Hello From New BikeSD Director John Anderson
Hi, my name is John Anderson and I'm happy to be writing to you today to introduce myself as the new Interim Executive Director of Bike San Diego (BikeSD). I've been a board member of BikeSD for a couple of years and am now stepping into the Executive Director role previously held by Sam Ollinger. Sam has led BikeSD since it was formed five years ago (and even before then, when it was first born as a website). Her efforts with BikeSD have clearly moved the conversation about bicycling and biking infrastructure in San Diego and I thank her for all the work and passion she has given to BikeSD. Thanks to work done in the past, there is progress on new bike lanes around town, increased attention to better policies and more funding for bike projects from elected officials and civic employees, and there is momentum toward better on-the-ground infrastructure. However, much of this progress is slow, start and stop, or at risk of being walked back. It takes consistent attention and pressure to ensure that projects move forward and the ideas (many of them good or even great) come to fruition and don't remain on paper alone.
That is the role that BikeSD plays. We are present at public meetings, meeting with city staff and decision makers, and engaging with local media to push projects forward, question delays, and highlight examples of peer cities executing on transformational projects. If Chicago can add "108 miles of new protected bike lanes" San Diego can as well and we should expect no less than benchmarking to world leading cities. Along with other local organizations like Circulate San Diego, the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition and many others Bike San Diego is working everyday to push forward on making this a great place to live and biking is a big part of that.
Many of you reading this have been supporters of BikeSD for a long time - thank you! Whether you are a member that attends every event, an occasional speaker at public hearings, or a person that simply enjoys biking around town and enjoying our beautiful city you are the real power of this organization. Every additional voice amplifies the ability of BikeSD to push forward on our mission to "establish San Diego as a world-class bicycling city and create a more livable urban community by promoting everyday riding and advocating for bicycling infrastructure".
We will also be celebrating the organization's 5th anniversary on Tuesday, December 5, from 6 to 9 PM at North Park Beer Company and I hope you will join us for an evening of celebration and community. We will have a short program at 7 PM to thank Sam for her many years of dedicated service as well as sharing thoughts from the board for the coming year. Please RSVP here and share with others.
If you're not already a BikeSD member I hope you will join us. If you are already a member thank you, thank you, thank you.
I look forward to helping BikeSD continue the good work it has been doing, and to increase the size of our member base. I'll be reaching out soon to all of our members and you can always reach out to us (whether a member, supporter, critic, or observer) at talk@bikesd.org. You can reach me directly at director@bikesd.org.
Building a better place for biking matters to me for a wide variety of reasons. I care about biking in San Diego to:
- Improve our air quality and general environmental health
- Improve our civic budgets by embracing low-cost, high-return transportation options
- Increase personal economic options by giving San Diegans fun, safe, reliable biking choices wherever they live in the city
- Promoting better overall personal health by embracing healthy, active transportation
- Reduce road injuries and fatalities
- Enjoy a quieter, more peaceful, more beautiful urban environment
- Have fun with friends and family in our great city
- So many more reasons
Whatever reasons you have for supporting biking in San Diego I hope that you will join BikeSD and help to make this a better place to live. A better place for biking means better health outcomes for our children, cleaner air, more and better economic options at the personal and governmental levels, and so much more. In short, it means a better quality of life for all San Diegans. That's a goal and a future worth working hard for.
Thank you and bike happy,
John Anderson
San Diego County Spends $36M To Give Employees Free Parking
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors recently cut the ribbon to officially open a new $36,000,000 parking garage at Cedar and Kettner in Little Italy. The garage has 640 spaces, built at a cost of $56,250 per space. The garage will primarily be used for free parking for county employees and will also be available for paid public parking use on nights and weekends.
Here’s a laudatory video from the ribbon-cutting:
Supervisor Diane Jacobs noted “this truly is the best looking parking garage in the entire region and the most needed parking garage”. The “stalls are a little wider than you’ll find in most commercial parking structures”.
The Little Italy neighborhood is home to many of San Diego’s most highly regarded restaurants including Bracero, Buon Appetito, Monello, Ironside, Davanti Enoteca, Juniper and Ivy, and many others. Most of the restaurants have little, or zero, private parking provided. The area has also seen tremendous growth in the number of residential units in recent years. The result has been a thriving neighborhood that is among the most vibrant places in the entire county. A large part of the enjoyment of Little Italy stems from the many people and attractive buildings present – I doubt India Street would be improved by the addition of a massive parking garage. In recent years the need for parking of unused vehicles has been further reduced due to the explosive growth of taxi-hailing apps like Lyft and Uber.
The new county parking garage is the second portion of the “Waterfront Park project” that created a 12-acre park across Harbor Drive from San Diego Bay, replacing 8 acres of surface level parking lots adjacent the County Administration Building. That project cost $49.4 million dollars after an initial project cost estimate of $44.2M with $19.7M for building the park, $18.5M for building underground parking, and $6M for design and administration costs.
In total, between the two projects $54.5M was spent on moving parking spaces and $18.5M was spent on the actual park that people enjoy. This is excluding the $5.2M of difference from the original estimate to the actual construction costs and the $6M of design and administration costs. Those cost breakdowns yield a result of 75% of funds used to move spots for empty cars and 25% of funds used to build a park. For purposes of this article let’s assume the admin and cost over-run figures split on the same lines. The vast majority of the funds used for these joint projects was for moving parking spaces, not for building a park.
This project was sold as a project to build a great park – it would seem fitting if most of the funds were actually used to build a great park. Instead we spent 75% of the funds to relocate parking spaces, not creating new spaces but moving existing parking spaces. 251 spaces moved approximately 15 feet, they were undergrounded in the same location as the previous surface level lots.
To boot, the county demolished an historic building in Little Italy to make room for the large new parking garage. The Star Builders Supply Company building was built in 1911 and added to the county list of historic buildings in 1991. County supervisors unanimously voted to demolish the building. It’s now gone but you can enjoy the below video of the beautiful piece of San Diego history that has now been erased like so many others.
From the total 891 parking spots that were moved, 71.8% were moved about 1-2 blocks east from their previous location. 28.2% were moved about 15 feet underground. To accomplish this feat, county taxpayers spent $54.5 million dollars. As enjoyable as the the new park is and a huge improvement to the ugly surface parking lots perhaps it would have been better to save that money or spend it on a better use. To move so many parked cars such a small distance seems a pyrrhic victory. A small consolation might be that the total number of parking spots went from 1,200 in the surface lots to 891 in the new underground and multi-level parking garages, a net reduction of 25.75%. We could have spent even more money if we moved all of them! A legitimate question would be if the previous 1,200 spots or the new 891 spots are actually needed or not. But as so often happens when it comes to accommodating automobiles, too much is never enough and no cost is too high. More lanes on I-5 for $6 billion? Of course! More parking lots in Balboa Park? Of course! Analysis of the actual demand and cost comes far behind the populist appeal of free goodies for motor vehicles. The environmental impacts of our car culture is even further down the priority list than our dollars.
Enjoy the Waterfront Park (aka Parking Lot Relocation Park); it’s a great place. Building beautiful things is something a great city does. I’m proud that San Diego built it. In total, though, this project was a massive use of taxpayer dollars to move parking spots a small distance – not to build a great public park. They are distinct items and taxpayers did not need to spend tens of millions to provide a tax-free employment perk that most employees, government-employed or not, do not enjoy. We also did not need to use prime real estate to do so. Taxpayers must demand better stewardship of public funds and assets.
Previously posted here.
Why I Donate Monthly to BikeSD
I am writing to you today to ask you to join me in the fight to make San Diego a world-class bicycling city by pledging to make a monthly donation BikeSD. Give today.
BikeSD is a bicycle advocacy organization with the vision to "transform San Diego into the world’s best city for bicycling". Although a young organization in its third year of existence this vision has already been pushed from complete fantasy to "probably not going to happen". Every day this push continues and the vision comes closer to reality. This ongoing progress is due to the efforts of the organization and the many, many members, volunteers, friends, and supporters working together each day.
I first became familiar with BikeSD a few years ago when I began regularly attending meetings relating to SANDAG bike corridor projects. I quickly became reliant on the BikeSD Twitter, Facebook, and website for news of meetings I could not attend. The sources, especially Twitter, were pretty much the only place to get a true picture of what was going on and being said for those not present. At the meetings I was present for it was very clear to me who the voices in the room that I supported most belonged to - those of BikeSD volunteers and members. This is the biggest reason I contribute monthly to BikeSD, to ensure my opinion has a voice at those meetings I can't attend personally, and to increase the reach of the voice of the organization. If you look around the city today and compare to five years ago the difference in the policies, infrastructure, and discussion around bicycling is starkly different. The major change in that time period? The arrival of BikeSD as a powerful force for the interest of bicycle riders of all experience and ability.
Until this year, BikeSD was solely a volunteer organization. All the time and efforts put forth were done by people that care about San Diego and were willing to devote significant time to make this a better, safer place to live. This year the organization is increasing the capacity to create positive change and that requires dollars. Recently the first part-time hire for BikeSD was made - Kyle Carscaden receives a small monthly payment and is working to partner with businesses to provide secure, attractive bicycle parking for customers and employees. Samantha Ollinger, Executive Director, is now receiving a small monthly stipend for her time. We need to increase the ability to support these people, hire additional resources, and pay for physical materials and campaigns. You can help and ensure that the ability of BikeSD to make San Diego great is amplified and safer streets become a reality.
BikeSD is doing great work in San Diego and though many have helped and supported the organization, that has largely been due to the efforts and sacrifices of one person - Samantha Ollinger. Any city in the country would be lucky to have such a capable individual leading the push for safer streets and a healthier, happier city. The impact that Sam has had on the city is hard to overstate and shows how important it is to support her voice, and add more voices, with enhanced resources for advocacy. We need to support Sam and enable her to continue working full-time on these important issues. Her leadership and rational, uncompromising approach to building a better city has pushed the entire conversation in San Diego in a meaningful way. We need more of this, and more voices joining her.
I hope you'll join me and support BikeSD Outreach* on a monthly basis. Whether $5 or $500, you will help to make San Diego a better place to live for all. Thank you
* Contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law
We Bike SD
All kinds of people bike in San Diego. Meet some of them here.
Every Thursday we’ll be posting photos of people around San Diego and why they bike here. If you’d like to add your photo and opinion please send an email with your photo and responses to the 4 questions tojohn.patrick.anderson@gmail.com.
Enjoy these photos of your fellow San Diegans and have a great weekend ahead!
Beth bikes SD. We bike SD.
Name: Beth
Home: North Park
Why do you bike? I hate driving and gas is expensive. Car maintenance and registration is ridiculous. Biking is fun, it makes my commute fun. The best part of my day is on my bike.
What do you do? Barista, friend, wife, bike rider
We Bike SD
All kinds of people bike in San Diego. Meet some of them here.
Every Thursday we'll be posting photos of people around San Diego and why they bike here. If you'd like to add your photo and opinion please send an email with your photo and responses to the 4 questions to john.patrick.anderson@gmail.com.
Enjoy these photos of your fellow San Diegans and have a great weekend ahead!
Name: DJ and Linda
Home: Kensington
Why do you bike? Exercise, fun, air, people
What do you do? Musician and graphic artist (retired), ER transcriber (retired)
Name: Eleanor and Soraya
Home: South Park and North Park
Why do you bike? We like riding because its fun!
What do you do? Students
Name: Jane and Rich
Home: Tierrasanta
Why do you bike? Fun, total enjoyment
What do you do? Autism and neuroscience researcher, professional pilot
Names: Joe and Ben
Home: North Park
Name: Kathy
Home: Golden Hill
Why do you bike? Fun, exercise, reduce carbon footprint, and save money
What do you do? Environmental Engineer
Name: Chris
Home: South Park
Why do you bike? I love the freedom, particularly where I live on the Mesa. I can get just about wherever I need to go in about the same time it would take to drive, without the hassle, aggravation, or cost. I use my bike primarily for transportation with the side health benefits. I love the bike culture that is developing here in SD along with the camaraderie with other riders. I love being able to experience the city in a way that reminds me I'm part of the scene, not simply a spectator watching it through a screen.
What do you do? Attorney
This content originally appeared on John Anderson's personal website.