Dear Editor
Randy Shaw writes in his article, “San Francisco’s Most Important Housing Project, that “opponents foolishly claim the group will bring the worst social problems of the Tenderloin to the Sunset. Such is the intellectual heft of those opposing new housing in the Sunset for the priced out working-class.” While some of the opponents of the project may voice such fears, the working class people on my block actually have a different set of concerns, and we have our fair share of intellectual heft, including that of some architects, professors, public school teachers, firefighters, and merchants. We have done extensive research, on issues ranging from PCEs in the soil to traffic concerns. You have grossly oversimplified the conflict to YIMBY’s v. NIBMYs, when the Mid-Sunset Neighborhood Coalition actually has taken a thoughtful middle ground. We say go ahead and build affordable housing in our backyard, but make sure it fits into the neighborhood and does not harm existing neighbors. That means consider building a 4-story building that does not push neighbors into the shadows for much of the year. Consider traffic congestion and parking when you include only 11 parking spaces for 100 units and you put a driveway directly across from the supermarket driveway. Take a walk in our neighborhood and see what’s great about the Sunset before you stick a 7 story building on a historic block with 2-bedroom homes. Not everything can be understood in five minutes and reduced to black and white. Work with neighbors to build something that will enhance the neighborhood, and it will set a positive and lasting precedent for affordable housing in the Sunset District and San Francisco.
Adam Michels
Mid-Sunset Neighborhood Association
