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GLEN PARK NEWSGLEN PARK NEWS
Official Newspaper of the Glen Park Associationwww.glenparkassociation.orgPublished Quarterly
Summer 2007
Glen Park Association Meeting Notice
Tuesday, July 31, 2007, 7:00 p.m.
St. John’s School
,
925 Chenery St.
Dessert Potluck 
Meet the author of the new Glen Park history book!Local writer Emma Bland Smith will show slides and tellstories from the history of Glen Park and Diamond Heights.
There may have been a chill in the air,but the Glen Park Festival on April29 was once again the hot event of the neighborhood. The daylong eventattracted thousands of visitors to the heart of the village. With por-tions of Diamond andWilder streets blockedoff to traffic, the streets were alivewith music, food, drink, commerce,crafts and community good will.
Volume 25, No. 2byRachelGordon
BART officials are looking at devel-oping housing on the site across thestreet from the Glen Parkstation that now used isused as a parking lot—aproject that could becomethe largest residentialcomplex in the neighborhood.The BART board of directorsvoted in April to invite private devel-opers to express interest in taking onthe project, which is located acrossBosworth Street from the Glen ParkBART Station. The existing parking lothas 45 spaces, and is used not just byBART patrons but others visiting theneighborhoodʼs commercial corridor,including car sharing programs.Representatives of the regionalrail agency said the lot provides “anopportunity to make productive use”of the site for a development that couldinclude ground-floor businesses and“50 to 60 housing units.”It is expected—but not guar-anteed—that the housing would beoffered at so-called affordable ratesfor low-income and middle-class resi-dents. San Francisco BART directorTom Radulovich said there have beendiscussions to aim the housing at fami-lies or seniors.While no timeline has been deter-mined, the vote by the BART boardmoves the idea forward. SupervisorBevan Dufty, who represents Glen Parkon the Board of Supervisors, said heonly learned of BARTʼs recent actionduring a meeting with BART BoardPresident Lynette Sweet on anothermatter. He said he has real concerns,particularly over the potential loss of parking. BART officials concede thatthe parking now available in the lotmay not be replaced, since the area isserved by both BART and Muni.The City, in promoting its “TransitFirstʼʼ policy that discourages the useof the private automobile and promotesthe use of public transportation andbiking, has looked favorably at proj-ects that donʼt include parking.A big battle over parking eruptedin Glen Park during planning for thenew housing/market/library develop-ment that now stands at Diamond andWilder streets. In the end, the Cityrequired only limited on-site parkingspaces for the condo owners—andnone for Canyon Market or the soon-to-be-opened neighborhood branchlibrary.“Parking is one of the most sensitivepressure points in Glen Park,” Duftytold the
Glen Park News
. “I have somereal concerns.”Sweet said that in response toDuftyʼs concerns, BART will pauseand step up community outreachbefore going full-throttle with anydevelopment plans. “Weʼre not tryingto irritate anybody,” she said.
BART ContemplatesHuge Housing ProjectIn Place of Parking Lot
Glen Park organizations and resi-dents representing such diverse inter-ests as the parks, gardening, schools,honeybees, churches and businessesset up booths. Craftspeople sold theirgoods, and our own Engine No. 26 andits crew from the Diamond Heights firestation were, as usual, the top attractionfor the 12-and-under crowd.Police officers representingIngleside Station handed out scoresof “Junior SFPD Officer” star-shapedstickers. Sounds of Hawaiian, salsa,R&B and Middle Eastern music filledthe air, as the uninhibited shook andshimmied on the asphalt-turned-dancefloor.More than two dozen volunteershelped stage the event, and once againthis year, Dr. Dan Gustavson, whose den-tal office is on Bosworth Street, chairedthe festival. The annual event, now in its10th year after a scheduling-caused hia-tus in 2006, helps support youth-orientedcommunity programs.
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Glen Park Festival FoundIts Groove This Spring
Neighbors throng Wilder Street. Photo by Liz Manglesdorf
byRachelGordon
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
 
Glen Park News Page 2Summer 2007Glen Park News Page 2
The mission of the Glen Park Association is to promote the collectiveinterests of all persons living in Glen Park, to inform and educate aboutneighborhood and citywide issues, to promote sociability and friend-ships and to support beneficial neighborhood projects.
GPA Board of Directors and Officers for 2007
President
Michael Rice 337-9894president@glenparkassociation.org
Vice-President
Jeff Britt 239-4347vicepresident@glenparkassociation.org
Treasurer
Dennis Mullen 239-8337
Recording Secretary
Kim Watts 902-4767
Corresponding Secretary
Tiffany Farr 215-2320
Membership Secretary
Heather Worldmembership@glenparkassociation.org
Health & Environment
Michael Ameshealth@glenparkassociation.org
Neighborhood Improvement
John Walmsley 452-0277
Glen Park News
Elizabeth Weise 908-6728news@glenparkassociation.org
Public Safety
Kincy Clarksafety@glenparkassociation.org
Recreation & Park
Richard Craib 648-0862
Traffic, Parking & Transportation
Dan Lanirtransportation@glenparkassociation.org
Zoning & Planning
D. Valentinedk_valentine@yahoo.com
Program
Volunteer needed 
Glen Park News
2912 Diamond St. #407San Francisco, CA 94131(415) 908-6728news@glenparkassociation.org
 Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth WeiseDeputy Editor Rachel GordonPhoto Editor Liz Mangelsdorf Design Editor Mary MottolaCopy Editor Denis WadeAdvertising Nora DowleyReporters Dolan EargleAshley HathawayRebecca KassekertMiriam MossJoanna PearlsteinKaren PeterosJennie RoseEmma Bland SmithBonnie WachBonnee WaldsteinKaela WaldsteinColumnists Vince BeaudetJean ConnerSusan EvansMichael WalshPhotographers Ellen RosenthalMichael Waldstein
Glen Park News
The
Glen Park News
is pub-lished quarterly by the GlenPark Association.Signed articles are the opin-ions of the authors and notnecessarily those of the GlenPark Association.To advertise in the
GlenPark News
call 908-6728or e-mail advertising@glenparkassociation.org.
From the Editors
Spring is a great reminder of whyGlen Park is truly a San Franciscotreasure. From the Glen Park Festi-val to the baby owls nesting in GlenCanyon Park, the neighborhood hasa lot to offer for a variety of inter-ests.As weʼre heading into summer,weʼre seeing more changes comingto the heart of our commercial dis-trict. Construction of the new libraryis in its final stages, and work isunder way on new restaurants.Other big changes may be instore if, for example, BART movesforward with plans to develop itsparking lot across Bosworth Streetfrom the station.The
Glen Park News
strives tocover whatʼs good about our neigh-borhood, and whatʼs bad, and toshowcase the achievements of localresidents and businesses. We rely onour readers to help keep us informed,so we can pass the information on toa larger audience.Weʼre pleased to announce thatone of our contributors, photog-rapher Ellen Rosenthal, is goingto show her work in an upcomingexhibit.The show, titled “10 by 10,”will be held at the Mina DresdenGallery, 312 Valencia St. at 14th.The exhibit is set to run from June11–30. An artist reception will beheld June 23, from 7–9 p.m. Thegallery is open Wednesday throughSaturday, 5–8 p.m.
 Can You Help?
Are you a web person? TheGlen Park Association could use alittle help with its web site. Nothingfancy, but if youʼre comfortable withDreamWeaver and updating websites and would like to volunteer anhour or so a month, the associationwould love to hear from you.Itʼs simple stuff, if you knowwhat youʼre doing, but just now theboard lacks that specific skill-set.Get involved in the neighborhoodin an easy, low-key way.
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CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
Glen Park Association News
The phrase “New Urbanism” crops upin headlines, real estate promotionsand plenty of submis-sions to planning com-missions everywhere.“New Urbanism” toutsdevelopment based onmixed-use buildingsand clusters, higher densities thantypically found in sub-urban development, afocus on transit serviceand less on parking androads.Drop the “New,”call it “Old Urbanism”or just “Urbanism” andwe have Glen Park.Mixed-use? Ourretail buildings haveapartments, condos,offices and, soon, a library upstairs.Density? No big yards here, andlots of homes in a 10-minute walk.Glen Canyon is near most of us.Transit? Even with real concernsabout Muni reliability, we have sixbus and streetcar lines stretching inall directions. BART takes 10 min-utes to downtown and 25 minutes toSFO.
byMichaelRice
Parking and traffic? Comparedwith many San Francisco neighbor-hoods, we have a reasonable bal-ance of parking, and good routes toevery part of the city—the Sunset,the Mission, Potrero Hill, Down-town, Upper Market. And donʼtforget our City Car-Share and ZipCar stations.Glen Park has longbeen an authentic casefor “Urbanism.” Withthe foot traffic fromBART flowing past andinto Canyon Market,restaurants and otherbusinesses as we comeand go from home, Ifeel a growing levelof energy in our urbanneighborhood. Othershave seen our strengths, with recentwrite-ups in
San Francisco
magazine,and now in
Sunset.
Another part of “Urbanism” ischange. From dairy farms and rail-roads, to rowhouses, freeways andBART, Glen Park will always befacing change. Not just change inour neighborhood, as BART looksat improving the pedestrian and busconnections and potential develop-ment of the BART parking lot withhousing, or the City looks to zoningthat will affect properties along KernAlley.The Planning Department and theMunicipal Transportation Agency, astheir staff shared with us at the AprilGPA meeting, is ready to work withus on these future changes. Theseideas were aired in the Draft GlenPark Community Plan completed in2003. Now we can fine-tune the plan
Glen Park haslong been anauthentic case for“Urbanism.”
 
Summer 2007Page 3Glen Park NewsPage 3Glen Park News
Letters tothe Editor
Dear
Glen Park News,
Just read the Spring 2007 issueand have to say itʼs by far the bestyouʼve ever done. The articles areNOT sketchy, full of details that areinteresting and important and thereare so many of them. Not to mention
well-written
. Kudos to all. Iʼm veryimpressed. Keep up the good work!Re: Association dues: I need areminder to pay!Suzanne SampsonPhysical Therapist
 Editorʼs Note: The
Glen Park News
is produced by the non-profit GlenPark Association. Dues are $20 perhousehold per year — a cheap way tostrengthen the neighborhood and keepthe paper publishing!
Dear Editor,I read with great interest BenWanicurʼs passionate letter to the edi-tor (Spring 2007) and Ashley Hatha-wayʼs simplistic, self-serving and,ultimately, silly response regardingpurchasing v. adopting dogs. Sadly,their “debate” centered on the qualityof purebreds v. mixed breed dogs.Unfortunately, neither writermentioned the single most compel-ling reason NOT to purchase dogs (orcats)—pet overpopulation. Accordingto the Doris Day Animal League, anestimated 6–8 million dogs and catsare killed in shelters each year (30 per-cent are purchased purebreds). It is asad fact of life that millions of “sur-plus” cats and dogs have no homes.Animal shelters are filled to capacitywith these abandoned and unwantedcreatures, which continuously arriveand are unceremoniously euthanizedto make room for others.The pet overpopulation crisis is notthe result of one cause. But, one of thekey reasons why millions of healthyanimals are put to death every yearis commercial breeding. Commercialbreeders deliberately bring millions of animals into an already overpopulatedworld to sell them for profit. Everypurchased animal represents one lesshome for an animal in a shelter thatwill die for lack of an owner.As a society we are obligated toreduce these needless animal deaths.Hereʼs how you can help:• Save a life–adopt animals fromshelters. Never buy animals from abreeder or pet store. If you must havea particular breed, please adopt onefrom a shelter or rescue organiza-tion.• Spay and/or neuter your pets—uncontrolled breeding is a hugecontributing factor to this nationaltragedy.Pet ownership is a serious com-mitment and responsibility. If youare not prepared to provide a lifetimehome for an animal, please donʼt getone.Regards,Fern Schneiderman
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and make sure we are moving aheadwith the right elements.Yet the successful outcome of these plans will depend not only onthe support of the neighborhood, butmany factors outside Glen Park.For example, the mix of housingdeveloped on the BART lot or else-where will need to meet a range of affordability. These are legal require-ments, and I think the rules are theright thing in a time of $750,000condos.Muni needs to help us get out of our cars, but there are real city-wideissues on how Muni is managed andfinanced. Are we willing to pay taxesfor positive change? Are we sup-porting our school system to keepfamilies in the neighborhood andthe city?My “platform” as president of theGlen Park Association has always beenthis: We have a great neighborhood tomaintain and help grow in good ways,but we are in the middle of San Fran-cisco. We have to account for whatis around us. Letʼs always keep thisbalance in mind.
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 Michael Rice is president of the GlenPark Association.
GPA News
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2
Join theGlen Park Association
Only $20 per household.PO Box 31292San Francisco, CA 94131or online atwww.glenparkassociation.org
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