You probably heard that one idea to help close the City's budget deficit is to charge to enter the Arboretum. How much? Rec & Park suggests the admission would be $5 a person! You have an opportunity to speak your mind about this at a meeting next week. The attached flyer has the details. A quick summary of the vital information:

Monday, April 6th
6:30 - 8:00 PM
Hall of Flowers, at 9th Ave. and Lincoln
in Golden Gate Park

Add your comments here, whether you plan to attend the meeting or not.

I have good news this morning. I have been in contact with the Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association about initiating a market at the 1800 block of Waller St. (closed area west of Stanyan). I am sending their proposal to Rec & Park, to work through the details of use of the site. You may recall that a couple of years ago, Cheryl Brodie led HAIA's support of legislation from the Board of Supervisors to authorize use of park land for a local farmers' market. Now, with a proposal in hand, we are hopefully not too far away from actually seeing this come together as a real, live market, on Sunday mornings from 9 to 1.

By working with the PCFMA, they provide all of the management and administration of the market, its setup and cleanup. Importantly, they also provide insurance for the weekly event. The content of the market, as proposed, is at least 60% fresh, locally grown produce, and as much as 40% artisanal local products, such as breads, cheese, fish, flowers and such. In this arrangement, HAIA will be the local sponsoring organization. As you will see in the story about a similar market in Seattle, the local traffic to the market also benefits area merchants, as well as promotes healthier eating and other positive impacts.

Here is a link to the story about a Seattle market, discussing their experiences with starting and supporting a local marketplace:
http://www.neighborhoodlife.net/features/index.php?id=56

Please post your entries, your questions, your suggestions. That way, everyone can see what you are thinking, and thus it becomes a great way to develop our dialog and consensus about having a local farmers' market.

Fun on Haight

Please express your thoughts about 1500 Page St.

Members,
Thursday, the Planning Commission will hear the matter of AgeSong's project to put a senior and disabled care facility at the corner of Page and Masonic (next to St. Agnes Church). In order for us to properly represent HAIA's position on the project, I would like to hear from you, if you are either for or against this plan for supervised care housing, and a sentence or two on why. I look forward to your responses.
http://www.1500pagestreet.com/
Ted Loewenberg

In San Francisco, Where Flower Power Still Blooms

For our first official posting on the new site, we wanted to share with you a recent article about our neighborhood in the New York Times travel section. Our very own HAIA member and recent host of the festive Holiday party, David Keller, is featured in the first photo on Waller Street. Also, the article highlights many of our local businesses and merchant members of HAIA.

Click here to view the article:

Enjoy the article and hope to see you soon!