Car-free San Francisco streets: Residents debate reopening

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Now, pedestrian advocates want to keep some of San Francisco's most prominent streets off-limits, like the main road into Golden Gate Park. Shamann Walton, president of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, was mocked for likening the closure of John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park to the Jim Crow South, including by fellow African Americans who call his accusations of segregation silly. On a recent sunny weekday, a few dozen people organized by Walk San Francisco toasted the one-year anniversary of the street closure in Golden Gate Park. The car fumes, speeding, noise and near-wrecks make her feel trapped in her home of four decades, where she says “the traffic goes on all night long.” For photographer Steve Rhodes, who walked one recent day along the nearly empty Great Highway after visiting the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, it is liberating to have the space to move around.