land area of san francisco, 25% of it is taken up by public rights of way. it is a real big part of the city that we maybe don't necessarily always think of as part of our public realm. often we're just passing through it. we're really very fortunate here in san francisco that after -- after really more than a generation, i would say, of neglect, that we now is here. we have a mayor. we have a board of supervisors that understands the importance of the city's infrastruck which chur and the public rights of way that com provides a significant part of the city. that understanding has been manifested in their financial commitment to investment and infrastructure, both to main and repair and upgrade it but also to improve it. what -- what you're going to -- what you're seeing here already and what you're going to hear from the speakers is just, the latest example here on leland is

an example of that improvement. it is not just making sure the streets are paved which is absolutely important and making sure the sidewalks are in good condition and we have accessible curb cuts so folks in wheel chairs and other disabilities can access our public realm safely but really ep happensing the public realm so it is not just passing through as you whiz by in your car, it is for being in and enjoying and i think -- helland is -- is really an excellent machine festtation of that, a world class facility, that we're bringing to the neighborhood has is long overdue. the reason all of this is happening it because we had the leadership to make it happen and to drive it to happen. so we have a lot of folks here that i want to acknowledge and a few folks that are going to speak. of course i want to start with the person who has been driving this from before he became

mayor, but certainly before he was mayor full time, gavin newsom. >> thank you for coming out, this is our sixth great street project. we had a vision to be more like chicago. an ode to chicago. anybody has ever visited chicago, you go down michigan avenue and everyone goes like why can't we be like chicago? they don't go in the neighborhoods, they just go down michigan avenue and the entire city and county of chicago and the cook county around chicago looks like michigan avenue. but nonetheless, it is something that vexes you, you think why can't we be more like michigan avenue. so began the journey many years ago to say what do we need to do differently had order to organize ourselves in a way that we could create great streets through the commercial corridors

and the main entry points in and out of our city. we got the together and we realized there was a lot of money already being spent, it wasn't being coordinated, it wasn't a collaborative. you didn't have the arts commission working with the department of public works and the public utilities commission and working with the economic development office and our lobbiest at the state and federal level to match state and federal and local dollars to organize a much more organized narrative. that's what the great streets propose to do. if you been down divizidero. if you have been been to polk, and valencia, it is extraordinary. the work that will be done soon and balboa, the work that will be done down on 19th avenue and then the significant work that will be disproportionately

certed by harrington, down caesar chavez will be extraordinary. those will be the final three of those nine great streets projects. leland and sam bruno were among the last two. we're celebrating this -- this today, but we're also celebrating those that we completed in the past number of months and last few years. why does this matter? you'll hear in a second why this matters. creates a sense of place. a streetscape with the neighborhood and it com -- in a completely different way. it encourages and enlivens a pedstrone flow and -- pedestrian flow and sense of community. it slows people down. i have been here 300 times, if you think i'm exaggerating, i have not. i spent too much time. there's never too much time, but

a lot of time at the sunny dale housing projects. the first few years i was mayor, i was down here for the wrong reasons, that was because of the struggles and frustration we had to deal with the issue of crime and violence and coming down back and forth, almost on a weekly basis to visit the families that were victimized by the crime and violence. we started to celebrate with tournaments and fairs. nevertheless this street neatedee needed help and support. i want to thank supervisor maxwell for her steadfastness and her deliberativeness and her desire to make sure we doesn't forget vision visitation valley. she reminded us what 457ped and the impact on the naked and the commercial corridor, et cetera. here we are, not only celebrating her vision and leadership and celebrating this occasion with all of these lights and the 60-plus trees and

the new curb cuts and all of the new landscaping that has been done and this great piece of public art which we'll talk about in a moment. the naked market place initiative that we incorporated in this, and we got facade improvement hoops and enbe couraged businesss to come down to the vague capt storefronts. we'll also soon celebrate 1250 units of new housing. 10s of thousands of square feet of retail. a new grocery store. yes. finally. down here. that will be put in to the old site. the new open space, that will connect that great third street height rail and all of the streetscape improvements that we see that -- that separate the two sites. i just think this is the beginning of a renaissance down here. and i'm just grateful for all of the help for the stewardship and here for those assembled that made this possible and the community leadership assem beibled here today. >> final thing i want to

mention. we're investing a historic amount of money. i thank ed for his good work. it is tough work to repave our streets and improve our -- our sidewalks and -- our -- our thoroughfares. this year over $50 million will go to repave the streets. this is a historic amount of money. i say that, you say big deal. why is he bringing that up. well, it is a big deal in this economic climate that we're putting more money than we ever have to do something that we know we need to do. we're not backing away from that commit. $48.5 million will be invested in significant and tangible ways to improve the streetscapes of the city, including the sidewalks and not just our streets. in this next fiscal year. i'm very proud of that, it really reinforces the commitment that we're making to beautyify the city and county of san francisco. that's why i'm here to thank for your patience -- patience to the

businesses that didn't know if this would hurt or help. i know it he renegotiate your leases. they say, the street is better. we got to worry about that. i apologize for those rental negotiations may be tougher. that's the price, right, of investment, everybody benefits. nonetheless you're the first beneficiary after this strong construction process. again to the community, because again, i think this helps the residents, not the commercial corridor. great essential place and identity, job well done. finally, i'll come back out here. don't just come here today. what do you have -- your fifth street festival this sunday? the 19th. come on down to leland. take -- take muni. take caltran. take your brike. get out and jog. walk down here. this will be the -- this will be

the fifth street fair to put together. congratulations, that is what it takes is the strong cohesive commitment to keep the energy going to keep these expoings going and -- keep these things in people's consciousness front and center, a very important part of the fabric of san francisco, visitation valley, a part of the city that -- we have not forgotten. it is a part of the city that we must not neglect for years to come. thank you [applause] >> thank you, mr. mayor prp both -- for the leadership, that is -- that's why we're all able to have these events over and over again to trumpet the good work we do in san francisco. particularly to reinforce a record amount of money going into street resurfacing this year in san francisco, augmented by additional funds for streetscape improvements, sidewalk repairs, and -- two points on that.

one is that not only are we getting our infrastructure repaired and improved and enhanced but we're also creating jobs in the process. so, at a time when many people need them most, we're -- we're putting people to work as well. we not only get better streets and rights of way as a benefit. we get people working, a point not to lose in this infrastructure nevment. one other point that it is not just local funds. it is a heavy -- it is not easy if the mayor and the board in this kind of climate to make the commitment to put aside the local funds needed to keep this moving. what those funds do as well as a lot of machining and coordination between all of the different city departments is that it makes us competitive for federal fuppeds and part of this project and many other project including some that we have just been awarded, through the federal government, are bringing millions of additional dollars in to san francisco. again, it is because of the here

of the mayor and the board, getting the city agencies together to coordinate, to plan, so that when we go and compete against other cities andtates, we're competitive and those dollars are coming to san francisco, so, thanks -- thanks again to the leadership, and with regard to our legislative branch, i think the mayor set it up well, and this community -- you have and have had for the last seven and three quarters years or so, a very strong advocate and your supervisor is someone with whom i know my department and the other city departments finds a great ally on the board. someone that helps us serve the needs of this community, this project is just one of many. we have a new library down the street, also, representing some of the efforts of your supervisors i like to ask sophie maxwell to come up and say a few words. >> thank you. thank you very much. >> thank you all, first and foremost, i have to thank the valley community because -- they have been in the forefront of planning.

we been planning for -- i been in office about 10 years, fran martin one of the community leaders has been there with us. we been planning for a long time our steets, the hibe prairie, the -- of course our green way, the valley greenway that is known all over the city and it continues down. that planning, that green way is going to influence what happens at slage hock. this community has been involved from the very beginning talking about what they wanted to see and how they wanted to see it. the merchants have been there ault way. we talked about what they needed to have things so that they could work well, what they immediated to make things work while we were cog the -- doing the streetscape. they were right there all the way encouraging people to come and continue to come. i can't say enough about -- about all of the city agencies, a lot of people -- that live -- that work for our city also live in our city. they live in our neighborhoods. they care about the places they work for and they work in.

and i think a lot of that, you'll see, as they -- as we go forward, because of all of the work and hard work that they have done. i am so excited today. i'm excited about the valley community, the library is amazing. and that's because community and people had a lot to do with it. the center is really off the hook, real different, so come and see and you'll get a taste of the valley greenway. i have to thank the p.u. crfment but because -- because a lot of property came from the p.u.c. i want to thank the community and the folks that made this lap. it was really a city effort to make it what it is. thank you, fran, thank you, nick. thank you for all of your work. thank you. thank you supervisor maxwell for the leadership. if it weren't for her, we wouldn't be here today and you

wouldn't seat library and other things happening. we had references to the public utilities commission. on the face of it you may say what do they have to do with this? >> a few points on that. one is when we talk about the surface infrastructure and the investments, a lot of condition of our infrastructure is dependent on what is underneath it -- the wart water and waste waterlines. that's managed by the pufment p.u.c. we have been working closely with them as they have been ramping up their repair and we have been ramping up ours. we benefit each other when we could coordinate and join and get all of the infrastructure repaired with less money and less disruption, so we have been making great headway in that regard. but specific to this project, what you're seeing here is not just -- not just beautiful and

inviting and attractive and functional and -- in terms of mobility but it has additional functionality in terms of its environmental performance, specifically with -- with regard to storm water management. that is -- i hope this is probably our single biggest to date effort in that regard and i hope it is the first, the first -- i expect it to be the first of many to come. to speak to infrastructure, my infrastructure partner in the city and their efforts and contributions in making this a environmental leader as far as projects go, i like to ask the general manager, ed harrington to come up and say a few words. >> thank you so much. i'm happy to be out here. this is not the leland i grew up with coming out here. it looks so nice. walking down the street here for

a few blocks, the place is big and beautiful and it looks so wonderful to be here. i am happy to be here as part of the p.u.c. we gave a lot of advice to d.p.w. as they were working on it. i'm so proud of the work. happy to the with the mayor and supervisor maxwell and the partners in the community to make this something. a few facts about why it is important to us. you see the lights here. those are l.e.d. lights, providing better height for the community and it saves 60% of the electricity it would take to light normal streetlights. this sidewalk and -- there's only a few blocks here. you're talking about. but the perm i can't believe pavement, that means five -- 500,000 gallons of water per year that used to go in the waste water treatment plant won't, it will go back in the ground water and recharge and can be used for other things. you do that across the city and you could change the way we treat storm water. the amount of money we spent on pumping the water, all that

changes. in the waste water improvement program, we're looking at taking 1% of the city per year and take it from hard escapes to this kind of -- this kind of look with the pavement. it'll make a dramatic change in san francisco. as you walk along here, please take a look. there's fairly fun things you don't see most places. this swail, the basin, you could see the storm water runs down the street, it moves over into a nice planted area. as much as -- as much as possible goes in the ground water. it comes back out and doesn't flood anything and goes in the sewer system. r -- easy and straightforward. this is the future of san francisco, we're going to monitor this a hot to make sure you do the maintsnens and it performs well and it is sustainable. we're doing this all over san francisco, you're our test case, we need to make sure it works for you and works with the rest

of us. thanks to being here. l.e.d. lights, providing better height for the community and it saves 60% of the electricity it would take to light normal streetlights. this sidewalk and -- there's only a few blocks here. you're talking about. but the perm i can't believe pavement, that means five -- 500,000 gallons of water per year that used to go in the waste water treatment plant won't, it will go back in the ground water and recharge and can be used for other things. you do that across the city and you could change the way we treat storm water. the amount of money we spent on pumping the water, all that changes. in the waste water improvement this swail, the basin, you could see the storm water runs down the street, it moves over >> there are other government departments we work with. i want to acknowledge doug johnson, the transportation authority under the direction of jose luis. and caltrans, jimmy pan may and hinge cunge. and then the better streets plans guru. and al hearst and lauren worked on it.

we worked closely with the h.t.a. on these projects. i see amy here from the office of economic development. a lot of different folks worked together to -- to make these projects happen i want to make sure to acknowledge them. one that i haven't yet mentioned, though it has been referenced, has to do with public art. public works is -- is you know, typically a profession of civil engineers and hard tough stuff, pipes and asphalt and concrete. we realize that in order to -- to really make the -- these projects attractive and inviting, that public art can really be an important element to do that, to compliment the great work our architects do. i want to ask joe maddon from the arts commission to come up and say a few words about the beautiful public art that you may have noticed. >> thank you. thank you very much.

>> good morning. good afternoon. it is a pleasure to be here. congratulations to the residents of -- of visitation valley on your beautiful new streetscape. i want to say that it has been a measure to collaborate with our colleagues from d.p.w. and p.u.c. on the project. and i also want to say the rope you have public art is that 40 years ago, san francisco was -- was on the edge of cutting -- cutting public policy, even then by having the vision to enact a percent for art legislation which insures that public art is part of the -- of every new building and transportation project. and we -- we -- we set an example, other cities across the nation have followed. they're now hundreds and hundreds of programs like this. that's why we have public art included in this project. i would like to -- to specifically talk about the project that was done for -- by rebar, the artist team of rebar,

through their temporary work that they have done in the past, they have made an indelible mark on the city's cultural landscape by beautyifying and improving the liveability of our city through their inventive and unique and humorous art installations. i mentioned those were temporary. this however, is the first ever permanent art install hation. we're proud to have it here on leland avenue. from the victory garden in the civic center which took place a couple of years ago, to parking day, which has now become an international event, originating in san francisco, again, we are a leader, other cities across the world are following us, rebar's art work challenges us to contemplate a more sustainable future. where street furnishes and -- of today may be art materials of tomorrow. what strikes me about them is they take the ordinary and mundane, such as the uniformly

abhored parking meters and turn -- turn it into an extraordinary -- extraordinary work of art. who would have ever thought that a cluster of used parking meters could end up being so whimsical and beautiful and welcoming. unfortunately we don't have rebar's founder, matthew pass more here today, he happens to be in paris inaugurating their first parking day, which is -- i said was started here in san francisco. again, we're leading the way. he sends his regrets and wanted me to convey how much he enjoyed working with the residents of visitation valley. rebar sculpture. you can't miss it. it is down the street on the corner of leland and bay shore. it looks like stalks of organically grown street furniture. using the vernacular of the street, sur mass parking meter

heads which are painted dark orange which are attached to tall arching poles. the form was intended to reference the neighborhood's pastoral and agricultural past. according to the artist, the scultchur is meant to mark this particular moment in -- in a time when it undergoes a positive transition in the future. if you look at the sculpture, he incorporated eight text elements in the stalkings. you'll see the words visitation valley and a -- accompanied by words such as grow, thrive, nurture, prosper, cultivate and flourish. they're all written in the diverse languages that reflect the demographics of our complunity's residents. i wanted to commend our art commission staff, marry chu and eleanor -- mary chu and eleanor

who oversaw the project. i want to thank community members, marlene and ann who donated their valuable time to help us in the selection process. of course the municipal transportation agency who donated the used parking meters so we could turn refuse into art work. and lastly, someone -- someone who hasn't been acknowledged who deserves to be acknowledged or who has been acknowledged in passing but hasn't been acknowledged for her vea valuable contribution to the artwork of the community is fran martin and her husband jim grouden. -- who have -- have -- who have volunteered their time without compensation from the city. volunteered their time and effort and materials to beautyify the neighborhood in various ways through -- through beautiful tile work you see and gate ways and railings and through butterfly and

dragonflies. so thank you for your beautiful work, what a gift to the city and a gift to the neighborhood, and glad i have this opportunity to thank you publicly. so in concluding, i'll say i hope visitors and residents do to downtown visitation valley with enjoy our exubebrapt bright bouquet for generations to come. thank you so much. >> thank you. for this whole project is obviously a great benefit for all of san francisco. the primary beneficiaries are the folks here in viz valley, along this corridor. as primary beneficiaries, they were the ones that suffered the most as we were getting the work done. as you could see, it was a significant construction project. just like a major renovation would be in your home, a little disruptive. this was a little bit disruptive and we understand that and appreciate the support and patience of the merchants and

residents of leland and the surrounding streets as we understood took this process. we worked very hard on all of these projects to minimize adverse impact, but we all -- we all recognize there's going to be some, but it is limited in time and from here forward, it is nothing but good times and hopefully not -- not significant rent raises for the folks. but i want to ask one of the leaders from the community who has been working with us all along, who has been a booster of the community for a long time and will continue to be, that helped us working with the merchants representing the merchants in their community to come up. nick wolf from b.b. boom. >> thank you, ed. this is a new day in -- in downtown visitation avenue. it is usually sunnier here. this is one of the sunniest neighborhoods in the city of san francisco. i like to thank may newsom and supervisor maxwell for their

leadership and commitment in securing the four-plus million dollar bond that led to the creation of this beautiful state-of-the-art streetscape that we're here celebrating. the department of public works staff and project managers on the ground have worked we ve hard to keep the project moving and it actually finished a little ahead of schedule. i think they should be acknowledged for their hard work. chris, alex, john, deppness, thank you guys. the fact that they made themselves available too attend our merchant meetings and were attentive and patient fielding an endless barrage of questions from a lot of small business owners was great. they were real partners in this and -- i really thank them for that. the merchants themselves along leland avenue, i think -- i like to thank them. i think we owe them a big debt of gratitude, there's 50 merchants that are the heart of

the neighborhood. every day they wake up early and -- leave late and make sure we have fresh fruit, we have affordable medicine. in my case, we're able to get a cup of coffee and some dim sung for lunch every day. i see a lot of them are here too. j.b. from the shop is here. ken from the dragon city aquarium is here. this is good. this is a good day. i feel good about it. they weathered a real storm like the mayor mentioned before. the factory across bay shore. the economic slump didn't help things, we're thrilled to stand here today in a new and improved leland avenue. this -- this is where we serve to bring the economic vitality back to the street. it is quite a year down here. the future has never looked brighter for do you want visitation valley. b.b. boom, the -- it is a program that works hard to bring in resources and programming to the community. i like to thank people that are

on my steering committee that i see here. russell and edie and smalley hassler, and betty particle -- betty and even. you guys make my job a lot easier. you know, we're a part of the -- of the mayor's neighborhood market place initiative program. we partner with the support corporation and office of economic and work force development. we work with 1345u8 business owners. -- we work with small business owners. the street fair, there's flyers everywhere. please take one and tell your friends. we were pretty thrilled to land latin jazz legend, pete who is going to perform. we're pretty happy to have him. so, there's going to ba