The Urban Canopy and Pedestrian Prioritization Project

Proposal: To improve public health and commercial foot traffic, the city of San Francisco will convert 20% of existing downtown street parking into expanded pedestrian walkways and dedicated bicycle lanes. A mandatory commercial zoning ordinance will require all new corporate office buildings to dedicate their rooftops to publicly accessible community gardens or solar arrays. To fund these local green initiatives, a 2% convenience surcharge will be levied on all deliveries originating from out-of-state e-commerce fulfillment centers. The city will also establish a publicly funded “tool library” in every municipal district to reduce household waste and encourage community sharing of expensive hardware. Furthermore, high-density residential developments will be required to allocate at least 15% of their ground-floor space to locally owned, small-scale retail rather than national chains. To improve weekend quality of life, a strict noise pollution mandate will prohibit the use of gas-powered landscaping equipment within city limits on Saturdays and Sundays. To revitalize the local culture scene, the city will actively use eminent domain to repurpose abandoned commercial properties into subsidized live-work studios for qualifying local creators. Finally, to ensure equitable access to these new downtown amenities, public transportation fares will be entirely eliminated for all residents under the age of 18 and over the age of 65.