Some of the most exciting cities are those that have their own unique aesthetic, adopting a feel at odds with the rest of their country. Barcelona for us is such a place, wildly individual and almost visually overwhelming. Famously inspired by Antoni Gaudí’s creations as well as influenced by its Catalan history, it walks its own pioneering path.
As an inner city dweller, I think about where I am going before choosing my mode of transportation. In San Francisco this choice can be the beginning of all out war.
No matter what type of transportation you choose, someone is going to be mad about it. The City of San Francisco’s transportation goal is 50% of all travel within the city limits in something other than private vehicle by 2018. A laudable goal, but one fraught with animosity. Cyclists and pedestrians say that they are not listened to regarding safety (the city averages 17 pedestrian and 2-3 cyclist deaths every year). Automobile owners suggest this is an anti-car town. The number of parking spaces in the densest parts of the city is shrinking, and the number of parking meters are increasing in parts of town that never had them before. Parking meters are charging more and the metering hours are being extended to include weekends and holidays.
San Francisco is the second densest city in the United States, behind New York and in front of Los Angeles. San Francisco also has the oldest fleet of transit vehicles in North America. This has led to a decrease in service and on time performance of only 57.2% this past August. All this at a time when the riding population is increasing. Those that find public transportation can not meet their needs often have no choice but to opt for cycling or walking.
Bicyclists in San Francisco have increased by 71% since 2006 with approximately 75,000 daily riders. San Francisco is 3rd in trips to work via bicycle for major cities with populations over 300,000 and yet just under 1% of San Franciscans ride bikes to and from work. Less than .02% of New Yorkers ride bikes to work, and in the number one U.S. city Eugene, Oregon, 5.64% commute by bike. San Francisco’s overall bicycling rate looks slightly better, at 3.5 percent of all trips, this number ties for second among major American cities like Seattle, lagging only behind Portland at 6 percent.
Urban bike riding is fraught with dangers, and as a century cyclist, any cycling I choose to do within the city begins at dawn. And yet, when it comes to urban populations, San Francisco is ahead of the curve on the biking war.
Green Wave
A signal re-timing mechanism called the Green Wave, begun as a test program on Valencia Street, is now permanent. Following examples set in cities like Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Portland, this signal optimization system keeps vehicles traveling at a steady cycle-friendly 13 mph. All-green lights provide a great convenience for bicycle travel, effectively removing the strenuous stop-and-go movement that often encourages pushing red lights. Along with pedestrians, cyclists also experience a much safer environment as motor vehicles travel at minimally fatal speeds. Additionally the Green Wave helps reduce noise and air pollution. What makes San Francisco’s Green Wave unique is that it is the first to work both ways simultaneously.
A second Green Wave was installed on 14th Street this year, and the staff from the SF County Transportation Authority plans to propose “four to six potential new Green Wave corridors along the existing San Francisco Bike Network,” with hope they could be completed in 2013.
Green Carpets
Along Market Street bike lanes are “Green Carpets” , not to be confused with the Green Wave. I first encountered this type of bike lane while riding the Tour de Tucson, and believe me I was impressed. I was thrilled to see that San Francisco is adopting this around town. The advantage of this green pavement is two-fold. The motorist is made far more aware that this is a bike lane, and the cyclist knows where to go and what to do. One of the most difficult things to navigate when riding in an urban environment is the turn. The cyclist may be going straight while a car is attempting a right hand turn. On the other side a cyclist must act as an automobile when making a left hand turn. The Green paths make it easy for even a beginning cyclist to understand the rules of the road.
The corner of 8th and Howard in SoMa
The City recently put a buffered bike lane near my house in SoMa: I have ridden on it, it still doesn’t make me feel safe. This lane on Eighth Street was prioritized partially because of its history of pedestrian injuries.
Proposed protected bike and pedestrian lanes
The recommended long-term plan for Seventh and Eighth Streets includes a parking-protected bike lane, pedestrian bulb-outs, and greenery. By moving the buffered bike lane to the curb and placing the car parking lane to its left, a parking-protected bike lane would provide a physical barrier separating motor traffic and bike traffic, and the design could include pedestrian islands at the crosswalks. Bus stop boarding islands could also eliminate the need for Muni buses to switch. This is an expensive solution, but one that, if implemented in the more dense areas of town, will encourage people to get out of their cars and walk or ride, not only because it is much safer, but because it feels much safer.
Sharrows on The Wiggle at Steiner Street (photo Courtesy of B.I.K.A.S.)
A third busy bike riding area in San Francisco is The Wiggle. The Wiggle is the flattest route connecting the east and west parts of the city, and is a magnet for bike traffic. The twists and turns of the route can confuse new riders, and high-speed motor vehicle traffic makes cycling feel too dangerous for many people. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition envisions wider sidewalks, more public seating, higher-visibility bike markings, and streets engineered for automobile speeds that don’t threaten people traveling on foot or by bike.
The San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency has already rolled out ladder crosswalks and green-backed sharrows (lanes that are shared by both cars and bicycle) to emphasize pedestrian and bike priority along the roadways of The Wiggle.
The conversation about bicycles, pedestrians and auto owners cannot be complete without the discussion of simple manners. Why do we all forget that? When I drive, I keep an eagle eye out for cyclists. I am sympathetic. I allow the elderly to cross intersections at their own pace, even if it means I sit through two light changes, but I expect the same in return. If I am driving, I expect cyclists and pedestrians to obey the rules of the road. The concept that the pedestrian and cyclist always has the right-of-way, may be legal, but assuming that can also be deadly.
San Francisco is a leader in the push to get people on bicycles and walking as their primary mode of transportation. I simply hope that as we seek new innovations that make safety a priority, we realize there are many types of transportation needs, and divisiveness does not help to solve the problems.
Get in touch with the author @PQPP3.
Many critics of historical preservation projects complain that the process leaves the building frozen in time. Adaptive re-use proves that this does not need to be the case.
Adaptive re-use, which adapts buildings for new uses while retaining their historic features, can also a sustainable form of development that reduces waste, uses less energy and scales down on the consumption of building materials. San Francisco’s Ghirardelli Square remodel in 1964 marked the first adaptive re-use project in the United States and San Francisco has never looked back.
A prime example of adaptive re-use in San Francisco can be found when comparing the two, classic Beaux Arts buildings that make up the stately entrance onto Grant Avenue from Market Street, the one street in San Francisco that comes closest to embodying the City Beautiful movement espoused by Daniel Burnham.
Coincidentally, both buildings were originally banks. Standing at 1 Grant Avenue is San Francisco Landmark #132: built in 1910 as the Savings Union Bank it was reconfigured for retail through adaptive re-use in the 1990s. The Savings Union Bank was designed by Walter Danforth Bliss and William Baker Faville. Both gentlemen were graduates of MIT and began their San Francisco practice in 1898.
This steel frame building is clad in gray granite. Six Ionic columns hold up its massive pediment 38 feet high. This modified domed temple is derived from the Roman Pantheon. The pediment, designed and sculpted by Haig Patigian, houses a Bas Relief of Liberty. Patigian, an Armenian by birth who spent most of his career in San Francisco, was one of the cities most prolific sculptors during his time.
At one time the front was graced with bronze doors. These doors consisted of four panels designed by Arthur Mathews and were said to be “descriptive of the historical succession of the races in California.” First the Indian, then the Spaniard who was typified by a Franciscan monk, next a miner representing the “American” and then an allegorical representation of a San Franciscan shown as the ideal figure of a youth beside a potter’s wheel modeling one of the new buildings in the city. Those doors have been replaced with glass.
Interior of Retail establishment at 1 Grant Avenue (photo courtesy of Goldstick Lighting Company).
Inside are eight Tavernelle (an old building stone term that means spotted or mottled) marble Corinthian pilasters and columns thirty feet high. These support the main cornice, which is surmounted by an attic and coffered ceiling. The walls are not of marble but of Caen stone. Caen stone is a limestone quarried in France near the city of Caen. It was first used in the Gallo-Roman period. (the period when Gaul was under Roman influence)
Across the street, also built in 1910, at a cost of $1.5 million, stands the Union Trust Company Building, San Francisco Landmark #131. Union Trust merged with Wells Fargo Bank in 1923. The building still houses a Wells Fargo Bank branch.
Photo Courtesy of San Francisco Public Library.
Clinton Day was the architect of this Neoclassical Beaux Arts building. According to the July 1, 1908 San Francisco Call “The structure at Market Street and Grant Avenue Will Be Handsome and Commodious.” Day came from a distinguished California family. His father was State Senator Sherman Day and co-founder of College of California, the precursor to the University of California Berkeley. Clinton Day was a graduate of College of California.
This modified temple design is without a pediment. Its beautiful layered faà§ade consists of carved granite ornamentation, derived from classical antiquity that includes ten columns, a bracketed overhang and a roof crowned by a balustrade parapet. This is all accented by dark iron window framing. The curvature on the Market Street side grounds it nicely to its location.
This well-heeled area of Market Street makes these two banks stand proud, unlike the rundown Mid Market area that holds the Hibernia Bank – the subject of next week’s article.
Pediment at 1 Grant Avenue designed and sculpted by Haig Patigian.
Market St & Grant Ave
San Francisco, CA 94108 [Map]
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When the 1906 earthquake struck, construction of the Humboldt Bank Building was already underway. The building was completely destroyed, and construction had to begin all over again. The architect, Frederick H. Meyer, used this opportunity to incorporate every known fire and safety feature of the time into the new structure.
The Humboldt Bank Building is a classic Beaux Arts building. One of the many Beaux Arts principals Meyer incorporated into the design was a hierarchy of space. In this case, a grand entrance lobby is topped by 19 floors of functional office space.
The entryway to the tower features a highly ornamented arch. Arched windows tied together with banded pilasters punctuate the tower-another classic Beaux Arts feature. All of this is complemented with richly detailed ornamentation.
Meyer chose to crown the building with a highly stylized dome. This dome was originally intended to mimic the Call Building, which was subsequently destroyed in the 1906 fire.
In his second (post-earthquake) attempt, Meyer kept his original design for the faà§ade, but changed the structural design significantly.
The exterior shell of the building was redesigned to be all concrete. Originally the entire building was to be clad in Colusa stone-from Colusa County, CA-however, Meyer knew that Colusa stone spalls (chips) when exposed to heat, so he limited the Colusa stone to the first three floors and clad the remaining floors in a terra cotta veneer.
The original plans called for the floors to be made of hollow tile; this was changed to reinforced concrete. Throughout the building, metal trim was used in place of high quality oak, at almost double the price.
The exterior windows are wire glass. Wire glass-thick glass with embedded chicken wire-is meant to prevent glass from shattering in the case of fire.
Many buildings built prior to the fire had water towers placed on their roofs. However, Meyer noticed that these often shook loose during the earthquake, rendering them useless in case of fire. As a result, the Humboldt Bank Building has standpipes and hoses on all floors. These are served by via pneumatic (not electric) pumps from a water tank in the basement.
Meyer saved his most advanced work for the elevators. Elevators often work as an air column during fires, and can feed a fire very rapidly. Meyer worked to separate the elevator shafts from the rest of the building. First, he completely lined the shafts in concrete. Then he placed “automatic doors” on the top and bottom of the shafts. If fire were to occur, the doors would close, isolating the elevator shafts from the rest of the building.
While the 1906 earthquake and fire were tragic, the lessons learned from the catastrophe spurred design innovation. This is what allows us to continue to enjoy such great buildings as the Humboldt Bank Building.
Humboldt Bank Building [Map]
785 Market Street
San Francisco
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Locomotion along downtown Market Street is chaotic, arguably to the point of dysfunctional. Buses and taxis have specially designated lanes, as do bicyclists-except no one adheres to these distinctions. Rather than overhead, traffic lights are located on the far sides of the street, on the border of a driver’s periphery vision. And droves of pedestrians, heading to or from a Muni or BART station, stream across every intersection. To make matters worse, road signs-like the very important STOP-are literally painted on the road, which is often covered by swarms of tourists or moving vehicles invariably in the wrong lane.
A short film documenting Market Street in 1906 leads me to believe that “chaotic” is historically characteristic of San Francisco’s main thoroughfare. Shot in one continuous take, from a moving cable car traveling along Market Street toward the Ferry Building, the film (aptly named “A Trip Down Market Street” ) shows multiple near-death collisions. Throughout the 12 minutes of footage, automobiles and horse-drawn carriages constantly cut off the moving cable car. Pedestrians casually walk-sometimes even run-directly into the path of oncoming traffic”¦and barely escape death by flattening. There are, of course, no traffic lights or signs to direct the urban flow. At the time of filming, the DMV was nonexistent, and there were no regulations regarding who could or could not drive an automobile.
In 1901, California state laws authorized cities and counties to license motor vehicles-running the gamut of carts and bicycles to automobiles. By 1905, the year before the motion picture was filmed, the number of registered vehicles in California totaled 17,015. (The cost of registration was $2.) David Kiehn, Bay Area historian, used details from the film, including license plates and shadows on the ground, to determine that the Miles Brothers film was shot on April 14, 1906, four days before the Great Earthquake. (Prior to Kiehn’s discovery in 2010, the film was believed to have been shot in 1905.)
View of Market Street, looking west of the Ferry Building in 1905 (Photo credit: SF Public Library)
Over 100 years later, cable cars, automobiles and bicycles still roll along Market Street. (The horses not so much.) And bad driving is as rampant as ever. Some things just don’t change-for better or for worse. Pedestrians, just remember to look both ways before you cross.
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The Sentinel Building, also known as Columbus Tower, sits at the corners of Columbus Avenue, Kearny Street and Jackson Street.
The building is a classic Beaux-Arts flatiron. Flatiron buildings were structures built primarily between 1880 and 1926. Most flatirons were built in either the Beaux-Arts or Renaissance Revival architectural style that was popular at the time. These types of buildings are called flatirons because they are shaped like a flat clothes iron. This design is necessary for the trapezoid or triangular-shaped lots that are commonly found in 19th-and-20th century city grids. These odd-shaped lots appeared when the grids incorporated diagonal streets such as Columbus and Market Streets in San Francisco.
Flatirons were some of the first skyscrapers to use steel frames over reinforced concrete. They employed an efficient use of what was often considered an unbuildable lot. At the same time, they added architectural interest to the neighborhood.
San Francisco is the home to several flatiron buildings. The most recognizable is the Sentinel, designed by Salfield and Kohlberg and clad in white tile and copper. Construction on the Sentinel was begun before the 1906 earthquake and fire. The framing survived the disaster, and the building was completed in 1907.
The building has eight floors above ground, and houses an expansive basement. The top floor initially housed the real estate offices of its owner, the notorious Abe Ruef. Ruef was a local political figure who spent time in San Quentin for bribery. Ceasar’s Grill, a hotspot during prohibition, occupied the basement; years later that spot was the home of the Hungry i.
The Sentinel after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire. Photo Credit: San Francisco Public Library
In 1958, Rob Moor, a Dutch-born businessman purchased the building as an investment, on the advice of his architect and friend Henrick Bull. San Francisco had not yet awoken to historic preservation, and the building was scheduled for demolition. With the guidance of Bull, Moor began to restore the building. He also renamed it Columbus Tower.
A short two years later, at a one and one-half times profit, Moor sold the building to the Kingston Trio. The Kingston Trio used the building for their corporate headquarters, and had a sound studio in the basement throughout the 1960s.
On June 13, 1970, the building was declared San Francisco Landmark #33 and renamed the Sentinel Building.
The Kingston Trio sold the building to Francis Ford Coppola in 1973 for $500,000. It has remained in the hands of Mr. Coppola as the headquarters for his corporation Zoetrope. Offices occupy the upper floors; there is a small screening room in the basement and a private apartment on the top floor. The ground floor houses Zoetrope Restaurant, featuring wines from the Coppola’s Napa Valley winery.
A flatiron building at 540 Market Street
The only flatiron residential building in San Francisco, 1081 Haight Street
The Sentinel Building (Map)
916 Kearney
San Francisco, CA 94133
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