Open Letter to Mayor Kevin Faulconer

Dear Mayor Faulconer,

I hope that you can follow in the footsteps of New York City Mayor Bloomberg and “disrupt the status quo” by making sure the Downtown Mobility Plan (DMP) gets fully enacted, helping the city of San Diego meet its Climate Action Plan and Vision Zero goals.

More than just meeting our legal obligations, the DMP will create a vibrant, multi-modal, connected downtown that will help increase affordability by reducing the need to own, maintain, and store a car. By reducing car dependency, the city can help reduce congestion, pollution, and wear and tear on our roads, while simultaneously increasing the physical health, wealth, and happiness of its citizens. Plus, protected bike lanes are good for business, even when they remove some parking.

By caving in to demands from “parking committees” within business groups like the Little Italy Association, to save just 50 parking spots, you push the cost of subsidized parking onto the taxpayers while robbing future generations of safe routes to school, work, and shopping. If these business districts succeed in pushing bike lanes out of their neighborhoods, it reduces the effectiveness of the DMP as a whole. When the “last mile”, or even just the last 50 feet of a bicycle route forces people to mix with fast moving traffic or cross busy intersections to reach their destination, it discourages all but the most seasoned and brave cyclists, who will risk their lives with or without protected lanes.

I chose to live downtown, and Little Italy specifically, because of its walkability. I am not alone in preferring walkable, bicycle friendly, urban neighborhoods. I enjoy biking to Liberty Station with my family on the separated bike path along Harbor Drive. I hope to someday feel just as safe biking with my family around the rest of downtown.

Sincerely,

Concerned San Diego Citizen,

Jordan Kohl

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