folks out and on the scene in the event of a disaster. 

You can meet local NERT leaders at one of the upcoming events of the Panhandle Park Action Project. On Sunday Nov 17, from 11 am - 1 pm, Picnic with other advocates covering the themes of safety, crime prevention, and preparedness  and meet Park Station officers (with the talking police car) and also reps from SF Bike Coalition, SFMTA, SFDPW and SF SAFE, and NERT.

After Bay to Breakers 2013

The Bay to Breakers crowds are mostly gone, and there's still another hour or so of daylight, so head out for a walk in the park! Here are a few scenes from late afternoon.

Waste Busters and SF Conservation Corps nearly done with their big job

Temporary fencing helped protect some of the planting that is still getting established 

Volleyball near Cole 

Meadows still a little busy

Panhandle reminder for Saturday 9/10; upcoming events

Reminder: This Saturday, Sept 10 is our next Panhandle work day for volunteers from the community. We'll be working with Guillermo and Zack on our ongoing effort to beautify the park, improve conditions along the pathways, and protect the historic trees. 

Panhandle work day
Sat, Sept 10
9am-11:30 am
Meet at the Panhandle bulletin board (near Ashbury) 

At the blog for this Panhandle Park project, I recently shared some information about potential developments affecting the McKinley Monument. Please check out the post and let me know what you think by replying to me or posting comments on the blog.  

This is an important time to be involved in the local community! Here are a few more events to know about happening on Sept 11 , 12 and 13.

-Dale 

Sunday Streets Western Addition 

Sunday, September 11, 2011  

11:00 AM to 4:00 PM

More info: www.SundayStreetsSF.com; www.facebook.com/sundaystreets

Contact: sundaystreets@gmail.com

>If you park a vehicle on the streets that will be closed to cars, please note the signs which tell you that you have to move your car by 11 pm Saturday. Otherwise your car might get towed! 

September 11: 2^nd Annual Western Addition Sunday Streets

North Panhandle, Alamo Square and Fillmore neighborhoods

Activities include:

·      Fillmore Community Benefit District entertainment and activities along Fillmore Street

·      Independent Artists' Week celebration of community artists in the Western Addition

·      Donna Hunter Fitness line dance and healthy living inspiration

·      Funky Town Roller Disco, by D Miles and CORA, free skates

·      YBike Youth Bike Safety Rodeo

·      Interactive Environmental projects by Climate Change Education

·      Activities for kids North Panhandle –St. Cyprian's Church, Little Ones Co-op, Clif Kid

·      Activities for kids Fillmore -Buchanan YMCA, Junior League SF,

·      Freedom from Training Wheels, presented by SFBC

·      Free Bike Rentals provided by Bike & Roll and Bay City Bikes

·      Free Bike Repairs on Fillmore provided by REI, Mikes Bikes

MAYORAL CANDIDATE FORUM: 

Monday, September 12th 2011 from 6:00PM - 8:00PM at 455 Golden Gate (Milton Marks Auditorium)

Partnering with Walk San Francisco, San Francisco Parks Trust and Friends of the Urban Forest, NPC will host a mayoral candidate forum that focuses specifically on park, recreation, and open space issues. Our goal is to give you the opportunity to learn more about each candidate's knowledge of and positions on these subjects.  The following candidates will be participating in the forum:

• Michela Alioto-Pier
• John Avalos
• David Chiu
• Bevan Dufty
• Tony Hall (pending)
• Dennis Herrera
• Ed Lee (pending)
• Joanna Rees
• Phil Ting
• Leland Yee

To RSVP for this event, please go here.

Fell and Oak Streets Separated Bikeway Community Meeting*

 Tue., Sep. 13 | 6:30-8pm | San Francisco Day School, 350 Masonic Avenue (at Golden Gate)

After years of community action to make the three blocks of Fell and Oak Street, the SFMTA is holding a community meeting to discuss options for separated bikeways on three blocks of Fell and Oak Street between Scott Street and Baker Street. If you want a safer connection between the Panhandle and the Wiggle, if you live in this area and want a safer street, or if you use this route to bike to local shops and restaurants, come to this meeting and speak up. 

PPS named SF's Outstanding Park Volunteer Group!

We've just learned that we have been named "Outstanding Park Volunteer Group" by the Neighborhood Empowerment Network! Thank you to those who nominated us and supported us in gaining this recognition. This award recognizes our successful, hands-on efforts to improve the Panhandle through showing up for work days, meeting with city officials, writing proposals, and sending in 311 reports. It also gives us a chance to get the word out to even more people in the community about ways we can come together and enhance our park.

A special event to celebrate the 2010 NEN awards is coming up in just one week: Weds, Nov. 17, at 6 pm, in the North Light Court of City Hall. Find more details and sign up for free tickets here. And here's a look at last year's awards, to give you a feeling for what an exciting and wide-ranging, only in San Francisco, event it will be!


NEN Awards 2009 from NENtv on Vimeo.

"Connecting the City" proposes a fix for Panhandle Path friction

 Today's bulletin from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition announces a Treehouse Talk that Panhandle Park users should note:

The SF Bicycle Coalition's 2010 Fall Tube Times newsletter is hot off the presses. The cover story showcases our boldest initiative to date:Connecting the City. Read the story and ogle the renderings showing our designs for bikeways that are physically separated from vehicles to the fullest extent possible. Download the Tube Times today....

Get a sneak peek at what Connecting the City has in store at our Treehouse Talk tonight, Tuesday October 12th, 6:30 pm, at the SF Bicycle Coalition Office, 833 Market Street, 10th Floor. Free to SF Bicycle Coalition members (a $5 donation from non-members is appreciated); bring your bike upstairs.

The Fell St space in question (on street cleaning day)

The first route up in Connecting the City is "Bay to the Beach," and that one includes the Panhandle. You can find in the newsletter a specific suggestion for transforming Fell and Oak Streets between Scott and Golden Gate Park (the majority of that stretch is alongside the Panhandle). The vision is to "move car parking 10 feet away from the curb and use this new space as a buffered, protected bikeway for faster bike traffic." That change would give a safe commuting route "while improving the walking experience on the Panhandle mixed use path."

Friction between the growing numbers of people cycling and walking on the multi-use path was the top complaint I have heard from park neighbors. In July, I wrote about the problem and suggested approaches to fixing it so that we have a park more suitable to today's needs. I'm not able to attend tonight's SFBC talk, but I hope some of you will be able to go to learn about the proposal and raise up any Panhandle issues that need to be addressed. 

Sunday Streets @ the Panhandle

This past Sunday was the Western Addition's first time to play host to Sunday Streets. At Central Avenue, people enjoying the open streets flowed in and out of the park. The meadows were full of people and pets, dogs looking for adoptive families, free bike repair, and healthy food samples.

August work day wrap-up

THANKS to the neighbors who came out Saturday morning to work with Guillermo in the Panhandle. We joined together to tend to the children's garden around the playground. After raking eucalyptus leaves out of the flower beds, we also trimmed shrubs growing along the fence, so people can better see in and out. Participation was down this month - could it be that folks are taking their summer vacations and trying to get away from the San Francisco's summer fog?

Nearby, fresh stripes had been painted on the basketball courts and an intense 3-on-3 tournament was getting underway. For 1on-1 basketball action, come to the Panhandle basketball courts on Saturday, August 28 for the Red Bull King of the Rock qualifying round. Winners from the Panhandle courts will face off with qualifiers from around the country for a $10,000 prize on Alcatraz in September, in what is said to be the first sporting event on Alcatraz since the inmates left 50 years ago. 

Nopa Velo rides to the tall trees of the Panhandle

photo: Michael Helquist

Nopa Velo, our neighborhood cycling group, brought riders to the west end of the Panhandle on Sunday morning, where I told the group about Elizabeth McClintock and her contributions to the history of the Panhandle Park and the trees of Golden Gate Park. We continued on to the Presidio, and back to the 'hood for a backyard brunch.

Events coming to the Panhandle: B2B, BTWD, and NOPNA block party

Gear up for some big events in the next two weeks:

They're coming...

May 8: Panhandle Park Work Day
Saturday May 8, 9 am to noon.

May 13: Bike to Work Day
A yearly tradition, a high holy day for the bike community, Bike to Work Day (BTWD) is on Thursday, May 13. The Panhandle is the scene of one of San Francisco's most popular Energizer Stations, supporting riders on the way home from work or school. There's lots of free stuff - while it lasts - for cyclists - so come down, support the bike commuters, and spend some time enjoying your park. Fell @ Masonic, 5 to 7 pm.

May 15: NOPNA Block Party and Food Drive
Just a block off the park - Lyon between Hayes and Grove - is the site of NOPNA's neighborhood block party. NOPNA throws one of the best community-based block parties in SF, bringing together neighbors, kids, food, and music. Bring nonperishable food for the Groceries for Seniors Program. Saturday, May 15 from 11 am to 6 pm. (I'm planning a Panhandle Tree Walk @ 3 pm, leaving from Lyon @ Hayes).

May 16: Bay to Breakers
The 99th annual Bay to Breakers 12K footrace is coming up on Sunday, May 16. Usually, B2B pierces my consciousness when I hear the persistent din of helicopters tracking the race as it courses west on Fell Street. I like to walk over and check out the scene as the masses traverse our neighborhood. The mood is festive, but the thousands and thousands of runners, walkers and drinkers usually outlast my interest. Join the fun by having a picnic in the Panhandle. Take blankets, sunscreen, refreshments, games, a camera, and the Sunday paper (it goes on a really long time...)

and going...

Trick riders today

A fixie trick riding rally is just wrapping up in the Panhandle. Great, mellow crowd mostly there to do & watch tricks. I gather the party is put on by Skully Boom, launching a new product that you can use to take amplified music just about anywhere, and a new film, Revoked. Catch the trailer on Vimeo for obscure SF locations, like including Wallenberg HS.