More Neighborhood Changes

02/19/14 - posted by Frank Dunnigan

The Chronicle reported this morning on a building project that has been proceeding quietly along Brotherhood Way for several months now:

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Development-alters-S-F-s-road-of-churches-5243030.php

That north side of Brotherhood has been open space for as long as I can remember, and since 1998, it's also been the home to the Bufano statue PEACE that used to be on the entrance road to SFO as far back as the 1950s. The trees and the green space have been bulldozed, and PEACE is in storage, eventually to be replaced, once the project is complete.

With 182 homes (and price tags of $1 million-plus each) along narrow streets, terraced against a sloping hillside adjacent to Parkmerced, just what kind of community will exist there? Will there be kids playing in the streets on warm Indian summer evenings, or in each other's garages when the fog comes in? Will it be a neighborhood of trick-or-treaters, and will dog walkers feel comfortable there? Will older folks have neighbors who look out for them as they keep watch over the neighborhood day after day? Will they have holiday lighting contests, and will neighbors exchange recipes over the backyard fences? Looking at the photos, and having seen the site, I'm just a bit skeptical.

Perhaps once PEACE returns, with its new night lighting to guide the way, all will be well. But the sunny green meadow that once graced the site is no more, and that is a loss for all of us.