September 2008 Carfree Lineup

What’s better than closing off streets to cars for one Sunday? Why, closing off streets to cars for two Sundays! This Sunday, September 14, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, we will get the second half of the Sunday Streets events in San Francisco. See this earlier post or the official Sunday Streets website for more details about the route between Chinatown and the Bayview. Muni will operate demonstration E-Embarcadero historic streetcar service once more between Fisherman’s Wharf and Caltrain — but this time, service will run even later, until 4:00 pm, to serve the South Beach + Mission Bay + Rincon Hill Block Party. E-Embarcadero service will be free on Sunday; there will also be free Sunday Streets service on the F-Market streetcars and on the K/T Muni Metro line. Then, next Friday, September 19 is one of my favorite events of the year: the annual Park(ing) Day, in which parking spots are claimed and replaced for one day with parks. (I posted about last year’s Park(ing) Day from a miniature park set up near San Francisco City Hall. Meanwhile, Streetsblog provided excellent coverage of Park(ing) Day in New York City last year, and is already counting down to this year’s festivities.) And finally, Monday, September 22 is World Carfree Day. But, as the World Carfree Network reminds us, why limit ourselves to just one day each year?