SF Supervisor Scott Wiener led a tour of District 8 on April 14.All too often what’s great about living in a city can become a blur: just shops and people and buses and sidewalks we quickly pass while rushing off to our next thing to do. Thursday's District 8 walking tour with San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener gave 20 SPUR and community members a welcome chance to slow down and look deeply at a small piece of our city.
Supervisor Wiener talks about the success of merchants on 18th Street.
Walking west on 18th Street, taking us from the district boundary to the heart of the Castro, Wiener focused on change. He pointed out the booming success of merchants on 18th and Gurerro and the upcoming 70th anniversary of Cliff’s Hardware on Castro Street.
The tour stops at the former site of Harvey Milk's camera shop on Castro Street.
All photos by Colleen McHugh
Balancing history and the successes of the district, Wiener listed various projects he would like to see shape the future of the district, such as adding "bulb out" curb extensions to the corners of 18th and Dolores streets and widening the sidewalks of Castro Street. He also spoke about the challenges facing the “trouble child” J-Church Muni line and the difficulties of balancing the diversity of uses for spaces like Dolores Park.
Overall, Wiener gave us an opportunity to see the neighborhood from his perspective as a supervisor: a point of intersection between competing interests and melding neighborhoods with both a history and a hopeful future.