Home of the Potrero Boosters Neighborhood Association & all things Potrero Hill
Potrero Boosters meeting recap - Nov. 24, 2009
Nov. 24's meeting included a report from the local police, discussion of Starr-King Open Space, greenways on the Hill and a presentation of the, ahem, brand new Web site for the Potrero Boosters!
The officers informed the group that the Bayview district (in which Potrero Hill sits) has a new captain, Greg Suhr, who's just been around a few weeks. Suhr is a big supporter of CompStat, which helps the police use data to pinpoint and stamp out crime in the city — and see which areas and types of crime need more resources.
The current site was Wordpress-powered blog that allowed visitors to see old newsletters, and upcoming news. However, new content was only added as often as the person running the site could do it. With the new Ning-powered site, anyone can join the community and participate, share information, post photos and start discussions.
Attendees posed some great questions, and their feedback led to the decision to postpone launching the forum section of the community, until we can get some community guidelines up to help ensure good behavior. The rest of the site, though, will replace the current Potrero Boosters site immediately. Most discussion centered around the forum.
The new site is now live, and we welcome feedback. Let us know what you think!
A new Starr-King Open Space board of directors was elected in May, and they've been working hard to restore the park. They've made a lot of progress so far, and have put a lot of time and money into preventing a proposed development from building a driveway through the open space.
The board, however, is in need of money, and there was a motion brought up to give the organization $3,000 from Potrero Booster's reserves.
Many attendees at the meeting felt a strong connection to park, saying "It's a space for everyone" and "It's our park." Some also expressed concern that without proper support or board governance, the city might take control of the open space, reducing local control.
The Boosters eventually settled on a $1,500 grant, with another $1,500 if Starr-King's board can match it with $3,000 in new fund-raising.
Some members of Boosters would like to green these areas, adding more trees, enhancing pedestrian amenities and possibly even closing streets. The "fake park" in front of Axis Cafe is a great example of this kind of thinking coming to fruition.
One member even posed the question, "Why just green some streets? Why not green all of Potrero Hill." The presenters remarked back that "some streets will lend themselves more to greening than others," and you've got to start somewhere.
22nd Street between Wisconsin and Texas is a perfect example of a place that's ripe for this kind of work. There are no through streets in that stretch, and it's largely open space with poor pedestrian connections. The stretch between Missouri and Connecticut is especially bad, where it's a steep, rocky, dirt path up the hill.
Police Visit
The meeting kicked off with a visit from Police Officers Skaug and Ng, who are both new to the district. They didn't report any significant new crime trends, and discussion briefly veered into the merits of Bring Your Own Big Wheel, a now-annual event that sports plastic toys and their riders sailing down curvy Vermont Street, which this blogger is personally a big fan of.The officers informed the group that the Bayview district (in which Potrero Hill sits) has a new captain, Greg Suhr, who's just been around a few weeks. Suhr is a big supporter of CompStat, which helps the police use data to pinpoint and stamp out crime in the city — and see which areas and types of crime need more resources.
New Web site
The highlight of the meeting for me was getting the chance to present the new Web site (which you're currently viewing).The current site was Wordpress-powered blog that allowed visitors to see old newsletters, and upcoming news. However, new content was only added as often as the person running the site could do it. With the new Ning-powered site, anyone can join the community and participate, share information, post photos and start discussions.
Attendees posed some great questions, and their feedback led to the decision to postpone launching the forum section of the community, until we can get some community guidelines up to help ensure good behavior. The rest of the site, though, will replace the current Potrero Boosters site immediately. Most discussion centered around the forum.
The new site is now live, and we welcome feedback. Let us know what you think!
Starr-King Open Space
There was a long discussion about the Starr-King Open Space. Starr-King, around Carolina Street between 23rd and 25th streets.A new Starr-King Open Space board of directors was elected in May, and they've been working hard to restore the park. They've made a lot of progress so far, and have put a lot of time and money into preventing a proposed development from building a driveway through the open space.
The board, however, is in need of money, and there was a motion brought up to give the organization $3,000 from Potrero Booster's reserves.
Many attendees at the meeting felt a strong connection to park, saying "It's a space for everyone" and "It's our park." Some also expressed concern that without proper support or board governance, the city might take control of the open space, reducing local control.
The Boosters eventually settled on a $1,500 grant, with another $1,500 if Starr-King's board can match it with $3,000 in new fund-raising.
Greenway connections
The final discussion of the evening was about building green-space connections throughout Potrero Hill. There are a lot of slices of open space in Potrero Hill, but they aren't well connected to each other.Some members of Boosters would like to green these areas, adding more trees, enhancing pedestrian amenities and possibly even closing streets. The "fake park" in front of Axis Cafe is a great example of this kind of thinking coming to fruition.
One member even posed the question, "Why just green some streets? Why not green all of Potrero Hill." The presenters remarked back that "some streets will lend themselves more to greening than others," and you've got to start somewhere.
22nd Street between Wisconsin and Texas is a perfect example of a place that's ripe for this kind of work. There are no through streets in that stretch, and it's largely open space with poor pedestrian connections. The stretch between Missouri and Connecticut is especially bad, where it's a steep, rocky, dirt path up the hill.
Add a Comment
-
Comment by Andie Grace on February 5, 2010 at 9:39
-
Oh! I missed the date on this meeting! :P
-
Comment by Evan Goldin on February 5, 2010 at 8:26
-
Thanks Andie! I posted them here:
http://www.potreroboosters.org/page/guidelines-1
But if you have any recommendations, let me know. Totally open to feedback.
-
-
Evan, if you need any help writing a Terms of Use policy for the discussion section, I have extensive background in that area.
© 2025 Created by Evan Goldin.
Powered by
You need to be a member of PotreroBoosters.org to add comments!
Join PotreroBoosters.org