VINCE: “We love Slow Lake because it’s part of the transportation hub and we look forward to seeing a whole network of streets around San Francisco so people can get around using alternative transportation.

I’d also like to point out that Lake Street was the first designated bike lane in San Francisco, so there’s a logic to having it be part of this evolution.”

RACHEL: “It also is really nice with the entrance to the park (Mountain Lake Park) there. It just feels a lot safer.”

VINCE AND RACHEL MEYER (outside their Avenue 12 Gallery on Lake Street)

“I like walking because there aren’t many cars, except that there are a lot now. And I want to keep Slow Lake Street. Because if we do that we can have more bikes and more people will drive bikes so that less people will drive cars as much so there won’t be so much pollution.”

MILO AUFRECHT (young boy walking away from Mountain Lake Park with his father Joel and sister)

STEVE: “I do like Slow Lake. We just moved to the neighborhood a couple months ago so I’ve been enjoying getting to know the neighborhood. Seeing the different architecture, the types of houses. I work in Marin so it’s real easy for me to come home and get an hour walk in before it gets dark. I’m enjoying the beauty of San Francisco and seeing the new neighborhood.”

LIZ: “For me definitely, I love seeing the people that’s number one. Having a safe place to walk is really important to me. But I love seeing the families, ages from little ones to all the way to elderly being able to walk safely and interact with one another. You can see the community. It’s a real community builder too.

We live in the city, we’re just living over here temporarily. We live in West Portal and we actually don’t have a slow street near us. We do go to the Great Highway a lot.

It’s wonderful to not have to get in your car and to be able to just walk and have it quiet and peaceful and have people around. To me it’s a huge benefit. And I see it as a big community builder. You see people talking to each other. You don’t normally see that if there’s cars going down the street. So to me, safety is number one but also the community part of it is probably paramount to me.”

STEVE AND LIZ WILKES (walking together)

“I can get from my home to my in-laws home by just running to pick up my son, and safely run with him. I do it a couple times a week. I love it. It’s great.”

CHRIS HIGGINS (running with his son in a jogging stroller)

“Oh man it’s just such a great wide street. I love seeing all the people out on bikes and baby strollers, and it’s just really nice to see people run and walk and with children. It’s really, really nice.

I grew up in the outer Richmond on 32nd and California and I live actually in the Inner Richmond so I didn’t stray too far away from home. It’s been really nice. I get to see my parents and family. I have family all over the city in the Haight and what not. Page is another slow street. Hoping that it is a slow street for a while.

Oh Yeah. I want Lake to remain a slow street. There are so many parallel streets to Lake Street. Why not California, Clement, Geary, Anza, Balboa, Cabrillo and Fulton. Why not keep this street a slow street. I feel like it’s always been very kind of calm and family oriented, Lake Street as a street, so I would love to continue to see it be slow.”

MAX LEWIS (walking)

“I live at 7th and California, just a block away. I’m a runner so I love doing this, especially when I need to run at night when it’s dark now. It’s relatively lit, fewer cars than before, so safer. I have a five-year-old so he rides his bike here too. So it’s great. A little bit closer than the park.

JFK is great too. Hopefully they keep that shut too. And Great Highway.

I don’t get it. I don’t get why people hate it so much. They can get to Park Presidio from all the other streets. Same with the Great Highway but people get really upset when I say that. But yeah. Love it.

There’s still quite a few cars. Some people try and speed by. They don’t care. But it’s good to run here.”

ANDREW NG (running)

“I used to be one of the maniacs that used to drive from 30th to Park Presidio. I worked up in Marin. Seeing this street in a whole different light, it’s like, oh, it’s amazing that more people didn’t get hurt on this street trying to go to Park Presidio.

I’ve learned to run again on this street. I got my legs back in shape after many months and years of not running and it’s a pleasant thing every evening, seeing all these people out. It’s nice to have a park in your backyard, basically. For people who own their houses, I’m sure your property values are going to go up with a park in your front yard. How can you argue with that? You can’t.

I want it to remain forever. It’s not a big inconvenience to like go a block the other way. We have Geary. We’ve got California. I haven’t seen one person who is walking in this street having a bad time.

We have cars driving by. It’s easy enough to coexist. People keep their head on a swivel. I’ve seen one or two folks, like, tangled up a little bit, but for the most part, everyone seems to be coexisting well. We have a little bike highway to get downtown, too.

It’s all good. All good stuff. I can think of zero bad things minus the one minute of extra time it takes me to do a little bit of wiggling. Or wait at one traffic light at Park Presidio. That’s like my long-winded way of saying, keep it like this forever.”

SCOTT PADDEN (running and walking)

“I like it because at the end of the day it’s somewhere to go and it’s safe and it’s nice and there’s neighbors smiling.

(How is it different than walking down the sidewalk?)

I think it encourages more neighbors to be here so you see a lot more faces, and a lot more dogs, which is exciting, and it’s softer on the knees. Which I appreciate. Concrete is actually harder on the joints than asphalt.”

JULIA RAVELLA (walking)

“I like Slow Lake because I can get my run in safely and easily. Since the pandemic. Two years now.

I usually go to the Y and I just use the treadmills there and since the pandemic, I started running and getting used to running outdoors.

It helps me clear my mind better. It’s more therapeutic I guess. I get to explore San Francisco in a different way.”

JUSTIN LAZARO (running)

“I love Slow Lake because it’s my space to clear my head after work. I come out here every day, and I love walking and seeing everybody in the neighborhood.

(How is it different walking on a slow street than a sidewalk?)

I can kinda come out here and not really have to focus too much. It’s kinda nice to have that space around you and to just be with yourself and not have to be so aware all the time.

I’d love it to remain a slow street. I’ve taken the surveys. I hope to keep it like this ‘cause I think it’s a great part of our neighborhood.”

NINA KRAUTER (walking)

“I live around the Lake Street and it’s been a blessing to have the entire street available for walking. Especially as a new mom. I walk my kid and my dog. My baby’s just learning how to walk so he loves just walking on the street. We’re actually very grateful. I would love it if this could be permanent.”

AKTA ADANI (walking with her baby in a stroller)

“I’ve lived on Lake Street for four years now and the best thing about it since Covid has been being able to walk freely down the street. I come with all my girlfriends. We walk to the beach. We feel safe. It’s just created such a positive environment for everyone here on Lake and in the Richmond in general. 

For me being able to continue with my daily routine, with Covid I’ve learned that having that daily routine of walking down the street, in the middle of the space with everyone, it just brings such a good energy to the neighborhood. I would love that to continue. I don’t want it to end.”

HAYLEY KUSSEROW (walking)

“I run on here probably two or three times a week. I walk on it almost every single day. I’m working from home. I work for Google so getting out of the house gives me my sanity. And I think I would probably go crazy without having someplace like this to walk. It’s so easy to access right outside my door.

It’s just calm. You see so many people walking with their kids, their dogs, no cars running by. No one knows how to stop in San Francisco and so having something like this without cars, just to be able to easily walk, listen to a podcast, take a work call, walk with a friend. It’s just remarkable and really different than walking on California Street for example. 

It just adds to the appeal of the neighborhood, having a quiet street like this. It makes it much more charming. I also don’t think it takes anything away from traffic. I live on California and I don’t think the traffic has gotten worse or better, probably, by having this as a slow street. 

I would be forced to walk elsewhere, and run elsewhere, honestly. Big part of my neighborhood, part of my routine. Creature of habit. And I think it makes the neighborhood really special having this.”

MORGAN WEISMAN (walking)

“I love the slow lake because it really allows all the families and neighbors to get to know each other and provokes more community. I live right up here in Presidio Heights. I run down Slow Lake every other day. (Before there was a slow lake) not as frequently but the fact that there’s no traffic it just is a more freeing feeling. 

I’ve lived here for 15 years and love the fact that I can run down the middle of the street without worrying about cars and other things. 

I think people are friendly so it gives you an opportunity to get to know you neighbors so if you’re running or walking or with your kids the same hours with them and you see the same familiar faces, then it creates more community because it allows you to get to know your neighbors better.”

ANNA MARIE MURPHY (walking with a friend)

“I feel very safe to ride this street. You can see I have two boys so I need some place where they can run around with their bikes. We live in the city so I never have chance to make myself calm down and watch them ride their own bikes. But when I take them to here, to Slow Lake Street or other slow streets, we all feel like we can ride our bikes freely, except sometimes very aggressive cars just drove by. Except that time, we love this slow street. 

We ride them to school every day. So in the mornings my husband takes them to school, and I pick them up. They go to the Montessori School (at Arguello and Lake.) We live in Laurel Heights area. Before we start to ride our bikes, I depend on my car. But once our car broke down, it used to be my husband bike. I try to bike with them slowly and now, I never ride my car. Because, why? 

We just moved here from Macedonia. It’s already been one year but I feel, now, we are enjoying this beautiful city.”

HYE JIN (biking with her two sons LOUIS and LEO on the back)

“It allows me the freedom to take my child and my dog out without the fear of overwhelming traffic. I feel safer, and I really enjoy being outside, so it makes it more convenient. (Before Slow Lake Street) I always had to stay on the paved sidewalk, which is really hard for (me) with a stroller and a dog and so it’s just more convenient to be on the street and enjoying the community that’s out here.

I run into other family members, other mothers with strollers. We finally stop and say hello. It definitely takes a moment to get to know your neighbor and that’s what it allows.”

CLAUDIA ENRIQUEZ (walking with her daughter EMILIO in a stroller and her dog POLY - because she has extra toes on her back feet)

“We can exercise here. We can walk and you don’t need to be afraid of cars. So that’s why I really like going Lake Street.”

GABRIELLA MENDONCA (walking with friend)

“I like that there are roads in the city where cars aren’t the dominant mode of transportation. I’ve been using all the slow streets. I live closer to Kirkham. I bike all over the city. I use Page and Lake. There aren’t as many cars. It’s a little more chill when you’re biking down a slow street. You feel like you’re safer. You do have to watch out for more pedestrians.”

MONICA CORBIN (bike)

“I live just off Lake Street and I enjoy walking on Lake Street because I get to have my dog out with me. There’s plenty of space so we don’t need to cram ourselves onto the sidewalk when we’re trying to pass other people with dogs which is a big thing, walking a dog, I’m sure anyone in the city knows that. It’s just really nice to have a spot that’s just close by home that’s easy to get out to.

It’s more open. The sidewalk is great but there’s not that much space especially with animals. When you’re trying to pass someone going the other direction on the sidewalk with a dog they want to say hi and other dogs don’t want to say hi and that makes it really easy to be able to walk without having to think about, oh there’s a dog I need to go this way or that way or avoid different things. I just like the openness and it kind of creates a sense of community when you see other people. 

I live down on 17th just off of Lake. Between California and Lake. 

I was not walking every day before this opened up. I didn’t know the neighborhood like the back of my hand like I do now. I would drive down to the Great Highway and do walks but now I just stay in my neighborhood. It’s nice.”

JAKOB ZUCKER (walking with his dog)

“I love Slow Lake because it allows me to catch some air in between work and anytime and just be able to cruise in the neighborhood and see familiar faces and other people and it’s really relaxing. It’s just great to not be surrounded by cars and noise. I go on meditating walks with my airpods and listen to Sam Harris or podcasts that are focused on mental health. It really helps when you’re working all day inside and you feel cramped and like you have nowhere to go especially in such densely populated city, it’s really helpful mentally. It brings a lot of advantages.

I think this street really feels like you’re in a neighborhood instead of being in a city. Whereas if you’re on California Street there’s buses. There’s a lot of noise. There’s people coming on and off the buses. There’s more traffic. Whereas here it’s more quaint, calm and you feel more emptiness. Like you’re out of the city but you’re in the city feeling to it. I live on 6th and California.”

GERMAIN BOUE (walking)