KASEY: “We absolutely love Slow Lake because we’ve been using it exclusively with our kids, our bikes and our brand new puppy for the last two years and it’s just nice to have no traffic in a safe place for our kids to be.

We want it to remain. Absolutely keep it forever.”

ARI: “I get to walk on it and there’s lots of space. And I get to walk my dog on it, too.”

KASEY and ARI WAYNE (with their dog, Edie, short for Edith)

ELIJAH: “We can take Alma out here on a bike.”

ADI: “Scooter”

ELIJAH: “Scooter.”

ADI: “Not be afraid of the cars.”

ELIJAH: “Feel safe.”

ADI: “And it’s a beautiful street. It’s nice to walk here.”

ELIJAH: “Yeah. And it’s quiet.”

ADI: “And it’s always decorated no matter what holiday it is. The Christmas was amazing.”

ELIJAH: “Halloween was good too.”

ADI: “Halloween was awesome. Halloween.”

ELIJAH: “We want it to remain.”

ADI: “Yes. Absolutely.”

ELIJAH: “One hundred percent. We love Slow Lake Street.”

ADI: “We love Slow Lake. Yes.”

ELIJAH and ADI JACOBSEN (walking with daughter ALMA)

“Is it open on weekdays? All the time? I like it because there are no cars. Less cars here. Able to go up and down. Nice quiet street. Open road. Sometimes I bring my kids out here and I don’t have to worry. They ride bikes sometimes. Very little but they do. 10 and 13.

It would be good. Yes if it remained.”

PAUL LI (riding a bike)

“I like Slow Lake Street because it gives me a lot of space to be able to walk and bike and run. It’s like another open possibility of places to go.

I live right on Lake Street so it’s really nice. I can just step right outside and be able to go wherever I want.

I’m really into running so I do a lot of runs along Lake Street. I’d appreciate it if it stayed closed.”

JACKIE HOLMAN (walking with a friend)

PHIL: “We just love it. Everything about it. We’ve been here for years and just a beautiful neighborhood. Close to the park. Wonderful people. Beautiful houses and buildings. It’s just a comfort and a joy to be on it.

It’s all the difference in the world.”

DIANE: “It’s so much better.”

PHIL: “The noise. The peace. The rhythm of the whole neighborhood is a lot cooler than any other street in this area.”

DIANE: “It’s very freeing. It’s a little freedom for the families that live around here and everything. The animals. All that. We love it.”

PHIL: “Absolutely we want it to stay.”

DIANE: “Yes.”

PHIL: “Yes.”

DIANE: “Yes, yes, yes. Forever. I love it.”

PHIL: “Yeah.”

PHIL MURRAY and DIANE SERNA (walking on Slow Lake Street)

JOHN: “I just moved here about a month ago and I’m coming from Cincinnati which wasn’t that bike accessible, and Chicago before that so I think it’s just been awesome. It’s an easy way to check out the city, explore a bit and just have a good time with friends.

Often I’ll bike to go get coffee with friends and I basically take it the whole way down and then jump into the park. I feel pretty safe on it. It’s a good street. I love everyone out walking the dogs and hanging out. It helps to build the community as well.”

HENRY: “I’ve lived in the City for a couple of years now and have biked everywhere. I have a car also but we live in the Presidio and I feel like Lake Street gives us safe passage on bikes all over the city. You can cut over to Golden Gate, you can get to the Marina safely. It lets us use our car a little bit less too. We go get groceries on our bike because it’s safe and easy to do so. It’s just fun to ride around on a nice day like this.”

JOHN LARKIN and HENRY HEAD (biking together to Mountain Lake Park)

“I Love Slow Lake Street because it’s so good for so many families, for older people, (people in) wheel-chairs can use the whole sidewalk because other people can step out of the way. It’s good for the dogs, they have more space. I think it’s terrific. And my friend who lives right on Lake Street loves watching the kids and the families go by from her window. She’s an older person, too. So I think it’s great.”

MARY DARLING (with her dog, Drew)

BEN: “I like Slow Lake because my children can run and play and learn to ride their bikes and do roller-coaster tricks without cars coming.”

KELSEY: “We use it (Slow Lake) all the time. We go on walks down here and I like feeling safe with the kids being able to run around and play. We live at 26th and Lake.”

BENNETT: “Because the playground is here.”

KELSEY: “We use it to walk to the playground. We walk down Lake Street to go to Rochambeau (playground.)”

BEN RENARD and KELSEY GORDER (walking with their children MAISIE in the stroller, PENELOPE in the pink car and BENNETT)

JEFF: “All the people are out enjoying themselves.”

MAX: “Dogs. We get to walk our dogs here and you don’t turn into pancakes when we’re just like playing in the street.”

JEFF: “Nice one.”

BEN: “I like to get out and ride my bike down the street. Just up and down.”

JEFF: “We just use it for pleasure. We enjoy it.”

MAX: “I have a couple of friends who live on this street so it’s easier to get to their houses.”

JEFF EISENBERG and sons MAX AND BEN (biking)

MARGARITA: “I like Slow Lake Street because we can walk safely and also my children can play safely.”

WESLEY: “I can bike around without any cars, because cars have lots of stinking exhaust.”

MARGARITA LOPEZ and son WESLEY (walking with her daughter Emily)

EVA: “William is nine. He’s at Alamo (Elementary School.)

We like it for a million reasons. We take our telescope down there at night and we look at the stars. We ride our bikes. We ride scooters. We play ball. We have dance parties. There’s too many reasons to list. It’s changed our lives. So much better.

I grew up in this neighborhood. Hit by a car as a kid. I got in a bad accident on Lake before the pandemic. It’s a whole different place. It’s like a park in our neighborhood now. It’s a great shared space for kids, old folks and families.

We use it for transportation. I go to the (Clement Street) Farmers Market and we ride our bikes. I bring my backpack and do my shopping and ride home.”

WILLIAM: “I like it for everything my Mom says.”

EVA HOLMAN and son WILLIAM (walking with friends)

“I just had a baby recently and we recently moved to the area and this allows me to take him for really long walks with no disturbances. I can run here with him. I can take long walks and he can nap. It’s fantastic. It’s really beautiful. It’s like living in the country but also in an urban area.

With a stroller it’s really nice to be able to have the room and if I’m running it’s nice to be able to go different speeds and not bother anybody.

I want it to remain a hundred percent.”

AMELIA SANCHEZ-MORAN (walking with son Charlie)

HEATHER: “It’s wonderful for our family because it’s a safe place to walk and play and enjoy the community and our neighborhood and the outdoors.”

BRETT: “She nailed it. That’s perfect. We absolutely want it to remain. We live on Lake Street.”

HEATHER: “We love it. We want it to remain. It’s a great place for people to convene and it’s really enhanced not just the neighborhood but the city. And Lily loves it too.”

HEATHER AND BRETT TY (walking with their children Lily and Barrett)

“I like being able to walk where there are fewer cars and not a lot of traffic. I don’t live over here so I don’t have as much of an interest (in whether it becomes permanent) but yes, I wan it to remain. It’s a nice quiet place to walk. It’s wider (than a sidewalk) and there’s more to avoid people. You get space!”

MARTHA GERHAN (walking)

COURTNEY: “We really like the street because it gives us the ability to run and exercise without being worried about our safety.”

ERIC: “Yeah. Nice space. Feels like a small park.”

COURTNEY: “We want it to remain.”

ERIC: “A hundred percent.”

COURTNEY: “A hundred percent.”

ERIC: “I don’t know why they’d take it away.”

COURTNEY: “We’d be upset if it didn’t remain.”

COURTNEY AND ERIC

KRISTINA: “I like Slow Lake because we can walk with the kids and ride our bikes without worrying about cars as much. (Son cries.) He still worries about cars.”

CARSEN: “It makes it safer for our kids so they’re able to ride their bicycles and go all the way to the intersection, to the beach, to Mountain Lake Park.”

LEONARD: “I like Slow Lake Street because there’s not that many cars and I get to ride my bike and it’s more safe to go to the park.”

KRISTINA AND CARSEN AND SONS LEONARD, CARL, AND WALTER BENTLEY (walking with Carl and Walter in stroller)

TAN: “Nights like tonight. Seeing all the neighbors out. Going for a run. Exercising or just chatting on their way. It’s nice to have a safe place to walk around.”

LOU: “Yeah, we went from home and this is the perfect end to our day. We just go for a little walk and it’s super nice. We’d love it to stay like this. I’ve heard complaints of people not using it and stuff, but a night like tonight, everyone is out and it’s so nice to have it.”

TAN: “I wonder what more can they do? (Who?) Whoever’s organizing the slow streets? The city? The town? What would it take to keep people active and be outside. We’re out here. We’re taking a walk every day. We actually ride our bikes up and down the street a lot. We live on 18th (Avenue) so we ride our bikes up and down towards the beach.”

TAN LE and LOU LE (walking with their dog, Creature)

“I love it because I use it every day for walking my dog, running, after work, morning walks. I just constantly use it.

It’s so peaceful and calm. It’s quiet. I don’t know. It’s just so nice seeing everyone utilizing it too. It’s like a whole community on Lake Street.”

JEANETTE SHEKELLE (walking with her dog, Billie)

“I use it every day. It’s my main thoroughfare to get to and from tennis and walk the dog. I’m thrilled to see it being used so much by pedestrians and bikes. I ride a bike and walk. Just those two.

I want it to remain permanent, absolutely. San Francisco has a real opportunity here to make a statement and have it be a more liveable city, kind of on the lines of European cities where cars take a backseat to pedestrians and bikes. We’ve got a great opportunity to try and do that here.”

CARL OMAN (walking with his dog)

“I like it because I like to go for walks after work. And I like to not get hit by cars. And please. I would like it to remain permanent.”

ROBERT DASILVA (walking)