Lyon St Stairs, via crossfitsweatshop.com
It’s time to discus the combination of two of my loves, exercise and city design. San Francisco is often considered one of the most fit cities in the US, and we have an amazing climate for running. Many bike commuters make great use of these traits, but don’t have to worry about one key issue: where to go?
Sure, we have Golden Gate Park with its miles of roads and trails. The Presidio is rebuilding their extensive off road network. Ocean Beach, the Embarcadero and Crissy Field all have great linear paths. The problem is that so few of these peripheral trails are located near people, and are not interconnected. For me, the thought of driving to exercise is one of the most hypocritical things in our culture. It’s time to design streets that would actually make people want to get out and move.
The easiest way to see this at work is the Sunday Streets series, reintroducing many San Franciscans to the wonders our city has to offer. This easily overcomes two of the three largest problems – hills and sidewalks. Traffic is still abundant in the people dodging sense. If you were starting from scratch, there are many things you might want to think about, but how can we take our existing grid and make it work for us – and make people want to get outside?
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Safe sidewalks? via Streetsblog
Stairs: often necessary to overcome our hills, stairways can either be the public right of way, or merely accompany the steep streets. As much as cyclists try to avoid steep hills, runners often flock to them for speed training. If you’ve ever been to the Lyon St steps adjacent to the Presidio, you have seen the teams of runners endlessly going up and down. This type of civic construction not only increases our circulation possibilities, but it makes it fun and desirable.
- Sidewalks: As many of us can attest, all of out infrastructure is failing. Seldom it’s less obvious than a crumbling sidewalk, which poses a great threat to pedestrian safety. Naturally when running, uprooted pavement comes at you much faster. But for me, the bigger problem is the width of the sidewalk. With the combination of new street trees, warped sidewalks for driveways, and other pedestrians I often find it safer to run in the street.
- Traffic: Contrary to my experience on a bike, occupying the road seems the surest bet. Traffic on the sidewalk from other pedestrians is often more indignant than from cars on the street. I stay out of traffic by hugging the cars, but don’t fear a bicyclist’s fate of being doored. Surely this could all be alleviated by wider sidewalks, but that’s a future project.
Our streets, sidewalks, and other right of ways are resources that should be a large part of our civic pride. Everyone knows about Lombard St, but it isn’t even the steepest (Filbert St and 22nd St at 31.5%) or curviest (Vermont) street in San Francisco. But what about these other famous streets or stairs? The truth is, unless you are an amateur detective or a bibliophile, you’ll probably never find some of the more interesting areas of our city. These make for great running/hiking, and also great sightseeing for tourists and our economy. I love going for a run and discovering a new stair or path, but I would love all running to be so accessible and exciting.
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