About “Whether we like it or not, cars are a necessity in San Francisco” (SFChronicle.com, letter to the editor, Dec. 1): Robert Linderman’s response to my letter: Valencia Street He estimates that only a “small number” of people use the bike lanes. During commuting hours, the number of bicycles equals or exceeds the number of cars. People of all ages and walks of life enjoy horseback riding, scootering, and skateboarding.
Linderman also speculates that the space a car takes up compared to a bicycle is irrelevant. Bicycles take up much less space than cars, so there is less traffic for those who need to drive.
It is not unrelated that there are no other bike lanes around Valencia. Linderman ignores the needs of a vast population that he probably never took the time to realize.
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I’m not paranoid enough to say I’m going to run out of cars, but I’ve lived in cities for over 30 years and am experienced enough to never think parking should be easy. If you’re a true San Franciscan, you know that sometimes you have to take a taxi, Uber, or Muni to get to your destination.
And again, the climate and safety impacts of these giant gas-guzzling, emissions-spewing steel machines and people illegally using cell phones are no small thing.
I have always lived without a car. Not everyone can do it, but there are many more who can’t.
James Farinacci, San Francisco
SF police in handcuffs
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Not many people are asking who is ultimately responsible: the Police Commission. Supervise, manage and direct all police activities. There’s always a police officer in handcuffs.
When a police officer can’t even track down a stolen vehicle that’s going 16 miles per hour over the speed limit, we all know something is seriously wrong.
With police staffing at an all-time low, the commission needs to reevaluate its progressive policies. They are huge, disastrous failures.
And, as the authors of the open forum suggest, the situation will get even worse.
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Tom Del Torre, Lincoln, Placer County
focus on local issues
Most San Francisco residents don’t care whether the board issues proclamations on international issues. Supervisors need to spend time addressing local issues, such as homeless tents blocking roads, drug use in front of homes and schools, and graffiti everywhere.
Elizabeth Stahl, San Francisco
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Pay national reparations
On “Enacting Reparations” (letter to the editor, Dec. 1): The author argues that San Francisco and California lead the nation in reparations, and that Japanese Americans received compensation for their World War II incarceration. He suggests that we should follow the precedents we have received.
Reparations to Japanese Americans were made when President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. This was an appropriate national action to correct the national shame.
Local reparations, such as those taken up by San Francisco and California, are inappropriate because they lead to fragmented programs that lack equity and uniformity. I support compensation, but I am against doing it locally.
Peter Hagen, Walnut Creek
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EV is not a total solution
Regarding “Electric Cars Are Worth It” (Letter to the Editor, Nov. 30): Electric cars are still cars, and they solve one problem with gas-powered cars: tailpipe emissions.
Electric vehicles improve another problem: energy use. He said two of the car’s problems are even more serious: energy and resource use during manufacturing, and road damage caused by the car’s weight.
Electric cars kill millions of people every year, are an inefficient way of transporting people, emit microplastics from tire wear, take up half of city space, and obstruct buses and emergency vehicles. , driving the driver insane.
Electric cars are still cars, and cars are bad. Get an electric bike.